Such a fabulous story this book is. Totally stunning. Two neighbors with terrible childhoods are able to help each other heal. Wonderful..

This is an emotional story of how ones past may influence the future. How scars may carry over from childhood into adulthood and how just maybe love can and will break through that wall to bring one a happiness they truly want and deserve to have. It was interesting to see how the Everett family would react after the death of their father. The three brothers and granddaughter have a lot of healing and hurt feelings to work through if they ever want to be a family. It is also interesting to see what Gray Everett decides to do. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.

If you are looking for a sweet and fun cowboy Christmas romance, look elsewhere. Specifically, I loved Snowbound in Montana and A Bramble House Christmas, both by C.J. Carmichael, Under the Christmas Tree by Robyn Carr, and anything by Carolyn Brown (especially Merry Cowboy Christmas). This was a marriage of convenience book but the marriage didn't happen until the book was halfway over - the two parties talked the marriage to death that it started to feel less like convenience and more like torture. I never warmed up to Gray, either. This just was not lighthearted or fun or romantic . . .

A True Cowboy Christmas comes out TODAY on October 30, 2018, and you can purchase HERE. Hopefully you have better luck with this one than I did!

If this was a preview of what mothering felt like, this unbearable ache for someone else's pain and the knowledge she'd dig it out with her own hands and carry it inside her if she could, if it would make Becca feel better, Abby felt something like seasick. Except far more humbled.

I loved Abby, her inner struggles were so real and her emotional scars were so heartbreaking. The author pulled all the stops with Abby's character and it wasn't hard to find myself rooting for her. Her choices weren't something I would necessarily agree with but understanding Abby and knowing her motives, it was hard to not want her to succeed. I wanted a HEA for her and Gray had the potential to give her everything she wanted if he only opened himself up to the idea. Which is harder than it sounds! I liked that she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself when it came to Gray and she didn't back down when she finally confesses her true feelings for him. This love story really did have a little bit of Christmas magic and left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

If I had to describe Gray in one word, it would be pigheaded. The other brothers, Brady and Ty have their own issues but I had to agree with them (at least partially) when it came to Gray. Such a martyr and so unyielding. Don't get me wrong, he was a great character and his flaws are tied to some deep emotional traumas thanks to their horrible father, but I wish we could have gotten more page time with him and Abby after he finally leaves the past behind. Their relationship was so unconventional and with each of them battling their own doubts, insecurities and fears, the times they were happy together were pretty amazing if a bit scarce. I just wanted to see more of the happy couple after the fact.

Recommendation: I can see many enjoying this one. It was sweet and the drama/angst was perfectly balanced with the message of hope, forgiveness and unconditional love.

This book was really cute. I'm new to this author and though I don't do a lot of cowboy romances this one sounded interesting. When Grey realizes that he is going to die alone and bitter just like his father he knows that he needs to do something fast to prevent that same fate. But he did the marriage route for love once and it didn't work out so now he is going for convenience. He knows that isn't all women's dream but he thinks Abby is just the kind of woman who would appreciate that kind of no nonsense relationship. However little does he know that she has been in love with him for forever. Will that knowledge break their fragile relationship? Find out!

A True Cowboy Christmas is a fantastic story from start to finish, a tale of second chances, hope and trusting in the future.

Gray has had a rough past, his marriage was rocky at best and full of lies. The only good thing to come out of his marriage was his daughter, a child far too old for her years. Combine this with an extremely rough childhood and broken relationships with his siblings, you have a man who finds it hard to open up, hard to trust and someone who no longer believes in love and romance.

His neighbour, Abby, has been in love with him for as long as she can remember. While others ran away from their small home town, she stayed where her heart felt like it belonged and took care of her elderly family (her Mother was always coming and going out of Abby’s life). The two individuals have so much in common in their history but unlike Gray, Abby still hopes for the future and of love that will last.

