I really enjoyed this book. The best part was going back and visiting old friends. I loved how the story evolved and would highly recommend this book.
Thank you Harlequin and Netgalley for allowing me to read this title for an honest review.

The perfect series make you want to live in them forever. I want to know what happens for generations and generations, and I was absolutely thrilled to find out that Merry Christmas Cowboy was about Cain and Alison’s daughter. As usual, it’s helpful to have read both the Copper Ridge and Four Corners Ranch stories, but you can get through it just fine without it.

Ever since she was seventeen, Violet Donnelly has gotten good at staying away from trouble. Really, it’s not so hard. She helps at the bed and breakfast, she works at the bakery with her step-mother Alison, she spends time with her best friend Clara, and…well, that’s it, but it’s worked for her just fine so far. When Wolf walks through the door of the bed and breakfast, she can immediately tell that he’s nothing but trouble, but she can’t quite convince herself that staying away from him is what she wants.

Ever since he was fifteen, Wolf Garrett has believed that love is nothing but trouble. He’s had a lot of experience with the life-shaking, heart-shredding side of love, but very little of the restorative, safe side of it. People who love him end up leaving, after all. He doesn’t believe for a second that Violet is equipped to handle him, no matter how much he suddenly has a hard time breathing when she’s not around.

Unexpected pregnancy has never quite been one of my things, but Merry Christmas Cowboy did a lot to change that. Just like always, Maisey Yates will break your heart and put it back together, and this story is Christmas cinnamon and pine wreaths wrapped up in a cowboy hat.

Oh god, this book was not for me. I just wanted a cute Christmas book...instead I got accidental pregnancy and no plot. I think if you're into really conservative gender stereotypes, maybe this is the book for you? I couldn't stand the MMC. I also couldn't connect with the FMC. Imagine thinking that marrying someone who doesn't want to be with you would be better for a child than co-parenting with someone who doesn't want to be with you? I understand that he actually *did* want to be with her but this book just screams "fix the man you love" rather than a more healthy "find a man who doesn't need to be fixed".
Two stars because the writing wasn't actually bad, and I'm sure this book will find a ready audience, it's just not me.

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

This is the first Maisey Yates book I've read- WHY?- I've seriously been missing out! I adored this holiday romance that follows the budding relationship between Wolf and Violet. They both have big issues in their past to overcome before they can truly find their way to eachother. This is a story of healing, love, family, and trust. Yates has created a cast of characters that are both likeable and relatable- I was hooked on the story immediately. There are some steamy scenes and lots of drama. Overall, very well written, though slow in some areas- but I'll definitely be looking to pick up more of Yates' books in the future!

Wolf if staying at Violets inn so he can attend his brothers wedding. While he's happy for his bother he doesn't think the whole love thing is for him especially with his past. But Violet got him thinking otherwise and is surprised to find that after a passionate him with Violet she's pregnant. Now they need to learn more about eachother while dealing with the fact that they'll have a child soon.

I really enjoyed this book it was a pretty fast read for me. I enjoyed getting to know more about the characters and why they were the way they were and making it a thing where they will stick together because they knew what it felt like to be abandoned by a parent and just having a hectic past. I loved the passion between the characters and seeing how they were working together to navigate this new life they were going to have to make and meeting each others family during the holiday season. Overall great book I really enjoyed it.

Also theres a novella attached as well it was a really good read so yay for bonus stories!

Merry Christmas Cowboy is the second book in prolific storyteller Maisey Yates’ Four Corners Ranch series. Wolf Garrett is seriously happy for his brother Sawyer and his new wife and baby, but enough already of the love aura they give off. A few weeks with their cousins to help with some things on their ranch at Copper Ridge should give him a break from all this love.

Wolf will be staying at the ranch’s Bed and Breakfast established in the original Victorian house from the beginning days. Violet Donnelly, B&B manager, senses the trouble Wolf will bring her way at first glance, but she is also attracted in a way like never before. Violet’s background is not terribly dissimilar from Wolf’s, but at least she had a loving father, however she still never witnessed a loving couple as she grew up.

With such an extreme attraction on both parts, Wolf’s two weeks fly by with many long, romantic evenings. When Wolf discovers, after home for weeks, that Violet is with child he immediately returns to Copper Ridge with the intent of bringing Violet back to Four Corners Ranch with him.

This is a very well plotted story with likable characters and lovely locations. Ms. Yates carefully designed the main characters backstories and has the reader rooting for them to overcome their histories. I very much enjoyed this book, as well as the included novella, Her Cowboy Prince Charming, and do recommend it!

