A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS – Caitlin Crews
Cold River Ranch , Book 1
St. Martin's
ISBN: 9781250295231
November 2018
Contemporary Romance

Cold River, Colorado – Present Day

Widower Gray Everett's ornery father has finally passed away and he should be able to breathe easier now, but he has a daughter to raise and a ranch to run…and needs a wife. Gray looks no farther than neighbor Abby Douglas as his bride. They've known each other since they were both children and she is as much a hard worker as he is. On the day that Gray buries his father, he asks Abby to marry him, though he informs her that their marriage will be one without love. His idea of a perfect marriage is one where they work side by side as best friends and grow old together. Who needs love?

Abby accepts his proposal but doesn't tell Gray that she's been in love with him since she was a teenager. Is this the reason that she's never married—or is still a virgin? Has Abby been waiting for Gray all her life? Abby was raised by her grandmother after her mother more or less abandoned her. Once in a while her mother shows up to toss insults at Abby that are meant to inflict pain. Abby thinks of herself as plain and nondescript. As part of her marriage to Gray, she will gain a teenage stepdaughter and Abby can only hope that one day he will fall in love with her. Is Abby making a mistake marrying a man who says he is not looking for love?

Gray and his two brothers grew up with a father so mean and dastardly that mealtimes weren't even pleasant. Christmas? Forget it, because their father would sabotage any holiday that came along. Gray managed to marry once—and it gave him his daughter, Becca—but his wife hated ranch life and gave him plenty of grief until she was killed in a car accident. Marrying sweet Abby is the answer to his prayers for a nice, dependable woman to help him raise Becca. They marry, and soon he discovers that not only does Abby have a mind of her own, but he enjoys having her in his bed…

Abby suffers from a lack of self-esteem and thinks that marrying Gray is the only way to find happiness, even though she knows he doesn't love her. He has been the man of her dreams for years, though he isn't aware of her crush on him. Settling into married life, she could just “bow down” to his every wish, but his refusal to celebrate Christmas has her battling him. Not only for herself, but for Becca. The wounds created by Gray's father run deep inside him. Will it take the love of a good woman like Abby to heal those wounds…and make him into a loving husband?

A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS is the first book in the  Cold River Ranch  series by Caitlin Crews about the three Everett brothers and the scars left by their late father. They bicker among themselves—much of which was instigated by their father and continues to carry on after his death. Will the brothers finally find peace with each other? Will Gray find love—and happiness—with Abby?

A heartwarming tale of a friendship turning into love, A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS is that feelgood Christmas romance you won't want to miss.

Patti Fischer