Wyoming Rebels, Book 9
From the publisher:
A single mom returns to her family’s Wyoming Christmas tree farm for the holidays and runs into an injured cowboy from her past who just might be the Christmas miracle her little boy needs. A wonderful holiday romance that will melt your heart.
After a shattering divorce, Emma Rollins returns to Wyoming, hoping for a Christmas miracle for her son. When she accidentally runs into a truck driven by the cowboy who was her teenage partner-in-crime, Emma quickly discovers that he might be just the miracle she needs. Or did she already miss her chance with the rebel who used to make her laugh so long ago?
Sidelined from smokejumping with a devastating injury, Quintin Stockton is struggling to deal with the fact his career might be over. But when a family situation drags the former cowboy home for Christmas, he finds himself haunted by the shadows he’s never been able to escape.
When the woman he once called Nerd Girl needs his help hauling Christmas trees at her family farm, it’s the distraction Quintin needs. She makes him laugh, which he hasn’t done in a long, long time. But as the loner cowboy spends more time with Emma and her brave little boy, suddenly he has a chance for the Christmas love he didn’t even know he wanted.
Can Christmas magic bring love to two hearts that were once closed forever?
I wasn’t sure if I would be lost with this book as it is the 9th book of the series, and I haven’t read any of them. So while I knew I was missing information, it didn’t seem to matter all that much. This book can easily be read as a standalone, and I loved it.
Quintin is one of nine siblings in the Stockton family, and they have all had a horrible childhood. Instead of falling into where the badness could have lead them, Chase, the oldest, made sure they all ended up on the straight and narrow. Quintin is a smokejumper, one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. But on his last jump, he is severely injured, shattering his leg. Several operations later, he is still not healing all that well, at least not well enough to go back to his job – the only thing that sustains him. Without smokejumping, Quintin is depressed and unhappy, to say the least. But when Chase asks him to come home for Christmas, he shows up, planning on being there just for the day. Until Emma literally runs into his truck.
They were good friends in high school as Quintin worked at her family’s Christmas tree farm. Seeing her family was one of the good things in his young life, so he is happy to see Emma again. And when he finds out her father had been hurt and is having a hard time running the place, he offers to help out.
Emma has her own unhappiness. Her son was born with a birth defect, and as soon as it showed up on the ultrasound, her husband was out. They have a financial arrangement which precludes Emma from having any kind of relationship again, or from telling anyone about the arrangement. So as much as she is enjoying Quintin’s company, she can’t risk her son’s health and she refuses to take help from anyone.
But Quintin is falling in love, something he never thought would happen to him. He is especially drawn to her son, and to kids in general, like the rest of his family. They all have foster kids and adopted kids and just do whatever they can to help any child in need. While Quintin can tell Emma feels the same way, he doesn’t understand why she won’t let him help, so he figures out a way to do so.
This is a heartwarming holiday romance with characters that I just fell in love with – yes, it’s a bit of a fairytale, but isn’t Christmas the perfect time for that?
11/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
A REAL COWBOY FOR THE HOLIDAYS by Stephanie Rowe. Authenticity Playground, LLC (November 16, 2021). ASIN: B097CK7JW6. 282 pages.
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