What a treat! Three Western and Christmas themed novellas in one package made me a happy camper. You could, like me, parcel them out and read one a day (or over several days) or sit down for one big long read- and either way works. Sometimes you don't get a good sense of characters in a novella because it's short but Thomas, Lovelace, and Dunn clearly and carefully created people you will root for. Tapper and Carolina are on a journey with little girls, Benjamin helps Josie with all the problems she's facing on her ranch, and Clint and Amelia- well Yellow Fever is a terrible thing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I liked all three equally, although each will no doubt have its fans.

Father Goose
by Jodi Thomas

Father Goose by Jodi Thomas was heartwarming. A lone cowboy wins a job to escort 5 little girls home for Christmas in a poker game. The job pays $500, but is highly dangerous. The girls’ father is a wealthy general, and they’ll be targets.

A young woman escaping an unhappy life dresses as a widow and offers her services as a caretaker. Together, they make it through danger and have adventures. Will they make it home by Christmas?

Content: clean, aside from a boob grab. No swearing.
4 stars

The Mistletoe Promise
by Sharla Lovelace

Oh my goodness. This story was overflowing with melodramatic angst. It was pretty bad. The sexy times weren’t very tasteful. I don’t think this author is my cup of tea.

Content: mild language, fairly explicit sex scene and comments.
2 stars

Christmas Road
by Scarlett Dunn

This was a warm & fuzzy story about a cowboy who falls for a woman and her two little girls. The bad guys weren’t very well thought out. The ending was a spectacular cheese festival!

Content: clean, no swearing. A couple of bible verses, but no religion.
3 stars.

This was a lovely series set of novellas that all have to do with an attractive and kind-hearted cowboy who is able to win the heroine as well as take the actions to bring about a merry Christmas and HEA for everyone. I especially enjoyed the first and third stories.

Jodi Thomas is one of my very favorite writers. She has a real skill in portraying lonely people finding and developing feelings for each other. In this story, a wandering veteran from the Civil War finds himself charged with taking five adorable sisters and a lovely widow across Texas. The girls will win your heart in this one.

In the third story, there are another cute set of children and a romance that develops with another Civil War veteran and lovely widow.

I haven’t read many romances taking place in a post-War Texas. It was an interesting setting that I enjoyed visiting.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

This is a wonderful and heartwarming collection of three stories about cowboys who save Christmas. I loved these stories so much and was a little sad when each story ended, especially the first one Father Goose by Jodi Thomas. This story is about a cowboy/gambler who wins a delivery job at a card game. The job is to deliver five little girls to their father at their ranch near Dallas, TX. His job is to get them there in one piece and by Christmas and he will receive $500. Trapper meets the girls and their travelling companion at the boat dock and as he is realizing that he cannot do this trip alone, a young "widow" woman volunteers to travel with him and help. These little girls stole my heart and I loved reading about all the adventures this group had.
The next story is The Mistletoe Promise by Sharla Lovelace and it is about a young woman who five years ago had fallen in love with one of her father's ranch hands only to find out that he was not only the neighbor's nephew, but that he had been hired to find the person stealing from her father's ranch and as if that wasn't enough, just as he is proposing to her, his ex-fiancée shows up pregnant demanding that he marry her. As Josie is fixing to leave the party, she discovers that Ben's uncle has keeled over dead and so now Ben owns the ranch. Fast forward and Ben is now a widower with a young daughter and Josie is about to lose the ranch that she loves and that her father left to her. She goes to Ben's Christmas party in hopes of finding a wealthy man to marry who will still allow her to be tomboy/ rancher that she is, unfortunately her prospects do not look promising. Can Ben prove to Josie that he has never stopped loving her and that he would do anything to fulfill the promise he started to make five years ago? Will Josie forgive Ben and let love back in to her heart?
The last book is the Christmas Promise by Scarlett Dunn and it is about a cowboy who learns that while he has been travelling and searching for healing that most of his family has died from yellow fever and that his mom is trying to hold on until she can see him one last time and that a neighbor, Amelia is taking care of her. As Clint nears home he runs into a father and his two sons who are leaving his hometown to escape the fever and to go search for gold. Upon his arrival at home, Clint finds the house empty and believes that his mother has died and in her Bible he finds a note imploring him to find Amelia. When Clint finds Amelia near where he left the father and two little boys, he learns that not only is she a widow with two little girls, but that his mother might not be dead after all. Clint's heart is as big as the great outdoors and he keeps reminding everyone about the magic of Christmas. Read the story to see just how much magic this Christmas holds for everyone in La Grange.
Thanks to NetGalley, the Authors and the publisher for allowing me to read and ARC of this book. The above is my freely given review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. The three short stories by Jodi Thomas, Sharla Lovelace and Scarlett Dunn took place in Texas during Christmas. I enjoyed all three stories which put me in the Christmas spirit.

