Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Review & Giveaway - - Merry Christmas Cowboy

Merry Christmas Cowboy
by Maisey Yates
Four Corners Ranch - Book 2
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: October 25, 2022
Reviewed by PJ




As the snow falls on Four Corners Ranch, all this untamed cowboy wants for Christmas is the family he’s never had…


Cowboy Wolf Garrett is delighted his brother is happily married—really, he is. But time can never heal Wolf’s own wounds, so being surrounded by such marital joy is a bit…much. A trip to his extended family’s ranch in Copper Ridge seems the ideal change of scenery. Until he meets local innkeeper Violet Donnelly and realizes he’s exchanged one form of torture for another—trying, and spectacularly failing, to resist their instant, wildly hot chemistry.

Violet knew Wolf was trouble the moment he walked into her inn. But it's a whole new level of trouble when she discovers that their secret nights have left her pregnant! Especially when she has six feet of gorgeous, furious cowboy demanding that she come home with him for the holidays and marry him. Wolf has lost more than she could ever imagine, but Violet believes in the power of love to heal, and she’ll do anything to give their future family a chance. Wolf has already given her so many firsts—dare she hope he’s about to become her first Christmas miracle too?
Bonus novella included!

PJ's Thoughts:

Maisey Yates never fails to bring deep feelings to her stories and this one just might be one of her deepest. It's messy, emotional, angsty, and has a closed-off hero that I -more than once - wanted to toss off a cliff. He comes around in the end (of course he does) but, wow, the journey to that point is not easy. 

Violet, on the other hand, is incredibly easy to like. She's upbeat, sweet, devoted to her family, and a loyal friend but she too has hidden emotional demons to work through. Her character growth is just as important as Wolf's and it was very satisfying to watch her take charge of her happiness. 

The physical attraction between these two is never an issue, leading to several steamy encounters. What holds them apart is fear. For Violet, it's the fear of disappointing her father and stepmother, especially as she still struggles with her mother's abandonment when she was 13. For Wolf, it's a double-edged sword. Maybe triple-edged. His mother left when he was six, choosing her family over her child. His father was a cold man who never showed affection to his children and never made a commitment to a woman. Then there was the tragic death of Wolf's teenage love, a young girl frozen forever in time who holds his heart still. There's a whole lot of "stuff" he needs to work through before he'll ever be free to offer his heart to Violet. As I said earlier, it's messy, but I appreciate that Yates never allows her characters to take the easy way out. She makes them face their demons head on, have those difficult conversations, sometimes knocks them upside the head with 2 x 4 realization boards to open their eyes before finally guiding them to their HEA. It's not always an easy journey but it is - always - a satisfying one.

Merry Christmas Cowboy is the second book in Maisey Yates' Four  Corners Ranch series, with crossover characters from her earlier Copper Ridge: The Garretts series and Copper Ridge: The Donnellys series. Fans of those books will no doubt enjoy catching up with favorite couples while readers new to Yates should have no trouble enjoying Merry Christmas Cowboy as a standalone. 


Have you read Maisey Yates?

Do you enjoy stories where the hero and heroine have messy emotional baggage to unpack?

Have you read any recently you would recommend?

One person who posts a comment before 11:00 PM, October 29 will receive a print copy of Merry Christmas Cowboy.

* U.S. only
* Must be 18
*Void where prohibited


20 comments:

  1. I have read a few books like this and storylines like this make it even more interesting. I am an all out Big Fan of Cowboy Romances. Thanks for your great generosity. Linda May

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  2. Patricia Bennett BarberOctober 26, 2022 at 9:06 AM

    Love all her books!!!!
    Yes, if the writer is someone I like.
    And the answer to the next question is, I've been in a reading funk and I need to get out of it!!!

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  3. I haven't read Maisey Yates books yet, but this sounds like the kind of story I enjoy - I'll put it on my list!

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  4. I love Maisy Yates books. I love to win a copy of her book. I am listening to The Cowboy Cookie Challenge by Lori Wilde now for the second time. Both of the main characters have alot of emotional baggage to overcome. It's great.

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  5. I have not yet read any book by Ms Yates. I am not sure why that is true, because I love cowboys. I think that stories which show us the true backgrounds of hero and heroine are generally more interesting. In the real world, most of us have histories. I think those histories always make the happily ever after even more rewarding for this reader. Thanks for this review and giving me another author whose work would be someone I will enjoy reading.

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  6. Yes, I do...watching the journey to self realization is always fascinating. Excellent review!

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  7. Maisey tells wonderful stories and her books are a joy to read! The cover of this book looks amazing! Would love to read this one.🥰

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  8. Sounds very good, I haven't read any books like that.

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  9. Maisie Yates books are beautiful and captivating. Yes, everyone has a past and this makes the story very interesting and meaningful. Life is filled with emotion, friction and hurdles.

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  10. Cowboys and ranches are a great combination and add a love interest. That is all that matters. Love this type of book that digs deeper and is unforgettable. Maisie can develop characters and her stories are amazing.

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  11. I have read and enjoyed several of Maisey's books. And I do love characters that have baggage to unpack, love your phrasing.

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  12. I have read only one of Maisey's books a few years ago. I like the sound of this book. Complicated emotional baggage makes relationships difficult and fragile. They offer an author many possibilities when putting their stories together. This is good for the reader because you can never be quite sure what will happen next to disrupt their relationship. It does, however, make for an appreciated and satisfying HEA for the reader.

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  13. I have read and enjoyed her books. This one sounds really great. Thanks for the chance to win it.

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  14. I have not read any of her books, but this one sounds good. Yes, I enjoy books with some messy emotional baggage as it can make it interesting.

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  15. Yes I do love troubbled or sad past type books. Patty B Coral

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  16. I haven't read any of Maisy Yates' books yet. But from everything I've heard I'll love them when I do. I enjoy the books where the main characters are working out their baggage.

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  17. I have read maisey's books.


    I'd recommend Once Upon a Christmas as couples with a little bit of baggage to unpack.

    Denise

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  18. I have read and loved some of Maisey's books. Emotional baggage makes the story more interesting! Just Another Love Song by Kerry Winfrey was a good one that I read recently.

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  19. You know love is true, when you find someone willing to help you unpack all your emotional baggage.

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  20. A neighbor gave me one of her books a few years ago. I went on to read several of her Gold Valley and Copper Ridge series.
    I think emotional angst/tension leads to a great test for a relationship. Will they face it, ignore it or deal with it.
    I enjoy Joanne Rock’s books.

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