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Cold Night, Warm Stranger
She vowed not to love the gunfighter who made her burn with desire....
A shivering cold angel...
Maura Reed was all alone in her Montana hotel, curled up in her robe and slippers, when the blizzard hit. It was cold, quiet, and lonely--until a rugged gunslinger blew in from the storm demanding shelter. Just for this night--this wild, stormy night--Maura wanted someone, something. Recklessly, she abandoned herself in his arms, knowing he would be gone by morning. The last thing she ever expected was the need that drove her into the wilderness . . . to find the stranger who haunted her dreams. . . .
A hot, dangerous devil...
He was the fastest gun in the West, a man who feared nothing until he met the woman who touched his heart. Quinn Lassiter didn't even recognize Maura when she cornered him in a distant saloon months later. Never in his wildest dreams did he see himself married--until he said the words that made her his wife. He was determined to do the right thing by the woman he'd wronged, but he'd never reckoned on falling in love with her. . . .
A shivering cold angel...
Maura Reed was all alone in her Montana hotel, curled up in her robe and slippers, when the blizzard hit. It was cold, quiet, and lonely--until a rugged gunslinger blew in from the storm demanding shelter. Just for this night--this wild, stormy night--Maura wanted someone, something. Recklessly, she abandoned herself in his arms, knowing he would be gone by morning. The last thing she ever expected was the need that drove her into the wilderness . . . to find the stranger who haunted her dreams. . . .
A hot, dangerous devil...
He was the fastest gun in the West, a man who feared nothing until he met the woman who touched his heart. Quinn Lassiter didn't even recognize Maura when she cornered him in a distant saloon months later. Never in his wildest dreams did he see himself married--until he said the words that made her his wife. He was determined to do the right thing by the woman he'd wronged, but he'd never reckoned on falling in love with her. . . .
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 10, 1999
67 people are currently reading
697 people want to read
About the author
Jill Gregory
63 books201 followersNew York Times and USA Today best-selling author Jill Gregory is the award-winning author of more than thirty novels. Jill has been awarded the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence and her novels NEVER LOVE A COWBOY and COLD NIGHT, WARM STRANGER were honored with back-to-back Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice awards for Best Western Historical Romance.
Jill Gregory's novels have been translated and published in Japan, Russia, Norway, France, Taiwan, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. Jill grew up in Chicago and received her bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Illinois. She currently resides in Michigan with her husband.
Jill Gregory's novels have been translated and published in Japan, Russia, Norway, France, Taiwan, Sweden, Italy, and Germany. Jill grew up in Chicago and received her bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Illinois. She currently resides in Michigan with her husband.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
September 6, 2010
I found this to be astoundingly predictable. The "I'm never going to love anyone dark stranger" with the "oh woe is me, I got myself pregnant on the first try virgin" paired with a less than inspired plot really didn't move me at all. I've read this same storyline before, and done much better, by others. C-
October 26, 2021
3.5 stars
September 24, 2010
Maura has had a hard life being bossed around by her 2 no good step brothers. Their mom was a loving lady who accepted her as her own daughter but after her death it has been all hardship taking care of the family hotel by herself. One stormy winter night a stranger comes by and Maura is drawn by him. She give herself to 1 night of pleasure and wakes up alone. She dreams of running away and saves up money to do so but find herself pregnant. Quinn Lassiter is a gunslinger with reputation, he goes where his gun is needed and doesn’t linger anywhere. Maura decides that she has to let him know about the baby but when she finds him he doesn’t even remember her, however he agrees to marry her and set her up on his ranch for the sake of their child.
I enjoyed this story though even that heroine was pregnant (and that was main reason I purchased the book) her pregnancy was early stage the entire book and didn’t bring anything more throughout the book but the marriage of hero/heroine. All in all good book
I enjoyed this story though even that heroine was pregnant (and that was main reason I purchased the book) her pregnancy was early stage the entire book and didn’t bring anything more throughout the book but the marriage of hero/heroine. All in all good book
February 6, 2013
A nice predictable pregnancy-forced marriage-turned-love story that had a really great heroine. The hero was predictable with his 'I wanna be free to roam' attitude and the small town side characters were predictable with their 'lets band together for the greater good' ethic... It's the heroine that had me stuck to this story though... She kept surprising me at every turn and I loved her spunky attitude and her quiet girly fantasies. She's one of those rare heroines that really understood the situation and didn't go all martyr or shrew-ish.. She just kept trying her best and didn't quit. Too bad the hero didn't deserve her but at least he saw the error of his ways eventually.. I guess...
