Christmas Eve Cowboy

Charming collection of Christmas couplings This holiday set was a lot of fun to read. Each of the three stories is a standalone romance with its own HEA. Each is novella length, packed with complexities and substantive characters. With such a varied selection of authors, everyone is sure to find a favorite. The first story, "Once There Was a Lawman" by Diana Palmer, was a sweet story about an FBI agent in town investigating a murder who connects with a local nurse who knows everyone in the small, close-knit community. There were a few continuity inconsistencies and the murder mystery wasn't much of a mystery, but the romance was a joy to read. Annalisa is a delight, and more than a match for Tom. I loved reading these two together, a natural sunshine/grump pairing, and I thought their HEA was perfectly suited for them. The second story is "Christmas Creek Cowboy" by Delores Fossen. This captivating story pairs up friends Calen and Emmy, who are still smarting from the betrayal of finding their respective fiancés hooking up the previous Christmas. Add to that a community-wide mystery of some missing mail and we get a splendid everyone's-in-everyone-else's-business non-stop holiday romp that clears all the secrets and doubts that Emmy and Calen didn't even realize were keeping them apart. Set in a small, Christmas-themed town in Texas, this story was truly unputdownable and I loved every bit of it. My favorite was saved for last. In "Coming Home for Christmas" by Kate Pearce, Caleb and Lucy are forced together by a snowstorm and find that even though they've known each other for years, there's still a lot to learn about each other and themselves. Set in a small mountain town in Northern California, one I'm intimately familiar with after having lived there for the better part of two decades, this story shows a different side of California, far from the typical SoCal starlets and beaches. It's not the first book I've read that is set in that picturesque region, but it is by far the most accurate to the real-life setting. Caleb and Lucy each have family issues that must be addressed before they can figure out what they mean to each other, and just what their future can hold. I always love reading this author's vibrant characters and enthralling emotional journeys, and this compact story stands out as one of her best. All together, this is a wonderful set of holiday stories, one that I highly recommend. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

I wanted a review copy of this book because of Kate Pearce’s story, Coming Home for Christmas; my rating is based only on this story. I loved the Morgan Ranch books so I wanted to read this as soon as I heard about it. The story moves along at a good pace and there’s a nice amount of sexy time. There’s also a brief appearance from a Morgan Ranch character which was fun. There were a couple of characters introduced in this story that I can envision getting their own book at some point.

good read.