When two Maisey Yates worlds collide, a treat is in store for all! Fans of Yates will be delighted to take a trip back to an old favorite, Copper Ridge, in book two of her latest Four Corners Ranch series. Once angsty teen Violet Donnelly is all grown up and hooking up with Wolf Garrett when he comes to visit his cousins. I loved seeing Violet and her family again and watching her fall in love was heartwarming.

Wolf is a kindhearted man, but he's set in his ways of never getting sucked into losing his heart to a woman capable of leaving him and crushing his soul.

Violet is sweet, sincere and enjoying the family she has around her when temptation like she's never known before comes knocking.

I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone that enjoys a small town cowboy romance with endearing characters, sweetly passionate love stories and lots of drama to sink your teeth into.

This is my favorite of the series! Maisey Yates knows how to write cowboys who take your hearts and make your dreams come true.

Merry Christmas Cowboy is a steamy romance between Violet Donnelly and Wolf Garrett.
Will they be able to make a relationship that lasts? Each one has a past they need to overcome. Lots of emotional situations have to be resolved.
Definitely a story that will have you cheering Violet and Wolf on. Though to be truthful, Wolf had me wanting to hit him across his head more then a few times!
Loved the family and friends dynamics!
Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin and author, Maisey Yates, for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

3.5 stars

Wolf and Violet are both sympathetic characters and often gave me butterflies when on the page together, but I wanted more. This story still kept me reading, but once again I felt as though this author is putting me in the head of the individual characters too much. While there is a sense of realism in how the character’s internal dialogues play out, I don’t want or need every detail. Or at least not more than once or twice.

My rating of this story may come as a surprise. But like I said, it kept me engaged. I did care about how Violet and Wolf would work things out. I was rooting for them. I wasn’t crazy about this family having yet another unexpected pregnancy, but that’s a whole other issue with current books and how they have to (in my opinion) adjust to the times. Yet the abandonment issues both characters have to deal with were handled well. Especially with Violet. She grew up loved and cherished by her family that stuck around while Wolf didn’t have that same unconditional love. It was interesting to see how they both struggled with their self-worth even though their circumstances were different in the end.

As much as the concept of the Four Corners Ranch is interesting, in some ways I feel as though it’s isolating the characters a bit too much at times. There are not a lot of interactions so we can get to know the other people in the cooperative type of community. One of the things that bring richness to small-town romance is the quirky shop owners or nosy senior citizens. Sometimes it works to have the characters limit those interactions, but when they aren’t really interacting with one another either it gets a bit stale.

So far, it seems to me as if the novellas in this series are coming out way ahead of the actual full-length books. I’d love to see more interaction among the characters and less introspection in future stories. I’d rather have a lower page count full of content (such as with the novellas, come to think of it) than these longer books that seem as though there is a lot of unnecessary filler.

Maisey Yates never fails to bring deep feelings to her stories and this one just might be one of her deepest. It's messy, emotional, angsty, and has a closed-off hero that I -more than once - wanted to toss off a cliff. He comes around in the end (of course he does) but, wow, the journey to that point is not easy.

Violet, on the other hand, is incredibly easy to like. She's upbeat, sweet, devoted to her family, and a loyal friend but she too has hidden emotional demons to work through. Her character growth is just as important as Wolf's and it was very satisfying to watch her take charge of her happiness.

The physical attraction between these two is never an issue, leading to several steamy encounters. What holds them apart is fear. For Violet, it's the fear of disappointing her father and stepmother, especially as she still struggles with her mother's abandonment when she was 13. For Wolf, it's a double-edged sword. Maybe triple-edged. His mother left when he was six, choosing her family over her child. His father was a cold man who never showed affection to his children and never made a commitment to a woman. Then there was the tragic death of Wolf's teenage love, a young girl frozen forever in time who holds his heart still. There's a whole lot of "stuff" he needs to work through before he'll ever be free to offer his heart to Violet. As I said earlier, it's messy, but I appreciate that Yates never allows her characters to take the easy way out. She makes them face their demons head on, have those difficult conversations, sometimes knocks them upside the head with 2 x 4 realization boards to open their eyes before finally guiding them to their HEA. It's not always an easy journey but it is - always - a satisfying one.

Merry Christmas Cowboy is the second book in Maisey Yates' Four Corners Ranch series, with crossover characters from her earlier Copper Ridge: The Garretts series and Copper Ridge: The Donnellys series. Fans of those books will no doubt enjoy catching up with favorite couples while readers new to Yates should have no trouble enjoying Merry Christmas Cowboy as a standalone.