Gray proposes one of the craziest arrangements ever to Abby – a marriage of almost convenience, she takes care of the home and his daughter and he takes care of the ranch. While it looks great on paper and comes out completely wrong, Abby never the less accepts his proposal and the two stumble down a rocky path of attraction and denial. Abby seems determined to make this work and while Gray is extremely attracted to her, he puts a rock where his heart is and will not let him feel any emotion, which was almost frustrating at times. Every step Abby takes forward with him, he is determined to take the couple two steps back. It isn’t until he is firmly woken up about his behaviour to Abby, his brothers and his daughter, that he is forced to take a step back and look at himself and it was a self he wasn’t happy about but would it be too late, did he ruin things so greatly with the people in his life that matter the most?

This is a lovely story about looking inside of ourselves, having the courage to push past the pain and our past in order to accept a future of love and happiness that we all deserve. Sometimes our past leaves such dark stamps on our lives but we should never allow this to create our future. This is a fantastic story that I could not put down

3.5 stars

Not really a Christmas story, more a somewhat dark story of two people who have been deeply scarred by those who should have been nurturing them but instead caused them to have a distorted view of themselves and the world around them.

In some respects, this story reads as if it was set in a different time - not modern day. The premise of their marriage sounds like an arrangement and, although Abby claims to have been in love with Gray her whole life, it doesn’t feel that way...more like a little girl hero worship from afar. Sadly, Abby’s character comes across as being a doormat to Gray - almost as though any morsel of attention is better than none (again, an understandable consequence of her upbringing but still disappointing that she’s unable to overcome this). And Gray just oozes too much bitterness - especially between his brothers, a lifelong issue.

The ending did not really feel like a HEA which fit, in a way, with the overall darkness to this story. Just not my cuppa.....

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is book 1 in the Cold River Ranch series. It is about Gray Everett and Abby Douglas. Gray has just buried his father and is trying to keep his ranch in the family all while raising his daughter on his own. He doesn't believe in Christmas or anything else to do with the holiday and considers himself a pragmatist. And since he knows he needs help in order to keep everything going and to make sure his daughter has what she needs, he plans to ask his neighbor to marry him and join forces to keep his ranch and her farm in their families. Abby is a down to earth woman who has loved Gray since she was a child even though he has never looked at her twice. So when he proposes to her a marriage of convenience, she can't say no to being able to spend time with him. And even puts some of her own wants out there for so he knows what she expects. But what she never plans on is truly falling for him or having to fight ghosts that still linger and won't let a man move on.

I really liked this book although it started out slow for me. Once you get further into it, it is a good read. Gray is definitely hindered and haunted by the things that happened to him in the past and by the things his father did right up until his death. And it has made him cynical and more like his father than he truly wants to be. Abby is a sweet and gentle woman who has a backbone of steel. She also has bad parent-her mother. This is a woman who I would have loved to be able to smack for the things she still spouts to her daughter and other people. Of course I felt that way about both parents. I really liked how Abby stands up for herself and for how she realizes that she can't force someone to feel the way she does. But by her standing up for herself-she did help Gray realize exactly what was happening to him. And that along with other things force him to make the choice for himself on what he truly wants. And needs. It was a good read and left me wondering more about his brothers as well!

WOW!!! I thoroughly loved reading Gray and Abby’s story in A True Cowboy Christmas by Caitlin Crew, book one in her Cold River Ranch series. Gray is a brooding cowboy with alpha tendencies and set in his ways. With the recent death of his father and now having to share the ranch with his two brothers, Gray just wants to work the land, as he always done, and save the ranch from hungry real-estate investors one of his brothers keeps sending his way. Gray has a teenage daughter and would like a wife to help ease his life. He’s not looking for love, just a partnership; someone practical. There’s only one woman who fits the bell, his next door neighbor Abby. Abby has been secretly in love with Gray for as long as she can remember. She's already seen him marry someone else and although that marriage wasn't perfect, it and did spiral out of control. It's been years since Gray lost his wife and out of the blue Gray turns up on her doorstep to ask her to marry him. Abby never imaged this moment in her wildest dreams and has no idea how to respond. He wants a wife and she can't say no.... not that she's saying yes. If the man of your dreams asks you to marry him for whatever reason, could you really say no? The dream and the reality are about to come head to head.

