A Cowboy Christmas

by Janette Kenny

Book Overview

One Starry Night Reid Barclay doesn't have time for Christmas, not with trouble brewing at the Crown Seven Ranch. He's got prize thoroughbreds to protect and a long-ago wrong that he wants to make right. But the beautiful cook who's taken over the ranch kitchen is a welcome distraction, even if Ellie Jo Cade burns everything from gingerbread to roast beef. Her sweet face and womanly figure are pure temptation. . . Cornhusk angels. . .bright berry...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1420106589
• ISBN13: 9781420106589
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Zebra Books
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Good characters make a good story...

I bought this book at Christmas but just got around to reading it now. Don't let the title dissuade you though, you could enjoy this book anytime of the year. The characters were likable and the story entertaining. My only problem was the repetition....I felt like I read the same details numerous times! I also didn't care for the long character introspection's. The characters (particularly Ellie & Reid) had several parts in which they thought about how miserable their situations were. I found that kind of thinking boring and it just made their characters seem whiny to me. Overall, it was a decent little book with an intriguing storyline, however I'm not sure that Janette Kenny will be on my must read list.

Great read

I saved this book to read at christmas time. And I have to say it was a wonderful read. You will enjoy it at Christmas time or any other time. Ms. Kenny is a great auther, I have read three of her books and would recommend them all. One real cowboy and one real man are connected to this book. In one real man you meet Reid Barclay. Ms. Kenny knows how to mix romance, mistery, the wild west, and some humor all together to form a great book. I fell in love with Reid and Elli Jo along with Elli's father and the wise old buttler. I will leave my review at that, the others have described the book very well. I will recommend you read and say it was very good.

terrific Americana tale

In 1894 in Maverick, Wyoming, Ellie Jo Cade arrives from Denver as the new cook at the Crown Seven Ranch. Her employer Reid Barclay thinks she is beautiful, but has doubts she belongs on an isolated ranch where he raises thoroughbreds. His initial impression of her not belonging on a ranch proves correct when she burns everything she bakes. Ellie Jo wants to make the holiday season like those she remembered enjoying at one time in her life, but cannot adapt to the wood burning, make that food burning stove. As her employer tries to catch a horse thief, her uplifting spirit proves contagious as he and the cowhands appreciate her efforts although not her food. As Ellie and Reid fall in love; he must make it right with his foster brothers Trey and Dave as they agreed as youths to take care of each other at the Guardian Angel's Orphan Asylum and she must reveal her secret and pray for a Yuletide miracle. This is a terrific Americana tale that will have readers believing they are on a Wyoming ranch in the late nineteenth century as one can smell and visualize Ellie Jo's cooking fiascoes. The story line is warm and uplifting but fast-paced with a strong lead couple and support cast. With a fine overarching mystery tied to upcoming other "Foster Brothers" cowboy romances, fans will enjoy spending some time celebrating A COWBOY CHRISTMAS. Harriet Klausner

The Magic of Christmas

Ellie Jo Cade arrives in Maverick, Wyoming straight from the Denver Academy for Young Ladies to be a housekeeper at the Crown Seven Ranch. She has every intention of making this Christmas as special as they come, even if her culinary skills are not quite as advertised but trouble follows her, even as far as Wyoming. First there is the sexy cowboy who means to show her the difference between what is proper and what is pleasurable. As if that were not enough trouble, a simple wish to spend Christmas with her father leads to a dangerous game. Wanted far and wide for murder. Ellie Jo's father must protect his new identity. Will she be able to see her father without tipping off the Marshall? Will those around her see through her clever disguise? Reid Barclay has more serious things on his mind than the festivities of the holiday and cannot afford to be distracted by the beautiful newcomer. Not only must he protect his prize thoroughbreds from thieves but he means to track down the outlaw who ruined his life and bring him to justice --- dead or alive. From the first moment he saw her, Reid was taken by Ellie Jo, but something just doesn't match up. Why has such a proper lady come to the Crown Seven Ranch? As trouble at the Crown Seven escalates, Reid and Ellie Jo will come head to head. Will the growing love between them set the past right and help them seek the truth behind those events of the past? Will Ellie Jo and Reid discover the magic of Christmas, a magic that transforms hearts and puts things right? From the very first pages, Janette Kenny's western historical romance A COWBOY CHRISTMAS takes the reader into the heart of the west and her characters. Set in a period right after Wyoming was admitted to the Union as the first state that allowed women to vote and Colorado's men just voted to give women the vote, A COWBOY CHRISTMAS paints a portrait of a woman not quite at ease with the suffragette moement, but nevertheless, a woman with grit despite the proper image she projects. In dialogue and description, the conflict creates a wonderful tension as Ellie Jo and Reid encounter one another. The characters just leap off the page. The chemistry between them sizzles while the past threatens to unravel the love developing between them. Ellie Jo steals the heart, for her sometimes humorous cooking adventures and also for her warmth, intelligence and determination. Reid is a man determined to make his way in the world, a man loyal to friends, and a man set on avenging the wrong done to him. Ellie Jo is just the woman Reid needs to temper Reid, to confront him and teach him so that the past can truly be set right. A COWBOY CHRISTMAS is a perfect romance to start the Christmas reading season. A COWBOY CHRISTMAS combines action and suspenseful western drama with a heart-warming romance that sets the past right, transforming the characters into a new future beyond their wildest hopes. Janette Kenny knows how to create nasty vill