Member Reviews

Darla is a widow who still can't get over her husband's loss ten years ago, she has a chocolate and wine shop and has many loyal friends who believe she has already gotten over that trauma. One of them is in serious trouble after they lost their coffee to the fire and Darla came up with a plan to raise money to help them. To do this she needs that Ty, the city's single and beautiful cowboy, accepts posing for a calendar and convince his famous brother to do the same.

Problem is, Ty doesn't want to involve his brother and family in his life, but he accepts the idea because he likes Darla and wants to help his friends, too. Because of this they pretend to be engaged until the festival happens. What they did not expect was that they would develop feelings for each other.

With light and fun writing, Sara Richardson creates a beautiful and exciting love story that talks about how people can move on after a loss and find love again, about acceptance, resilience, family love, and friendship.

Lovely!

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A Cowboy For Christmas is the sixth book in Sara Richardson's Rocky Mountain Riders series. If you've read the previous books, you'll enjoy catching up with the prior couples in this series. If you haven't, no problem! This one stands alone perfectly. It's a great book to help you get into the holiday spirit, which is quickly approaching.

When the popular restaurant her friends own burns to the ground close to Christmas, Darla Michaels decides to organize a Christmas cowboy festival to help them out. She ropes in all her friends to assist, including bull rider Ty Forrester. Ty is her "friend with benefits"; they decide to pretend to be engaged so Ty's family, including his NFL superstar brother Rhett, will come, as he will be a big draw for the bachelor auction. Their plan is working, until Ty wants something more than fake, and Darla is running scared. Can they pull this off?

This fun and frothy holiday romance has some serious undertones to give it depth. Darla was widowed ten years ago but keeps it to herself, going as far as sneaking out of town to attend grief support meetings. She does not want to let anyone in very close and has no desire to love again...it hurt too much to lose her beloved husband and doesn't want to open herself up to the pain of losing another again. Then there's Ty, who has family issues. He has always been in competition with his brother, and he believes his parents chose his brother over him. Why else would they go to Rhett's games, but would never attend any of HIS competitions? Ty learns that not all is as it appears. The family dynamics here were really touching, and Ty's mother is a hoot. When Darla and Ty discover something special between them, will Darla keep running from her heart? Visit lovely Topaz Falls and experience the laughter and tears this holiday story invokes.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

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The last book in the series so I had to read the other books first to get a feel for all of the characters. Darla has a secret, not a deep dirty one but one that she doesn’t need pity for. 10 years since her husband died and some years she has been going to a bereavement group.......her secret. As she struggles to still come to terms with his death, she receives a letter written by him from her mother in law. Upset and trying to cope she shuts her heart off from finding love again. Ty is a rodeo rider and is back in town but he doesn’t want to see his family. After being with Darla they come up with a scheme to raise money for friends.....invite his brother over. As they get closer Darla gets scarred and there is an added surprise for them both. Will Darla follow her heart and open it up again for love???? A new author to me and I binge read the other books before this one so I could have the story of the characters. It’s a pity it’s finished.

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I am loving Christmas books right now! I enjoyed this one from beginning to end. Ty and Darla were a great pair and I loved the fake relationship aspect. This was low drama and a definite feel good holiday story!

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Sara Richardson is a name I have seen before but A Cowboy for Christmas is the first I have read written by her. This story takes place in the generous community of Topaz Falls. When a café is destroyed because of fire, the community rallies to help rebuild. Darla Michaels is at the helm of the Cowboy Christmas Festival, rodeo and bachelor auction. Bull rider, Ty Forrester joins forces with her.

This is a caring community with characters that were engaging. That doesn’t mean to say that the characters don’t have problems. Darla is wary because of something in the past, Ty has feelings of inferiority within his family. So this makes for a realistic and believable story of two people gaining more while trying to help out someone else. I will admit that while the whole fake engagement is crucial to the story it did seem to be going overboard to me. It does keep the story interesting while also keeping the two characters in constant contact.

An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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When the Farm Cafe burns down Darla comes up with the plan of helping her friend by getting a bachelor auction and a rodeo to bring in money. Thing is she needs to pretend to be engaged to her friends with benefit, Ty, so that he can bring his family and NFL player brother to draw people to coming to the festivities. Ty isn't thrilled with the arrangement but he did lie to his parents about being engaged and will tolerate his brother for the sake of a friend. They never expected for feelings to start arising.

