Review - - The Cowboy Who Saved Christmas

The Cowboy Who Saved Christmas

An Anthology

by Jodi Thomas, Sharla Lovelace, and Scarlett Dunn

Publisher: Kensington

Release Date: October 27, 2020

In these Texas-set stories of romance and adventure, the Civil War is over, Christmas is coming—and it’s time for three rugged fighters to become lovers . . .
 
FATHER GOOSE
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Jodi Thomas
Dispirited by war, when Trapper Hawkins accepts a job hauling five little rich girls to Dallas, all he cares about is the money. He doesn’t expect they’ll awaken his spirit—or that their intriguing nursemaid, Emery Adams, will awaken his heart. And when danger strikes as Christmas Eve nears, he definitely doesn’t expect Emery and the girls to risk their lives—for him . . .

PJ's Thoughts:

Father Goose, starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron, is one of my all-time favorite movies and Jodi Thomas is one of my all-time favorite authors so I was already pre-disposed to view this Christmas novella in a positive light before I read word one. I wasn't far into it before I realized Trapper, Emery, and girls One through Five (you'll understand the reference after you read the story) were going to check all my happy reader boxes. The brilliance of Jodi Thomas shines through on every page of this story and through each character. I couldn't help but fall in love with Trapper, Emery, and all five of the girls during their perilous, endearing, and frequently humorous, journey across Texas. I loved that Thomas gave each of the girls a distinct personality and role in the story, rather than lumping them together as a group. I enjoyed the emotional bonding as each of them found a place for themselves in Trapper's heart and as Trapper and Emery, two loners beaten down by life, gradually fell in love. It was a pitch-perfect reading experience that left my heart bursting with joy. This story has become an instant classic in my holiday reading canon. I have no doubt I'll be revisiting these characters again and again. Also, Ms. Thomas, please note that if you're ever in the mood to write grown-up stories for the Chapman sisters, I will happily buy them all!  

 
THE MISTLETOE PROMISE * Sharla Lovelace
A catastrophic storm, an ailing herd, and a failing cattle ranch have left Texas rancher Josie Bancroft in danger of losing everything her father worked for. Still, she’d rather die than merge with her neighbor rancher Benjamin Mason, the man who broke her heart years ago, on Christmas Eve. As old sparks fly and secrets are revealed, however, Ben is determined to help Josie—and prove that this time around can be different. That the misunderstandings of Christmas past need not define their future . . .

PJ's Thoughts:

Second chance romance is one of my favorite romance tropes. Unfortunately, this story also used one of my least favorite plot twists to tear the main couple apart five years earlier, a heartbreaking, angst-filled twist that played out on the page. I read the entire novella and tried really hard to overcome my aversion to the earlier events but I just couldn't. Perhaps if the story had been longer, with more time to develop the characters and their emotions post-reunion, I may have been able to buy into their HEA. There are probably many readers who will enjoy these characters and their journey. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. I will say, however, that there was a four-year-old character who was an absolute charmer and the highlight of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed her. 

CHRISTMAS ROAD * Scarlett Dunn
Yellow Fever has hit Clint Mitchum’s Texas hometown and taken his father and siblings, leaving Clint ever more cynical. Racing homeward to be by his mother’s side, Clint finds only a note from her, asking that he help her caregiver, a young woman named Amelia. Assuming his mother has passed, in his grief Clint ventures out to search for Amelia—and finds the best of gifts—just in time for Christmas . . .

PJ's Thoughts:

What a sweet, heartwarming story. This is the first time I've read Scarlett Dunn. It won't be the last. Dunn has put together an engaging cast of characters and skillfully developed each of them. Though there is a main couple, it truly felt like an ensemble cast with all of the characters having important roles and coming to life on the page. Clint has such a good heart. I really enjoyed his character. The relationship between him and Amelia is sweet and endearing, with a few unexpected twists along the way. The relationships Clint forms with the children in the story are heart-tugging and the Christmas "miracle" he pulls off had more than few tears flowing. 

If you're looking for an anthology that will make you laugh, make you cry, and fill you with the spirit of an Old West Christmas, I highly recommend The Cowboy Who Saved Christmas.

Guest Review - - Before and Ever Since

Before and Ever Since

By Sharla Lovelace

Publisher: Berkley Trade

Release Date: November 6, 2012

Emily Lattimer Lockwood thought she was having a bad day when her ex showed up unannounced, bringing the news that Emily’s mother was selling the house in which Emily and her sister grew up. Then, Emily found out that not only was her mother selling the house, but she was also planning to travel the country with Emily’s eccentric aunt in a seasoned RV known as Old Blue. To add insult to injury, instead of listing the house with Emily, a real estate agent, Mrs. Lattimer listed it with a rival agent, one who had an affair with Emily’s ex before he became the ex. As if the situation isn’t bad enough, the handyman Emily’s mother has hired to get the house ready to sell is Ben Landry, an old friend whose presence threatens secrets Emily has been keeping for more than half her life. And strangest of all are the time warps that pull her back into the family history lived out within the walls of her mother’s house.

Kevin Lockwood, the man she married and divorced, was Emily Lattimer’s high school boyfriend, but Ben Landry was her best friend. It was Ben who understood her, Ben with whom she shared a connection too rare to be defined in words, and Ben whose disappearance without even a goodbye broke her heart. Now he’s back, moving into his old home from which he was desperate to escape, but his return is twenty-one years too late for Emily. It can’t matter to Emily that Ben can still make her heart beat faster, make her laugh, make her feel things she hasn’t felt since she was little more than a girl because Ben can destroy the world she created in his absence. And Emily won’t be the only one shattered in its destruction.

Before and Ever Since is a hybrid of women’s fiction and romance. In part, it is the story of Emily’s coming to terms with who she is and discovering that even the people she knows best and loves most are more complex and layered than she ever realized. During the course of the story, Emily’s relationship with her mother, her sister, and her daughter changes. But at the heart of the story is her relationship with Ben, past and present.

 Lovelace creates a cast of characters who, with few exceptions, are interesting, likeable, and free from the clichéd characteristics that might easily have defined and limited them. Even the cheating ex is a fully realized character with strengths and vulnerabilities. Because the point of view is first person, it is easy to sympathize with Emily and to understand her conflicted emotions concerning Ben and her visceral physical response to him. One of my favorite moments between the two occurs when they dance:

In that instant, there was no unexplained anger, no arrogance, no distance. No words spoken, even. I thought we’d try to ease the awkwardness with dumb conversation, but suddenly there was nothing to say. At that moment, we were who we used to be. As he pressed my hand against his chest and moved his other hand up to the base of my neck, we moved together as one and there was no bad history or tension or sadness.

I really wanted Emily and Ben to have their HEA, but I wanted it to happen without other characters whom I also cared about being hurt in the process. Lovelace provides a happy ending, but it’s no fairy tale ending with magical resolutions. Her characters inhabit a real world where choices have consequences and people sometimes hurt those they love. If you like your romance with rich contexts, a realistic edge, and protagonists who are old enough to have some mileage on them, I think you will enjoy this novel as much as I did.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com