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The Wyoming Cowboy #7
Holly Jolly Cowboy
From New York Times bestselling author Jessica Clare comes a Christmas romance about a cowboy grinch and the woman who stole his heart.
Local waitress Holly Dawson needs a better paying job to cover her sister's college tuition. Given that it's Christmas and she's broke as a joke, she's feeling pretty bah-humbug. New jobs are hard to come by in a town as small as Painted Barrel, especially as the town dropout.
When Holly's offered a job at the Flat C Ranch to clean and cook for the cowboys that work there, it seems like a dream come true...except for one thing. Her nemesis, the incredibly handsome (and annoyingly arrogant) Adam Calhoun works there. It doesn't matter that he loves dogs more than people, or that he's a war veteran. No Christmas spirit can save that particular grinch.
When the rest of the ranch hands go out of town for the holidays, Holly and Adam will be forced to work closely together. No sweat. Holly can deal with Adam. And if she doesn't kill him first, she just might fall in love.
Local waitress Holly Dawson needs a better paying job to cover her sister's college tuition. Given that it's Christmas and she's broke as a joke, she's feeling pretty bah-humbug. New jobs are hard to come by in a town as small as Painted Barrel, especially as the town dropout.
When Holly's offered a job at the Flat C Ranch to clean and cook for the cowboys that work there, it seems like a dream come true...except for one thing. Her nemesis, the incredibly handsome (and annoyingly arrogant) Adam Calhoun works there. It doesn't matter that he loves dogs more than people, or that he's a war veteran. No Christmas spirit can save that particular grinch.
When the rest of the ranch hands go out of town for the holidays, Holly and Adam will be forced to work closely together. No sweat. Holly can deal with Adam. And if she doesn't kill him first, she just might fall in love.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 26, 2021
61 people are currently reading
1869 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Clare
69 books4,464 followersThis is a pen name for Jill Myles.
Jill Myles has been an incurable romantic since childhood. She reads all the 'naughty parts' of books first, looks for a dirty joke in just about everything, and thinks to this day that the Little House on the Prairie books should have been steamier.
After devouring hundreds of paperback romances, mythology books, and archaeological tomes, she decided to write a few books of her own - stories with a wild adventure, sharp banter, and lots of super-sexy situations. She prefers her heroes alpha and half-dressed, her heroines witty, and she loves nothing more than watching them overcome adversity to fall into bed together.
Jill Myles has been an incurable romantic since childhood. She reads all the 'naughty parts' of books first, looks for a dirty joke in just about everything, and thinks to this day that the Little House on the Prairie books should have been steamier.
After devouring hundreds of paperback romances, mythology books, and archaeological tomes, she decided to write a few books of her own - stories with a wild adventure, sharp banter, and lots of super-sexy situations. She prefers her heroes alpha and half-dressed, her heroines witty, and she loves nothing more than watching them overcome adversity to fall into bed together.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 348 reviews
November 16, 2021
For anyone who cares about such things, this one made me curse a lot. Don't read this review if that bothers you.
I wanted to check this out because I heard the grovel was good, but I cannot get past what a shithead this "hero" (MMC for future purposes because I've already forgotten his name and I don't care enough to read the blurb) is. He is mean to Holly, who is a waitress, because she flirted with him initially, and when he went back to ask her out, found her flirting with another man and concluded it was for tips. You don't want to get me started on how fucked up the American restaurant system is, combined with GODDAMN PATRIARCHY but newsflash -- waitresses flirt for tips. Hell, Mr. Shitheel, I have additional news for you: waiters flirt for tips! You want to know how I know? Because I have been both a waitress and a customer and flirted (badly, because I'm still me) and been flirted with. And it fucking sucks that people in those jobs in the U.S. have to flirt with strangers they might want to otherwise tell to go to hell just to get enough money for food and rent when every other job out there (supposedly) has a minimum wage, but that's a Reddit or Facebook rant, not Goodreads.
Either way, MMC is mad because he found out a waitress flirted with him for a tip and his response to that is to leave her shitty tips forever. No matter how well she does her job, or how good his food is, he tips someone in the restaurant business a dollar for her time and attention because his fwagile ickle feewings got an ouchie.
So first of all, fuck him.
Then, Holly gets hired to be a live-in housekeeper for MMC and his coworker. Her first night, he refuses to eat what she makes even though he likes it because it has onions in it. And then he refuses to tell her what he will eat. As a result, she makes him peanut butter sandwiches while his coworker gets a wide variety of yummy fare. He gets increasingly jealous and bitter and starts stealing his coworker's food instead of, oh, I dunno, using his words and asking her to make him what he wants. And he gets additional revenge by feeding her dog after he read a note specifically asking not to and making it sick. Meanwhile the coworker keeps saying they're both behaving like children.
I know I tend to be a bit misandrist in reading some of these books sometimes, but how are they both behaving like children? From what I can tell, Holly is working her butt off trying to manage this ungrateful asshat's food and he just wants to fuck with her income.