This book is set at Christmas, a season Abby loves. She is totally into the Christmas spirit of giving and sharing but Gray doesn't even want a tree. Abby is all about adjusting to fit into Gray’s life but she's going to change for him; so she goes ahead and makes the cookies for the people who appreciate them. Marriage is about compromise and acceptance. Abby might not be alpha strong but she definitely makes Gray think.

I loved seeing Abby become more confident as she lived with Gray. Gray started learning to be compassionate and considerate while spending time with Abby after years of verbal abuse from his father. It’s a good match even if there isn’t love, on both sides, as they start married life. It’s interesting how they don't really know each other as well as they should, having lived next door for years so in a sense, this is essentially an arranged marriage. It might be old-fashioned, but it worked in the past so why can't it work now.

Ms. Crew wrote a wonderfully emotional and moving story filled with sexual chemistry, fun dialogue, and endearing characters that is not to be missed. I highly recommend this book to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

I love cowboys. I love holiday books, especially Christmas ones and this one drew me right in. This was my first read by Caitlin and it won't be my last.
This one was a bit odd from the beginning, a sudden marriage proposal from Abby's true love? Hmmmm....ok let's see where that goes. Well it goes! Total opposite of what I was expecting. Gray and Abby were both emotionally wrecked but giving it a go was well worth it. Abby was a bit of a doormat but not overly so where it distracted and took me away from liking her character. Gray was kind of an a** but showed his soft side.
Overall a good read.

4 The Holidays Really Do Bring Magic Stars!!!

What’s better than a first book in a new series by a new to me author that has cowboys and the holidays in it??? Nothing I tell you!! I absolutely fell hook, line and sinker for Gray and Abby and Ms. Crews writing!!

I loved the buildup in this story and the slow burn totally worked for this book and this couple. They’ve known each other for forever, although Abby has had feelings for Gray for most her life so when he suggests they work together to save their land, it’s a no brainer for her…. Even if Gray wasn’t in love with her… a girl can definitely hope and wish that the man she’s always loved, will finally notice her in “that way.”

Along the way, Gray, a man that in my heart I knew wanted to find love so he wouldn’t be like his father, he just thought it wouldn’t happen given his first go-round with love and marriage…hence his daughter Becca. But leave it to Abby to worm her way into his heart and soul. She’s a woman that is good to the highest level. She’s sweet, loves hard and completely and would literally do anything for those that she loves. She steps in as Becca’s step-mom at a time when Becca really needed this woman’s touch and influence. Their relationship was equally as beautiful as watching Gray fall in love with the girl next door!

Their union which started as a business deal turns into so much more and Ms. Crews has given us a story that is captivating drawing us in with her story that really does show that love can conquer all! The characters in this story are so well developed I fell in love with all of them. There’s so much more to come with this series and I’ll be first in line to one-click!!

A True Cowboy Christmas. This story was about Gray Everett, who had to have the most hateful father. Gray loved the ranch but his two brothers moved away. His father has just passed away and has left the ranch to all three sons. The ranch is worth a small fortune if they would sell but Gray wants the legacy of the ranch. He is raising his 15 year old daughter since his wife was killed on the highway on her way to her lover. Abby, his neighbor was raised by her grandparents since her mother didn’t stick around, but she also has been secretly in love with Gray since she was a child. Gray proposes a marriage of convenience to her as he needs someone to help with the ranch and with his teenage daughter. Of course when all this is taking place, he is getting to notice Abby as more than the next door neighbor. It was filled with pain and heartache but also learning to move on from all their issues. I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley for my honest review.

This is my first book by this author and I really liked it! This is Gray and Abby's story. Abby has loved Gray since forever and she has seen him get married and have a child and has quietly kept her love for him hidden. Gray along with his brothers had been hurt by his father, then further disillusioned by his ex. Needless to say, it was going to be a tough hurdle for these two to jump and keep going forward. The setting is Christmas which happens to be one of my favorite holidays and I loved that Abby was sweet and endearing. For me it took a while to warm up to Gray, but I knew he would redeem himself in the end. All in all a great read! 3.5 stars!!

Wow. Just wow. This book gutted me. Especially Abby, but Gray and his daughter Becca contributed to the gutting also. I don’t think there are 3 people who need a hug more than these three.