I love Jodi Thomas's books and this one did not disappoint. If you like western romances and Christmas books this one is for you. I enjoyed all 3 of the stories in this book.

Three feel good stories that center around Christmas. Jodi Thomas; Sharla Lovelace; Scarlett Dunn each take a different slant on having their characters get to their HEA's and each is fun to read. I loved Thomas's story with the young girls who really take over the tale. It was my favorite but I liked them all. A nice set of stories to read while having to stay at home.

Jodi Thomas story Father Goose was amazing. I love her historical western stories All three great up beat Christmas stories. They are all western themed. All taking place in the 1860’s. I will recommend them.

Three traditional western romance stories, around the theme of Christmas. These sweet stories are bound to give you a smile. Despite being short stories each one managed to give a solid connection to the characters and the setting. There's a common theme of brave men, strong women and the season of joy that brings the three stories together.

I love a good Christmas story year round. From getting into the spirit of the season around the holidays or just a mental break from the heat if the summer, stories like these always put me in a good place.

3 nice stories to help get in the holiday mood. I have read Jodi Thomas before and enjoyed the story of Trapper and Emery taking 5 girls to Dallas for Christmas, The other authors were new to me, but enjoyed both stories as well.

Three sweet stories to get you in the Christmas spirit. Jodi Thomas always delivers, my favorite of the 3. Another feel good story. Sharla Lovelace and Scarlett Dunn are new authors to me. I did enjoy their stories.....all a typical down and out characters that find the Christmas spirit. Fast read and of course there is a happily ever after.

A fine collection of historical Texas Christmas stories. Jodi Thomas has a charming set of intrepid young ladies who are very capable. Sharla Lovelace writes of of second chances. And Scarlett Dunn has a timely story about living through hardship and coming home..

Thomas, Lovelace, and Dunn have provided three cowboy quicks. Short novellas but complete stories without the added pages of a regular book. Each story is set in the old west when villains, ruffians, and outlaws roamed and where gallant, tough, hardy cowboys protected what was theirs. Readers will melt with each hero and cheer him on as he wins his lady. All are heartwarming and will set the glow of holidays spirits.

Three short stories that I enjoyed very much. A pleasant way to read even when you are short on time.

A nice collection of stories featuring two of my favorite things to read about- cowboys and Christmas! The first story was my favorite with a heartwarming plot as Trapper and Carolina risk their lives for a better life through escorting five hardy girls across the wilderness as kidnappers attempt to take them for ransom. Vibrant personalities and selfless attitudes made the characters so enjoyable.

The other two stories were okay but some of the characters bothered me so I had a harder time feeling the holiday spirit.

(I received a complimentary copy of the book; all opinions expressed in this review are my own)

I completely enjoyed this book and all 3 stories contained in it.

Father Goose by Jodi Thomas was a great read that pulled me in from the beginning and kept me interested all the way through. Our hero has lost all of his family in the war and has been wondering for a while, trying to decide what to do with his life. When he accepts a job getting five daughters home to their father for Christmas, it really gets interesting. His takes along, who he believes to be a widow, to help him with the children. We soon learn that our heroine is not a widow, but a young woman leaving a poor life behind. The 5 little girls are the best, and the way that Thomas wrote the book, we are able to experience each girl's personality. And you fall a little in love with each one. I expected that when the girls were delivered to their father, we would find a cold, unfeeling man. I was very pleasantly surprised to instead find a loving and worried father. The characters are well developed and easy to relate to. I would absolutely recommend this novella and author to others.

