This gets a full 3 stars because Yates actually abandonned the virgin trope. Thank goodness!
Cooper is back in Gold Valley for Christmas, unable to say 'no' to his parents. He has avoided Gold Valley for 8 years, since the death of his older sister from cancer, passing through once or twice a year to see his parents but avoiding Christmas. Cooper lives for today, shut down emotionally, connecting with no one. But he's certainly not let his sexy body go to ruin - he herds cattle for a living, constantly roaming, no roots or home, but that's hard work that keeps that bod in shape.
Annabelle has all grown up, owning a successful store on Main Street in Gold Valley, but suffering from very low self-esteem from 5 years with a belittling boyfriend. When she sees Cooper is back in town and hanging out at the local saloon every night, she decides to seduce him, have a fling, and enjoy herself. Nevermind that she had a serious case of hero worship as a kid, and lusted after him as a teen.
Clearly these two are destined to hook up for more than a night in this Christmas novella. Along the way, Cooper helps Annabelle gain confidence and embrace how beautiful and accomplish she is, and Annabelle helps Cooper heal and embrace life again. There is lots of hot steamy sex where both reach satisfaction - although in truth Cooper is a real douche part of the time. And some of the emotional merry-go-round is tedious and repetitive - even though this is barely 100 pages. But I liked this couple, their HEA and that there were sufficient Christmassy scenes to make this an appropirate Christmas Cowboy Romance.