Scrooge Wore Spurs

by Janet Dailey

From Booklist:
As Christmas approaches, nothing is going well for fortysomething Eben MacCallister. The family ranch he has devoted his life to is about to be foreclosed upon. He has just been notified that the sister he raised but has been estranged from since she ran away at age 17 has been killed in an accident. Now, a lawyer has dumped Eben's four orphaned nieces and nephews on his doorstep. The witness to all this heartache is Maddie, the childhood sweetheart who had gotten away but who, now widowed, has returned to run a dude ranch on her neighboring Arizona spread. The children seem bent on making Eben miserable--the twins want to celebrate Christmas, which also happens to be their birthday; the seven-year-old won't do his homework; and the baby cries in need of diaper changes and food. What's a curmudgeon to do? Dailey breaks no new ground here, but comes through with a light, predictable but reliably entertaining category-type romance.

Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Genres: Romance, Christmas, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Holiday, Contemporary

346 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Janet Anne Haradon Dailey was an American author of numerous romance novels as Janet Dailey (her married name). Her novels have been translated into nineteen languages and have sold over 300 million copies worldwide.

Born in 1944 in Storm Lake, Iowa, she attended secretarial school in Omaha, Nebraska before meeting her husband, Bill. Bill and Janet worked together in construction and land development until they "retired" to travel throughout the United States, inspiring Janet to write the Americana series of romances, where she set a novel in every state of the Union. In 1974, Janet Dailey was the first American author to write for Harlequin. Her first novel was NO QUARTER ASKED.

She had since gone on to write approximately 90 novels, 21 of which have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List. She won many awards and accolades for her work, appearing widely on Radio and Television. Today, there are over three hundred million Janet Dailey books in print in 19 different languages, making her one of the most popular novelists in the world.

Janet Dailey passed away peacefully in her home in Branson on Saturday, December 14, 2013. She was 69.

Reviews

[Tonya Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, witty, comical, and of course magical. This is the best Christmas story I have ever read. If you love cowboys, kiddos, & the spirit of the magical Christmas Season. This is one amazing story. Hope, Joy, and Love of family is what this Scrooge will find.

[TINNGG · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 actually. This is one of those that would have been better as a novella - it's about 200 pages too long.

Also, I don't actually like A Christmas Carol, finding it creepy and weird (should have been named The Nightmare Before Christmas - oh wait…)

To understand the issues I have with this book, let's start with the cast:

Eben, presumably short for Ebenezer (did his parents not like him or something? I mean really…) Middle aged bachelor who mostly singlehandedly runs a ranch. Everyone he was close to has left him. His mom died when his little sister was born, his dad checked out pretty much after that, his sister skipped out after relieving him of his savings, his fiancé… well…

Maddie, former fiance to Eben. Broke up with him after twisting in the wind for 5 years (cue scene from The Bachelor - the shit or get off the pot proposal). Went off and married some rich guy after an unknown amount of time (sounded like not much).

Tad, 6-7 month old baby *not toddler yet; sorry. Only regular player in book who didn't annoy me (mostly because he acted like what he was - a baby)

Hope/Joy, 4 year old twins. Undisciplined, manipulative, chatty and in desperate need of learning the word "NO"

Dillon, 7 year old who acts like a 12 year old whose balls are thinking about dropping. Mouthy, disrespectful, etc.

Plot device - crooked banker trying to take ranch, thus adding to the drama.

Eben gets notice that he has 60 days to pay off mortgage or bank will foreclose and sell to developers. While he's fretting about this, car drops off 4 kids . His sister and her husband were killed. (apparently there was no insurance either but somehow someone could afford to send the baby furniture via movers). Maddie - ex - comes to "help" by offering to buy horses, offering parenting advice, etc. Btats..er..twins throw tantrum over a tree after snooping in the attic (where no 4 year old should be snooping) and finding decorations that middle aged bachelor had failed to get rid of for some reason. Maddie jumps his case about the whole thing. Well, guess what. I didn't have a tree either this year. So? Other brat, I mean, Dillon, has been acting like prepubescent male at school - disruptive, failing to do homework. Teacher calls. Eben comes down on him and tells him to do his homework. He refuses and runs off. Nearly gets himself killed. More judgement from the ex. Eben asks her to marry him again, she says yes, gets mad and leaves because he wants to wait a month. Hell, they've barely been speaking to each other for the past month. Oh, she gets a tad huffy about his comment regarding her running off and marrying a rich guy. Shoe fits. Kids collect cactus for Christmas tree (I had this sudden fear they'd nabbed a Saguaro). Eben asks cow, I mean, Maddie - again - to marry him, giving her his mother's ring this time and promising immediate resolution.

Sigh… Ok, I get that 5 years of waiting around was a bit much (ok, it was ridiculous), but demanding marriage now when you haven't even actually gone on a date is a bit much too. People change. And the kids… Oh God. I wanted to reach through the pages, grab those twins' ears, and sit their asses down. Sit down and shut up!