Anyways this is my first from this author and I like what I'm reading so I'll def be on the lookout for her stuff now!
Anyways this is my first from this author and I like what I'm reading so I'll def be on the lookout for her stuff now!
December 22, 2014
I found the pace to be dragging and though Maura was a fairly likable character who took active steps to change her life for the better, she still somehow managed to come across as weirdly passive and "acted upon" for the sake of the plot. I had a tough time entirely liking Quinn since he went out of his way to be as emotionally responsive as a rock and kept throwing out he was going to up-sticks on Maura and move on all the time. Obviously I knew he wasn't going to, or would at least find out he'd made a terrible mistake and come crawling back, but it's hard to root for a relationship where one of them keeps stomping all over the others heart until they have an epiphany brought on by mortal danger at the very end.
July 11, 2016
what a wonderful book! very beautifully written, great characters, wonderful love story. I loved both hero and heroine and it was just beautiful to watch the hero veeeery slowly falling for her. this book goes straight into my favorites folder!
May 10, 2021
Nice comfort read
A little bit predictable but still nice
A little bit predictable but still nice
March 5, 2015
This silly Old Western romance was completely unbelievable (virginal Maura gives into loneliness and sleeps with a tall dark stranger, becomes pregnant, he marries her to give the baby a name, they fall in love and live happily ever after) and utterly predictable at the same time. The characters were inconsistent, veering wildly in their behavior from scene to scene (is Quinn cold and callous, or is he tender and heroic - make up your mind!). But it was a quick easy read on a long day of dance competition, and kept me occupied between numbers.
October 25, 2015
This book was a pleasant surprise. Yes, it is predictable and the heroine is a little too sweet and wonderful and perfect. I liked her anyway.
This book isn't anything I haven't read before but I loved the MCs and their struggles. I loved the romance and the plot. This is a book I would read again and that gives it a 4 star instead of 3.
This book isn't anything I haven't read before but I loved the MCs and their struggles. I loved the romance and the plot. This is a book I would read again and that gives it a 4 star instead of 3.
August 17, 2021
I loved the write up for this book and I feel like this could have been Ellen O'Connell good. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me.
The bottom line to this entire book is that she wants to be loved, and he wants to be free. Free to come and go as he pleases with no tie downs.
It would have been nice to watch the slow fall for him, but instead we basically just get the majority of the book with him saying and doing the same things.
Walking out, walking way, leaving. The same conversations, all revolving around how he won't ever love her, he will always leave, etc etc. It gets pretty redundant since there doesn't really seem to be much growth happening.
Likewise, after every reiterated conversation she goes through the same mental steps, ending with her accepting the fact that he won't ever love her, and that he'll be leaving and she will stop pretending otherwise and hoping.
Then they part ways for the day, or maybe a week goes by, and we're right back to square one. Allllll the way up until she gets kidnapped, and he magically realizes how much he loves her and that she's everything to him.
So...they do have a HEA, which I liked, but the book otherwise had a lot of eye rolling and a bit of speed reading to get through the redundancy.
The bottom line to this entire book is that she wants to be loved, and he wants to be free. Free to come and go as he pleases with no tie downs.
It would have been nice to watch the slow fall for him, but instead we basically just get the majority of the book with him saying and doing the same things.
Walking out, walking way, leaving. The same conversations, all revolving around how he won't ever love her, he will always leave, etc etc. It gets pretty redundant since there doesn't really seem to be much growth happening.
Likewise, after every reiterated conversation she goes through the same mental steps, ending with her accepting the fact that he won't ever love her, and that he'll be leaving and she will stop pretending otherwise and hoping.
Then they part ways for the day, or maybe a week goes by, and we're right back to square one. Allllll the way up until she gets kidnapped, and he magically realizes how much he loves her and that she's everything to him.
So...they do have a HEA, which I liked, but the book otherwise had a lot of eye rolling and a bit of speed reading to get through the redundancy.