Because what is his next move? MMC (just remembered his name is Adam) knows Holly bakes. She told him to leave her stuff in the fridge alone. He assumes it's stuff she is making for his coworker but not him! So what does he do? After a mental navel-gazing scene where we find out his cheating ex-wife used to play food games with him (and all women are the same, I guess), making food for her boyfriend but not him! in an effort to get him to file papers so she could be the aggrieved party (which... no...), Adam goes through the proofing dough in the fridge that she prepared and salts and peppers the shit out of it.
Like he's a fucking five year old throwing a tantrum.
And that's the thing. Adam's thought processes are no more mature than a small child. "She hurt my feelings doing something every single waitress ever does, so I'm going to make sure she can't pay her rent." "She is making good food for someone who doesn't treat her like dog shit, so I'm going to make her dog sick and then destroy the food she spent time and effort on."
Fuck Adam. I don't even care about the grovel here. No way am I reading a steamy book involving someone with a child's mentality, I don't care how old he's supposed to be. DNF, DNF, DNF, and short of Adam getting hit by a car (and then backed over, hit again, then spit on by a small child, who will still manage to be more mature than he is) and Holly riding off into the sunset with metric piles of money from his insurance settlement, there isn't a happy ending here, no matter how good the grovel is. (And yes, I'm aware of the dichotomy of things I have forgiven in romance novel MMCs vs this asshat -- but to be fair, most of the time I don't forgive the shitty behavior unless the grovel is good enough, and it rarely is, which is why I'm eternally on the hunt for good grovels.)
I'm rating this two stars instead of just one because I liked Holly and the writing was good, even if her love interest was an irredeemable jackass.
I wanted to check this out because I heard the grovel was good, but I cannot get past what a shithead this "hero" (MMC for future purposes because I've already forgotten his name and I don't care enough to read the blurb) is. He is mean to Holly, who is a waitress, because she flirted with him initially, and when he went back to ask her out, found her flirting with another man and concluded it was for tips. You don't want to get me started on how fucked up the American restaurant system is, combined with GODDAMN PATRIARCHY but newsflash -- waitresses flirt for tips. Hell, Mr. Shitheel, I have additional news for you: waiters flirt for tips! You want to know how I know? Because I have been both a waitress and a customer and flirted (badly, because I'm still me) and been flirted with. And it fucking sucks that people in those jobs in the U.S. have to flirt with strangers they might want to otherwise tell to go to hell just to get enough money for food and rent when every other job out there (supposedly) has a minimum wage, but that's a Reddit or Facebook rant, not Goodreads.
Either way, MMC is mad because he found out a waitress flirted with him for a tip and his response to that is to leave her shitty tips forever. No matter how well she does her job, or how good his food is, he tips someone in the restaurant business a dollar for her time and attention because his fwagile ickle feewings got an ouchie.
So first of all, fuck him.
Then, Holly gets hired to be a live-in housekeeper for MMC and his coworker. Her first night, he refuses to eat what she makes even though he likes it because it has onions in it. And then he refuses to tell her what he will eat. As a result, she makes him peanut butter sandwiches while his coworker gets a wide variety of yummy fare. He gets increasingly jealous and bitter and starts stealing his coworker's food instead of, oh, I dunno, using his words and asking her to make him what he wants. And he gets additional revenge by feeding her dog after he read a note specifically asking not to and making it sick. Meanwhile the coworker keeps saying they're both behaving like children.
I know I tend to be a bit misandrist in reading some of these books sometimes, but how are they both behaving like children? From what I can tell, Holly is working her butt off trying to manage this ungrateful asshat's food and he just wants to fuck with her income.
Because what is his next move? MMC (just remembered his name is Adam) knows Holly bakes. She told him to leave her stuff in the fridge alone. He assumes it's stuff she is making for his coworker but not him! So what does he do? After a mental navel-gazing scene where we find out his cheating ex-wife used to play food games with him (and all women are the same, I guess), making food for her boyfriend but not him! in an effort to get him to file papers so she could be the aggrieved party (which... no...), Adam goes through the proofing dough in the fridge that she prepared and salts and peppers the shit out of it.
Like he's a fucking five year old throwing a tantrum.
And that's the thing. Adam's thought processes are no more mature than a small child. "She hurt my feelings doing something every single waitress ever does, so I'm going to make sure she can't pay her rent." "She is making good food for someone who doesn't treat her like dog shit, so I'm going to make her dog sick and then destroy the food she spent time and effort on."
Fuck Adam. I don't even care about the grovel here. No way am I reading a steamy book involving someone with a child's mentality, I don't care how old he's supposed to be. DNF, DNF, DNF, and short of Adam getting hit by a car (and then backed over, hit again, then spit on by a small child, who will still manage to be more mature than he is) and Holly riding off into the sunset with metric piles of money from his insurance settlement, there isn't a happy ending here, no matter how good the grovel is. (And yes, I'm aware of the dichotomy of things I have forgiven in romance novel MMCs vs this asshat -- but to be fair, most of the time I don't forgive the shitty behavior unless the grovel is good enough, and it rarely is, which is why I'm eternally on the hunt for good grovels.)
I'm rating this two stars instead of just one because I liked Holly and the writing was good, even if her love interest was an irredeemable jackass.