[Kathryn T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a good 'I just want to relax and read without over thinking' book. It was pleasant to read, but it left me feeling...surprised that so little seemed to happen in 324 pages. I don't know if it was just me but the heroine seemed to almost be a side note. Yes she is important, but even though I know its probably not true, the book left me feeling that she wasn't even in the story half the time. The book was much more focused on the parenting aspect than the romance. Also while not the most in-depth, the hero has a distinct back story...while the book doesn't say anything about Maggie before she met Eben. It's almost like she didn't exist until she met him and she ceased to exist in the 20 years they were apart. Yes we were told that she married someone else, and eventually he died but that is all the we know of her existence outside of Eben's life. Now don't get me wrong, this was not a bad book, the humor with the children is genuinely funny, but I personally found the romance part of the book boring. And the main tension bringer of the story doesn't even get resolved. Yes they decide on a plan on what to do either way, but that kind of took away any significance you gave it. Eben was a well developed character, and if you want to read about him that's fine, but don't expect much of his relationship with Maggie other than arguing and a couple kissing scenes.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

..

[Sharil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious! Very fast, light read "in the spirit of the season".

[Layne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, wonderful book. It made me laugh, it made me mad, it made me cry. This one you've got to read and reread.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend sent me this in a box of books, and I recognize the author. Another friend and I used to read Janet Dailey often in the 80s. Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I just couldn't get into the story--and in fact, partway through actually chose to start a new book before deciding that I wouldn't force myself to continue to read a story that didn't hold my interest enough to continue it.

None of the characters seem particularly sympathetic:
Eben's shut himself off from others (probably as a result of being hurt so often. His mother died in childbirth. His father pretty much checked out after his wife died. He raised his sister who then ran off with the life savings. The girl he dated for 5 years gave up on him every marrying her and went on with her life.)
Maddie seems a bit vindictive toward Eben to me. It's almost as if she can't help but taunt him.
And these two are supposed to love each other?
The kids aren't much better. I can excuse it a bit at the beginning because they did just lose both parents and get uprooted from their home and moved to the home of an uncle they don't really know. There are new rules to learn etc. There's a sullen, moody 12 year old (Dillan). There are twin girls (Hope and Joy) who try to be helpful but end up creating more work for the adults--plus they chatter constantly, or so it seems. Only the baby (Tad)'s behavior is excusable because it's more age-appropriate.

I would guess based on the title, that Eben has a change of heart--but even late in the book, some of these issues are still present.

[Thomas George Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Janet Daily homerun on this story around the holidays. Eban McAllister is the main protagonist and cattle rancher. He has fallen into hard times due to the fact cattle is no longer in great demand. His ranch is about to be foreclosed unless Eban can raise the money. His high school girlfriend Maddie wants to help but the proud Eban has refused her assistance. Now adding more drama to this story, Eban has been notified that his sister and her husband were killed in an auto accident and has left four children, including a six month old baby. Eban is the only next of kin. Now he needs the help of Maddie more than ever. This was the ideal story to read not only during the holidays but anytime of the year.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living in this present economy I could relate to the main male character being worried about paying bills and putting his life on hold because he did not want anyone else to be involved in his daily struggle to make ends meet. The story helped me to remember that a person works to live - not lives to work. This story is timeless. I enjoyed it and related to it in 2022 (25 years after the original publish date!)

[Tammy Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story about a proud rancher who gets a second chance with the woman he loves after he gets his nieces and nephews due to the tragic death of his sister and her husband.

[Rainelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, awesome book

[Kathy Church · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this bok.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Scrooge is the right name for Eben. I didn’t like the two main characters so it was not very enjoyable.

[Velma Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart felt story.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

ill be reading all festive books all month if I can find enough that I've not read before

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thought it was going to be good, but really didn't like the main character. It was well written, but I just cringed every time the male lead opened his mouth. The motivation was described, but the self-centered attitude, "I can do no wrong" just grated on me. The last chapter was good, but their didn't seem to be much character growth that led up to it.

[Xian Roble · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a straightforward enough story with a moral lesson for Christmas. Basically, all it says is "Money doesn't buy happiness" and "Christmas is a time for family" and all that jazz. As cliche as it seems, it's still a pretty good book. It's more of a heartwarming tale rather than a romance. The characters are relate able (not all likeable, but relate able) The protagonist here is an anti-hero in need of an attitude adjustment. He's your typical gruff guy only concerned about one thing in life. And in this case it's his ranch. There's no villian in it much, unless you count the bank, but then again, they don't really play a big part in the story. For the heroine, she's no damsel in distress that's for sure. She's more like fed up with the hero's stubbornness to be bothered by anything else. Feminists would love her. She definitely speaks her mind and doesn't let anyone, let alone the hero, tear her down. She also comes off as a motherly type when it comes to dealing with the children. She cares for them even though she's not related to them in any way and they just met!

I'm pretty sure every woman would act all motherly to four orphaned kids, who got handed to their uncaring uncle and during Christmas no less! The children were wonderfully written! I can tell the author has put a lot of thought into writing them. She probably has kids of her own the same age. And it's because of the kids that the protagonist grew to let go of his stubbornness and embrace his now so called "family". It's a light hearted story in itself, not much drama. No, thrills or adventure of any kind. But it's still a good solid read.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice light seasonal romance. Just a quick read.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nancy 3 stars