Abby is quite a few years younger than Gray, so when she first got hearts in her eyes over him she was a 5-year-old, and this 13-year-old young man who helped her seemed a super hero…and out of reach. Gray always seemed out of reach, but that didn’t stop Abby from pining over him. Not in an obvious way. Those closest to her knew her feelings, but it wasn’t common knowledge to the rest of the town. The fact that Abby has a terrible mother who did nothing but squash young Abby’s confidence all through her life, it was no wonder she kept her feeling to herself and never took a chance on getting Gray to notice her.

Turns out, Abby didn’t have to do anything to earn Gray’s notice. It may have taken many years of being casual acquaintances, but once Gray became aware of her that awareness just grew and grew. I can’t blame the guy for taking so long. Abby was still young when Gray entered into his first marriage and had Becca. Unfortunately for them all, that was a terrible marriage and his wife was not a good person. Add to that growing up in the house of an alcoholic jerk and being threatened and belittled his whole life, and it’s no wonder Gray kept to himself and wasn’t too attentive to anything going on outside his ranch and family. He may have been oblivious to Abby, but he was really oblivious to everyone but his daughter and his land.

The way Gray approaches a relationship with Abby is unconventional, to say the least. The man really has no game. He’s blunt and to the point on what he wants and needs, not realizing that you can catch more bees with honey. But, since he does happen to be Abby’s unrequited love, it eventually works. And once the two of them give into what they have decided will be their lives, sparks fly.

I really didn’t expect this story to be so emotional from the description. I thought it would be a fun fake-marriage romp. Boy, was I wrong. There is so much going on in this book, on so many different levels. I can only assume there will be more stories and we’ll learn more about Gray’s brothers because those men ALL have issues. Not to mention that I’d really like to see Abby’s BFFs get their HEAs.

I cannot recommend this story enough. It wasn’t all serious. It had pain and heartache, yes. But it also had joy and chemistry and enlightenment.

I have to mention that I have noticed that a lot of my very favorite authors follow and retweet and comment on tweets from an M Crane/C Crews aka @megancrane a lot. Turns out, she’s Caitlin Crews. So while I was always thinking I had to check out her library some day since I trust the taste of these authors, I read one of her stories without even realizing it at first. Which also means there is a lot out there by this amazing writer that I haven’t read yet. I can’t wait!

I had a hard time getting through this one. I kept putting it down and skimming because I was not a huge fan of Gray. He really irritated the heck outta me quite a bit. There were some parts that I thought dragged on a bit. It’s not a bad story, I think if I wasn’t so irritated with Gray, I may have enjoyed it better.

I just love Cowboy and Christmas stories. So when I saw an email in my inbox about this book I just knew I wanted to read it. It just sounded like the perfect combination of a great read. And I loved the fact that this book was the first in a series.

In ‘A True Cowboy Christmas’ we meet Gray Everett and Abby Douglas. Gray is the oldest Everett brother and has always worked hard to keep the cattle ranch his family has owned for years going. Now his father has died and he is even more determined to work hard and to keep things going. Not only for himself, but also for his daughter. So when Gray looks at Abby, a farm girl who he has known all her life he sees the perfect chance to make his life work even better. Abby has been secretly in love with Gray for years. But he has never even looked at her. So when Gray show’s up at her house with a proposition, she is definitely wondering if the death of his father made him unstable and even a little crazy.

When I just started this book I had a lot of high expectations, and in the first view chapters I was definitely wondering if I didn’t set my expectations to high. This book just didn’t seem as romantic as I thought and hoped it would be. But I was definitely intrigued by this book and I kept going. Thankfully for me this book only got better and better. And I slowly came to love Gary and Abby.

In the beginning I didn’t really like Abby’s character all that much. She just didn’t seem all that interesting and I thought she was wallowing in self-pity way too much. But the more I read about her, the more I became to love her and in the end she was way stronger than I thought she was.
Gray’s character was from the very beginning of this read mysterious and definitely a cowboy you’d like to read about. But there was a lot of hurt and anger in him and I loved reading how he slowly became this ‘better’ person.

