This book has been on my TBR pile for over two years, after since I found out about it from SBTB March-madness style tournament of books (yeah, I forgot the long title of the yearly tournament Sarah runs with Jane from DA). I had very high hopes for this book. Those hopes were met and then exceeded, to the point I had a couple of tears and sniffles when I closed the book. I closed the book at 3:30 am today, having started the book last night at 11:00 pm - just couldn't put it down. **Good Book Sighs**

Summary:

In Redemption, Oklahoma, a young boy is found huddled in a Dumpster, clutching a Christmas book. Scared and refusing to speak, he captures undercover agent Kade McKendrick's guarded heart. Kade brings the child home until he can track down his family—and his story. All Kade has is a name, Davey, and the boy's trust of sweet, pretty teacher Sophie Bartholomew. With her kindness and faith, Sophie helps both the boy and the battle-scarred cop to smile again. And as they uncover the mystery of a very special child, a family is formed—just in time for Christmas.

Review:

I will admit that Sophie was a bit Mary Sue, but her one flaw/personal issue was her strained relationship with her mother. I loved Kade - best kind of take charge broody alpha without being an asshole - and I liked how well Sophie and Kade worked together to help Davey from the get go. Here is a contemporary romance where the main MCs talk to each other and work things out like adults. The townspeople, Sophie's dad, and Kade's great aunt round out the story gave life to the town.

This is a Christian romance (from the Love Inspired line) and there is a lot of faith/God/church etc stuff going on. On a scale of 1-10, this is a definite 7 or 8. The central theme was about forgiveness.

As for Davey, the eight year old boy was so sweet....but had a rough start in life. He has no other family and had been living on the streets for about a month before Kade and Sophie found him. He also had a disability that could be fixed with surgery; the money issue surrounding the surgery was solved and it was implied that in the new year Davey would get a new family (Kade and Sophie) and his surgery. I loved any scene with Davey and Kade's dog Sheba - something about kids and dogs make me happy.

Although this book is part of the Redemption River series, it was easy to read it as a stand alone. I am now looking at the other books in the series to read in 2015.

Recommend if you can handle a lot of Christian themes. Keeper shelf! 5 stars.