Luke Carsen needs to honor the stipulation in his late adoptive father’s will for him to be married in order to take co-ownership of the family ranch. But he’s too broken to love again. Recovering from the wounds of war is one thing, but the wounds from a previous relationship is another.
Jemma Smith grants wishes for the ill through her Grant-A-Wish app, but can she grant her dying grandfather’s last wish to see her settle down before Christmas? She’d always dreamed of getting married and knows her grandfather just wants to see her happy, but she’s not getting any younger and it’s too late for her now, isn’t it?
After meeting Luke through his matchmaking aunt, Sue Mae, Jemma wonders if she could make this work. Or will a marriage of convenience be all they can handle to appease their folks?
A sweet marriage of convenience for two people fully against any future relationships..
Luke needs to be married within the next year as a stipulation in his late fathers will. Jemma always wanted a family of her own and now it’s her grandfathers wish to see her married before he goes. Can this be more than just convenience?
Powerful story! Jemma is such a sweet human being. She deserves the world!
i hate leaving negative reviews, i’m so sorry. but um…what the actual hell was this?! this book was so bad i barely made it to chapter 5. and it was a painful 5 chapters lemme tell you. the amount of times the exact same sentence was repeated and rephrased, in ONE chapter, and then EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER AFTER, was astounding. they’re all adopted and it was her grandfather’s last wish to see her married, yep, don’t worry, we got it the first 20 times. i’m not even exaggerating, it was almost every sentence.
(but hey if you loved it then that’s awesome and i’m very happy you managed to push through and enjoy it! so please do not attack me, this is just my opinion)
I listened to this audiobook on Spotify while slack-packing on the Appalachian Trail. Her Christmas Cowboy was precisely what I needed to bring a bit of comfort and warmth to my lonely, slightly spooky, evening in the deep dark woods. Sure, it was a bit repetitive, and the only thing Christmas-y about it was the fact that it took place at Christmastime, but it was sweet, gentle, wholesome, and easy to listen to.
It was a sweet, clean Christian marriage of convenience story I felt like some of it was a bit repetitive with their thought processes and realizations. The voice actor was interesting. Based on how he said "sorry" he sounded Canadian, and then he didn't quite achieve a Texas accent. Instead he sounded more deep South. So the Texas cowboys had deep South Canadian accents. The story was nice for a novella.
Luke can't believe what he is hearing! His late adoptive father Chet Carson, beloved son to Sweet River, did not put that stipulation in his will! All of his brother's, including himself, must be married within the year to inherit the ranch! Why would he do that to them? Knowing the hardships he and a couple of the others had with their wives? Then there's Jemma, dear sweet Jemma. Her grandfather, who adopted her when her parents died, is dying. His last wish is to see Jemma married. Then there's Aunt Sue Mae, Chet's sister, the "quote" matchmaker of the town. Will she be able to work her "magic"? Only one way to find out, read this great story by Marie Richards.
I had such a hard time staying with this book. The initial introduction was great. The rest if the first five or six chapters were tiring me out. So full of repetition, and the same words just rephrased. Cut out the first third or so if this book, rearrange some of it, and move on already.
I listened to the free audiobook of this book on Spotify; the narrator (Gary Tredwell) was enjoyable to listen to and kept my attention throughout the book with his pacing. As for the story itself, it was just "okay" for me. The concept of marriage of convenience is a fairly new trope I've started to read more books of, so I was intrigued to see how a story set in modern times would be like. Unfortunately, the set up seemed a little too... organized and "Mary Sue" perfect; both his adoptive father and her grandfather want them to be married upon/before their passing and he just happens to have an Aunt who is a matchmaker and knows both families to help set up the "meet cute." While I understand this is meant to be a clean romance, I felt like it was clean of all romance aside from butterfly flutters and comments of finding the other attractive. Everything seemed to unfold so quickly that there didn't seem to be any buildup of any actual romance; it was literally just two individuals brought together agreeing to marry to achieve their wishes (his to get the family farm, hers to fulfill her grandfather's wish). Furthermore, despite having Christmas in the title, it seemed to have gotten lost along the way aside from a few mentions towards religious viewpoints and hoping a "Christmas miracle" will happen to make it so they can achieve their goals. Overall, the idea was intriguing, but the execution fell short.