Although the Christmas part isn’t really all that present in this book, I definitely loved it. And in the end this book was definitely a perfect Christmas read, with a nice Christmas thought.

‘A True Cowboy Christmas’ is a great first book in a new series. It definitely made me want to keep on reading and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series.

A TRUE COWBOY CHRISTMAS By Caitlin Crews
I had not ever read a book by Caitlin Crews, but this will not be my last. I very much enjoy Cowboy Heroes and their drama. This is the story of Gray Everett, a 38 year old widower and father of a teenage daughter and Abby Douglas, a 30 year old neighbor who has had a secret crush on Gray since she was 15.
We meet Gray when he and his 2 brothers are burying their contankerous, bitter, mean old father. The old man leaves the ranch to all 3 sons but Gray is the only one interested in working the ranch. They want to sell for development. Looking to change things and get a mother for his daughter, Gray asks Abby to marry him. I liked the way they got to know each other. Abby did not give in to everything, she held her ground when it was important to her.
This was a very well written story, with very fleshed out characters. Since this is book 1, I am looking to get book 2 when it's available.

3.5 Stars

This was my first time reading a book by Caitlin Crews but I'm happy to report that I enjoyed the book and would definitely read something else from her.
Every fall/winter I become obsessed with reading cowboy/rancher romances because I really just need those feel-good stories and there is something about the idea of the characters working hard in the winter and then finding love to warm them up from the cold. I often find myself resorting to falling in love with the stereotypical mans man and the woman who is strong enough to take them on and soften them up. I think that this story fit that idea really well...almost too well. I found myself very frustrated with Gray and his idea of what marriage should be and his obsession with not becoming his dad, and then doing exactly that. While I'm normally all for a stubborn, broken man who shows his softer side when the right person comes into his life, I think I actually found Gray too stubborn and too uptight. I ended up loving him and the idea of him and Abby together but frankly for a majority of the story I just didn't understand why Abby put up with him.

A love-from-afar story where the heroine is willing to seemingly settle is what I thought at first when I began reading A True Cowboy Christmas by Caitlin Crews. The first of the Cold River Ranch Series is a Christmas story with heart but also with grit. Life has been hard and Gray, the main male character, comes across as hard too. His pragmatic nature and brooding personality hid some of his wonderful qualities, such as his determination to be a better man than his late father.

Gray Everett, I understood, with his ranch concerns, his daughter, and his past, it was easy for me to see why he tried to close himself off while also trying to do what is right. Abby Douglas, the neighbor that had been in love with Gray forever, not so much. She is a marvelous character but one that needed more back bone earlier.

The plot is well structure with the dual POVs which was great. The story flows, never getting bogged down when the past comes up. However, it is the conclusion that stands out to me, wonderful.

Who doesn't love a good cowboy romance!

I'm a sucker for a good cowboy romance, especially when it's holiday themed. And, since I'd never read Caitlin Crews before, I figured I'd give A True Cowboy Christmas, book one in the Cold River Ranch series, a shot.

My heart immediately went out to Gray. Burying his father and raising his daughter all alone, Gray had a lot going on in his life. Toss in two brothers who didn't see or feel things as Gray did towards their father, and well, it didn't take long to realize that trouble was ahead. That trouble turned into a quick marriage proposal to the lifelong friend/neighbor, Abby.

I have to be honest here and admit that I struggled with the first half of the story. Not so much the story itself, but the writing seemed a bit 'wordy' at times. I enjoyed the dialogue between the characters and felt it was very engaging, but when it came to book matter, I got lost in some of the long-worded paragraphs. It just seemed a bit much, that the author took the long road to make a point when she could have gotten her point across in a much smoother, flowing sentence structure. Again, this is my opinion, but I felt it took away from being able to really enjoy it completely.

Crews's perspective within the story is what really pulled me through to the end. Things weren't always smooth between Gray and Abby, so I was eager to see how everything was going to play out between them. I liked that the author themed this around Christmas, as it gave it that extra touch.

Overall, I did enjoy the story and it did have it's emotional ups and downs, which I thoroughly enjoy. It just took some getting used to the authors style of writing.

***ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.