The Christmas Cowboy and The Christmas Bargain by Shanna Hatfield

Source: Amazon

Source: Amazon

The Christmas Cowboy Synopsis:

 Flying from city to city in her job as a busy corporate trainer for a successful direct sales company, Kenzie Beckett doesn’t have time for a man. And most certainly not for the handsome cowboy she keeps running into at the airport. Burned twice, she doesn’t trust anyone wearing boots and Wranglers, especially someone as charming and handsome as Tate Morgan.
Among the top saddle bronc riders in the rodeo circuit, easy-going Tate Morgan can handle the toughest horse out there, but trying to handle the beautiful Kenzie Beckett is a completely different story.
As the holiday season approaches, this Christmas Cowboy is going to need more than a little mistletoe to win her heart. 

The Christmas Bargain Synopsis: 

Luke Granger is about to get more than he bargained for…
As owner and manager of the Hardman bank, Luke Granger is a man of responsibility and integrity in the small 1890s Eastern Oregon town. When he calls in a long overdue loan, Luke reluctantly accepts a bargain in lieu of payment from the shiftless farmer who barters his daughter to settle his debt.
Philamena Booth is both mortified and relieved when her father sends her off with the banker as payment of his debt. Held captive on the farm by her father since the death of her mother more than a decade earlier, she is grateful to leave. If only it had been someone other than the handsome and charismatic Luke Granger riding in to rescue her. Ready to uphold her end of the bargain as Luke’s cook and housekeeper, she isn’t prepared to marry Luke as part of a crazy Christmas bargain.

Hey Guys,

So about a month ago I got an email from Shanna Hatfield asking if I'd be interested in reviewing some of her books for an upcoming blog tour. Now since she was already on my Goodreads to-read list I jumped at the chance! So here goes it, my thoughts on The Christmas Cowboy (TCC) and The Christmas Bargain (TCB).

Thoughts:

I was initially apprehensive about reading Christmas-themed novels because even though I absolutely LOVE Christmas, I am not a fan of Christmassy-ness. In fact, I'm altogether scrooge-like until enough Christmas spirit hits me LOL! But once I started reading The Christmas Cowboy (I read that one first), I was pleasantly surprised because it wasn't at all cheesy or over the top with Christmas cheer. I loved that the story wasn't based around Christmas, it just so happened that part of the story occurred at Christmas time. I thought that was a great approach to take. And it was the same with The Christmas Bargain. So these books definitely left me open to more Christmas-themed reads.

Now onto the books themselves.

As I mentioned earlier, I read TCC first. And I enjoyed it. It gave off a very lazy afternoon vibe. You know? Like when you just kind of want to escape and have your heart warmed without having to put much effort in? That's what it was like. I got a very hallmark movie feel from it. (I love hallmark movies btw). It was very sweet and nice and there weren't any surprises. I liked that the characters had unique backgrounds that you don't see very often. Like for example, the hero's father was in his nineties! I appreciated little touches like that. I also liked how sure the hero was of his feelings for the heroine. Now on the other hand there were just a few things that I didn't like as much. For some reason I didn't connect to the heroine. I felt like her prejudice was a bit... juvenille? Or maybe irrational is a better word. I mean the source of said prejudice was explained to us but I just wasn't convinced that what she had experienced would realistically cause such an aversion to cowboys. Also while I loved their attraction and chemistry, it felt like each time they kissed or looked at each other, we were told that either Tate or Kenzie had to stop before things got out of hand. I felt like that statement would have been more effective if it was just mentioned a few times instead of every time. However, another thing that I appreciated was the amount of time that passed by over the course of their relationship. This wasn't like after a week they were in love, actual months and seasons passed by as things happened- that was refreshing.

While I just liked TCC I really enjoyed TCB. You should know that I'm a sucker for any type of marriage of convenience novel. Especially one that was so well executed. This type of story can get cheesy real quick but Shanna did a great job. I found myself grinning and laughing so much while reading this and at the end I was completely satisfied and thoroughly glad for the characters. It's funny because at the beginning I didn't know if I was gonna like the hero, he had a second where he seemed like he could be shallow. But he wasn't, he was awesome. I loved the supporting characters. I loved how their relationship unfolded and how they went from strangers to lovers in the purest sense. It was a great read. And while I put TCC down many times while reading, I read TCB beginning to end in one go. I should also say that while we were again told that the hero was practising restraint when they kissed, it wasn't every time, so it didn't bother me (bother is such a strong word but I can't think of anything weaker right now) like it did in TCC.

Ok I think that's it. TCC was ok but TCB was great!
Note: both are clean TCC gets 3 stars and TCB gets 4.

Stay tuned for an interview with Tate and Luke, the heroes of these novels, next!