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Lost Sons Trilogy #1
A Cowboy Christmas
Reid Barclay doesn’t have time for Christmas, not with trouble brewing at the Crown Seven Ranch. He’s got prize thoroughbreds to protect, and a long-ago wrong that he wants to make right. But the beautiful cook who’s taken over the ranch kitchen is a welcome distraction, even if Ellie Jo Cade burns everything from gingerbread to roast beef. Her sweet face and womanly figure are pure temptation…
Cornhusk angels…bright berry garlands…spun-sugar snow—everything about Christmas holds fond memories for Ellie Jo. She’s doing her best to make peace with an ornery wood-burning stove and make the old ranch house truly festive. All she wants is to believe in Reid…and the only-at-Christmas magic that makes hearts glow…
Cornhusk angels…bright berry garlands…spun-sugar snow—everything about Christmas holds fond memories for Ellie Jo. She’s doing her best to make peace with an ornery wood-burning stove and make the old ranch house truly festive. All she wants is to believe in Reid…and the only-at-Christmas magic that makes hearts glow…
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
54 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
About the author
Janette Kenny
104 books45 followersJanette's dream of being published came true in 2006 when Kensington Publishing acquired her first western historical romance, One Real Cowboy. Since then she's written five more western historical romances, and emotionally intense novels for Harlequin Presents.
Now the award winning author is expanding her career into hybrid publishing and will see the release of her first indie romantic suspense novel late 2014.
Janette lives the country life with her real life hero. She invites you to visit her website for details about upcoming novels, events and giveaways, friend her on Facebook, follow her tweets on Twitter, or visit her website at JanetteKenny.com
Now the award winning author is expanding her career into hybrid publishing and will see the release of her first indie romantic suspense novel late 2014.
Janette lives the country life with her real life hero. She invites you to visit her website for details about upcoming novels, events and giveaways, friend her on Facebook, follow her tweets on Twitter, or visit her website at JanetteKenny.com
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 27, 2021
I received this audiobook via a promo code at my request and this is my honest review.
Its Christmas in Maverick, Wyoming for Ellie Jo Cade, a woman fleeing in disgrace after news of her infamous fathers deeds reach the ears of her social circle, one failed engagement and destitution looming, she hopes to at least spend the holidays with her old man, and talk him away from his path of revenge all while pretending to be a housekeeper at a cattle ranch before heading to San Francisco and becoming a teacher. Her plan would have been excellent.... except she never actually learned how to cook. Her disasters in the kitchen seem to have a helping hand however and it seems someone else may be trying to sabotage her efforts as she prepares for her bosses upcoming Nuptials later that week, and she's miserable as her hopes to reunite with her dad are met with a frosty reception from the man.
Reid Barclay doesn’t have time for Christmas, much less a marriage to the daughter of his foster father, who promised him the Crown Seven Ranch if he married the girl. He's determined to carry it through, his brothers are counting on him and there's trouble brewing as someone's been out stealing his prized thoroughbred horses, and his Wifey to be seems less than thrilled about the match, bewildering him even more when she goes from meek mouse to Seductress without warning. Too bad Reid's preoccupied thinking thoughts an engaged man has no business to be thinking about his new housekeeper.
When all the secrets finally come out, it seems the wedding is off and Reids dreams of owning the Crown Seven Ranch are just about over, but none of that matters if Ellie Jo agrees to let him make her an honest woman.
This was a delightful holiday listen. Its my first listen by J Rodney Turner and I really enjoyed this narration while decorating my house for the holidays this year.
Its Christmas in Maverick, Wyoming for Ellie Jo Cade, a woman fleeing in disgrace after news of her infamous fathers deeds reach the ears of her social circle, one failed engagement and destitution looming, she hopes to at least spend the holidays with her old man, and talk him away from his path of revenge all while pretending to be a housekeeper at a cattle ranch before heading to San Francisco and becoming a teacher. Her plan would have been excellent.... except she never actually learned how to cook. Her disasters in the kitchen seem to have a helping hand however and it seems someone else may be trying to sabotage her efforts as she prepares for her bosses upcoming Nuptials later that week, and she's miserable as her hopes to reunite with her dad are met with a frosty reception from the man.
Reid Barclay doesn’t have time for Christmas, much less a marriage to the daughter of his foster father, who promised him the Crown Seven Ranch if he married the girl. He's determined to carry it through, his brothers are counting on him and there's trouble brewing as someone's been out stealing his prized thoroughbred horses, and his Wifey to be seems less than thrilled about the match, bewildering him even more when she goes from meek mouse to Seductress without warning. Too bad Reid's preoccupied thinking thoughts an engaged man has no business to be thinking about his new housekeeper.