I love a good western contemporary romance and this book was perfect for me. Thing is I completely forgotten that this book was set during Christmas time. There really wasn't much in the way to show that this book as in the holidays so it slipped my mind. So if you are here looking to see if there is any christmas spirit to be found to get you in the festive mood I wouldn't recommend this but if you are here for an interesting set of characters and romance then your in the right place. I enjoyed seeing the chemistry between the characters, and one of the things that were happening to one of the characters I could guess what was up a mile away. I thought it was interesting seeing the brother dynamics between Ty and his bother and kinda felt bad on how their relationship was. Then there was the whole lying its bound to blow up in their faces and I was curious how that would go down. I enjoyed the romance and seeing how this book played out. Overall great book I enjoyed it.

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I started off needing tissues while I was reading. There are a few emotional scenes in the book. Darla is a widow, who is still grieving. Ty, is a bronc rider, who's in love with Darla. Friends facing a crisis bring them together as well as.the town. My heart ached for Darla and Ty. Rhett, arghh! I didn't want to leave

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A story that opens with the Topaz Falls café burning down. Darla Michaels wants to help her friends in rebuilding so she comes up with a cowboy Christmas festival, with a calendar, a cowboy auction and then a rodeo. She is looking for help from her friend and bull rider Ty Forrester for his brother Rhett is a pro football player and she knows that they will get more exposer that way. Not agreeing with her at first she finds out why and then agrees to be his fake fiancé. What no one knows and Ty finds out later is she was married before and has been a widow for ten years, but as Ty sees past all of that the more he becomes attached to Darla the more scared she becomes. Scared of losing someone again and everything begins to unravel. There are some surprises that are very nice and for the most part, you don’t even know that this story is a Christmas story until the auction. Overall a very good book.

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I’ve been waiting for Ty and Darla to get their HEA for the last couple books. Older heroine: check. Younger hero: check. Two people afraid to let go: check, check. Richardson did not disappoint with this last installment of the Topaz Falls books. It was the perfect snowy day read.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.

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What a sweet, wonderful, heartfelt story! This is one of those stories that fills you up with goodness and makes you smile because of the genuinely nice characters. A heartwarming read for sure!

I really liked both Darla and Ty, learning about their relationship and watching their attraction grow. They had great chemistry, I felt for both of them as I learned about their pasts and was rooting for them to get together. Ty was so sweet and he had this strong, sexy cowboy vibe happening I really liked. I liked Darla and felt for her and how she fought to move on from past hurts.

There are a lot of fun things happening with a mix of different tropes. There’s a small-town romance, friends to lovers, fake fiancé, and a certain surprise happening. From the synopsis, I deduced just what that surprise aspect was and thought it was a sweet addition. I really liked the fake fiancé element happening and watching their feelings grow and as they deal with issues from their past.

The writing was really good with nice details. The story jumps right in, laying everything out so the reader could get to the good stuff. I enjoyed the dual POVs and the build to the story. I felt this was a pretty easy read for the most part. Pretty light in the drama department, with a lot of emotion happening, as well as some really awesome entertaining moments. This is a low heat kind of book but with everything else happening and all the feelings building, I didn't really miss i

The takeaway for me is that it was just downright entertaining and sweet, it made me happy to read as people dealt with their issues and opened their hearts and healed. If you need a feel-good story that will warm your heart and leave you smiling, this is it!

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Even though this is the 6th book in her Rocky Mountain Riders series it can be read as a stand alone. Darla is a widow who comes up with an idea to help her community when the town cafe burns to the ground. Her plan to get the funds to help rebuild is to have a bachelor auction & rodeo. She enlists the help of Ty who is a cowboy in their town. He agrees to help her, if she'll pretend to be his fiance while his family visits. This is such a sweet story and it was nice to see the walls Darla built around herself ever since her husband passed away slowly crumble. This is such a charming town with wonderful characters.

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I love the Rocky Mountain Riders series, and this addition did not disappoint!

When the beloved cafe in Topaz Falls burns down Darla is eager to come up with a plan to help her good friends rebuild the cafe. She decides on a Christmas Festival that will have a rodeo and a bachelor auction. She enlists her good friend Ty to help pull it all together. She tries to get Ty to bring his professional football playing brother to come to town and participate in the bachelor auction hoping it would help raise more money to help rebuild the cafe.

There is only one catch she will have to pretend to be engaged to Ty while his family is in town. Ty telling his family he is engaged is the only way he feels he can get them to come to Topaz Falls for the holidays. He feels the fake engagement should not be such a problem seeing as he has developed feelings for Darla, he is just hoping he does not get hurt in the process.