Chet Carsen, owner of the Sweet Rivers Family Ranch and Resort, made a stipulation in his will that his sons marry within a year to inherit the Ranch. Not one of the sons was happy about this for several reasons. Like Carsen was the first brother to fall into a marriage of convenience. Although the first time he saw Jemma, he th out she was the most beautiful he had ever seen. Jenna was the creator of the, "Grant A Wish" App. Jemma's grandfather was in the hospital when Doctor Samuels told her father wouldn't live much longer. Her grandfather wanted to see Jemma married before he died. Jemma,did not know what she was going to do,she wasn't even dating. Through her App she contacted the Sweet Rivers Family Ranch and Resort to ask about bringing Jimmy, who has Cerebral Palsy, there as he wished to pet and ride a horse. She spoke with Sue May, the boys aunt, a match maker at heart. She said yes and the Jimmy and his family could stay a week in one of their cabins. Jemma was out of her car when Luke came out of the barn with a horse. For Luke it was love at first sight. Please read the wonderful clean romance story, you won't be sorry. MK
Luke Carsen needs to honor the stipulation in his late adoptive father’s will for him to be married in order to take co-ownership of the family ranch. But he’s too broken to love again. Recovering from the wounds of war is one thing, but the wounds from a previous relationship is another.
Jemma Smith grants wishes for the ill through her Grant-A-Wish app, but can she grant her dying grandfather’s last wish to see her settle down before Christmas? She’d always dreamed of getting married and knows her grandfather just wants to see her happy, but she’s not getting any younger and it’s too late for her now, isn’t it?
After meeting Luke through his matchmaking aunt, Sue Mae, Jemma wonders if she could make this work. Or will a marriage of convenience be all they can handle to appease their folks?
Her Christmas Cowboy is a really cute sweet romance story but I'm only giving it four stars because there is a lot, and I mean A LOT of repetition throughout the story and in some places it's like the author is just telling the same part of the story over and over again.
There's also several places in the story where the author should have chosen different words for what they were trying to say.
I loved the story in general, it's just the writing and/or editing of the book that's forcing me to rate it four stars instead of five.
Luke needs to marry within a year to get the ranch. So do his brothers. His Aunt Sue Mae plays matchmaker and pushes him toward a marriage of convenience. Letting him know it can grow into love down the line. Jemma has been running her Make-A-Wish app and sitting with her ailing grandfather. His wish is to see her married before he passes. These 2 have both been hurt before and are hesitant to jump into marriage, but agree to be married on paper only. Liked the ending.
This is a HEA, clean read with a Christian perspective. Jemma helps others with their wishes with a pure heart, not for monetary gain. Someone finally comes along to support her, with what she needs to make her grandfather happy. Looking forward to the next book in this series.
I liked this book because of the love that it showed. It was about family, whether by blood or by close bonding. About a loving heart and giving love, joy and happiness to people. I didn't like some of the story being repetitive. I liked how it ended with the couple realizing their love.
I'm glad this book was short because it felt like torture to me. I like clean and sweet romance as much as steamy ones and I'm okay with a bit of traditionalism but this was in every sentence. I don't need to be said things with a hammer every few seconds. There is no way I will read the next books.
Luke needed a bride in order to fulfil his late father's last will and Jenna needed a groom to grant her grandfather's dying wish. Problem is that neither one of them wants to get married.
Can we say redundant? I only read the first 10 or so pages. I get it! Chet is a Vietnam vet. His sons are adopted. No need to constantly repeat it. Also, is everyone eccentric, or was a thesaurus unavailable during the writing of this manuscript?
The story is sweet, predictable, and clean; but is too repetitive. The same words are used every time a character and their circumstances are mentioned. The author could show rather than tell the character's feelings and actions.
As a Mama who adopted a baby girl I found it unrealistic that Luke’s family was always referred to his adopted family. That’s his family. Yes the birth family is honored and respected. The author must not know anyone who was adopted or has adopted. It was also very repetitive throughout the book.
Was really light and simple! But felt was a little complicated by Luke at the end by his stubbornness for love I love it when sue said (I believe two hurt souls can heal each other with love Love can heal anything)
A marriage for convenience with two people who are against a serious relationship let alone marriage. But things change but will they share how they really feel. I was drawn into the characters with heartwarming back stories.
This was an okay read. I am learning that most mail order bride books are basically the same, same story with different characters and places. I enjoyed reading it but it was very predictable.