December 18, 2016
My first book by Jill Gregory and it was really good! What I loved most was the personalities of each character that she introduced into the story. They were all very realistic, believable and most importantly likeable. It seemed to me that the story pretty much happens all in the span of a month, maybe two. I would have loved to have seen it drawn out a little longer and watch the hero fall in love as her pregnancy showed more. I thought the heroine was super sweet, but had some tstl moments, like feeling sympathy after her super abusive, criminal, hateful brothers run into bad luck... or how each day she kept getting disappointed that the hero married her to give the baby a name, and not for love. But it all straightened out in the end. I look forward to more of her stories.
January 31, 2021
4.5 ⭐️
My first from this author and I really enjoyed her writing. I wanted to smack Quinn a few times and thought Maura made it a little too easy for him at times but that's just me.
Great story and I was interested the whole way through. I'll have to check out if there are any other historical westerns from her. Definitely recommend for lovers of this genre.
PS.. there are some who might not buy the pregnancy after one time but she DID reference the fact that there were at least 2 times that first night. It's not a huge detail but it's there nonetheless. Don't see why it'd be so hard to believe anyway 🤷🏻♀️
My first from this author and I really enjoyed her writing. I wanted to smack Quinn a few times and thought Maura made it a little too easy for him at times but that's just me.
Great story and I was interested the whole way through. I'll have to check out if there are any other historical westerns from her. Definitely recommend for lovers of this genre.
PS.. there are some who might not buy the pregnancy after one time but she DID reference the fact that there were at least 2 times that first night. It's not a huge detail but it's there nonetheless. Don't see why it'd be so hard to believe anyway 🤷🏻♀️
March 11, 2015
Totally enjoyed this story. Yes, it was predictable, but I really liked the guy in it and I liked how his character had depth. My only real complaint was how you get 4/5 in and suddenly he not only loves her, but he's staying for her. I feel it was nice and gradual until one point where it was immediate and then it was over. I feel like I got cheated the end of the book. Either way, it was a cute read.
January 22, 2019
Out of all the romance novels I have ever read this is my favorite. It will always hold a special place in my heart. Others say it's predictable. I completely disagree. Even if it is, what's so wrong with that? I loved seeing the happy ending. I adored the couple. I adored everything about this book and for me, it is phenomenal. I must've read it at least five times I liked it so much. Kudos to Jill Gregory for writing an amazing book.
August 1, 2016
Entertaining, but overall predictable. With some TSTL moments, not necessarily on the heroine's part.
December 15, 2020
By and1515
Maura was truly stuck in a terrible rut with no end in sight she lived an ran the hotel while her adopted brothers chased off any man who might show any interest in her.
It was a cold blustery night and the snow was falling hard when he'd stumbled upon the hotel.
Maura hadn't seen some like him he looked and sounded so dangerous.
She remembered what her adopted ma said about men like him but honestly she wasn't getting any younger only older.
But then she'd changed her mind throwing all caution to the winds and surrendering to his seductive game allowing him liberties she'd never allowed anyone else.
He was gone by the time she opened her eyes if she hadn't known better it almost seemed like he never existed.
Maura hadn't expected to be well...
But she was and she knew to her bones.
Okay so finding him hadn't gone exactly like she hoped Maura knew she needed to stop behaving so reckless and start thinking smarter.
Quinn had been floored by the young woman who'd just walked up to him and as the words came out of her mouth he wanted to deny them.
However he finally recognized her as the woman from the hotel he'd stayed at because of the weather.
Marriage, they were married after all there was someone else to think about now besides themselves.
Quinn knew it would only be a matter of time before his life style would start to catch up to him.
He really wasn't the kind of person to put down roots with white picket fences.
Maura had even missed the two idiots who were her adopted brothers and for the life of her she couldn't understand why they were on her doorstep.
But when Maura Is kidnapped by several crooks from his past he'll have to move like lightning to rescue his woman before he lost her forever.
Maura was truly stuck in a terrible rut with no end in sight she lived an ran the hotel while her adopted brothers chased off any man who might show any interest in her.
It was a cold blustery night and the snow was falling hard when he'd stumbled upon the hotel.
Maura hadn't seen some like him he looked and sounded so dangerous.
She remembered what her adopted ma said about men like him but honestly she wasn't getting any younger only older.
But then she'd changed her mind throwing all caution to the winds and surrendering to his seductive game allowing him liberties she'd never allowed anyone else.
He was gone by the time she opened her eyes if she hadn't known better it almost seemed like he never existed.