Will Darla develop feelings for Ty during the fake engagement. Will Ty end up telling everyone the truth.

*** Advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review. ***

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A Cowboy for Christmas brings charm to chaos. Whether laughing your head off or crying your heart out, Richardson never ceases to deliver perfection. When two good-hearted people find themselves in over their heads and close to losing their hearts, it will take a bit of small town meddling to get them back on course. Darla and Ty are adorably, clueless. Caught up in the craziness, will they lose their chance at forever? Richardson blends old friends with new drama and delivers irresistible fun.

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ARC for honest review with no compensation received from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press 4.5 stars

A Cowboy for Christmas is book 6 in Rocky Mountain Riders series by Sara Richardson. This is a new to me author and will certainly be checking out the other books in this series!

Darla Michaels a widow who is still mourning her husband after 10 years and chocolate and wine bar owner is determined to raise funds for her friend who’s cafe burns down. She decides to host a Cowboy Christmas Festival and a cowboy bachelor auction enlisting the help of Ty Forrester, his single cowboys friends, the town folk...and she becomes “fake” engaged to Ty in order to get his NFL brother to appear in live auction...

Ty Forrester, bull rider, broody cowboy who has always felt like he is second best to his brother the NFL Star...which has lead to a strained relationship with his parents. He tells his family he can’t come home for Christmas because he is “fake” engaged and she can’t leave her chocolate and wine bar...

What happens next will keep you turning the pages, attraction, friends to more, healing, moving on, repairing family dynamics and maybe finding their HEA...

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This cowboy romance was a long time coming. This is one that has been hinted at throughout the series. These characters were long overdue for their love story, and it was really nice to see. I'm a little disappointed that it took the pregnancy route to tell it, but with the age of our main female lead, I understand why that choice was made. I did truly enjoy my read, and being back in this small town.
I need to get to more of the back log of this series though! I've only read a couple.

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Received in exchange for a honest review.

I loved this book. I especially love Ty. He isn’t perfect but he doesn’t say he is. He doesn’t go around flaunting his success in the rodeo and he doesn’t act like he is more than he is. He is a hardworking man who wants a quiet life. It isn’t until Darla comes into his world that he realizes he wants more. He wants someone by his side and it is Darla he wants. He doesn’t realize this until they start to fake being engaged and he gets to know her. Really know her. He is a great guy and kind to boot so she could do a lot worse.

Darla is trying to get over a loss of a loved one still. Even if it has been 10 years she still is trying to go on. She doesn’t want more and doesn’t want anyone knowing her past. She also has friends who need her help as they also need Ty’s and the communities. To get this Ty’s brother is needed as is Ty but Ty has a secret as well. One Darla doesn’t really like but agrees to because of the future outcome. Her kindness and generous heart outweighs the consequences. The consequences of losing her heart to the sexy kind caring cowboy that is Ty. He is such a quiet and supportive prescence. So what happens? Their attraction shines through and the do fall in love but we have bumps along the way and Darla’s fear almost takes away what she can have. A life filled with happiness and love. Ty is so understanding and caring. He was willing to give up so much for her and yet she was going to give up out of fear. Good thing she realizes things before it’s to late.

the story is sexy, fun and whimsical at times. We see Darla and Ty go from mere attraction to friends and more. They learn about one another and become each other’s support systems. Darla helps Ty deal with his feelings towards his brother and how hurt he is by his family’s actions over the years and Ty helps Darla move on and move forward. They help one anther find happiness and peace but also love and happiness with one another. A great christmas tale full of love, friendship,family, giving and hope.

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A Cowboy for Christmas is a heartwarming holiday read. It is a second chance at love story. It has wonderful characters and a well written storyline. I can't wait to read what this talented author writes next.

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Cowboys romance and Christmas this boom cannnot get any better I loved it I read it so fast and quick I was sad that it was over and I want to re read it

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A Cowboy for Christmas is a delightful romance between two characters around 40 years old. At times I thought the characters were acting younger than their age. I could relate to Darla’s fear of letting someone close after losing her first husband to cancer. Both characters were relatable and the sexual tension between the two had that will they or won’t they thing going on. The climax was a little weak for me but I enjoyed the book nonetheless. It was a lovely read.

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A very well written book with all the passion and chemistry that I loved.! New to this author and will definitely keep a lookout for her!

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