Review & Giveaway: A Cowboy Christmas Miracle by Carolyn Brown

A Cowboy Christmas Miracle by Carolyn Brown
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: September 6th 2016
My rating: 4 stars 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BAM 

 

It will take a miracle bigger than the state of Texas for these two feuding families to survive the holidays!
Opposites might attract...
The Brennans and the Gallaghers put aside their one-hundred-year feud every Tuesday for their weekly poker game. This week, the stakes are sky-high. Goaded to recklessness, Declan Brennan bets one thousand dollars that he can woo the next woman to walk into the saloon. A minute later, fiery-haired Betsy Gallagher pushes through the doors. If Declan can tame this wild Gallagher, he'll have earned every penny.
If they don't kill each other first...
Betsy can outshoot anybody in Burnt Boot and loves ranching more than anything-until she falls for Declan. He's fallen for her too. But when she discovers what sparked their courtship, Declan will need a Christmas miracle to save his hide-and his heart.

My Thoughts:

Burnt Book, Texas has been the home of the ranching Brennan’s and Gallagher’s for over a century and the feuding between families has gone on just as long.  Can a joint covert effort by Declan Brennan and Betsy Gallagher to bring a Christmas program to their local church turn things around, and finally bring this modern day Romeo and Juliet together? Can it bring an end to the feuding? Or will the bet Declan made with Tanner Gallagher to win Betsy’s heart or lose a thousand dollars come out, and stand in the way of their love?

This was definitely a case of unrequited love on Declan’s part and so the bet worked in his favor and gave him an excuse to finally pursue the previously forbidden Betsy.  And Betsy couldn’t help but notice that sexy cowboy Declan for years! Working together also gave them time to feed their long-time, burning attraction. Sparks fly and fires ignite every time they get close!  Their romance as inevitable as Romeo and Juliet, although with a much happier ending! I love that none of the bumps they encountered together were insurmountable or made you think there was no way these two would make it. Carolyn Brown writes mature romances where the couples can fight and still know they’ll eventually work things out one way or another.

Both Declan and Betsy were sick to death of the pointless fighting between their families, spurred on mostly by their grandmothers, Mavis and Naomi.  These grandmothers should’ve been old enough to know better in my opinion! It was the younger generation that wanted to let go of the past, and move on while these ladies were always looking for ways to one-up each other in revenge. At one point in the series Mavis and Naomi were in a knock down, hair-pulling, dirty fight and while it was funny reading it, I thought: Shame on them!  I was thrilled that Besty and Declan working together gave hope that all this pettiness would finally come to an end!

I can’t write about Ms. Brown’s stories without mentioning her humor.  Her old fashioned one-liners always make me giggle! I’m sad to say A Cowboy Christmas Miracle is the last book in the Burnt Boot, Texas series, but I love the way things ended!  Carolyn Brown never ceases to make me laugh, smile and light my fires with her flirty cowboy romances!

About the author:

NY Times and USA Today Bestselling author and RITA Finalist, Carolyn Brown, has published more than seventy books.  These days she is concentrating on her two loves:  women’s fiction and contemporary cowboy romance. She and her husband, a retired English teacher, make their home in southern Oklahoma.

Connect with Carolyn Brown:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads

The lovely people of Sourcebooks Casablanca have offered up a copy of One Texas Cowboy Too Many to one lucky reader. Simple fill out the rafflecopter for a chance to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway