Christmas Kisses with My Cowboy

I received a complimentary copy of this via the publisher through NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.

Mistletoe Cowboy – Diana Palmer

This is a favorite author of mine but for some reason the story fell a little flat for me. While collections like this have shorter stories and therefore a little tighter of development, this just didn’t work for me. Also there can be formatting issues in an advanced reader copy that could explain why I had to go back and read a couple of sections as I couldn’t tell who was speaking.

Blame it on the Mistletoe – Marina Adair

Noah Tucker is a Texas Ranger and he comes back to Sweet, Texas to spend Christmas with his brother and family. He comes across an elf of all things decorating the tree outside of the Sheriff’s department. Noah is intrigued with the sprite dressed as an elf. Faith is very leery of anyone in law enforcement because of her family history. The two are striking sparks off each other right from the beginning. They seem to keep crossing paths and get to know each other better. But can a Texas Ranger see a woman with a family history like her’s? Beside he works out of Austin not Sweet so can they even have a relationship?

This is a sweet, clean romance that anyone can read.

Mistletoe Detour – Kate Pearce

Ted is a local tow truck driver. He gets a call about a stranded car and driver along side the road. It is a cold snowy night. After traversing over the snowy roads, he comes to the car and out pops an old child friend. Veronica hasn’t been back to town in years. She is on her way to see her uncle when her car ran out of gas. Ted also has a bit of bad news for her. Her uncle is with his dad on a cruise around Hawaii. Ted invites her and her pet pig to stay with him in the interim.

Veronica has a secret (well two actually). She tells Ted that she had stolen her pet pig, Bacon from her ex-husband. Ted can feel that something more is going on than she is telling him. What could that secret be? Will it drive these two apart?

This story is written in a dual POV format. I love that. I can get into the characters’ mind and really see how they think in any given situation.

This is a slightly sexy read. The author does not go into any great and graphic detail. It was really glossed over. That being said, and I would hate to offend any parents of minor children, I would only recommend this to someone over the age of 18.

Blame It On The Mistletoe by Marina Adair was Amazingly AWESOME! It is a feel good, warm your heart, perfect for Christmas-time story. Noah returns to Tucker Ranch to fulfill requirements set forth by his deceased father, only to find memories of the ranch weren’t all that bad. Noah finds it was his dad’s abusive behavior, not the ranch itself linked to his bad memories. While reconnecting with his brothers, Noah meets an “angel” by the name of Faith.

Faith is a single mom-sister who’s not looking for a relationship. She’s a hard worker, but can’t seem to shake her family’s past. She gave up a RN scholarship and was at the top of her class when her mom decided she didn’t want to be a mom anymore. So Faith came home to raise her younger brother. She’s aware of the town gossip and takes it upon herself to atone for her family’s sins. She becomes the “Secret Santa” of town—unbeknownst to the town’s people. It’s when she’s covertly decorating the town’s Christmas tree that Noah, aka Texas Ranger, happens to cross her path...

I absolutely LOVED this novel! If I could give it 5 stars I would. It’s hard to place a star rating on a novel with several stories as some may not be as good as others, so I “averaged” the star rating. Full disclosure, I did not read Diana Palmer’s novel, only Marina Adair’s and Kate Pearce’s novels. I recommend this novel on Marina Adair’s story alone! It was serious, but fun and heart warming. Noah and Faith’s paths crossed in high school, it just wasn’t their time. This story does end in a HEA.

Mistletoe Detour by Kate Pearce is a 3.5-4 star novella. While I enjoyed revisiting the Morgan’s and we FINALLY get to see Avery and Ry get married, I had trouble engaging in Ted and Victoria’s story. To have a piglet named Bacon was one of the cutest parts of the story. That was funny! It was a second chance love story. They knew each other in high school, but neither knew the other was interested in them. Then Victoria runs out of gas on her way to her uncle’s place, only to get “rescued” by Ted. Victoria seemed kind of flighty, evasive and Ted was easy to anger, but just as easy to accept the excuses/secrets Victoria was hiding from him. This story does end in a HEA.

I read a gifted copy and all opinions stated are my own.

Blue collar cowboys.

I really liked that this collection of three cowboys and Christmas stories featured all working cowboys.
The realism of the stories, especially Kate Pearce's Christmas Detour really shines through. Ted lives in an apartment with his dad. He's helping out Veronica, who gets stuck staying with him. Don't worry, its not a hardship and he'll find a way to keep her warm (wink).

Recommend for three enjoyable cowboy Christmas tales, sure to brighten your day.