The Cowboy's Housekeeper

by Lori Copeland

Clothing designer Jessica Cole has inherited her aunt and uncle's cattle farm. Perfect! She can sell the farm to finance her company's newest venture, a clothing line for children. Then she learns the condition of her inheritance-she must move to the small Texas town where she was raised and run the farm for six months. Since she knows nothing about managing a farm, she's forced to ask for help from the last man she ever expected to meet up with again, her ex-husband Jason Rawlings. Jason proves to be as ornery as ever. He's in a bind since his housekeeper left town, and needs someone to take her place. He agrees to Jessica's request on one she must become his housekeeper for six months. Imagine, the CEO of a successful business, forced to become her ex-husband's maid! But what choice does she have? She can handle anything for six months, even keeping house for a man she used to love. After all, those old feelings are long dead and buried. ...or are they?

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Christian Romance, Romance

276 pages, Library Binding

Published February 7, 2018

About the author

Lori Copeland was born on 12 June 1941. She had a relatively late start in writing, breaking into publishing in 1982 when she was already forty years old. Over the next dozen years, her romance novels achieved much success, as was evidenced by her winning the Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Award, The Holt Medallion, and Walden Books' Best Seller award. She has been inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame.

Despite her success in more mainstream romantic fiction, in 1995, she decided to switch focus. Her subsequent books have been in the relatively new subgenre of Christian romance. She has also collaborated with authors Angela Elwell Hunt or Virginia Smith on a series of Christian romance novels.

Lori and her husband of over forty years, Lance, live in Springfield, Missouri, surrounded by the beautiful Ozarks. They have three grown sons, three daughter-in-laws, and six wonderful grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters. She and her husband are very involved in their church, and active in supporting mission work in Mali, West Africa.

Reviews

[Vibliophile · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute premise, less cute implementation

The story's premise is cute & promising, but it doesn't quite succeed. Unfortunately, the author relies on a lot of trite plot devices & stereotypes her characters. And Jason is effectively just stringing Monica along which is crappy. The efforts at comedy are sometimes amusing but also tend to make the characters look immature & cringey. I'd put it about on the level of a made-for-tv movie

*Romance level: passionate kisses, nothing graphic

[Chantelle Hale · Rating 1 out of 5]

4 starts rating??? Are you fkg kidding me??? This was horseshit. The heroine was a loser who can't move on from her ex, the hero that treated her like a dirt. He rubbed her in her face that he can be out and moving on with other woman while she was the loser who thinking about getting him back. The audacity of that man TO BLAME HER when he wanted to marry while she was still underage and be mad at her that her uncle and her aunty wanted her to pursue her education first?? Mad at her that she didn't defied them that had been taking care of her since she was a child???? I could say more tbh. He talked about maintaining their "business arrangement" while he called her the nickname when they were together and also called her sweetheart. This asshole.

[Wanda A Drewry · Rating 5 out of 5]

So lovingly funny

Loved it from the first page. Laughed with tears at their catastrophic reunion at the beginning of the book. The crazy responses to each other as they dealt with their old wounds were so funny and believable. My favorite book.

[Lissy LeBlanc · Rating 1 out of 5]

Both the heroine and the hero deserve each other. One was a shitty man who strung along a good woman while the other one was actually behaves like an ex gf who cannot move on and was such an embarrassment to other women. The hero kinda weird about a lots of things 🚩🚩🚩(side eyeing him).

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story line, but there were some editing inconsistencies.

[Rose Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of the book says clean and wholesome at its best. I agree. A good story with real characters!

[Jeanie Jacobson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast, fun read.

[Lorraine Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Lori Copeland I do love her books.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Different from her historical novels, but I enjoyed it. It had its funny moments, which I love in a book.

[Linda R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica Cole and Jason Rawlings grew up next to each other on neighboring cattle ranches after Jessica's parents were killed when she was four years old, and she came to live with her aunt and uncle. They sacrificed everything for her over the years so she could go to college and become a veterinarian. When she turns 17, Jessica and Jason get married. Believing this will ruin all their dreams for her, her aunt and uncle force her to get an annulment. Jessica leaves town, never hearing from Jason again.

Eight years later, Jessica, a successful clothing designer, has inherited her aunt and uncle's ranch on the condition that she come home and run it for six months. She can then sell it and use the money to expand her clothing line. Since she knows nothing about the place, she must ask her ex-husband, now one of the biggest ranchers in the area, for help. He agrees in exchange for her becoming his temporary housekeeper.

Lori Copeland began her career in the secular market before becoming a Christian fiction writer. The Cowboy's Housekeeper is the first book she has rewritten. The story was humorous and enjoyable. However, what should have been an easy read was made difficult by the numerous errors in the book - not just in spelling and punctuation but in the storyline itself. I was very disappointed, and I hope this will change as she continues to re-do her work.

I purchased a paperback copy of this book.

[Tina Wyatt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jessica Cole is a fashion designer that has returned to her hometown in Texas to settle her aunts and uncle's estate. She and her partner have their own fashion business. Upon arriving home she finds out that she must stay on the farm for 6 months and work the farm in order to inherit it. She wants to inherit it so she can sell it. Will she be able to find someone to run the farm? What surprises await her in her home town? Will her fashion business suffer while she is away from it? Jason Rawlings is a farmer and a small business owner in Texas. Jessica and him have a history. They were in love as teens and had a brief marriage. They ran away and got married but due to many problems they broke up. Now Jessica is back in town and he has to face her after all these yrs. Will Jason forget the past and help Jessica? Will he help her? What will happen if he doesn't help Jessica? Will they fall in love again? This is a sweet love story. The author wrote it several years ago and this is a clean rewrite and I love it. Everybody loves a cowboy and so do I. If you are looking for a clean sweet romance then this one is for you . It is a quick read . I read the book version . Christian

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hallmark movie material

[Lis K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella is a clean re-write of the author's previous work. It's a second-chance-at-romance storyline told from the view of the heroine, so the reader has to guess what the hero is thinking (although it's pretty obvious). There were some things the heroine did that were pretty funny and some things that were a little over-the-top cringeworthy. The story needs a bit more editing (e.g., inconsistencies with story details) as the mistakes tended to pull me out of the story. However, this is a short pleasant read when you are in a light mood. I'd recommend this to fans of Lori Copeland.