Angels. Emma Cramer doesn’t consider herself an angel by any stretch of the imagination. Temporarily stranded, broke and unable to pursue her dreams of working in the big city following her mother’s death, Emma’s life changes when she rescues a small child and a puppy who get trapped in a garage where Emma’s truck has finally breathed its last . The girl’s relieved and grateful grandmother believes Emma has been sent by angels because her family needs temporary help. She offers Emma a job, a good salary and a place to stay until after the holidays. It seems like a Christmas miracle for both of them. 

Angels often appear when least expected, but when the most needed. Cynical sheriff and rancher Cole Drayton has heard that all his life, but he’s never been in the market for much else. He can take care of his daughter, his ranch and his family on his own without his meddling mother, but his long protected heart and desire for isolation is no match for a beautiful stranded stranger and a misfit puppy who make his daughter laugh and him feel alive again. 

Can unsuspecting hearts intersect at the moment when love and trust is needed most? Anything is possible with the magic of the Christmas season and faith in the Christmas angels.

Titles that make up the In The Long Arms of the Lawman series include:  Beware The Ranger – The Lawman’s Apache Moon – Along Came A Ranger – The Sheriff’s Christmas Angels

Title:  The Sheriff’s Christmas Angels
Series:  In The Long Arms of the Lawman #4
Author:  Debra Holt
Genre:  Contemporary Romance, Christmas Romance
Published:  October 23, 2017
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

I loved Ms Holt’s dedication page for my own grandparents instilled a similar way of looking at life.  People come into our lives for a reason and sometimes a season, because we need them or they need us – enjoy them, learn from them and perhaps give them what they need from you.  And maybe, if we’re lucky they’ll stay for a lifetime.  And after that wonderful thought my Gram would pause then hit with this zinger: And some do you a favor by letting the door hit them or the backside as they leave.  I believe Cole has had a taste of all of those thoughts, and it’s left a bitter taste behind.  Now it’s up to a stranger, a puppy and maybe some Christmas magic to turn his life around.

Emma hasn’t had an easy life, but she’s survived.  By working her hands to the bone, studying until her brain was about to burst she’s finally finished college with a degree that can open doors and possibilities for her future.  Now all she has to do is get to those interviews – and her nearly broken down much used truck certainly isn’t cooperating one little bit.  At a stop for gas and direction to the nearest mechanic in this wide open county, Emma will meet her own angels in the form of a grandmother trying to get to her granddaughter… who has squirmed into a closed space to rescue a puppy.  Soon Emma will find herself face to face with Mae, Charlie and a newly christened puppy, Angel.  And somehow the puppy has become hers.  She’s still not sure exactly how that unlikely event really happened.  But it made sense at the time.  Where Mae is concerned Emma is going to have that feeling of being caught in a soft, comforting whirlwind often.  It’s how she found herself on this ranch, working on the paperwork and watching after Charlie – and sharing Angel.  To say that the man of the house, Charlie’s dad,  was not impressed or happy would be an understatement.

Cole is tired of his mother’s matchmaking efforts.  Tired and angry.  Yet he cannot really deny that she’s done exactly what he asked… found someone who can take the paperwork he’s overloaded with and put it into the right computer files.  He doesn’t trust his adorable, strong-willed mother further than he could toss her so he’s on his guard against a woman who is sparking interest he doesn’t want to feel.

Cole is a hard man, and a first class jerk… at least at first.  His life hasn’t been what he expected.  One vicious, she witch of an ex-wife has proven to him that life is not good and trusting anyone beyond blood family is a mistake.  He’s refusing to see the wisdom of his mother – if that she witch hadn’t come into his life for a season, then he wouldn’t have his adorable, much loved daughter.  But he is stubborn and it will take one special woman to show him the error of his ways.

Of course life never runs smoothly.  So when a vicious woman sets out to make trouble, Emma runs.  Only this time Cole isn’t going to let  his good woman get away.  He’s not a lawman skilled in tracking for nothing.

I enjoyed The Sheriff’s Christmas Angels on so many levels.  Emma and Cole both have wounds and issues, but together they make an amazing couple.  One little girl and her puppy will steal your hearts.  Oh, come on, we know Angel is really Charlie’s and always will be.  Emma and Cole have some hard time to work through but the ending solid relationship will be well worth the anger and tears to get there.

If you’re looking for a solid story that offers some Christmas magic, likable characters and a feeling of watching a miracle unfold… then this is a story you’ll want to pickup to enjoy any time of the year, but especially at Christmas time.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher 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.*

Available for the Kindle