This Christmas, home might be the best destination of all.
Jason Regan doesn’t do relationships or long-term commitments. His engineering firm keeps him constantly on the move, and that’s the way he likes it. But one quick trip to Holly, Montana, turns into an extended stay when a judge hands him community service at the town’s underfunded animal shelter.
Tess Evans traded courtroom battles for saving strays, pouring everything she has into the Forever Home Animal Shelter. With her make-or-break “Home for the Holidays” adoption event approaching, the last thing she needs is distraction… especially in the form of a broad-shouldered, maddeningly handsome volunteer who makes her pulse race.
Between fixing kennels, brushing shoulders in the supply closet, and chasing one mischievous terrier named Neville, their chemistry sparks hotter than a Christmas fire.
But Jason’s clock is ticking. Can a little holiday magic—and a lot of temptation—convince him that some things are worth staying for?
Jeannie Watt lives on a small cattle ranch and hay farm in southwest Montana. When she's not writing, she enjoys making mosaic mirrors, sewing, and pretending that the house is neat and tidy.
Jeannie loves to hear from readers. Please contact her via her website www.jeanniewatt.com.
If you are an animal lover, this is a story for you. Tess Evans came home to Holly, Montana to help her grandmother with her animal shelter, Forever Home and now she is running it herself, with the help of her father, a couple of assistants and a stack of volunteers. She desperately needs help with repairs however and her father is already overstretched in his construction company. When Judge Nelson decides Jason Regan needs to rethink his life choices after neglecting a parking fine for ten years, he decides Jason is the ideal person to help out Tess at the shelter. Jason is forced to confront more than his lapse in not checking that his payment for the fine had gone through. He's been working solidly to built up his engineering business he started with a friend five years ago. During that time he's neglected his aunt who lives in Holly, sending her gifts for Christmas, but never visiting. Tess and Jason had history at high school. Of the negative kind. She was the invisible bookworm with the crush on the school captain slash sporting star. He never really noticed her. Now they are working together, facing a new attraction with the help of a parrot and Neville the escapee dog. It's clear that Jason is only in town because he has to be, to clear the warrant for his unpaid fine before jetting back to his "real" life. Yet it is Christmas time in Holly and there is a lot happening to draw him in and so many excuses to get to know Tess a little better. This was a sweet story with lots of cute animals and a town full of interesting people. With the clock ticking on getting homes for all the animals before Christmas, there's plenty to bring everyone together. I have to say Neville was an absolute star and I was keen on Elroy the grumpy cat. Not sure how I would feel about Pixie the parrot and her tendency to land on you but there's a good chance she wouldn't like me and would ignore me. I'm looking forward to further stories in this series.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A Montana Christmas Homecoming begins the Big Sky, Small Town series. Tess, Jason, and a pup named Neville are about to wind themselves around your heart as this series starts. Tess left behind her big career to follow her heart’s desire; her love of animals and making sure that every lost pup or kitten finds their forever home.
How could Jason possibly have known that paying that overlooked, long overdue ticket in this small town would result in him staying, doing community service at the local animal shelter, or losing his heart to a woman he never thought existed? He definitely didn’t expect to stay in the small town of Holly, let alone fall in love with a woman who saw him at his worst and didn’t run. Maybe there’s something to this happy ever after thing he never believed in.
