First I have to say, I was a huge fan of the Moose Springs Alaska Series. I fell in love with the characters, and couldn’t wait to read her next book. It’s been a few years, and let me tell you… SHE IS BACK!

This book starts with an ad in the local paper, “Husband for Hire” posted as joke for Sienna on the day of her divorce being finalized by her best friend. She runs into people in town getting a good chuckle out of the prank, but Sienna finds out that there is someone interested in the job. Guy Maple, a single father to Emma who has stage five kidney disease, shows up for an interview not only wanting the job but needing it as times are financially really difficult while his daughter is very sick. He finds out that the ad that declared there was also insurance included in the job was just a prank. Sienna touched by his story promises if she can find anyone in town that needs help, she will reach out to Guy. That night she can’t get his daughter off her mind, and she decides she wants to help. She proposes a fake marriage, so she can add them to her insurance to help Emma through all her appointments. This is where the story really begins.
Sarah Morgenthaler brings raw vulnerability to the characters and you can’t help but find yourself getting emotionally attached to them as well. She brings a whole town and ex husband to life as if you are right there with them. One of my favorite lines is when Guy promises he will be a good husband and wont cheat but he can’t promise he will love her, when they decide to get married. The journey of the three of them is heartwarming and heartbreaking throughout but even during the toughest of times they are able to find moments of joy together. I loved the vulnerability we see in Guy, but he’s also tough, hard working, protective, and overall just a nice guy that you can’t help but fall in love with him too.

Side note: A lot of this takes place on a ranch and all of you who are into the cowboy romances right now will enjoy the vibes of this one as well.

The Christmas You Found Me
By Sarah Morgenthaler
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages: 304
Pub Date: September 24, 2024

Big thank you to @sourcebookscasa , @sarahmorgenthaler.author, and @netgalley for the advanced copy to read. All opinions are mine.

When a friend posts a want ad seeking a husband for ranch owner Sienna Naples, her small town enjoys the joke; not so much Sienna. Her ex had taken almost everything from her, but she still has her health insurance and her father’s ranch. Not realizing the ad was a joke, construction worker Guy Maples arrives in town with his young daughter Emma. Emma has stage-five kidney disease and the ad had mentioned health insurance which they didn’t have. Explaining that the ad had been a joke, by her friend, was a difficult conversation for Sienna. Later, she couldn’t quit thinking of what insurance would mean for them and she knew that if she were to marry, she could cover her new husband and child on her policy. As they share her home, Sienna gains so much respect for the many struggles that he and Emma have gone through to try to maintain her health while praying for a transplant. Will they receive the call they are waiting for and will there be a chance for a real marriage and the love they both deserve? A heartfelt and beautiful story! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (paytonpuppy)

The first book I read this year is The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morgenthaler which comes out today!

I'm so excited that Sarah is back! I adored her Moose Springs series and I loved this book which is the first in the Heart of the Wilderness series. This book was a little heavier but is written so well that you can't help but fall in love with this book and these characters.

Following her divorce, Sienna's best friend puts up ads all over their small town with her looking for a husband for hire. Single father Guy sees it and he's willing to marry a stranger to help her daughter get a new kidney. On an impulse, Sienna decides to marry him. Will this marriage of convenience turn real?

This was such a sweet story (even if a little insta-romancy) but full of complex emotions around loss, hope, love and family. I fell in love with the town and I can't wait for the next book! This had the right amount of holiday magic and I can't wait for more people to read this!

Put The Christmas You Found Me at the top of your 2024 holiday romance list!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Casa for my advanced copy. So much love to Sarah Morgenthaler 💓

Oh, my heart after this book.

Confession #1: I don’t read holiday stories. I find them trite and silly. They usually make me feel more bah humbug than fa la la la la. If I do get sucked into one, I absolutely won’t read it until after the Thanksgiving meal is over and everything is clean up.

Confession #2: I don’t read marriage of convenience stories. There’s just very little reason why that storyline makes sense in today’s day and age.

BUT…

When I get approved for a Sarah Morgenthaler ARC, and the publisher wants reviews posted no later than one month past publication date, I am willing to ignore EVERYTHING. In fact, I dropped EVERYTHING and dove in. And I am so glad I did because The Christmas You Found Me was an absolutely delightful story I couldn't put down.

Sienna’s divorce papers are freshly signed when a friend places an ad around all the local stores in their small town - “Husband for Hire.” Not realizing the ad is a joke, Guy Maples earnestly applies for the job, which offers health insurance - something he desperately needs for his four year old daughter who has stage-five chronic kidney disease. Not wanting to put Guy out on the street and risk sweet Emma not getting the treatment she needs, Sienna proposes a marriage of purpose to Guy.