October 27, 2021
4.5 Stars
Holly lost her parents at seventeen and had to drop out of high school to support her thirteen-year-old sister, Polly lest she be put into foster care. Holly’s barely scraping by even though she works six days a week at the local bar/grill. She loves to bake and would love to find a way to make extra money doing it. Money is stretched tight with Polly off at college and Holly paying tuition so when she’s offered a job to cook for the workers at the Flat C Ranch she jumps at the chance. There’s only one problem: Adam Calhoun is one of the ranch hands, and while he’s gorgeous, he’s grade A jerk. Rude and cheap every time he visits the bar.
Adam left the Navy because he got tired of being away from his wife only to find out she’d been cheating on him. With nothing holding him back he left the state for ranch work in Wyoming. When Adam first laid eyes on Holly he thought she was beautiful and enjoyed her flirty service while dining, but got the impression she was only nice for tips. He felt like a fool, so since then, he makes is a point to ruffle her feathers at every opportunity, and they get off to a rotten start when she’s starts working at the Flat C Ranch.
Adam was a total jerk when this story started and even though Holly gave as good as she got, he, IMO, was mainly responsible for their petty exchanges. When a particularly nasty prank ends with Holly being devastated, Adam feels terrible and determines to make a change. Even though I wanted to smack Adam, I understood his history with his wife influenced his behavior with Holly. I was thrilled when they started to let go of their animosity and started to see the true person underneath, falling a little more in love with every dinner spent together.
I admired Holly so much with the way she worked so hard to take care of her sister and everyone else around her. She was positive had a kind spirit even if she did get a bit petty with Adam, he deserved it. I was annoyed with Adam, but he quickly won me over when it was apparent how sorry he was. His care and deep feelings for Holly came through loud and clear, she definitely deserved to have someone taking care of her for a change! I loved how desperate they were for each other, and their time together was hot!
I’ve been loving The Wyoming Cowboy series, eagerly anticipating every new installment! Holly Jolly Cowboy sucked me in from the very first page and it seemed like the story just flew by! So much to love here: A spicy enemies-to-lovers romance, delicious food, and baked goods (I was salivating throughout!) and an ending that'll leave you warm and fuzzy all over!
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley Books in exchange for an honest review.
Holly lost her parents at seventeen and had to drop out of high school to support her thirteen-year-old sister, Polly lest she be put into foster care. Holly’s barely scraping by even though she works six days a week at the local bar/grill. She loves to bake and would love to find a way to make extra money doing it. Money is stretched tight with Polly off at college and Holly paying tuition so when she’s offered a job to cook for the workers at the Flat C Ranch she jumps at the chance. There’s only one problem: Adam Calhoun is one of the ranch hands, and while he’s gorgeous, he’s grade A jerk. Rude and cheap every time he visits the bar.
Adam left the Navy because he got tired of being away from his wife only to find out she’d been cheating on him. With nothing holding him back he left the state for ranch work in Wyoming. When Adam first laid eyes on Holly he thought she was beautiful and enjoyed her flirty service while dining, but got the impression she was only nice for tips. He felt like a fool, so since then, he makes is a point to ruffle her feathers at every opportunity, and they get off to a rotten start when she’s starts working at the Flat C Ranch.
Adam was a total jerk when this story started and even though Holly gave as good as she got, he, IMO, was mainly responsible for their petty exchanges. When a particularly nasty prank ends with Holly being devastated, Adam feels terrible and determines to make a change. Even though I wanted to smack Adam, I understood his history with his wife influenced his behavior with Holly. I was thrilled when they started to let go of their animosity and started to see the true person underneath, falling a little more in love with every dinner spent together.
I admired Holly so much with the way she worked so hard to take care of her sister and everyone else around her. She was positive had a kind spirit even if she did get a bit petty with Adam, he deserved it. I was annoyed with Adam, but he quickly won me over when it was apparent how sorry he was. His care and deep feelings for Holly came through loud and clear, she definitely deserved to have someone taking care of her for a change! I loved how desperate they were for each other, and their time together was hot!
I’ve been loving The Wyoming Cowboy series, eagerly anticipating every new installment! Holly Jolly Cowboy sucked me in from the very first page and it seemed like the story just flew by! So much to love here: A spicy enemies-to-lovers romance, delicious food, and baked goods (I was salivating throughout!) and an ending that'll leave you warm and fuzzy all over!
A copy was kindly provided by Berkley Books in exchange for an honest review.
August 30, 2021
3.5 stars -- I'm so torn on this one because I absolutely loved our heroine, Holly. She's determined, hard-working, loyal, and doing her best to give her sister the life she never had. She's passionate about baking and doing everything within. her limited means to make that a career. But our hero, Adam... I just don't know. He does a pretty good grovel by the end, but he violates 2 of my biggest markers on how I judge people: how he treats service staff and how he treats animals. Still, I did really enjoy this book as a whole, so my ambivalence about him didn't keep me from having a good time
January 1, 2024
*:･ﾟ304/ 100
This is my last read of the year and it was so bad.
This book is the final book in a seven-book series, so I definitely missed a bit of the 'world-building' for this small town.
Holly Jolly Cowboy takes place in Painted Barrel, Wyoming following Holly and Adam's love story. Holly is a waitress who dropped out of high school to take care of her sister and is looked down upon in the town because of that, whilst Adam, a war veteran turned ranchhand, moved to the small town a while ago after his divorce. These two are self-proclaimed enemies after Holly shows Adam basic kindness and customer service that he considers flirting, but when he witnesses Holly shows that same attitude for everyone else he thinks she's just doing it for the tip money, thus every time he is at the diner, he only tips her a single dollar. Their love story begins when she gets hired to cook for the cowboys, Adam and Carson, on Flat C Ranch, whilst the other cowboys are out for the holidays visiting family. Through their proximity and endless bickering, they fall in love.
EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE BUT FUCK THIS GUY. He is an ASSHOLE. The worst man I have ever read about and I've read Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score. He does something to her out of spite, even though her actions were HIS FAULT, that embarrasses her in front of the entire town, costs her future job opportunities and prize money, and ruins the trust she has in herself. He had so many opportunities to come clean, but instead ruined her. He brushed it off as if it was nothing and when they get together he finally reveals what he did and then gets upset when she is RIGHTFULLY betrayed and wants nothing to do with him! ARE YOU DUMB? He then tries to argue he had no idea it would be in front of the whole town (even though he was at the event and she told him on the car ride all of the details). He also argues that he had no idea it would be embarrassing for her, even though he knows her story about how the town just sees her as a dumb waitress, and in his POV while he is at the competition she participated in he says how this will be embarrassing. After all of that, he still just thinks that what he did wasn't that bad and it was just a petty joke. NO WONDER YOU'RE DIVORCED.
As for the smut, I do not read for smut, thus 95% of the time I do not rate books lower because of the smut; however, this book is the rare 5%. It was so cringeworthy and BAD. I'M SORRY!!! If you liked the smut I am so happy for you, but every time there was even an ounce of dirty talk or him jerking off for the 80th time, I immediately cringed, closed the book, and rotted on TikTok for a bit until I removed the scenes from my memory. Adam is also a HUGE perv! He accidentally witnessed her removing her shirt in front of the window whilst they were still 'enemies' and he constantly is jerking off to his endless imagination of Holly's boobs. YOU ARE A GROWN MAN. Jessica Clare also wrote a scene of him jerking off to her and then he takes off his shirt and wipes his lil swimmers off of his chest and THEN says he hasn't come that hard since he was a young boy. EWWWWWWWWW. Once again, if an asshole man is for you, then congratulations because I found the cream of the crop, Mr. Adam Calhoun. There is also a quote that tops Lucy Score referring to Knox's penis as a magical orgasm wand. In this novel, Adam gets called a "cock god" and "Lord of my Orgasms", granted those were jokes between the two, but please spare me.
Adam is also a war veteran. I don't like military or cop romance, that is just not my vibe, but I didn't know that when I picked this book up. I just saw a silly-looking Yeehaw holiday romance and bought it. However, being a war veteran could have been removed from the story and the book still would have made sense. It was referenced a few times because being in the Navy is the reason why he was divorced, but Clare could have just written his wife as a cheater and the story would have been the same. If you're going to make him a veteran at least make it incredibly important to the story or just don't include it at all, in my opinion.
Now, I don't want to knock the whole series, because I started at the end, and in an interconnected standalone series, I don't like to read out of order, so I will give the first book a shot. If book one is as bad as this, I will not continue the series because man this book was BAD.
This is my last read of the year and it was so bad.
This book is the final book in a seven-book series, so I definitely missed a bit of the 'world-building' for this small town.
Holly Jolly Cowboy takes place in Painted Barrel, Wyoming following Holly and Adam's love story. Holly is a waitress who dropped out of high school to take care of her sister and is looked down upon in the town because of that, whilst Adam, a war veteran turned ranchhand, moved to the small town a while ago after his divorce. These two are self-proclaimed enemies after Holly shows Adam basic kindness and customer service that he considers flirting, but when he witnesses Holly shows that same attitude for everyone else he thinks she's just doing it for the tip money, thus every time he is at the diner, he only tips her a single dollar. Their love story begins when she gets hired to cook for the cowboys, Adam and Carson, on Flat C Ranch, whilst the other cowboys are out for the holidays visiting family. Through their proximity and endless bickering, they fall in love.
EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE BUT FUCK THIS GUY. He is an ASSHOLE. The worst man I have ever read about and I've read Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score. He does something to her out of spite, even though her actions were HIS FAULT, that embarrasses her in front of the entire town, costs her future job opportunities and prize money, and ruins the trust she has in herself. He had so many opportunities to come clean, but instead ruined her. He brushed it off as if it was nothing and when they get together he finally reveals what he did and then gets upset when she is RIGHTFULLY betrayed and wants nothing to do with him! ARE YOU DUMB? He then tries to argue he had no idea it would be in front of the whole town (even though he was at the event and she told him on the car ride all of the details). He also argues that he had no idea it would be embarrassing for her, even though he knows her story about how the town just sees her as a dumb waitress, and in his POV while he is at the competition she participated in he says how this will be embarrassing. After all of that, he still just thinks that what he did wasn't that bad and it was just a petty joke. NO WONDER YOU'RE DIVORCED.