A Montana Christmas Homecoming is full of laugh-out-loud moments, precious animals in need of a forever home, small-town living in all of its uniqueness, and a couple who fit together so perfectly. Their story is well-written, emotional, and full of Christmas magic, a community coming together, and a happy ending for two deserving people. If that sounds like your kind of Christmas romance, then you’ll love Tess and Jason’s story.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review, giving my personal opinion about this book.*
A Montana Christmas Homecoming Book 1 of Big Sky, Small Town by Jeannie Watt In this story we find Jason and he's in Holly, MT in front of a judge due to a check that never got sent or the bill paid. Judge decides he needs to do 100 hours of community service and he sends him to the local foster animal location to help them out. He's a business guy who's always on the run from city to city. He has relatives in town and hopes to help them decorate. Story also follows Tess who gave up her lawyer career to be the towns animal shelter location and she has a bid in for town money if she can get the shelter cleared of all animals before Christmas. love the ideas she has with help from others and how the word gets out that helps others to come see what is offered.. So many festive activities in town. Love sweater for dogs and humans who go around town with flyers about the event. Jason helped build the staging for the dog event and he pitches in every time Tess needs an extra hand. He's smitten on her but also he has to run back to work with an emergency that occurs before the big event takes place.. Nobody knows when he will return. Love how the judge steps in to help find adoptees for the animals. It's a community challenge. Love when miracles happen. Can't wait to read more from this series. Received this review copy from Tule Publishing via Booksprout and this is my honest opinion.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Heartfelt, Charming, and Filled With Christmas Magic
A Montana Christmas Homecoming is the kind of story that wraps around you like a warm blanket on a snowy night. Jeannie Watt delivers a small-town Christmas romance with irresistible charm, heartfelt emotion, and just the right amount of slow-burn chemistry.
Jason is the perfect reluctant hero—always on the move, allergic to commitment, and suddenly stuck doing community service in the most unexpected place: a struggling animal shelter run by the passionate, big-hearted Tess. Their dynamic is full of sparks from the start, with Jason’s gruff practicality perfectly balancing Tess’s determination and compassion.
The animal shelter setting adds so much heart to the story—especially the chaotic antics of Neville, the terrier who steals every scene. As Jason and Tess work side-by-side, their connection grows in such a natural, tender way that you can’t help but root for them.
Watching Jason slowly fall for the town, the animals, and Tess is deeply satisfying. Tess’s vulnerability and strength make her an unforgettable heroine, and their shared moments—whether fixing kennels or sharing quiet conversations amid twinkling lights—are pure holiday magic.
A beautifully written, feel-good Christmas romance about second chances, unexpected beginnings, and finding home where you least expect it. A perfect seasonal read!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This book is really good, and I am so glad that I got to read it. Here we have a great love story between Jason Regan and Tess Evans. I highly recommend "A Montana Christmas Homecoming" to you all. I loved the book, and I know you will too.
Jason and Tess went to high-school together and Tess had a crush on him. Jason was the star of the football team and Tess was the nerd that kept her nose in a book most of the time. Jason had moved away, and he became an engineer and had his own company. He came home for a visit and found out that he had some unpaid tickets and when he went to court the judge threw the book at him and assigned him to hours of community service at the local animal shelter. That is where Tess worked. She had moved and became a lawyer and realized that the crazy lifestyle was not for her, so she moved back to Holly, Montana.
Jason was good at building things, so he was helping her plan and build items for the make-or-break "Home for the Holidays" adoption event. She was trying to get all of the animals adopted and win money to help with the shelter. Jason had never really been an animal lover, but he fell for one of the dogs at the shelter. He also fell for Tess, and the feeling was mutual, but he is only here for a short time until his community service was done. So, they were both afraid to start anything and not get to see where it went. ,
A Montana Christmas Homecoming is a sweet, gorgeous, warm and inclusive Christmas small town romance. I love Jeannie Watt’s writing voice and it shines through in this story, which is set in the appropriately Christmas-named town of Holly, Montana. Tess Evans, manages an animal shelter called Forever Home, having discovered several years earlier that working as a high-powered lawyer just wasn’t her thing. She’s passionate about the animals in her care and about finding good homes for each of them. Jason Reagan spent four years in Holly to complete his high school education before leaving to become an engineer. He’s a workaholic so when he’s sentenced to 100 hours community service at Forever Homes in lieu of paying an old traffic fine he’s not thrilled. I loved Tess’s dedication to her shelter and the work she puts into getting all her charges adopted out before Christmas in order to secure a grant. I loved the way spending time in Holly helped Jason to reevaluate his life and his values at the same time as discovering he also loves Tess. Background stories such as Jason’s growing attachment to Neville the wiry haired terrier, Imogene’s knitted sweaters for shelter animals and the various Christmas activities Jason and Tess enjoy with his Aunt Mae and her father and sisters. This book envelopes you in warmth, the love of family and the joy of Christmas. It left me with a huge, happy smile and the urge to dust off my own Christmas decorations. Can’t wait for book two in the series.