The Mistletoe Promise by Sharla Lovelace was also a very good read. After Josie's father dies, she deals with blow after blow in taking care of and keeping her father's cattle ranch running. Nothing has worked. She is now at the point where she finds a rich husband or loses her ranch. Enter a former love of Josie's and her next door neighbor Ben Mason. He's always been in love with Josie, but life and unforeseen circumstances have torn them apart. It's a struggle for Josie to accept Ben's help and trust in him again. I could empathize with the feelings of failure and doubt on Josie's part and the frustration on Ben's part. In a time when women were not always given enough credit, Josie exemplifies a strong female, while showing her softer side to Ben. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Christmas Road by Scarlett Dunn was a very interesting read. Our hero, Clint, receives a letter from his mother, asking him to come home, as Yellow Fever has hit his hometown terribly and has taken the life of his father and siblings. Clint races home to be by his mother's side as she fights the fever., but only finds a note from her asking that he find and help her caregiver, Amelia. Assuming the worst about his mother, Clint sets out to fulfill what he believes to be her last wish. He soon makes friends with former neighbors who are willing to help him, as well as finds Amelia. However, she is not alone. As they make plans to return to their hometown, Amelia falls ill. Clint cares for Amelia and gets her back home, to be cared for by the doctor. This book had a few surprises that drew me in and kept me reading. In the world we are living in right now, with the Virus, learning about Yellow Fever and Influenza was very interesting. I would recommend this book to those who love a good historical romance.

I enjoyed this anthology of three stories set in Texas in the 19th century after the end of the Civil War. All of the stories have the common theme that they take place just before Christmas, have cowboy heroes, brave women in need of help, and children. The first and third stories were my favorites.

Jodi Thomas outdid herself with her story, Father Goose. I adored her cowboy, the five little girls he was hired to escort to their home for Christmas, and the desperate young woman he hired to look after them on their journey. He assigned the girls a number in order of age, so spent the entire journey calling them One, Two, Three, Four and Five. I've rarely seen so many likeable, vivid characters in a story. It was even better after he got the girls back to their home.

The second story is The Mistletoe Promise by Sharla Lovelace. Josie Bancroft was left to run the ranch after the death of her father. She is on the verge of losing the ranch, and is desperately trying to find a way to keep it without the help of a man who had let her down years before. I could feel her heartache, courage and desperation in this story. This is a second chance romance.

The Christmas Road was written by Scarlett Dunn. There is an epidemic of yellow fever in Texas, and people who can leave have been fleeing towns where there is a lot of the sickness. Clint rushes home when he receives a letter from his mother with the news that there have been deaths in their family, and that she is also sick. He finds his mother's house empty and a new grave in the cemetery. She also asked him in her letter to help the woman who had nursed her. So Clint leaves on this mission, and finds more than he'd bargained for. I enjoyed this story immensely, as there were so many vivid characters. I had never heard of the yellow fever epidemics in Texas, particularly the devastating one in 1867, just a couple of years after the end of the Civil War.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for allowing me to read an advance reading copy of this book. These are my honest opinions of the book.

- FATHER GOOSE by Jodi Thomas -

I am a huge fan of Jodi's historical western romances, so I couldn't resist reading this novella. Even though I usually like my historical romances to be long, I thought Jodi did a great job in introducing and making me feel a connection with the characters. Trapper and Emery were great main characters, and I also absolutely loved the five girls that Trapper was in charge of getting home safely. Their personalities were so unique and I enjoyed getting to know them better on the trip to Dallas. All five of them were so different and surprised me in how capable and courageous they were for their ages. This story felt like a full-length novel, and the only thing that was missing in my opinion was an epilogue.

- THE MISTLETOE PROMISE by Sharla Lovelace -

This book is a second-chance historical western romance. I loved that the author included flashbacks to when the main characters Josie and Ben first met and how their relationship developed, because it helped me in connecting with the characters better. It was heartbreaking in seeing how they broke up and lost contact, because it was obvious that they were still in love with each other. I would've loved for this book to be full-length because it felt a bit rushed at times. I still enjoyed it and like with the previous story I was hoping for an epilogue.

- CHRISTMAS ROAD by Scarlett Dunn -

Another great Christmas story with very likable characters. Clint was an honorable and strong hero that did everything he could and even went out of his way to help the people around him. Amelia was a caring heroine and even though she already had suffered some hardships, did her best to take care of her sick neighbor. I loved all the side-characters and the interaction between Clint and Amelia. This was a nice and sweet Christmas story.

Anthologies can be hit-and-miss. I often find that I like one story but others are weak; rarely do I enjoy every story in the volume. This time, though, I did!

Each of the heroes is a cowboy, the wounded kind that make women who read romances swoon just a bit. Each of the heroines is feisty and willing to make sacrifices to get what she wants. Each story includes cute kids that are fairly well-written, not too precocious, and that make sense to the story. While the first story, Jodi Thomas' "Father Goose" could have taken place at any time of year, Christmas played an intrinsic role in the stories. These are nice, clean, feel-good reads, and are an enjoyable escape for a few hours. I'd definitely recommend this pleasant surprise.