When all the secrets finally come out, it seems the wedding is off and Reids dreams of owning the Crown Seven Ranch are just about over, but none of that matters if Ellie Jo agrees to let him make her an honest woman.
This was a delightful holiday listen. Its my first listen by J Rodney Turner and I really enjoyed this narration while decorating my house for the holidays this year.
January 15, 2025
Wanted more.
April 14, 2010
Ellie Jo Cade is filling in as housekeeper at a ranch, before going to San Francisco as teacher. She's informed at her arrival that she is to prepare the ranch owner's wedding in a week. Witch wouldn't be a problem if she actually knew how to cook...And if she didn't have another dirty little secret about her true purpose at visiting Wyoming.
Reid Barclay has more serious things on his mind that Christmas. Someone is steeling his thoroughbreds, someone is trying to uncover his past, and he's getting married in a week. So why the heck is he so taken by his new temporary housekeeper to forget everything else?
I love cowboy stories and I love Christmas stories, so this should've been a perfect combination for me. Sadly, it wasn't so. And that had mainly to do with execution. The story failed to pull me in from the get-go and things didn't improve. The characters were bland, the plot hole-y, it has a subplot too many for my liking, the pacing was stagnant, and I just didn't get the Christmas-y feeling such a story should convey.
Disappointing.
Reid Barclay has more serious things on his mind that Christmas. Someone is steeling his thoroughbreds, someone is trying to uncover his past, and he's getting married in a week. So why the heck is he so taken by his new temporary housekeeper to forget everything else?
I love cowboy stories and I love Christmas stories, so this should've been a perfect combination for me. Sadly, it wasn't so. And that had mainly to do with execution. The story failed to pull me in from the get-go and things didn't improve. The characters were bland, the plot hole-y, it has a subplot too many for my liking, the pacing was stagnant, and I just didn't get the Christmas-y feeling such a story should convey.
Disappointing.
December 18, 2018
1.Re-Read Dec. 2012
2.Re-read December 2014
A simple holiday romance filled with cowboys, a murder mystery and giving redemption to yourself and others.
Reid and Ellie are cute, passionate, and perfect for one another.
Each time I re-read this book it gives me happiness and ready for the holiday season.
2.Re-read December 2014
A simple holiday romance filled with cowboys, a murder mystery and giving redemption to yourself and others.
Reid and Ellie are cute, passionate, and perfect for one another.
Each time I re-read this book it gives me happiness and ready for the holiday season.
May 17, 2019
An excellent western romance!
I really liked the characters developed in this story. Passion and a true love make rewarding reading. A true villain that meet’s a just reward, and other’s with bad ways are not as successful as they planned are read about with pleasure. I liked reading this book. Thank you, Jack.
I really liked the characters developed in this story. Passion and a true love make rewarding reading. A true villain that meet’s a just reward, and other’s with bad ways are not as successful as they planned are read about with pleasure. I liked reading this book. Thank you, Jack.
May 17, 2019
A cowboy christmas/j. Kenny
I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this story how some of the characters in this story had to change identit y because they were dupe into believing they were accused of wrongdoing and thinking they did the deed when all along they were framed.
I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this story how some of the characters in this story had to change identit y because they were dupe into believing they were accused of wrongdoing and thinking they did the deed when all along they were framed.
December 7, 2025
Nice story with some intrigue and mystery
Some heat. Stand alone but two other books follow up. Happy ending. Strong MFC and MMC is strong but kind. Ranching and horses, a winter Christmas story.
Some heat. Stand alone but two other books follow up. Happy ending. Strong MFC and MMC is strong but kind. Ranching and horses, a winter Christmas story.
May 14, 2019
Cowboy Christmas
A truly moving book. A little mystery, a little love, a little bit of everything. Looking forward to reading the next in this series.
A truly moving book. A little mystery, a little love, a little bit of everything. Looking forward to reading the next in this series.
December 8, 2021
I am a sucker for a good love story and I think this book was put together very well. Especially with Christmas here
November 28, 2023
Loved this book!
July 26, 2011
This book started out really good for me. I immediately liked the writing. Ms. Kenny does a terrific job of getting all things western down on paper. But at about the three-quarter mark, I started getting a little antsy, I never seemed to really get totally invested in the hero and heroine. And the reason I picked this book up is for the Christmas aspect, but that didn’t seem to come across all that well either.
Ellie Jo has found her father on the Crown Seven ranch and she’s determined to have one last Christmas with him before she heads to San Francisco and a teaching job at a girls’ school. She’s just lost her fiance when her awful past reared its ugly head, so starting new in California is hopefully the right thing to do. Taking over for the ranch’s cook, Ellie does her best to prepare meals for the ranch’s owner, Reid Barclay, but someone is sabotaging her every step of the way.
