Sometimes seasonal stories are blushingly happy and simple. All about the upcoming festivities and traditions. People’s lives take a brief respite from the hustle and bustle of their careers, jobs and other activities that make up the major portion of their time. COWBOY CHRISTMAS REDEMPTION is a tale filled with twists and turns about two people that have designed their individual lives in a manner that made them safe. What exactly does it mean to feel safe. We are not talking about physical harm but emotional stress and darkness. So amidst all the decorations, music and pageantry of Christmas two people are trying to sort through their lives. Hopefully discover something that has been missing and that piece of the puzzle that has been lost in time. Real love and passion.
Real life has been difficult for Ellie. We actually met her before in one of Maisie Yates books. Her husband Clint died in a tragic helicopter accident while fighting a fire. Clint’s death left quite a few people with regrets and we’ve already dealt with some of those in the Gold Valley series. But in COWBOY CHRISTMAS REDEMPTION we are faced with Caleb’s life now that his best friend Clint is dead. Caleb has from that very instance become Ellie’s protector and life saver. They have become each other’s best friend. The irony is not lost on the reader that Ellie and Caleb have shared much more since they met. But with Clint in the picture neither one would dare even evaluate just what their friendship really meant to them.
Several years have passed. Ellie and her four year old daughter Amelia have a wonderful life. Their friends have become family to them. Caleb’s family has brought both of them into the fold. But Ellie is beginning to realize that she isn’t as truly happy as she pretends to be. But it is becoming more difficult to be the widow. She wants more but truly has no idea what.
Caleb has always been around in some manner or another. But now Caleb seems to be distancing himself. What is that all about. Caleb is her protector, her knight in shining armor – so to speak. What is happening to their friendship.
This is an intricate puzzle. One that is going to take quite a bit of time and patience – and might I say that is something neither Ellie nor Caleb have in abundance. Both are stubborn and remind me of two magnets that can’t meet.
Caleb is convinced that even with an undeniable attraction simmering between them well there is no future. His Ellie deserved much better. He knows that this attraction has a limited time stamp and when it expires Ellie and Amelia will move on to greener pastures.
Somehow Caleb has never had the opportunity to learn what real love is about. COWBOY CHRISTMAS REDEMPTION is about forgiving misdeeds, opening up your heart to love and having the guts to go after what you really want and need.
Maisey Yates always surprises me with the characters she creates. Flaws and all these characters become dear to her readers and remain in our heads long after we complete the book. Every book in the Gold Valley series has been a joy to read and review.

COWBOY CHRISTMAS REDEMPTION follows two friends on their path to more. Ellie was married to Caleb's best friend, Clint, who died fighting fires in a helicopter crash right before their daughter was born. Ellie has been in survival mode for the last several years, birthing and then raising her daughter, Amelia, who is now four. With the school she and the others started, her life is growing more.

Ellie has been lucky to have Caleb right by her side, helping with Amelia and anything else she needs. Caleb has decided that it is time for him to move on, and he has bought a Christmas tree farm that he will harvest and then begin his own ranch, outside of his family. He carries a lot of guilt for the way he has always felt about Ellie (even while she was married to the best guy) and conflicting feelings about the way he was raised. With the family finding their half-siblings, Caleb has been re-evaluating the things that bothered him, like his father writing him off for college- something he pushed for everyone except Caleb- due to undiagnosed learning disabilities which he has now discovered and come to terms with.

Ellie is also trying to expand her world, and she has started with a Christmas list of goals which begin with getting a dress and dancing and end with you-know-what. When she starts working on it, she realizes the person who she wants to work on it with is Caleb. But first, they have to deal with their own hang-ups and impediments in the relationship.

Their chemistry was great, and I love the list premise. However, the book does drag in places as they are both conflicted and there's a lot of push-pull. I would have liked the book shortened a bit, I think, but I still enjoyed reading their story overall. The chemistry is off-the-charts and a whole lot of fun. With the extra cowboy charm of the Gold Valley series, this was a fun Christmas-themed read. Recommend for fans of Yates looking for a lightly Christmas themed book.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Gold Valley
Caleb Dalton is complicated. Raised in a dysfunctional family, he grew up with undiagnosed learning disabilities, but overcame them by using other talents. He lost Clint, his best friend/ brother from another mother in a fiery helicopter crash and did everything he could for the man's pregnant widow, never showing her his real feelings. He fell in love the first time he saw her.
Ellie Bell, the widow is now ready to move on and asks him for help.
He is stunned, but still feels guilty over the feelings he's always had. She realizes she'd always had them too, but wouldn't face them.
The couple argue, make up bond even more and create some steaming hot love scenes.
Family and couple interactions are well defined as are descriptions of the scenes.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC to peruse and offer my opinion freely.

I’ve enjoyed this series and I feel like I’ve been waiting for Caleb and Ellie’s story since the beginning. And I’m so happy it delivered.

Ellie and Caleb are both loyal and good people. They’re tied together through death and it was interesting to see how that played out as their relationship changed. I loved Ellie’s daughter Amelia and all of the scenes she was in.

Plot wise, it was good. There’s a lot of grief for each of them to deal with and so there was a lot of inner monologue. I did love that they communicated well and often. And thankfully, the super angsty time didn’t drag out. I was hoping for a bit more happiness. There were sparks of it here and there and logically I know it wouldn’t have felt authentic, but still.