Maura hadn't expected to be well...
But she was and she knew to her bones.
Okay so finding him hadn't gone exactly like she hoped Maura knew she needed to stop behaving so reckless and start thinking smarter.
Quinn had been floored by the young woman who'd just walked up to him and as the words came out of her mouth he wanted to deny them.
However he finally recognized her as the woman from the hotel he'd stayed at because of the weather.
Marriage, they were married after all there was someone else to think about now besides themselves.
Quinn knew it would only be a matter of time before his life style would start to catch up to him.
He really wasn't the kind of person to put down roots with white picket fences.
Maura had even missed the two idiots who were her adopted brothers and for the life of her she couldn't understand why they were on her doorstep.
But when Maura Is kidnapped by several crooks from his past he'll have to move like lightning to rescue his woman before he lost her forever.
December 7, 2021
I really liked the idea of this book and what happened but there could have been more scenes with other characters and scenes where there were more interactions with Maura and Quinn and them getting to know each other.
I liked Maura and Quinn’s personalities and how they interacted with each other but their relationship development happened without it really being shown. A lot of the time when Maura and Quinn were in a scene together, it was usually when they were about to do something else. So, a lot of their interactions were a bit rushed as they would say something to each other then one of them would have to go somewhere or something would happen and they wouldn’t finish their conversation.
I liked the small town but not much of it was shown and I wanted to see more scenes with the people living in their town.
I liked Lucky and I wanted to see more scenes with him and the main characters, but I thought that he should have grovelled more to Nell as their relationship was too sudden.
I really want to try other books by this author, especially Emma and Tucker’s book. They were shown in this book in a really short scene and I’m curious about their story.
I liked Maura and Quinn’s personalities and how they interacted with each other but their relationship development happened without it really being shown. A lot of the time when Maura and Quinn were in a scene together, it was usually when they were about to do something else. So, a lot of their interactions were a bit rushed as they would say something to each other then one of them would have to go somewhere or something would happen and they wouldn’t finish their conversation.
I liked the small town but not much of it was shown and I wanted to see more scenes with the people living in their town.
I liked Lucky and I wanted to see more scenes with him and the main characters, but I thought that he should have grovelled more to Nell as their relationship was too sudden.
I really want to try other books by this author, especially Emma and Tucker’s book. They were shown in this book in a really short scene and I’m curious about their story.
February 26, 2019
Like Mrs. Gregory's writing style so a gave it a 3. Maura, the heroine, was ok. though she came across clingy. I had a hard time believing Quinn falling in love with h after not even remembering her after just few weeks or more sense their first time together. I would of rather seen him falling for Serena, and Maura shouldn't feel to comfortable with Serena around I could see her and Quinn hooking up.
December 21, 2017
1.5 stars. I added the half star because I finished the book but it was (as ably pointed out by others) a cliche ridden mess, from the tortured H to the Pollyanna h, cartoonish villains, plot holes a mile wide but an inch deep. The OW that wasn't and an unbelievably short timeline. Little angst and not a train (wreck)in sight.
December 22, 2025
This story takes place in the Old West, where gunslingers still roam. A virgin girl alone at a boarding house during a winter storm, and a stranger comes in seeking a room. From there, the story starts, the girl will never be the same, and neither will the stranger. This is an excellent historical romance. Well written!!
July 9, 2017
First time reader of Ms Gregory's books and if this is any indication of how she writes, consider me a fan!
July 30, 2017
Agradable pero muy predecible. Sin más.
September 12, 2017
oh my god words cant describe it !
this book was so amazing and brought tears to my eyes
the ending so perfect and my heart went straight to quinn and to maura ..
this book was so amazing and brought tears to my eyes
the ending so perfect and my heart went straight to quinn and to maura ..
April 21, 2018
3.5 stars. Predictable but still very not nice western romance!
January 25, 2019
It was ok, other authors have done this better
March 19, 2019
3.5 stars
October 18, 2019
3.5 STARS!
January 5, 2020
Nice enough story, but especially at the beginning not that well written.
July 18, 2020
The use of modern phrases such as “pronto” is jarring!
February 14, 2021
Very much enjoyed
This book kept my attention and I very much enjoyed it. I will be finding more of this author. Well written and a great story
This book kept my attention and I very much enjoyed it. I will be finding more of this author. Well written and a great story
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews