Maid to Match

3.5/4. Honestly, this was at a 2 until the last 30%.

The ending was great and I wish we got more of that plotline earlier on. However, overall, this book successfully avoided super annoying romance tropes AND Christian fiction tropes so that was good. We had an ambitious woman who didn't give up her ambition after she met the hero. That alone earns it an extra star.

This is not normally my kind of book. I'd never heard of this author before stumbling onto the book at the Biltmore gift shop (apropos!). I needed something to read on the ride back, so I picked it up. The writing was good, the characters were fine, and the setting was rich and alluring. But until about 3/4 of the way through, this didn't seem at all like a Christian fiction story. There are allusions to the Bible here and there, but nothing to qualify it as such. Religion doesn't seem to be a factor in any of Tillie's decision-making till it's thrust into the story at the climax.
I disliked the love interest and most of the other male characters in the story. They were one-dimensional and leaned misogynistic. Mack's disregard of Tillie's values and choices made me uncomfortable. I don't know exactly what we're supposed to learn from Tillie, because her reasoning turns on a dime. I was with her until she cited God as her reason for the decision. It honestly came out of nowhere.
All things considered, though, this is nothing more than fluffy marshmallow. It's pretty inoffensive and light. I got pretty much what I expected aside from a twist in the story I genuinely did not see coming.
I saw some people complaining about the sexual content in the book. All I have to say is, what sexual content are they talking about? There's a scene, yeah, but it was written in the least lewd manner possible.