Gabriella Torres loves returning home to San Antonio for the holidays–the decorations, the magic and her large family. As icing on the cake, she will serve as midwife for one of her cousins. Her Christmas visit also provides a temporary distraction from a looming obligation.
Luke Davenport has traveled across the world to accept the role as town doctor in San Antonio. But when he arrives to domestic chaos, the sheriff offers his hospitality and Luke can't turn down the offer. While he’s embraced by all, Luke tries to keep his distance. His past remains a threat and the alluring Gabby Torres makes him dream of a brighter but impossible future. When Gabby learns that Luke has never truly experienced Christmas, she sets out on a mission…to make this Christmas the best that Luke could ever have. As they spend intimate moments together, Luke begins to lose his heart to the woman who is showing him what life as part of a family could be like. When the ghosts of their pasts rise up to haunt them, will Christmas magic and love be strong enough to guarantee the happiness they’ve always dreamed of?
This was a sweet holiday story that I really enjoyed. The characters and plot were well written. I think it’s perfect for the season. I highly recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Sorry I was not able to read you book but it went to archive before I could get to it. Sorry once again.

Once again this Author grabs the readers attention from the first page until the last. This tale is about Gabriella, who is a midwife and healer and Luke, A trained physician from London. Their journey is bumpy to find common ground amidst the happenings of the holidays and traditions of Texas in the 1840's.

Ebook from Net galley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

I love learning of Christmas traditions from other cultures and other times as well. So Texas Christmas was not only a lovely Christmas Romance, it was also an historical lesson in many ways. Step back in time for a simpler yet no less boisterous celebration of the holidays, and of finding love where you least expect it.

Gabby and Luke make an interesting couple with their far different backgrounds – and very different ideas about healing and medicine. Gabby is completely distrustful of so called doctors. She’s seen them do far more harm than good in her experience. Luke doesn’t trust a healer who relies on the old ways and won’t embrace the better offerings of modern medicine. Each views the other’s abilities with suspicion and perhaps a touch of disdain. Yet as they slowly let down their guards and get to know each other they’re finding that they have more in common than they first thought. In spite of her first reactions to Luke, Gabby is finding him to be an honorable man, a kind soul and perhaps someone that could come to mean so much more to her. Luke is a bit surprised by Gabby’s generosity in showing him what a true family style Christmas celebration can be. Slowly a friendship of sorts develops, and each begins to fight the attraction they feel – for far different reasons.

Although I have read the entire series, I don’t feel you “have” to have read the earlier books in order to enjoy this Christmas romance between Gabby and Luke. I don’t often say that, for I believe a series is best enjoyed from start to finish… but Christmas stories are often a seasonal enjoyment for many readers so this is one that I believe can stand on its own. In my opinion.

I enjoyed Texas Christmas, it’s touching, emotional and while not overly steamy, we certainly know that Luke and Gabby are falling in love. I would recommend this one to any Romance reader who enjoys learning a bit about other Christmas celebrations and traditions, as well as a look at how the heart of Christmas remains the same no matter the date.

*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.*

Holly Castillo’s Texas Christmas transported me to December 1840 in San Antonio, Texas with vivid descriptive writing, starting with the ride into the historic town. The prickly (towards Luke, anyway) Gabriella Torres quickly changes as she gets to know the doctor from London better. Luke Davenport earns the respect of me as well as Gabby as the story progresses. For his part, he questions Gabby’s midwife training but does not hold being a female against her.

Experiencing Christmas through Luke’s eyes and Gabby’s efforts made this story a real treat. What an amazing read that builds respect and friendship instead of instant lust/love. Some may seek a hotter read but I thought the romance was perfect. If I am wanting to read a Texas historical romance, Holly Castillo is the first author I now turn to read.

DNF - Did Not Grab Me enough to Finish so will not rate

Capping off the Texas Legacy series by Holly Castillo is the final story set in the time of the newly independent Texas a frontier state, wild and untamed. Holly Castillo writes pleasing historical novels, touching on the realities of the harshness of the Texas terrain and the wildness of the surrounds.