Next thing Sienna knows, she’s a married woman again with a little girl sleeping in the room next to hers and a handsome man sleeping on the couch downstairs. As Sienna and Guy work together as a family, their feelings grow, all while hoping for a Christmas Miracle for Emma.

Based on the synopsis alone, I shouldn’t have liked this story. It has all the markings of a cheesy Hallmark movie that doesn’t appeal to my cold, cynical holiday heart. But I loved everything about this story. Sarah Morgenthaler’s writing is superb - from the world and character building, to the fantastic dialogue, this story is heartfelt and heartwarming. There was just enough humor to balance the serious situations. I loved the small town charm and how even in the hard times, there was goodness and a sense of hope. With a TBR list longer that could wrap around my house, twice, I will definitely read this one again in December.

Three and a half years ago, at the height of Ms. Morgenthaler’s success with her first three-book series (Moose Springs, which I THOROUGHLY enjoyed - I loved reading the books, but highly recommend the audiobooks!) and right after announcing a new four book series, she lost her husband in a motorcycle accident. My heart absolutely broke for her and I wondered if she’d ever write again - after all, how can you write fun, happy, rom coms with a happily ever after when yours has been so tragically ripped from you? (Oh wait…that’s literally the premise of 50% of all romance books.) I hoped the publisher would give Sarah the time she needed to heal if she even did, in fact, come back to writing romance. When I first saw on social media that Sarah was writing again and had a new book coming out, I was SO happy for her. But then really, really happy for her readers. I can confidently report, with resounding enthusiasm, Sarah Morgenthaler is BACK and her writing is still brilliant, still fun, still reaches in and touches your heart. The Christmas You Found Me is the early holiday gift I didn’t even know I needed!

* thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I’m a fan of this author’s and have enjoyed all of her previous novels. Their light-hearted humor and sweet small town romances were easy to read and totally enjoyable. The Christmas You Found Me has the same sweet small town, and there is some light-hearted humor but this story has a lot more depth and feeling than her previous novels. The story was rich, moving, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with all the characters. Yes, it was a little insta-love, but the fact that this family needed each other so much was really moving and Emma’s story in particular was heart-breaking and imbued the book with love. At the end of the book was an author’s note about Sarah Morgenthaler’s husband dying suddenly and the tough time she’s had that made this shift in emotional content make complete sense and hopefully was cathartic. I know it made me feel all sorts of things both comfortable and uncomfortable and I really appreciated the journey.

There were so many things I loved about this book. I liked that Sienna was recovering from a horrible divorce and that this small family’s need filled her heart. I liked that Guy and Emma were puzzle pieces that fit into Sienna’s life right from the start but that the story moved slowly so that you could really feel all the emotions this author put into the plot. There were quirky townies that hopefully will get their own stories, and plenty of small town feel for those of you who love those small town romances. This novel was different but hit all the right notes. I really liked it.

This was both heart warming and wrenching. I would have appreciated a trigger warning for the religious/god content. I don't recall her other books having much of that.

This was everything to want in a holiday read and the bonus was the single parent trope! Sienna is newly divorced and after her friend puts an AD in the paper saying she’s seeking husband she meets Guy. Guy has a four year-old daughter in kidney failure and no insurance. Here enters a marriage of convenience. I do love this trope but it has to be done really well and it was done beautifully in this book. These characters captured my heart. I loved that this was light with heavy topics. This is a great book for anyone that loves a book about found family and Christmas!

Wow! Just absolutely stunning! Beautifully written, and utterly touching. I’m not emotional, not a crier when reading or watching anything, and she had me sobbing the last quarter (or so) of this really special story. I’m not saying happy or sad tears because you have to read to find out the outcome… but me, unemotional reader me, balled my eyes out!

Sarah Morgenthaler is an author I fell in love with 3 years ago after reading her Moose Springs, Alaska trilogy. It was absolutely hilarious and I couldn’t wait for more of her brilliance… but after some heartbreaking personal tragedies hit, she’s taken time to heal and get her muse back, and now this incredible Christmas story of a single father going through an horrific journey is what she’s penned. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming, how a funny newspaper ad by Sienna’s “best” friend Jess brings Guy to her. It’s claiming she’s seeking a husband for hire, the day after her divorce is finalized, when he’s desperately seeking work and health insurance… because his daughter is dying and needs a kidney transplant, like, yesterday.

I found nothing but tender and loving moments throughout this entire story, loved Sienna and Guy feeling their way through the painfully slow burn romance (basically married roommates), and fell head over heels for little Emma. Everything about Emma made me emotional, in the best and worst ways.

It’s the most beautiful story I’ve read in basically forever, and even though it made me cry, the tears were necessary. Everyone needs a book that makes them cry like this to remember they are human, and goodness exists in the world, especially at Christmas. I cannot stress this enough, that I have never recommended a book more than this one - if I could rate a book 10-stars on the 5-star scale, this would be that book. Go - get it, now!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca, and this is my honest feedback.

