Cowboy Christmas

CONNEALY, MARY

COWBOY CHRISTMAS

A secretive singer reawakens a cowboy's wounded heart at Christmastime.

Singer Annette Talbot used her voice to spread the gospel with a traveling missionary troupe. When the Latrells take over and want Annie to dress provocatively and give up singing her beloved hymns, Annie flees to Ranger Bluff, Wyoming, dreaming of reuniting with her father for Christmas. But trouble chases her -- right off the edge of a cliff!

Elijah Walker's heart turned as cold and barren as the high plains in December after his ex-fiancee betrayed him and caused his father's death. But when he rescues Annie out of a freezing river, Walker's instincts tell him he must help a stranger in need.

With her hermit father retreating to the high country and the Latrells intent on kidnapping her to make money off her singing, Annie may have no way out.

Has Annie hidden the truth about wanted posters bearing her face too long for anyone to believer her now?

Can Elijah overcome the painful past and learn to love again?

Will there ever be peace in their hearts in time for Christmas?

DISASTER STRUCK MY HOUSE THIS WEEK. I RAN OUT OF BOOKS TO READ! MY LIBRARY HOLDS WERE STILL IN HOLDING PATTERN AND I'D FINISHED THE LAST OF THE BOOKSTORE STACK BESIDE MY BED! WHAT'S A READER TO DO? DELVE INTO HER KEEPER SHELF OF COURSE (OR IN MY CASE 'SHELVES'.) AND I COULDN'T RESIST REVISITING WITH ANNIE AND ELIJAH IN COWBOY CHRISTMAS -- THE VERY FIRST MARY CONNEALY BOOK I EVER READ! BUT NOT THE LAST.

I LOVE HER UNIQUE STYLE AND QUICK WIT. HER DEADPAN HUMOUR CATCHES THE READER UNAWARES AND LEAVES YOU LAUGHING OUT LOUD (WHICH CAN BE EMBARRASSING IF YOU'RE READING ON THE BUS...WHICH I DO FREQUENTLY!)

HER CHARACTERS COME TO LIFE AND WRAP THEMSELVES AROUND YOUR HEART AND YOU GROW TO LOVE THEM SO MUCH YOU WANT TO REACH THROUGH THE PAGES OF THE BOOK AND GRAB THOSE DARLING CHARACTERS BY THE SCRUFF OF THEIR SORRY NECKS AND THWACK THEIR HEADS TOGETHER IN THE HOPES THAT YOU CAN UNSTICK SOME OF THAT PERSISTENT STUBBORNNESS!

I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER MET TWO MORE STUBBORN CHARACTERS IN THE PAGES OF A BOOK. OR MORE DASTARDLY VILLAINS OR THE BEST TOUGH-AS-NAILS-WITH-A-HEART-OF-GOLD MA. HOW MUCH DID I LOVE MY RE-READ? LET'S JUST SAY THAT COWBOY CHRISTMAS MIGHT HAVE BEEN MY FIRST CONNEALY READ THIS TIME LAST YEAR BUT SINCE THEN I HAVE READ EVERYTHING SHE HAS IN PRINT...OWN MOST OF THEM TOO.