Overall, it was a fairly quick and satisfying read with a fabulous epilogue.

**Huge thanks to HQN Books for providing the arc free of charge**

I was anticipating a great story, but was a bit disappointed. Ellie and Caleb have been friends forever, it seems, ever since his best friend brought her to a fAmily cookout. It was love At first sight but she only had eyes for his best friend. They married and started a family when her husband dies.

Caleb is there to pick up the pieces and his love for Ellie and Amelia continues to grow until she decided this is the year she needs to expand beyond her grief and live again.

I enjoyed their story, however I found the story kept repeating their same feekings. It seemed to drag at points and I anticipated the end as it seems all the stories end the same. One person in the relationship processes undying love which the other person rejects. After a heart to heart talk with a friend or family member make a them realize that love is worth any risk, they reunite. It's predictable and the epilogue was the redeeming feature of this story.


I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher for my honest opinions.

Ellie Bell has been a widow for five years. Her husband’s closest friend, Caleb Dalton, has been taking care of her and her daughter ever since. Caleb has had feelings for Ellie since first meeting her which he had kept to himself. That was until Ellie showed Caleb her Christmas list and asked him to help her complete what was on it.

This romance is emotionally charged. A well-written storyline. I truly enjoyed reading about Ellie and Caleb’s emotional, loving journey until they reached their happily ever after.

This is such a wonderful addition to this series, I love every book. This one was a little more emotional than the others and had me wanting to cry and then scream at Caleb and Ellie. It's an heck of ride to get to the end, but it's so worth it.

Caleb has grown in so many ways since his best friend’s passing and finally coming to terms with his feelings for Ellie, his friend’s widow. I loved seeing him open up and face his struggles head on, rather then continue to bury his head in the sand. He struggled with finding his place in Ellie’s life and I have to admit, it took guts because I’d have thrown in the towel long beforehand.

Ellie has been through so much since her husband’s passing. I liked her well enough in previous stories, but her emotional self absorption had me trying to grasp how she could be so blind to Caleb’s feelings. Once I could see where she was coming from things got better, but I concede, it was a bumpy road.

The physical attraction was a given, but the emotional side was surprising because I didn’t think it would happen due to Ellie’s reluctance to let go of past hurts. However, Caleb and Ellie were good, convincing me their feelings were real, making the end result worthwhile.

Ellie and Caleb’s story was an emotional exercise in acceptance and discovery, yet their journey was worth waiting for.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book from Netgalley and Harlequin. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Caleb saw Ellie first and fell in love with her right away. Unfortunately she was dating his best friend so he had to hide those feelings for years. After his best friend marries Ellie he dies in an accident leaving her and their unborn child alone. Caleb steps up and becomes everything to Ellie and her daughter except for a romantic partner. He feels too guilty for wanting her and not being good enough for her. When she finally decides to move on with her romantic life Caleb can't let her do so with any other man. Their relationship is overwhelming for them both and they go back and forth with their emotions and guilt. I enjoyed this holiday romance with of course a happy ending.

This was a steamy, heartfelt romance between two people who navigate the changing relationship from friendship into more. There was a good balance between the sizzling hot attraction and the tender moments that really helped show how much Ellie and Caleb worked as a couple.

Wow. The answer to Caleb and Ellie. Not on boy it was a fun answer. Maisey you do not disappoint with the stories!!

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed reading this , and I recommend it to everyone.

There are books, and then there are BOOKS! This one blew me away! I had to read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. Yates was able to put such complex feelings and emotions into words, that had me feeling everything. I shed more than a few tears while reading this book. I'm still in awe, the next day after finishing it, of the feelings Yates conveyed in this book. Ellie and Caleb both had more grief and loss than most people can handle in a lifetime. Discovering truths about themselves and each other brought both love and sadness. Yates showed all the sides of love in this book. It just pulls you in! The steamy love scenes add depth to the story because it adds the physical power of love in addition to the emotional one both Caleb and Ellie are going through. Something that started out simple and fun, a Christmas List, turned into much more than either could have imagined! Highly recommend! You won't regret reading this one!

Love is messy. And it's really messy in this book.

Ellie has a Christmas wish list for herself - buy a dress, dance, kiss someone under the mistletoe, make out by the fire, have sex again. And she accomplishes one and two while realizing the only person she's doing 3-5 with is Caleb. But Caleb's not interested in being her sex toy. He is a person, not a thing. It's really hard on him because he is in love with her and has been hiding it for a long time. For two people who are best friends, they really don't understand each other and are terrible at communicating because they rely so much on their assumptions of who they are.
Even though they do become involved sexually, Caleb is convinced he isn't good long term material, how can he live up to Clint, etc. Clint is constantly mentioned in this book. There is a lot of comparison and it wasn't until later in the book that I could tell where it was going to go with Ellie - was Caleb magically somehow eclipsing her first love? It was finally acknowledged that she is a different person, having been through tragedy, and this is a new love that younger her wasn't ready for/capable of.
Cowboy Christmas Redemption is an intense, up and down book, that does reward readers with the Christmas miracle they're looking for.