As for the smut, I do not read for smut, thus 95% of the time I do not rate books lower because of the smut; however, this book is the rare 5%. It was so cringeworthy and BAD. I'M SORRY!!! If you liked the smut I am so happy for you, but every time there was even an ounce of dirty talk or him jerking off for the 80th time, I immediately cringed, closed the book, and rotted on TikTok for a bit until I removed the scenes from my memory. Adam is also a HUGE perv! He accidentally witnessed her removing her shirt in front of the window whilst they were still 'enemies' and he constantly is jerking off to his endless imagination of Holly's boobs. YOU ARE A GROWN MAN. Jessica Clare also wrote a scene of him jerking off to her and then he takes off his shirt and wipes his lil swimmers off of his chest and THEN says he hasn't come that hard since he was a young boy. EWWWWWWWWW. Once again, if an asshole man is for you, then congratulations because I found the cream of the crop, Mr. Adam Calhoun. There is also a quote that tops Lucy Score referring to Knox's penis as a magical orgasm wand. In this novel, Adam gets called a "cock god" and "Lord of my Orgasms", granted those were jokes between the two, but please spare me.
Adam is also a war veteran. I don't like military or cop romance, that is just not my vibe, but I didn't know that when I picked this book up. I just saw a silly-looking Yeehaw holiday romance and bought it. However, being a war veteran could have been removed from the story and the book still would have made sense. It was referenced a few times because being in the Navy is the reason why he was divorced, but Clare could have just written his wife as a cheater and the story would have been the same. If you're going to make him a veteran at least make it incredibly important to the story or just don't include it at all, in my opinion.
Now, I don't want to knock the whole series, because I started at the end, and in an interconnected standalone series, I don't like to read out of order, so I will give the first book a shot. If book one is as bad as this, I will not continue the series because man this book was BAD.
November 9, 2024
If I hadn’t listened to this on audio and had a 4 hour drive, I would have DNFed this. I’m not sure I’ve ever disliked an MMC more, he was a terrible tipper (and justified himself for it,) was not very nice to a dog, and he over sexualized the FMC when she was working. He was so mean and immature for the first half, and the second half was mainly spicy scenes that had me cringing. 😬 I liked the Christmas/small town vibes and the FMC was an adorable hard working gal with a cute pup, and I loved Jessica Clare’s witchy books. This one was just not for me.
December 23, 2023
3.85 ✨
Ooh, this one was such a good enemies to lovers, with an extra icy hero. He was a bit of a jerk and I love a good jerk, but something ticked me off about him. He more than redeemed himself for his wicked ways and groveled really good. I will always love these cowboys that Jessica Clare creates. They just hit different.
Ooh, this one was such a good enemies to lovers, with an extra icy hero. He was a bit of a jerk and I love a good jerk, but something ticked me off about him. He more than redeemed himself for his wicked ways and groveled really good. I will always love these cowboys that Jessica Clare creates. They just hit different.
December 2, 2023
Holly Jolly Cowboy is part of Jessica Clare’s Wyoming Cowboy series and this has just been a fun Christmas, cowboy series! I’ve been binging these audios on hoopla and they deliver on the western, cowboy, cutesy Christmas vibes.
Holly is a waitress who has always loved baking and has dreamed of opening a bakery but doesn’t have the money to open a shop. One of her customers is the extremely grumpy Adam, a local cowboy/ranch-hand who goes out of his way to tip her just $1. Holly gets an offer for extra work, which she definitely could use the money, and all she has to do is stay at the local ranch and cook for the ranch hands for a month. Which means even more time around cranky Adam.
Adam has issues from his past with a bad divorce and he’s easily annoyed with how Holly gets under his skin. He’s a stubborn grump who complains/makes a fuss over the first meal she cooks at the ranch. So she decides he’ll only eat sandwiches from then, while the other hands get her tasty meals. Adam is a stubborn grump who is determined not to apologize to her first and secretly salivates over her meals instead. He even goes out of his way to wreck one of her recipes in the night, not knowing she’s entering a local contest the next day.
Adam is a grump, most times he’s even a dick to her…so I get why people have issues with him and this book. Over time he does realize and notice more about Holly, how she likes to take care of people and doesn’t have anyone returning the care to her. They do start to fall for one another and the confrontation you know is coming about him sabotaging her contest entry hangs over the story for a while. All in all, I still enjoyed this one! I love the western/cowboy, Christmas setting and I really liked Holly!
Holly is a waitress who has always loved baking and has dreamed of opening a bakery but doesn’t have the money to open a shop. One of her customers is the extremely grumpy Adam, a local cowboy/ranch-hand who goes out of his way to tip her just $1. Holly gets an offer for extra work, which she definitely could use the money, and all she has to do is stay at the local ranch and cook for the ranch hands for a month. Which means even more time around cranky Adam.