Gabriella (Gabby) Torres is a healer seen as a blessing by most, a witch by others. She follows in the footsteps of her mother as she works wonders on many with natural cures and a gentle touch. Doctor Luke Davenport is a London trained doctor new to the San Antonio town where Gabby's relatives reside and a blessing to the doctorless town. When he first meets Gabby, she immediately resents his brand of medicine and all that he represents: doctors who have no real training and who are ruthless in their care for patients. It takes time and patience but Gabby comes to see that Luke is not one of those doctors at all. He does, however, have a past that haunts him and causes him to hide from the public and its intense scrutiny.

A disaster brings Gabby into the care of Luke where she learns much more of his background than she could ever imagine.

Holly Castillo has done it again in her fourth installment of her Texas Legacy series “Texas Christmas.” Gabriella Torres is a midwife and a healer who is making her way to San Antonio for Christmas and to help her cousin Olivia with the birth of her newest child. Luke Davenport is a doctor who has hoped to make San Antonio his home and escape his past when he meets Gabriella as he is examining Olivia. Gabriella has little or no faith in doctors after what she is experienced in the war and Luke has never met a healer like Gabriella, but they somehow find a way to a mutual respect and a relationship until Gabriella’s preordained destiny comes crashing into their lives. Can two people from different backgrounds find a path to love no matter the obstacles? Ms. Castillo has created a rich story that spans family dynamics that everyone can relate to. I was given an advanced copy of this book, and all of the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Sweet, clean Texas-styled historical romance. Not just that but gives an accounting of 1840s Texas history. After all the numerous historical books I’ve read, I had never heard of President Lamar. The author has a unique way of weaving Gabby’s Spanish heritage with Luke’s British upbringing. And the way their differences become their unifiers was interesting.

I didn't know that this was number 4 in the series, but I thought it stood on it's own pretty well. The secondary characters are pretty well rounded, and there's no unnecessary exposition as to why they behave a particular way - invariably they just do what they need to do.



Gabby returns to San Antonio at the beginning of the book, both to celebrate Christmas with her family and be the midwife for her Sister In Law Olivia who is heavily pregnant. She finds that Luke Davenport, the new doctor, is staying in the house due to the clinic having been damaged previously during a massive storm.  There's an immediate dislike between the two, as Gabby has seen how the Army Doctors used to treat their patients, and Luke has assumed that "healer" means "witch" and that Gabby has no experience of midwifery. It is only when they get to see each other at work over the same patients that they learn to trust each other and succumb to their mutual attraction.  Despite being busy with the run up to Christmas, and Olivia close to giving birth (with the baby not having turned yet), Gabby still manages to spend two days helping to clear up the clinic after the storm.

It was only when I was writing this review that I remembered something that has come to bother me after finishing the book : When helping to clear the clinic, Gabby is hurt, getting a large bump on her head and a gash in her side, which is bad enough for her to pass out and be given morphine. However, this doesn't prevent her from following Luke - on her own - to the State Capital to catch him at a party. Following a brief scene immediately after the injury, the graze and her head are never mentioned again, as if it never happened. Why add it in, if only to ignore it  almost immediately?

Anyway, back to the story. Traditionally, in romances, the "finding out something bad enough that the couple fall out" scene comes in the last quarter of the book. This one is different, where the "falling out" bit comes in the middle (there are various reasons why, on both sides) and the rest of the book is spent making up, and celebrating Christmas.  The story is clean, with no Sexy Time, but plenty of stolen kisses.

The two most prominent secondary characters are Olivia (because of the baby) and Dominic (spoilers!) - though I don't remember if it was ever fully explained why he left things so late to resolve (again, spoilers!).  Gabby's grandparents have a couple of scenes, but are lightly sketched, especially Grandmother.

It isn't stated but it is clear that the Torres family are of Spanish/Mexican descent, with some quite strict rules in some areas, but apparently none when it suits the story. Christmas is important to them, and it's nice to have a view on how Christmas can be celebrated by different groups of people.

In Summary: 4th instalment of the Torres family story, that's a fairly standalone story, good Christmasy feel, which subverts the standard "romance" structure a little in a good way, with one or two minor quibbles over "what happened to....?" moments.