A Cowboy For Christmas
Grade : B

I don't feel the holiday spirit until the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so reading a holiday story in October was a little odd. Fortunately, when I read it I was in Vermont, where it happened to snow. I expected a sweet heartwarming tale. As a bonus, it's also well written and surprisingly sexy.

Twenty-year-old Robin Matthews has been running the family ranch since her parents' death. Her siblings help, but most of the burden falls on her. She's in danger of losing her land to a greedy neighbor, Vance Sutherland, who has bought or forced other area families out. To add to Robin's troubles, 100 head of their cattle are stolen. When she rides out to get them back, she encounters Nathaniel Hollister and convinces him to help her take on the large group of armed men who stole her livestock. Nathaniel reluctantly agrees (he is a hero, after all). They foil the bad guys, but Robin gets wounded in the process, so Nathaniel must take her home.

Robin trusts Nathaniel immediately, despite his broody demeanor, and tries to talk him into working for her at the ranch. What she doesn't know is that Nathaniel is a former Marshal. He quit after a civilian was killed while Nathaniel was trying to bring down bank robbers, and he still carries the guilt. He has no interest in ranching or staying in one place for very long, but he can't resist the Matthews family, especially Robin. He fights his attraction to her because he believes that a bitter thirty-four-year-old drifter like himself could not be a good husband for sweet young Robin.

The romance between two such strong and likable lead characters makes this story shine. Many selfless heroines have an icky smugness about them, but not Robin. She handles her role as head of the family and her relationship with Nathaniel with admirable grace and maturity. She doesn't play games with Nathaniel; she's up front about her feelings. And she has the guts to seduce him, twice. Nathaniel is kind and protective, and has Robin's best interests at heart. He even tries to scope out a decent husband for her at the town's Harvest Dance. Like many heroes before him, his good intentions make him do bad things, like telling Robin "we made a mistake" after they make love for the first time, because he doesn't want her to get too attached. I can't stand the "cruel to be kind" tactic, and at his age, he should know better. I can't fault him for giving in to his desires, though: the sexual tension between these two is something. The love scenes are few but very involved, emotionally and physically. I wouldn't recommend wearing flannel when you read them.

The plot is fairly predictable, the supporting characters are status quo (the good ones are good and the bad ones are real bad). There is a sprinkling of fist and gunfights. There is one tragedy at the climax of Robin's final showdown with Sutherland that's shocking and, some might think, unnecessary.

This is a good book to curl up with after you've fought the mall and the mall won. It will remind you of the good things about holidays, love, family and community. For me it was a pleasant change from the contemporaries I usually read. In the spirit of rushing the holidays I'm making a resolution to read more historicals. If I'm lucky, I will find others that are as satisfying as this one.

Reviewed by Christine Peterson
Grade : B

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : January 19, 2001

Publication Date: 2000

Review Tags: Holiday romance

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