Adam has issues from his past with a bad divorce and he’s easily annoyed with how Holly gets under his skin. He’s a stubborn grump who complains/makes a fuss over the first meal she cooks at the ranch. So she decides he’ll only eat sandwiches from then, while the other hands get her tasty meals. Adam is a stubborn grump who is determined not to apologize to her first and secretly salivates over her meals instead. He even goes out of his way to wreck one of her recipes in the night, not knowing she’s entering a local contest the next day.
Adam is a grump, most times he’s even a dick to her…so I get why people have issues with him and this book. Over time he does realize and notice more about Holly, how she likes to take care of people and doesn’t have anyone returning the care to her. They do start to fall for one another and the confrontation you know is coming about him sabotaging her contest entry hangs over the story for a while. All in all, I still enjoyed this one! I love the western/cowboy, Christmas setting and I really liked Holly!
October 17, 2022
From the book jacket Local waitress Holly Dawson needs a better-paying job to cover her sister’s college tuition. Newe jobs are hard to come by in a town as small as Painted Barrel, especially as the town’s high school dropout. When Holly is offered a job at the Flat C Ranch to clean and cook for the cowboys who work there, it seems like a dream come true … except for one thing. Her nemesis, the incredibly handsome (and annoyingly arrogatn) Adam Calhoun, works there. It doesn’t matter that he loves dogs more than people, or that he’s a war veteran. No Christmas spirit can save that particular grinch.
My reactions
This was a fun read. Totally predictable, given the genre, but hey, there are cute dogs in abundance, not to mention that hunky cowboy. And, of course, perky, optimistic Holly will bake and cook her way into his heart. Will there be bumps in the road to romance? How could there not be? Will there be tears shed and hearts broken? Certainly. Will there be a happy ending? No doubt.
This is part of the Wyoming Cowboy series. They share a common romantic theme and a setting, but do not necessarily feature the same characters. And they are NOT all set at Christmas.
Curl up by the fire or in your favorite chair or blanket nest. Get yourself some hot cocoa, or a beverage of choice. Add a cookie (or three). And enjoy.
My reactions
This was a fun read. Totally predictable, given the genre, but hey, there are cute dogs in abundance, not to mention that hunky cowboy. And, of course, perky, optimistic Holly will bake and cook her way into his heart. Will there be bumps in the road to romance? How could there not be? Will there be tears shed and hearts broken? Certainly. Will there be a happy ending? No doubt.
This is part of the Wyoming Cowboy series. They share a common romantic theme and a setting, but do not necessarily feature the same characters. And they are NOT all set at Christmas.
Curl up by the fire or in your favorite chair or blanket nest. Get yourself some hot cocoa, or a beverage of choice. Add a cookie (or three). And enjoy.
November 2, 2021
This ending up being really sweet. Holly was a gem. She worked hard to support her sister, but wanted to show she was more than just a waitress. She handled Adam deftly when he was being a jerk - PB&J all day. I was so furious with him at one point, but he atoned for it in a major way. The penance was more than I expected and super thoughtful. Overall: Left me with the aww-shucks feels.
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October 15, 2021
2.5 STARS
Holly Dawson waitresses in the small Wyoming town of Painted Barrel. It is about the only job she can get since Holly dropped out of school some years before to take care of her younger sister after their parents tragically passed. Holly’s sister, Polly, goes to an expensive college that takes just about every penny big sister can scrape together. Holly has put her own dreams on hold of having the resources to open a bakery as cooking, especially making desserts, is her passion. Living on tips and taking odd jobs, Holly does not appreciate one of the local cowboys, Adam Calhoun, who has taken a dislike to her usually just leaving a measly tip of one dollar showing just what kind of jerk he is.
Holly is offered a job cooking and cleaning at the Flat C ranch where Adam works for one month during the holidays while the owners are away. Pretty much from the beginning, Holly and Adam behave like immature children taking cheap shots at each other and pulling pranks. Unfortunately, Adam does something so mean and really ruinously evil behind Holly’s back leaving her devastated and blaming herself for an epic baking fail. Adam is not man enough to admit what he did even after realizing what his childish behavior has done though he had an opportunity to confess before it was too late.
As Holly and Adam work closely together in forced proximity, they turn from enemies to lovers. Holly is still reeling from the unknown dirty trick that caused her to be embarrassed in front of the whole town and lose confidence in her baking. When’s Adam’s perfidy comes to light, it is not hard to imagine how Holly feels about the betrayal.
I generally enjoy the enemies to loves trope; however, Adam’s initial treatment of Holly as well as his seriously immature behavior makes it hard to have any warm feelings about him. For a man who is supposed to be a war veteran, he does not make the cut as a hero. Holly is totally likeable and admirable for giving up her own dreams so Polly can follow hers and have a better life. Even after she gets pulled into Adam’s spitefulness, Holly’s small efforts pale in comparison to his initial attitude and subsequent meanness making it difficult for this reader to forgive such bad boy behavior even after he tries to make things right. The book can be read as a standalone, but is number seven of The Wyoming Cowboy series.