ARC received for fair and unbiased review

Big bad dark menacing Wolf sees innocent lamb Violet and pounces. He’s a no feelings one night fling guy, who just became Violet’s first time.
I felt some sympathy for Wolf because he made his position very clear but Violet spun moonbeams and unicorns about their affair. Until Wolf went back home and left her a wolflet to nurture.
Merry Christmas Cowboy is a heavy emotional read. Wolf has serious abandonment issues and has walled himself off. He doesn’t love himself and feels unworthy of love because he has been left, twice.
Violet is stubborn, but can she break through his dense brick head?
Although I was all in for alpha male Wolf, I Have to say Cain Donolly stole a good portion of the book, unintentionally. When he threatened Wolf with a pre-shoveled grave and a bag of lime, I was a fan. That was the best line in the entire book!
Read for yourself To see if Wolf is tamed or puts up a howling protest. I couldn’t help the lupine references.

Merry Christmas Cowboy by Maisey Yates, book two in her Four Corners series, is a deeply moving, beautifully written and heart-wrenching, story of the complicated lives of Wolf and Violet two people still dealing with being abandoned by their mothers. Wolf Garrett is in a rut and decides he needs a change in scenery. When his cousins in Copper Ridge call, asking for help with an expansion to their ranch, he volunteers to go. He will be staying at an Inn owned by his cousin’s wife Sadie, where he encounters Violet Donnelly, the innkeeper. Little does he know how much she is going to mean to his life, but recognizes the instant attraction and spark of chemistry they have for one another could burn the inn down. Aware that Violet is an innocent and not his usual type, is not going to stop him; all he knows is he wants her. Violet splits her time between being an innkeeper and baking for her Stepmother’s bakery; trying to be the perfect daughter. Violet knew from the moment she saw Wolf that he was trouble and that she did not have the experience to handle his kind of trouble; but she wanted it just the same. While tempting him with her cooking and sweet ways, she knows she is fighting a losing battle; especially becoming pregnant as a result of their shared nights of passion. Wounded by the loss of his teenage sweetheart, Wolf commits to providing for Violet and their unborn child but cannot bear the thought of risking his heart again. Violet wants their family to mean more to Wolf than just a duty and is determined to show Wolf that love has not passed him by.

There is a bonus novella at the end, Her Cowboy Prince Charming, a Cinderella retelling, with Jessie Granger attending a masked ball but the prince is her brother’s best friend, Damien Prince, the guy she has crushed on for years. This story had me smiling from start to finish and fanning myself at times as well.

Ms. Yates wrote a wonderful, intense, emotional, steamy story, remindful of how the past shapes the present and the future, and should not be missed. She provided a tale rich with soul-searching, angst, sizzling chemistry, and an amazing cast of previous and new characters. This powerful and emotional story will have you turning each page wanting to find out if Violet and Wolf’s journey to love is smooth or rocky and if the hurts from their pasts can create a strong relationship leading them to love and their happiness. I highly recommend Merry Christmas Cowboy to other readers.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

I liked this book. It has some really good tropes in it. I really like the whole virgin girl who wants to just go for things in life. With the aspect of a bit of a bad boy who turns good. A bit cliche but sometimes so nice to read! I also really like visiting some of the characters from previous books. An all around enjoyable read.

The Garrets are just not lucky in romance. Wolf has tried it once and when his young girlfriend died, he's curled up and let life go on by. With his brother happily married, he goes to visit distant cousins to give himself some space from all that nauseating happiness.
Instead of staying with his cousins who are also nauseating content in their relationships and their growing brood of children, Wolf stays at a nearby guest house where the chemistry between him and the innkeeper Violet is off the charts. Not one to resist, Wolf sweeps innocent Violet off her feet and lo and behold nature takes a hand and Violet is pregnant.
Wolf is determined to do the right thing and stand by his child even he is determined to resist any soft emotions towards Violet. I love feisty Violet who moves Wolf's bed into the guest room and makes herself comfortable and makes Wolf work hard for a relationship.
Another winner for Ms. Yates. I truly enjoyed the romance and watching this relationship come together. I can't wait to see what happens next in Four Corners.

MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY – Maisey Yates
Four Corners Ranch, Book 2
HQN
ISBN: 978-1-335-60095-0
October 25, 2022
Contemporary Romance

Copper Ridge & Four Corners, Oregon – Present Day

Cowboy Wolf Garrett wants to get away from his family’s ranch for a couple of weeks, so he agrees to help out his cousins in Copper Ridge. Arriving at the bed and breakfast where he will be staying, he meets the innkeeper, Violet Donnelly. Wolf is instantly attracted to her but senses that she is young. Turns out that Violet is twenty-two, which makes her ten years younger than Wolf. While he tried to avoid giving in to the attraction that flares between them, he can’t avoid it. Their night together has Wolf discovering that Violet is a virgin, and that he needs to get as far away from her as possible.