She’s the only woman in a very long time who has appealed to Reid, but with his past hanging over his head, forgiving himself for that past is not something he can do, and now with people getting closer and closer to the elusive Slim, Reid can’t offer a thing to Ellie for the future. Besides, he can tell she’s got secrets too and she’s refusing to talk to him about it all. And she certainly isn’t a cook, as evidenced by the meals she puts on his table, but when he touches her and kisses her, he’s more than ready to forgive her her deceit.
On top of all of this, Ellie finds out Reid is engaged and it’s up to her to prepare the wedding feast and decorate the ranch house for the holiday festivities. But what engaged man acts the way Reid does, stealing kisses and embraces. And why can’t Ellie tell him to stop when she finds herself on the receiving end of all that pleasure? They’re both in a difficult bind with no good solution all the way around. And, of course, there is a villain that has his hands in every part of the goings-on with all the characters, and I have to say that I did like Reid’s solution in taking of care of that jerk.
I liked the majority of this book. The characters start out to be quite interesting, secrets and all, but after a while they lost their interest for me. Their growth became stagnant and once it picked up again, it just wasn’t the same as before and I couldn’t get back into the story.
Plus the fact that Ellie talks about Christmas, remembers the holidays of her past, decorates the house, and tries to get everyone into the spirit of the season, but that’s all it was, was talk. I never felt Christmas during the times it’s discussed in the story. From the blurb on the back cover, I was looking forward to a nice holiday story and that just never came to be.
However, I do like taking a gander at this book’s cover every so often. I love that chiseled face on the hero, just how I picture a cowboy to look. Needless to say, I took quite a number of peeks while reading.
See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com
Ellie Jo has found her father on the Crown Seven ranch and she’s determined to have one last Christmas with him before she heads to San Francisco and a teaching job at a girls’ school. She’s just lost her fiance when her awful past reared its ugly head, so starting new in California is hopefully the right thing to do. Taking over for the ranch’s cook, Ellie does her best to prepare meals for the ranch’s owner, Reid Barclay, but someone is sabotaging her every step of the way.
She’s the only woman in a very long time who has appealed to Reid, but with his past hanging over his head, forgiving himself for that past is not something he can do, and now with people getting closer and closer to the elusive Slim, Reid can’t offer a thing to Ellie for the future. Besides, he can tell she’s got secrets too and she’s refusing to talk to him about it all. And she certainly isn’t a cook, as evidenced by the meals she puts on his table, but when he touches her and kisses her, he’s more than ready to forgive her her deceit.
On top of all of this, Ellie finds out Reid is engaged and it’s up to her to prepare the wedding feast and decorate the ranch house for the holiday festivities. But what engaged man acts the way Reid does, stealing kisses and embraces. And why can’t Ellie tell him to stop when she finds herself on the receiving end of all that pleasure? They’re both in a difficult bind with no good solution all the way around. And, of course, there is a villain that has his hands in every part of the goings-on with all the characters, and I have to say that I did like Reid’s solution in taking of care of that jerk.
I liked the majority of this book. The characters start out to be quite interesting, secrets and all, but after a while they lost their interest for me. Their growth became stagnant and once it picked up again, it just wasn’t the same as before and I couldn’t get back into the story.
Plus the fact that Ellie talks about Christmas, remembers the holidays of her past, decorates the house, and tries to get everyone into the spirit of the season, but that’s all it was, was talk. I never felt Christmas during the times it’s discussed in the story. From the blurb on the back cover, I was looking forward to a nice holiday story and that just never came to be.
However, I do like taking a gander at this book’s cover every so often. I love that chiseled face on the hero, just how I picture a cowboy to look. Needless to say, I took quite a number of peeks while reading.
See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com
December 5, 2011
4.5 Stars
I’m not a huge lover of holiday themed books, but I am a lover of Janette Kenny. This is the second book I have read from her and I do believe I am hooked.
Ellie Jo Cade is a woman on a mission. She must save her father from trouble. She has come to Maverick, Wyoming to work as a housekeeper to be able to spend the Christmas holiday with her long lost father and to convince him to give up his vision of revenge. Her father doesn’t want her there and despite that she stays on, but doesn’t have a clue what to do in the kitchen. She works hard and is bound and determined to make it work. Though the job is only until the beginning of the year, she puts her whole heart into it. Too bad she is losing her heart to the owner of the Crown Seven Ranch, Reid Barclay.
Reid is in trouble. In a week he is marrying a woman he feels obligated to marry, but doesn’t love, needs to find his two foster brothers and he also needs to come up with enough money to buy out the final shares to the ranch. Now his temporary housekeeper is stirring feelings in him he hasn’t felt in over year and his prize possession has been stolen. Can a rancher ever catch a break?