Holly Dawson waitresses in the small Wyoming town of Painted Barrel. It is about the only job she can get since Holly dropped out of school some years before to take care of her younger sister after their parents tragically passed. Holly’s sister, Polly, goes to an expensive college that takes just about every penny big sister can scrape together. Holly has put her own dreams on hold of having the resources to open a bakery as cooking, especially making desserts, is her passion. Living on tips and taking odd jobs, Holly does not appreciate one of the local cowboys, Adam Calhoun, who has taken a dislike to her usually just leaving a measly tip of one dollar showing just what kind of jerk he is.
Holly is offered a job cooking and cleaning at the Flat C ranch where Adam works for one month during the holidays while the owners are away. Pretty much from the beginning, Holly and Adam behave like immature children taking cheap shots at each other and pulling pranks. Unfortunately, Adam does something so mean and really ruinously evil behind Holly’s back leaving her devastated and blaming herself for an epic baking fail. Adam is not man enough to admit what he did even after realizing what his childish behavior has done though he had an opportunity to confess before it was too late.
As Holly and Adam work closely together in forced proximity, they turn from enemies to lovers. Holly is still reeling from the unknown dirty trick that caused her to be embarrassed in front of the whole town and lose confidence in her baking. When’s Adam’s perfidy comes to light, it is not hard to imagine how Holly feels about the betrayal.
I generally enjoy the enemies to loves trope; however, Adam’s initial treatment of Holly as well as his seriously immature behavior makes it hard to have any warm feelings about him. For a man who is supposed to be a war veteran, he does not make the cut as a hero. Holly is totally likeable and admirable for giving up her own dreams so Polly can follow hers and have a better life. Even after she gets pulled into Adam’s spitefulness, Holly’s small efforts pale in comparison to his initial attitude and subsequent meanness making it difficult for this reader to forgive such bad boy behavior even after he tries to make things right. The book can be read as a standalone, but is number seven of The Wyoming Cowboy series.
May 22, 2023
Giving this 2 stars because I like Jessica Clare as an author. The writing and pacing in this one are fine. I adored Holly. Yet, I hated Adam, the MC - can't call him a hero without vomiting in my mouth a little. I hated him so much. It's rare that I have this badly a reaction to a MC, and the grovel wasn't enough to make it up at the end. Holly deserved so much better. A May-December romance with Carson (secondary character)? The Pomeranian, Pumpkin, is a were shifter for a paranormal twist? Absolutely anyone else in the series?
November 24, 2023
2.5⭐️
One thing about a holiday book is that the characters are gonna live up to their names. Holly was christmasy and fun and Adam...well he just A Dam disappointment. I dispise this man.
The book starts off with their "rivalry" and you're never gonna guess why. Turns out all this is one sided. (ADAM'S side.) He decided to create his vendetta against Holly because she flirted with him and then when he came back the next day he saw her flirting (supposedly. It was never confirmed) with another customer and then claimed to feel stupid. This man has never worked a day in customer service and shows. Who said she was even flirting with him? She had a bubbly personality, she could have just been being friendly. It was stupid and childish behavior all around. He also only started tipping her a dollar. A DOLLAR! In this economy? Girl I never would have served him ever again.
Then he said something about only wanting pbjs and she went a long with it, which leads to the main conflict. He gets pissed that he was only getting pbjs and instead of being mature and telling her he wanted something else, he sabotaged her competition cake. HE DROVE HER TO THE COMPETITION AND DIDNT SAY A THING TO HER ABOUT IT! Come on man. Then didn't admit it until almost the end of the book. She forgave him and she better than me for it.
The sex...oh lord the sex. If I ever see the phrase "Cock God" again I will rip my eyeballs from their sockets. It was so uncomfortable and awkward. I hated it.
I give this book the stars for Holly because Adam will never get anything from me than hate. His name has been written in the book of nemesis beside Knox Morgan. Screw him.
One thing about a holiday book is that the characters are gonna live up to their names. Holly was christmasy and fun and Adam...well he just A Dam disappointment. I dispise this man.
The book starts off with their "rivalry" and you're never gonna guess why. Turns out all this is one sided. (ADAM'S side.) He decided to create his vendetta against Holly because she flirted with him and then when he came back the next day he saw her flirting (supposedly. It was never confirmed) with another customer and then claimed to feel stupid. This man has never worked a day in customer service and shows. Who said she was even flirting with him? She had a bubbly personality, she could have just been being friendly. It was stupid and childish behavior all around. He also only started tipping her a dollar. A DOLLAR! In this economy? Girl I never would have served him ever again.
Then he said something about only wanting pbjs and she went a long with it, which leads to the main conflict. He gets pissed that he was only getting pbjs and instead of being mature and telling her he wanted something else, he sabotaged her competition cake. HE DROVE HER TO THE COMPETITION AND DIDNT SAY A THING TO HER ABOUT IT! Come on man. Then didn't admit it until almost the end of the book. She forgave him and she better than me for it.
The sex...oh lord the sex. If I ever see the phrase "Cock God" again I will rip my eyeballs from their sockets. It was so uncomfortable and awkward. I hated it.