The Christmas You Found Me made me cry on a plane and while waiting for my ride to pick me up from the airport. I picked it up after reading no further than single dad because that’s the thing I’ve been wanting to read constantly lately. Turns out I maybe should have read on a bit to mentally prepare myself. However, I will say that Morgenthaler provides a list of content warnings at the front of this book and is pretty careful with her readers and this book overall has a lot of softness wrapped around the tragic situation facing our main characters. So let me tell you a bit about the book.

On the day Sienna Maple's divorce is final, her best friend, Jess (they/them), has an advertisement drawn up advertising for Sienna's husband for hire. Guy respond to the ad, because he is quite desperate to have some stability for his daughter who is in Stage 5 renal failure. He needs to show that his life is stable so that his daughter can remain on the transplant list. Initially Sienna is like, "this is bananas, I cannot marry a stranger." And then, she obviously marries the stranger for Emma's sake. From there, the three of them slowly become a family, but also not too slowly because this book is paced fairly quick. In addition to Emma's health issues, Sienna is also dealing with the fact that her dad is in a long term care facility because of his dementia. So there's a lot of heaviness. Also, her ex-husband wasn't violent, exactly, but they did not have a good or safe feeling relationship.

Despite all of those circumstances, the relationship between Guy and Sienna is incredibly soft. The two of them care for one another deeply and do their best to make the other's life better. From making Sienna making Guy sandwiches to Guy helping feed the animals without being asked, the two of them truly do their best to improve the other's life and it's gorgeous. I also like the emphasis on loneliness and how physical affection can be so healing--specifically hugs.

This book is deeply emotional and also it had moments of feeling like being wrapped in a blanket. I'm sure this book is not for everyone, but all in all, I'm very glad I read it and I hope to read more from Morgenthaler in the future set in this town. The side characters were all intriguing and I really enjoyed getting to know them as well.

This book was truly one of a kind. Laughter along with tears. This story was something special and truly heartwarming. Perfect for the upcoming Holiday season.

I loved Sarah's Alaska series, so when I saw her name, I clicked without even reading the blurb. This title gave me ALL the feels and made me ugly cry more than once. I loved the whole premise and Emma, bless her little heart, had me wrapped around her finger too. It had chemistry, excitement, and a lot of love. A great story!

This book was fantastic. As someone who has experienced a loved one with kidney failure, this was handled so beautifully. I laughed and cried. I loved the setting and the animals and the town, everything just truly came to life off of the page. I’ve read all of Sarah’s books and this was one of my favorites.

This one really pulled at the heart strings. I loved this little small town and it truly packed all the feels, I loved how this started with Sienna fresh out of a divorce. This town was so sweet and I will definitely be reading more by this author! If your looking to pull on your heartstrings with a Christmas romance and has a HEA I highly recommend this one!

This is a Christmas romance for the rancher/cowboy romance fans.

I like the layers of love in this, how it's just as much about a lonely woman falling in love with a little girl as it is falling for her father. The romantic love story is sweet and sparkling, and Guy is an absolute gem, who feels like a surprisingly wonderful bonus who comes along at just the right time. The ranching and Idaho details read rich and authentic, not like a "book horse ranch" but a real cattle ranch, complete with stained Carhardtt jackets and grumpy mules.

This emotional, heart-tugging book is in a different tone than Morgenthaler's very funny outdoor themed Alaska rom coms (which I loved!) which just shows she's not a one trick pony about what types of stories and characters she can write. Don't expect a fluffy Hallmark rom com, but it still gets its Christmasy happy ending after all.

A solidly written, emotionally moving romance.

This was a different tone than the norm from Morganthaler. A story of grief, struggle, survival, love and hope, it will tug your heartstrings in all sorts of ways. Going into the story previously knowing it was going to be a heavy one prepared me for what was to come within the novel’s plot.

The found family aspect was lovely but there was too much of an instalove that I couldn’t buy into. There was also a serious occurrence involving Guy’s daughter that seemed to have been brushed aside a bit too breezily by the main character, Sienna, when in reality, most would be angry about it and take a bit of time to get over it. However, I loved how the supporting cast of character rallied for the Maple family when they needed it most.

THE CHRISTMAS YOU FOUND ME – Sarah Morgenthaler
Heart of the Wilderness, Book 1
Sourcebooks Casablanca
ISBN: 978-1728249209
September 24, 2024
Contemporary Romance

Caney Falls, Idaho – Present Day

Rancher Sienna Naples just finalized a nasty divorce that saw her ex-husband take most of what she once had. What she has left is her family’s ranch and the cattle she raises to support herself. Her best friend, on a lark, puts an ad in the local newspaper advertising for a husband for Sienna. It isn’t really what Sienna needs after a disastrous marriage, but a strange man walks into the coffee shop and asks to interview for the position. Sienna listens to Guy Maples and her heart cannot help but break for him. His four-year-old daughter is on dialysis and needs a new kidney ASAP. But in order to keep on the list, he has to meet certain criteria. Marrying Sienna would give him insurance and the apparent financial ability to keep her on the list. To Sienna and Guy’s surprise, they agree to marry.

