A True Cowboy Christmas

Cold River Ranch, Book #1

By Caitlin Crews

ISBN: 9781250295231

Author Website: www(.)caitlincrews(.)com

 

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Synopsis:

From USA Today bestselling author Caitlin Crews comes A True Cowboy Christmas, the first in a sensational series debut about a cowboy, a farm girl, and the greatest gift of all. . .

Gray Everett has a heart of gold but that doesn’t mean he believes in the magic of Christmas. He’s got plenty else to worry about this holiday season, what with keeping his cattle ranch in the family and out of the hands of hungry real-estate investors looking to make a down-and-dirty deal. That, plus being a parent to his young and motherless daughter, equals a man who will not rest until he achieves his mission. Now, all Gray needs is the help of his lifelong neighbor. . .who happens to have grown into a lovely, spirited woman.

For Abby Douglas, the chance to join forces with Gray is nothing less than a Christmas miracle. Much as the down-to-earth farmer’s daughter has tried to deny it, Abby’s been in love with stern, smoking-hot Gray her whole life. So when Gray proposes a marriage of convenience as a way to combine land–and work together toward a common cause—Abby can’t refuse. But how can she convince Gray that sometimes life offers a man a second chance for a reason. . .and that their growing trust and mutual passion may be leading to true and lasting love? (Amazon)

 

Review:  

Abby has not had an easy life.  She grew up with a mom that kept floating into and out of her life.  When her mom was in her life, she was always telling Abby that she was plain and nothing special.  It is no wonder that Abby believed her and felt she was not worthy of anyone’s love. Thankfully she had a grandmother that was more loving and nurturing.  Abby is honest, caring and the salt of the earth. But does anyone really fall in love with salt?

Gray has not had an easy life either.  His father was a demanding bitter man and he did not have a nurturing life,  He does not get along that well with his brothers. And he lost his cheating wife in an accident.  He has a daughter to raise all on his own. So it is no wonder that he is brusque and does not give in to flights of fancy.  It makes perfect sense to Gray to ask Abby to marry him. He needs someone to help him on his farm and someone to help raise his daughter, and Abby looks like the best choice.  In fact, she is his only choice. Now he just have to convince Abby to accept his proposal.

The characters are well developed and well rounded.  I liked Abby from the beginning, I felt that she was loving and caring.  It took me longer to connect with Gray, I thought he was a bit arrogant. But by the end of the book, my feelings had changed.

The writing style did not seem to flow as smoothly as I like.  I think the reason is that many of the sentences were so long. It felt like whole paragraphs were just one sentence.  For some reason, that was a distraction for me, but it might not have bothered other readers. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and that drew me in to the story from the very beginning.  I felt like I was immersed in the story and I wanted to keep reading to see what was going to happen next.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted women’s contemporary.  I will definitely read the next book when it is published.

 

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*