I give this book the stars for Holly because Adam will never get anything from me than hate. His name has been written in the book of nemesis beside Knox Morgan. Screw him.
December 3, 2025
What he did was totally unforgivable, but we'll forgive him because it's fiction :)
November 29, 2023
This just didn't hit me where it was intended, I reckon. A bit subpar for me. I tend to like leaning into some of the silly that can come with romcom tropes, but..alas...two stars ..
January 21, 2022
Protagonist was really great! I love a good enemies-to-lovers but he was just so mean for no good reason. He definitely could have used some more holiday cheer
September 29, 2021
This is the first book that I picked up this holiday season, so I was really excited about starting HOLLY JOLLY COWBOY. If you’re a fan of hot cowboys stories with a holiday theme to it, then you’re going to love this one.
It’s actually been quite a long time since I’ve read a Jessica Clare book, so returning to Painted Barrel was a nice treat. Holly Dawson is experiencing some financial trouble as she tries to pay for her sister’s college tuition. So she already has her hands full when Adam Calhoun enters the picture. As an arrogant war veteran, they don’t really hit it off well in the beginning. But slowly, they both begin to melt for each other. HOLLY JOLLY COWBOY is an easy, festive read. It’s perfect to get you into the holiday spirit!
It’s actually been quite a long time since I’ve read a Jessica Clare book, so returning to Painted Barrel was a nice treat. Holly Dawson is experiencing some financial trouble as she tries to pay for her sister’s college tuition. So she already has her hands full when Adam Calhoun enters the picture. As an arrogant war veteran, they don’t really hit it off well in the beginning. But slowly, they both begin to melt for each other. HOLLY JOLLY COWBOY is an easy, festive read. It’s perfect to get you into the holiday spirit!
November 6, 2021
Welllllllll giddy UP! 🤠🔥
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Hot chili peppers this cowboy romance was SPICY!!! 🌶 Holly was born and raised in small town, USA. Literally, 300 people. 😳 She works hard to be able to pay for her sisters college tuition and gets an opportunity to cook for the ranch hands while the owners are on vacation. Obviously she can’t turn down the money but there is one small problem. One of the Cowboys, Adam, is her enemy. Adam sabotages her chances to make a name for herself in the community and her reputation is crushed. Can these two co-exist for 4 weeks or will one of them have to move on? The banter and chemistry between these two is 🥵
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Hot chili peppers this cowboy romance was SPICY!!! 🌶 Holly was born and raised in small town, USA. Literally, 300 people. 😳 She works hard to be able to pay for her sisters college tuition and gets an opportunity to cook for the ranch hands while the owners are on vacation. Obviously she can’t turn down the money but there is one small problem. One of the Cowboys, Adam, is her enemy. Adam sabotages her chances to make a name for herself in the community and her reputation is crushed. Can these two co-exist for 4 weeks or will one of them have to move on? The banter and chemistry between these two is 🥵
November 30, 2021
Unexpectedly cute! It takes awhile to warm up to the guy , but he and they really got there in the end. Nice build-up, great apology, and perfect Christmas gift(s).
I also enjoyed the ranch setting and alllllll the food. :D I got so munchy reading this, I’m happy there are leftover mashed potatoes and cookie dough in my fridge.
I also enjoyed the ranch setting and alllllll the food. :D I got so munchy reading this, I’m happy there are leftover mashed potatoes and cookie dough in my fridge.
January 4, 2024
Nope. Asshole hero who hated her on sight for no reason, and soon after sabotaged her cake for a baking competition. He never told her it was him until 80% into the book, letting her believe all along that she was just a horrible baker. Even when he finally told her, he still didn't see why it was such a horrible thing to do, and thought it was just a silly joke, what's the big deal? She lost the competition, lost her confidence in her skills, and lost out on career opportunities, as well as being embarrassed in front of the entire town.
December 4, 2023
Fun read but wouldn't reread.
December 11, 2023
As cheesy as a hallmark movie and you can probably guess everything that’s gonna happen after reading the title - like cute and predictable honestly wouldn’t recommend it tho. IMO there’s better cheesy Christmas books out there. Honestly would never read this book ever again - sorry
December 11, 2023
It was cute but I didn’t love the male MC
December 27, 2024
Did not like the MMC at all and the writing style wasn’t my favorite. But ig I was able to read it all so that counts for something right?
December 20, 2023
I don’t know if my good reads followers know this but I lived on a ranch in Montana one summer
December 8, 2023
both of the main characters annoyed me but the sister was the worst part of the whole story
December 21, 2023
DNFing at 50% because there’s a different from enemies to lovers and a toxic man child who tips $1 to his waiter because she was nice to other customers the day he met her…
December 22, 2023
Never given one star to a book before. Then again he never read anything this bad before so here we are
November 20, 2023
The plot sounded SO FUN, but the book itself was not good. It felt like fan fiction written by an eighth grader. I honestly can’t believe I made it through the whole thing 😂 Adam was a whiney man child & Holly was better, but she still is not worth reading this lol
December 24, 2023
Such a good Christmas Eve read
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