The marriage will be in name only, but Sienna is soon falling in love with Guy’s daughter, Emma. Of course, Guy isn’t bad himself. In THE CHRISTMAS YOU FOUND ME, we see two hardworking people come together to try and make life better for a little girl. Christmas is nearly here, and while Sienna might not have bothered to think about the holiday, she will do whatever it takes to make it merry and bright for Emma. Along the way, Sienna becomes attached to both Guy and Emma, and her feelings for Guy are turning into something she never expected after her divorce: love. But as Emma’s condition worsens, will finding love be enough to pull her through?

Readers will cry and laugh as we get to know Sienna, Guy, and Emma in THE CHRISTMAS YOU FOUND ME. Life isn’t easy living on a remote ranch in the mountains of Idaho. Winters are harsh and losing cattle is something ranchers fear. But Sienna isn’t afraid of working hard and she soon learns Guy will do anything to help her out and keep Emma safe. You will fall in love with these three and root for Emma to get a kidney transplant. The chemistry between Sienna and Guy is apparent as they work side by side and interact. How long will it be before Emma sees Sienna as the mother she has never really had? How long before Sienna and Guy decided to share a bed and discover the magic of love?

Will THE CHRISTMAS YOU FOUND ME end in a feel-good way? Things are bumpy for these three wonderful characters, and you can only hope that they end up happily ever after. Discover the magic of love and hope by grabbing a copy of this beautiful tale.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

I laughed and enjoyed the author’s previous romance series set in Moose Springs, Alaska. I wasn’t prepared for the seriousness and sweetness of her new book that begins a new series. Set in rural Idaho, Sienna Naples runs a cattle ranch that has been in her family for generations. The story begins on the day her divorce is final. Her best friend jokingly runs an advertisement in the local paper where they work advertising for a husband for Sienna.

Guy Maple answers the ad in hopes that maybe it could lead to a job. He works as a carpenter in construction and is the sole parent to Emma who is four. She is also in stage-five kidney failure. Sienna is land rich but cash poor and there isn’t much she can do to help the pair. But in the spirit of Christmas she suggests a marriage of purpose. The main thing she has to offer is insurance that will prove Guy can afford anti-rejection medicines so Emma can be on the transplant list.

I cried more than once reading this story. Guy and Sienna are genuinely kind to each other and both caring of Emma. I loved Barley the dog too. As someone who has lost extended family to kidney disease this one touched home. Sienna is still healing from her divorce and has a father with Alzheimer’s. Along with the hardships that take place in the few weeks the story covers there is joy. Good friends are supportive and caring. Seemingly this is the first in a series that I assume will focus on others in the town. I did like the epilogue giving me a glimpse of their HEA. I was especially touched by the author's note at the end of the book.

Sienna is divorced and her friend places an ad meant to be a joke, Husband for hire, Guy shows up with his daughter who needs a kidney transplant. it becomes a marriage of convivence, or is it?

Sierra is embarrassed. As a joke, after she and her husband divorced, Sierra’s best friend put out an ad in the local paper. It read, “Wanted: Husband for Hire”. Now someone has taken it seriously and responded to the ad! Sierra can’t believe it!
Guy Maple is desperate, otherwise he never would have paid attention to such an advertisement. He has a very serious reason for his unusual behavior; a four-year-old, blue-eyed, on-a-donor-list for a kidney transplant, reason..
Sweet romance, beautiful scenes of wilderness country, and a child protagonist that will steal your heart away (and make you want to go hug your own kids extra tightly).

*I received a digital copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

Sienna Naples's family has been on the family's Idaho land for generations. This Christmas she will be alone after a painful divorce. Her BFF puts an ad in the paper about her needing a husband to help with the ranch; it was meant as a joke. Guy Maple is looking for help and when he sees the ad he tracks her down only to find it was a joke. Guy is taking care of his four-year-old daughter that is in need of a kidney transplant, and he needs to have a steady income so she will qualify for the transplant surgery. When he tracks Sienna down in the she has to let him know she is not really in the need of a husband. Sienna sense the desperation in Guy and they strike a bargain to marry, and she will provide insurance for him and his daughter.
Guy and Emma move in at the ranch, and she realizes just how bad his situation is and has fallen in love with his daughter. This is a wonderful heartfelt story on helping others and opening your heart to love.