Both Ellie and Reid have had hard childhoods. Ellie’s was filled with an absent father and Reid’s was filled with complete desertion. Ellie never gave up hope or love for her father and though she knew they would never have a fulfilling father/daughter relationship, she still loved him with all her heart. Reid on the other hand has never known love until he was a teenager. The moment he found his foster father, Kirby Morris, he finally knew what it felt like to have a family and he is determined to never lose that feeling. Now he is in the fight of his life to save his home. He doesn’t have time to deal with his growing feelings for Ellie. He has a ranch to save for himself and his brothers. Duty calls and Reid will do anything that needs to be done.
Lately some of my books have been exhausting to read, drawing out emotions that were draining and just tiring me out completely. What I loved about this book is I was not frustrated, annoyed, or angry. I felt a loving glow from start to finish. This warm feeling had nothing to do with the holiday, but with the love that Ellie and Reid provoked in me. This simply is a feel-good book. On that note, if you want a solid holiday themed book you will not find it here. Christmas was the holiday, but not the focus of the story.
I am going to devour all the books in The Lost Sons Trilogy. Next book in the series is In a Cowboy’s Arms and then the new release Cowboy Come Home. I am definitely in the mood for hot sizzling cowboys and the women that drive them crazy. Bring on the steam!
I’m not a huge lover of holiday themed books, but I am a lover of Janette Kenny. This is the second book I have read from her and I do believe I am hooked.
Ellie Jo Cade is a woman on a mission. She must save her father from trouble. She has come to Maverick, Wyoming to work as a housekeeper to be able to spend the Christmas holiday with her long lost father and to convince him to give up his vision of revenge. Her father doesn’t want her there and despite that she stays on, but doesn’t have a clue what to do in the kitchen. She works hard and is bound and determined to make it work. Though the job is only until the beginning of the year, she puts her whole heart into it. Too bad she is losing her heart to the owner of the Crown Seven Ranch, Reid Barclay.
Reid is in trouble. In a week he is marrying a woman he feels obligated to marry, but doesn’t love, needs to find his two foster brothers and he also needs to come up with enough money to buy out the final shares to the ranch. Now his temporary housekeeper is stirring feelings in him he hasn’t felt in over year and his prize possession has been stolen. Can a rancher ever catch a break?
Both Ellie and Reid have had hard childhoods. Ellie’s was filled with an absent father and Reid’s was filled with complete desertion. Ellie never gave up hope or love for her father and though she knew they would never have a fulfilling father/daughter relationship, she still loved him with all her heart. Reid on the other hand has never known love until he was a teenager. The moment he found his foster father, Kirby Morris, he finally knew what it felt like to have a family and he is determined to never lose that feeling. Now he is in the fight of his life to save his home. He doesn’t have time to deal with his growing feelings for Ellie. He has a ranch to save for himself and his brothers. Duty calls and Reid will do anything that needs to be done.
Lately some of my books have been exhausting to read, drawing out emotions that were draining and just tiring me out completely. What I loved about this book is I was not frustrated, annoyed, or angry. I felt a loving glow from start to finish. This warm feeling had nothing to do with the holiday, but with the love that Ellie and Reid provoked in me. This simply is a feel-good book. On that note, if you want a solid holiday themed book you will not find it here. Christmas was the holiday, but not the focus of the story.
I am going to devour all the books in The Lost Sons Trilogy. Next book in the series is In a Cowboy’s Arms and then the new release Cowboy Come Home. I am definitely in the mood for hot sizzling cowboys and the women that drive them crazy. Bring on the steam!
June 16, 2011
First, I want to start my review by saying how excited I am that this is the first in a new series. Janette has created an interesting place in the Wild West that I look forward to revisiting. Ellie Jo and Reid are characters that take hold of your heart and don't let go. I cared what was going to happen to them as they worked through their personal issues and fought the attraction between them. I laughed at the Ellie Jo's cooking attempts and cried during the climax of the book. Janette also created the perfect villain -- the man you just have to hate. Add in several well-developed secondary characters, a couple plot twists, and a holiday theme and we have a special book.
I highly recommend adding A Cowboy Christmas to your holiday library.
I highly recommend adding A Cowboy Christmas to your holiday library.
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July 27, 2011Oh dear. There are so many things wrong with this novel on one hand and so many things that are right. The plot line is straight up screwy and it tries to do too much. Some of its complexities are just a little absurd. Then again the chemistry between the main charachters is wonderful and some of the perifery charachters are colorful too. The PRIMARY plot is good. I would advise not purchase but library
October 13, 2019
Read my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
May 2, 2016
needs book 2....
January 1, 2017
this was a hard read for me. I couldn't really get into it and kept falling asleep. the story would drone on for pages that didn't do anything to move the story along.
October 13, 2019
A really enjoyable experience reading very suspenseful
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May 12, 201991p on Amazon 12th May 2019
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