Violet misses Wolf after he leaves and doesn’t regret what happened between them. However, a few weeks later, she realizes that she might be pregnant. Even before she has taken a home pregnancy test, Wolf shows up on her doorstep as he was informed by his cousin about her condition. Once the test confirms there is a baby on the way, Wolf whisks Violet off to Four Corners. His goal is to take care of her and the baby, but what exactly are his plans? All Violet knows is that she is falling more and more in love with Wolf. But he is determined to not give in to love.

Raised by her protective father, Violet knows that any man she gets involved with would have to be approved by him. So, she figures if she can have her first fling with a man who won’t be sticking around, her father wouldn’t have to find out. In MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY, Violet finds her man in Wolf. Their sexual chemistry is sizzling hot from the moment they meet at the bed and breakfast. They dance around their attraction, but it can’t be denied. Wolf feels like he is unable to love due to his childhood and also losing his first girlfriend. That is why he only limits himself to one-night stands. Violet was supposed to be another one, but a failed condom and his continued attraction to her say otherwise.

Once Violet and Wolf are living together at his cabin on the Four Corners Ranch, she asserts herself. No way is she going to live in this dump for the next nine months. By the time Wolf returns home from work the first day, his bed is in her bedroom, she has cleaned the house up, and has Christmas decorations up. He is stunned because he didn’t know he had the Christmas decorations (they were stuck away in a closet) and that she managed to make a delicious tasting meal. Is Violet trying to make a home for Wolf? For a man who never thought about love and marriage, he is now thinking about marrying Violet. But despite his offer of marriage, he can’t offer her the one thing she wants: love.

Violet and Wolf have an instant attraction to each other and end up potentially being tied together forever in MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY. Can they learn to trust love—and each other? Find out the answer by grabbing a copy of this engaging tale.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

Merry Christmas Cowboy is the second novel in Maisey Yates' Four Corners Ranch series, and while I was expecting a sweet, sexy Christmas story, this novel might just be Ms. Yates' most angst-filled novel yet, and for the first time since I started reading her, it contained a hero I wanted to smack upside the head, or at least have her heroine do so, which is the reason for this 4-star, rather than 5-star review.

The novel opens with Wolf Garrett, who is jealous of the happiness his brother Sawyer found in the first book in this series, and yes, you should read this series in order. Rather than do his usual routine of picking up a woman at a local bar for a one-night stand, he decides on a change of scene, and heads off to visit his cousin in Copper Ridge, Oregon (another excellent series), which is where he encounters Violet Donnelly, working as both the local innkeeper, and part-time at the family bakery. For both characters it's lust at first sight, but not only is Wolf 10 years older than Violet, Violet, age 22, is still a virgin, because she has an inner need to be the good girl who does everything right, and because she's never met a man she particularly wanted--until now.

Wolf is both a gorgeous hunk and a charmer, and Violet can't resist him. They begin to bond over a commonality--both have had their mothers walk out on them, Wolf at age 9, Violet at 13. Additionally, Wolf lost the girl he loved 16 years ago, and has refused to become involved and possibly hurt by what he views as part family curse and part being unlovable again. After his two weeks in Copper Ridge, and his steamy affair with Violet, he heads back home to Garrett’s Watch, despite the pleas and tears of Violet, who begged him to stay. In his mind, it's not as if he didn't warn her.

Five weeks later, it turns out that Violet is pregnant, and Wolf discovers that bit of news via rumor. Violet wanted to tell him herself, but someone beat her to it, and just as she's ready to take a pregnancy test to confirm the pregnancy, Wolf is back, and orders her to take the test while he waits. It's positive, and Wolf drops to one knee and proposes marriage, knowing how it felt to be raised by a single parent and abandoned by the other. While Violet doesn't immediately agree, she does accept Wolf's invitation to return to Garrett’s Watch with him, and once she's there, the charmer that Wolf was at the outset becomes someone Violet barely recognizes as the man she fell in love with--she's parked in his guest room, and basically ignored while Wolf goes about his usual days and duties on the ranch, and leaves Violet wondering what the heck happened to the guy she met in Copper Ridge--and left this reader wondering the same thing. When Violet makes the mistake of telling Wolf that she loves him, instead of telling Violet he loves her too, he tells her that he doesn't love her and never will--he's still in love with the girl he loved who died 16 years ago. This is where we move into uber-angst mode, and this is also the point where I wished for a cast iron frying pan to use on Wolf's head, and so did the other members of Wolf's family.

