Customer Reviews

A Cowboy Christmas

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4 star:		(2)
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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 villains to keep a reader on the edge of his/her seat as Ellie Jo and Reid seek to unravel the trouble ahead. Janette Kenny brings the 19th western Christmas alive with holiday smells and tastes. Without resorting to simplistic holiday sappiness, A COWBOY CHRISTMAS adds just the right holiday atmosphere to move the heart, while also adding just enough western intrigue to keep the pages flying. In A COWBOY CHRISTMAS, Janette Kenny brings the magic of Christmas and romance to two delightful characters for whom impossibilities become transformed into possibilities.

COURTESY OF BOOK ILLUMINATIONS

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

4.5 Stars

I'm not a huge lover of holiday themed books, but I am a lover of Janette Kenny. This is the second book I have read from her and I do believe I am hooked.

Ellie Jo Cade is a woman on a mission. She must save her father from trouble. She has come to Maverick, Wyoming to work as a housekeeper to be able to spend the Christmas holiday with her long lost father and to convince him to give up his vision of revenge. Her father doesn't want her there and despite that she stays on, but doesn't have a clue what to do in the kitchen. She works hard and is bound and determined to make it work. Though the job is only until the beginning of the year, she puts her whole heart into it. Too bad she is losing her heart to the owner of the Crown Seven Ranch, Reid Barclay.

Reid is in trouble. In a week he is marrying a woman he feels obligated to marry, but doesn't love, needs to find his two foster brothers and he also needs to come up with enough money to buy out the final shares to the ranch. Now his temporary housekeeper is stirring feelings in him he hasn't felt in over year and his prize possession has been stolen. Can a rancher ever catch a break?

Both Ellie and Reid have had hard childhoods. Ellie's was filled with an absent father and Reid's was filled with complete desertion. Ellie never gave up hope or love for her father and though she knew they would never have a fulfilling father/daughter relationship, she still loved him with all her heart. Reid on the other hand has never known love until he was a teenager. The moment he found his foster father, Kirby Morris, he finally knew what it felt like to have a family and he is determined to never lose that feeling. Now he is in the fight of his life to save his home. He doesn't have time to deal with his growing feelings for Ellie. He has a ranch to save for himself and his brothers. Duty calls and Reid will do anything that needs to be done.

Lately some of my books have been exhausting to read, drawing out emotions that were draining and just tiring me out completely. What I loved about this book is I was not frustrated, annoyed, or angry. I felt a loving glow from start to finish. This warm feeling had nothing to do with the holiday, but with the love that Ellie and Reid provoked in me. This simply is a feel-good book. On that note, if you want a solid holiday themed book you will not find it here. Christmas was the holiday, but not the focus of the story.

I am going to devour all the books in The Lost Sons Trilogy. Next book in the series is In a Cowboy's Arms and then the new release Cowboy Come Home. I am definitely in the mood for hot sizzling cowboys and the women that drive them crazy. Bring on the steam!

I loved this story but made the mistake of reading "In a Cowboys Arms" first. I didn't realize these 2 books were related. I like to read a series starting with the first one..lol Makes more sense that way. I still feel I am either missing a book or maybe it isn't finished as of yet.
A Cowboys Christmas is a wonderful story of wishes and dreams.
I am looking forward to more from this author.

I liked this story a lot. I like stories where the male and female characters just admit that they want each other and don't waste time playing hard to get and having one stupid misunderstanding after another. Reid Barclay and Ellie Jo Cade were attracted to each other from the moment they met, and Reid made no bones about wanting her something fierce. Ellie also made no bones about also wanting to be with him.

There were good plot lines, the evil side characters who are out to destroy everyone's lives, and good secondary characters.

But, one thing I did not like about this story at all: Reid had two brothers (foster brothers that were the only family he'd ever had), and throughout the whole book we discover that Reid has been looking for his brothers for a long time. They left the family ranch under suspicious circumstances that are never explained, and throughout the entire book Reid is waiting for his two brothers to show up, and not only do they never show up, but we never find out what the heck ever happened to those two young men. What is up with that? Talk about loose ends!

Also! Reid is the bastard son of an Irish woman who died giving birth to him. Reid's father is a rich Englishman who rejected Reid's mother and Reid, and whom never had anything to do with Reid. So Reid grew up in a boy's orphanage until a kind rancher took him and his two foster brothers under his wing and gave them a home and a family. Throughout the book, Reid is trying desperately to find his two brothers because they own shares in the ranch. The person who owns the largest percentage of shares of the ranch is a terrible man related to Reid's foster father who has died. Reid must find his brothers in order to keep the the bad guy from selling the ranch out from under Reid. All through the book, Reid is trying to find ways to find his brothers, or barring that, find the money to buy the shares from the bad guy. But, Reid never finds his brothers, never comes up with the money to buy the shares, and the bad dude sells the majority shares to some English couple who is just happening to be looking for an orphaned son they had had to give up as a child. Thinking that child might be Reid, they buy the ranch, only to discover that Reid is not that orphaned boy they'd been looking for. Nonetheless, before you can say "boo", the Englishman offers to sell the ranch back to Reid and allows Reid to keep the ranch and manage it until Reid buys it back little by little. So, implausible and sloppy.

But, overall, the relationship of Reid and Ellie was a good one and made the book worth reading.

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.

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.