Have yourself a Smokin’ Hot Cowboy Christmas

It’s been one fiasco after another for newcomer Belle Tarleton since she began trying to turn her ranch into an arts center. Local workers seem determined to ruin her Christmas party plans, and she hopes that bringing in down-on-his-luck Rowdy Holloway to help with renovations will get things back on track.

Rowdy is the unluckiest cowboy in the whole of Wildcat Bluff County, Texas, and things are not improving this holiday season. Sure, he’s the object of many local women’s drool-worthy fantasies, but the town has decided he’s the man who should stop Belle’s renovation plans.

It started as a simple mission, but now Rowdy’s so twisted up he doesn’t know whose side he’s on. With only days until Christmas, Rowdy and Belle need to tap into their fiery personalities and off-the-charts chemistry if they’re ever going to find a way to thaw the ice on this reluctant town’s heart.

Titles in the Smokin’ Hot Cowboys series include — A Cowboy Firefighter For Christmas – Blazing Hot Cowboy – A Very Cowboy Christmas – Hot For A Cowboy – Cowboy Firefighter Christmas Kiss – Cowboy Firefighter Heat – Smokin’ Hot Cowboy Christmas – Cowboy Fire –

Title:  Smokin’ Hot Cowboy Christmas
Series:  Smokin’ Hot Cowboys #7
Author:  Kim Redford
Genre:  Modern Western Romance, Romance
Published:  September 29, 2020
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca
My Rating:  3.5 stars

Smokin’ Hot Cowboy Christmas is the seventh story in the Smokin’ Hot Cowboys series – and, frankly, up to this point, I completely fell in love with and adored this small town full of interesting people and stories that touched my heart every time.  But not this time.

Since when did the good folks of Wildcat Bluff become such bullies and really not so nice people?  Seriously people – what kind of kool-aid have you been guzzling to act this way?  Okay, so you’re concerned that Belle’s new ranch/business will bring in strangers to the town, that there will be too much traffic, too much everything that will take away from the “special feel” of this usually welcoming town.  No.  Just no, these aren’t the townsfolk I’ve come to enjoy over the years with this series.  At. All.

And then… then when the Buick Brigade welcomes Belle, gets behind her, supports her somehow the wisdom of the people doing all of this damage to Belle still keep on with their plans.  We all know that these ladies rule Wildcat Bluff, and no one ever pulls one over on these ladies… and you think suddenly a newcomer like Belle could have done that?  Again, seriously, dudes.

Do not get me started on Rowdy.  He was falling in love with Belle.  And he still continued to lie, deceive, misrepresent what he’s doing to her business – and to her heart.  Disappointed in these people (sure fictional but I’ve known them for a while now) beyond words.

So, I’m completely torn on my views of Smokin’ Hot Cowboy Christmas.  On one hand, it was such fun to return to a comfortable place where I knew the background of most of the secondary characters we run into and liked most of them.  The chemistry between Rowdy and Belle was off the charts and I really wanted to see them together, happy, and beyond all this nonsense.  I adore the Buick Brigade, those elders will always make me laugh or chuckle with their shenanigans so they were a bright spot for me.  Yet.  One of my favorite fictional towns just turned into a huge bully – and that does not sit well.

In the end, I’m going to say that Smokin’ Hot Cowboy Christmas is a good story, and at the base of the romance part, it is, no denying that.  If you’ve followed this series, then you’ll certainly want to pick this one up to continue on that journey.  Every reader has their own opinion about any story, so read Belle and Rowdy’s story and make up your own mind.  I loved the romance, was disappointed in many of the characters so it was a 3.5 star “good” read for me this time.  As always, Kim Redford’s writing is spot on, she weaves an intriguing tale — and it’s totally on me that I saw the townsfolk’s actions far differently than I usually would in this series.  If this is your first time in Wildcat Bluff, please go check out the series from the beginning, I have to say that the characters I’ve known and loved throughout this series will make that worth your while.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story.  It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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