Maisey Yates is a master at creating characters with real depth, real emotions, and real issues, and she's done so again in this novel, putting the reader, as well as her characters, through quite an emotional wringer before we get to the expected HEA ending. While Wolf wasn't among my favorite of her heroes, this was still a novel I stayed up all night to finish, because I simply couldn't put it down, and I'm guessing you won't be able to do that either. Although it didn't give me the usual Christmas-themed warm fuzzies, and while sometimes maddening, it was still an excellent read and I'm happy to recommend it.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

Wolf and Violet have a lot of family. Both their mother’s walked out on them. It affected them negatively as children and as adults. Through 80% of the book I really didn’t like Wolf. He was mean and not a nice person. He finally turns his attitude around and redeems himself. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Merry Christmas Cowboy: A Novel
Maisey Yates
October 25, 2022

Back at the Four Corners Ranch Wolf Garrett shouldn’t be feeling jealous of his older brother, Sawyer. True, recently he became a father to June. When her mother decided motherhood is not in her plans Sawyer took June into his home, then put an ad looking for a mail-order bride, a wife for him, a mother for June. Low and behold Evelyn walked into their lives and of course Sawyer once again beat the odds. Younger brother Wolf never had that kind of luck. Despite his good looks he never felt attracted to the women in his life. Oh, he would try but nothing worked out. He decided to visit his cousin in Copper Ridge, Oregon. It was a good time to leave Garret’s Watch. They had enough help, things were well with the crops and cattle. Cousin Eli could show him around the Garrett Ranch and he could perhaps get ideas for their own parcel.
Eli had made reservations for him to stay at the local bed and breakfast that the family ran. Upon arrival he was welcomed by Violet Donnelly. She was preparing for the guests arrival with fresh coffee and cookies. When Wolf walked in, Violet was spelbound. Who could this magnificent cowboy be? And is he a guest? Thus begins the tale of the duo, both with charm and good looks yet plenty of baggage.
Merry Christmas Cowboy by Maisey Yates will be published by Harlequin Digital Sales on October 25, 2022. I appreciate Harlequin allowing me to read and review Yates' most recent holiday novel via NetGalley. This book is the second in the Four Corners Ranch series. Her writing is excellent and compelling to read. She brings the complicated lives of Wolf and Violet into the reader's heart. Fans of Four Corners introduction to Sawyer and his family will be delighted by Wolf Garrett’s introduction to the series. This is a wonderful seasonal tribute for readers. Do pick this one up and enjoy.

Just met two of my newest favorite characters. Violet and Wolf are the stars of MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY. Maisey Yates really flexed her writer’s muscle when she created these two very complicated characters. It’s no wonder than their relationship has many ups and downs. Their lives had been a series of disappointment compliments of their mothers. That’s the one thing these two have in common. Being left behind when mothers walked away from their husbands and their children.
Violet was luckier than Wolf. She had the undying love and support of her father Cain. Sure Cain had issues to resolve losing his wife, but he picked himself up and managed to lavish his young daughter with caring and love. But even that couldn’t prevent many insecurities and for Violet she lived a careful life. Busy with her two jobs. Enjoying time with her family. But not quite up to taking a chance with her heart.
Wolf had devoted his life to working his family’s ranch. He loved his family. But Wolf kept a very busy social life. One nighters and no commitment was his version of adapting to his family upbringing with an absentee mother, older brother, and uncaring father. Wolf was void of emotional strength since his life seemed void of love of people who stayed.
Violet and Wolf were leery of trusting their hearts to anyone out of their immediate circle. And yet somehow these two were extraordinary attracted to each other.
Certain that this attraction would burn out quickly neither one was prepared for or in favor of anything more than just a short fling. That was usual for Wolf. In fact Wolf was only going to be in Violets town for just a couple of weeks. Violet was just looking for a chance to get a taste of coloring out of the lines. A two week stretch of throwing caution to the wind was just fine with her.
MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY is about how families come in all varieties. Some more traditional, others growing a new sort of family. What is ultimately important isn’t the sort of family, but the dynamics of the family. Built on a base of love, respect, and honesty. Violet and Wolf are the most honest folk you will meet. No subterfuge. No guile. Tackling their attraction in the only way they know. And Maisey Yates brings us along for an unusual courtship. Her characters are spot on and honest. Loveable and challenging. So real and vibrant. MERRY CHRISTMAS COWBOY takes place around the holiday season but this tale centers on much more than that. Along the way Violet gets some sage advice about love from her stepmom who cautions her about keeping a scorecard on the ups and downs of any relationship. Sounds pretty smart to me. Vintage sage wisdom from Maisie Yates.