A Montana Christmas Homecoming ~ Big Sky Small Town #1 by Jeannie Watt
A Montana Christmas Homecoming is a wonderful start to a new series from Jeannie Watt. Beautifully written, the story draws readers in with vivid small-town charm and characters who feel genuine and relatable.
Jason Regan returns to the town of Hope, Montana, intending only to visit his aunt. However, an overlooked fine quickly complicates his plans, and a stern judge sentences him to 100 hours of community service. That service lands him at the local animal shelter, which is run by Tess—a woman who could really use the help.
What Jason doesn’t realise is that Tess harboured a crush on him back in high school. Working side by side at the shelter brings old feelings to the surface and gives both characters a chance to grow, heal, and rediscover what home truly means.
With heartfelt moments, a cozy Christmas setting, and strong emotional depth, this book delivers a satisfying romance rooted in second chances and small-town connections. Fans of holiday romances and contemporary Christian fiction will especially enjoy this warm and engaging story.
A Montana Christmas Homecoming delivers a cozy, small‑town holiday atmosphere with all the familiar comforts of a Christmas romance, but it doesn’t quite rise above the genre’s well‑worn patterns. The snowy Montana setting is charming, and the returning‑home premise has emotional potential, especially as the characters navigate old wounds and rekindled connections. There are sweet moments and a few heartfelt scenes that land well, making it an easy, pleasant seasonal read.
That said, the story sometimes leans too heavily on predictable beats, and the pacing can feel uneven, with certain conflicts resolving a bit too neatly. The romance is warm but not particularly memorable, and some character motivations could have used more depth to make the emotional payoff stronger. Overall, it’s a decent holiday escape—comforting enough for a quiet winter evening, but not one that lingers long after the last page.
Jason can’t believe he can’t just buy his way out of a lost traffic ticket but being given 100 hours of community service to help at Tess’s animal shelter ends up being the best thing that could happen to this overworked man. He gets to spend time with an aunt who he hasn’t seen in years and finds passion in designing enclosures for the holiday festival to help with her goal of clearing the shelter by Christmas so she can obtain funding. Mischievous dog Neville just wanted his own human to love, and he finds it in Jason, but when a crisis with his business happens will he stay and take him home or leave him and Tess behind? This was a kisses only romance. I’m looking forward to reading Tess’s sisters romances.
Be ready for a book that reads like a Hallmark book, literally and in the best way!
Tessa is a drop-out lawyer who chose a small town animal shelter as her life and dream, but she needs money to make it work. Here is where Jason comes in, he is an overwork engineer, who is visiting town and is handed a community service sentence (a small violation) and that collides him with Tessa.
Add small town vibes, a cute dog -who becomes a character, close proximity, a sweet attraction and you have a romance building plot. BUt as they get closer and the animal shelter project is advancing, he will have to make decisions?
A great book for the holidays!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A Montana Christmas Homecoming is book 1 in the Big Sky, Small Town series by Jeannie Watt 4.5 stars
A Hallmark, perfect romance between Jason Regan, who gets handed community service hours at the town’s animal shelter and Tess Evans who traded her law degree for saving the animals at the shelter. What she doesn’t expect is the feelings Jason inspires but she knows it won’t last…or will the magic of the season convince him to stay..read on to find out…
I voluntarily read a copy of this book from Tule Publishing and BookSprout. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A Montana Christmas Homecoming is a delightful stand-alone book. With a great hea.
Jason and Tess are likeable, believable Characters but Neville is the star of this book without a doubt. This book is set in a small town with a big community spirit and the characters are what you would expect from small town life. The author writes with charm and humour and the story flows beautifully from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to fans of this genre or to anyone looking for a good book to lose themselves in for a while.
This is a great story. Jason and Tess are wonderful characters and you find yourself cheering for them throughout the book. Jason is constantly on the move. The engineering firm he works for has him everywhere and that's just fine with him. Until he goes to Holly Montana and meets Tess. Tess runs a shelter now and is working hard to get the animals a home by Christmas when in strolls Jason. Can the holidays work it's magic on them?
This is a heart warming romance with grumpy cats and lots of dogs. MS Watt has captured the heart and soul of a jack russell. But the image of a football team out running with a whole pack of rescue dogs is painted in my head. Small town America and its nosy but well meaning interference in our lives creates a sense of home love and laughter. I love the stories as the people are real and the animals memorable
Jason and Tess went to school together. She had a huge crush on him that she thought he knew about and had ignored her because of it. Now it's years later ,he needs to do community service and guess who he has to serve it with. I love animals and how they love unconditionally. Wonderful, heartwarming story.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was a little too sweet and rather predictable story with somewhat cliché small-town characters. Jason is overly nice, even with his past tendency to keep on the move. Tess doesn’t seem to have any character flaws, either. Just made them kind of boring. The animals were the most interesting part of this story. I appreciated the HEA but… they never said “I love you” to each other (though they’d both realized it separately) which felt like a glaring omission.
I like the pet shelter as a background for the story. Because of a little terrier can add a lot to a story. Like the two lead characters they are both strong and are changing their path in life to hopefully get something better. But there are some bumps along the way. And there is an attraction between the two of them that neither one of them expected. Good read.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This romance book was the perfect romance story to kick off my holiday reading. So, grab a cup of hot chocolate a plate of Christmas cookies because Jeannie has written a page turning amazing holiday romance book you can't help but not fall in love with starting with the cozy looking cabin. I can't wait for book number two in this series.
About Kennel adoptions in a small town and two talented people who realize there is much more to life than work and success...and what really matters to them. They discover together that great differences can be worked out with the proper motivation and collaboration.
I loved everything about this adorable story! The book is so sweet and romantic. It has heartwarming moments between Jason and Tess as well as the precious fur characters. Calling all animal lovers... you will adore this book! Wonderful writing, entertaining and so full of heart. Can't wait for more Big Sky, Small Town!.
What beautiful holiday story set against the backdrop of a cozy small town whose most important inhabitants have four legs. If you are looking for a break from shopping, wrapping, and cooking, look no further than A Montana Christmas Homecoming filled with wonderful characters and a heart-warming HEA.
I really enjoyed this story! It's a light holiday story, perfect for a relaxing, cozy read by the fire. The characters are wonderful, and the small town atmosphere is nice.
This book is one you curl up with on a wet day and read cover to cover. A feel good romance highlighting how teamwork, animals and community support each other, particularly in rural areas and love finds you unexpectedly.
This small town has a Stars Hollow vibe, and so do its’ inhabitants. The author has a knack for making the animals in this story show their personalities. I was ready to adopt Neville myself a couple of times :).
This was a good “feel-good” cozy Christmas story. I especially liked the two main characters. There were a few writing errors that distracted me (some spelling mistakes, incomplete sentences and mistakes with adverbs) - surprised the editor missed them.
This was a sweet holiday romance filled with humor. It was about finding balance and maybe something new. I really enjoyed this book. I am looking forward to book 2 very much.
I enjoyed reading this Christmas small town romance. Has former classmates reuniting, close working conditions leading to a sweet building romance. Likeable characters who discover what is important to them to get to their HEA. Add a very cute dog who steals the show. A great book for the holidays!