Amazon CIndy Spencer Pape Category:  Romance Publisher: The Wild Rose Press ISBN-10:  1601540248 Type: Fiction Pages: 177 Copyright: Nov. 2006 ISBN-13: 9781601540249 The Cowboy’s Christmas Bride is a contemporary western romance with a little bit of humor, a touch of paranormal, and some pretty steamy sex. Running from a wedding gone wrong, Allison finds herself snowbound with a sexy rancher. CJ has been left at the altar once, so he’s leery of getting involved with a runaway bride, while Allison is afraid to love at all. Can the magic of the holidays, and CJ’s big crazy family, help them overcome the past, and make this the best Christmas ever? A contemporary western romance with just a touch of paranormal. Set at Christmas, but could be read any time of the year. Also the first book in the Love at the Crazy H series. Excerpt CJ Hall stood stock-still with his mouth hanging open as he stared at the woman in a lacy white puddle at his feet. He’d been busy wrestling with his nephew’s diaper when he’d thought he heard someone at the door, but he’d dismissed the sound as an effect of the wind. Nobody was stupid enough to be out on a night like this! Finally, however, the repeated pounding convinced him otherwise, and he hurried down the stairs and across the living room, wrenching open the heavy oak door. "What the hell?” He automatically stuck out a hand to help the stranger to her feet. “Who the blazes are you and what are you doing here?” He reached around her with his free hand to slam the door shut against the howling wind. She was just a little thing. When she stood, the top of her head didn’t quite reach his shoulders. Still, he had to admit she had pluck. Crossing her arms over her chest she glared up at him, shivering violently. “Al-Allison Kendricks,” she stammered defiantly. “I’m lost.” CJ ran an appraising eye over her petite form. She was covered in wet snow from her tangled brown hair to her teetering high-heeled shoes. White lace skirts poofed out from under a lightweight leather bomber jacket, then hung limply to his floor, where they were rapidly creating a puddle. “Somebody filming ‘Runaway Bride Part II’?”

The Romance Studio
What an unbelievable book this is! I am so glad to have been privileged to read it! I loved the concept, the plot, the flow of the characters, and the outcome. I literally read this in less than one day; it was so good I just could not put it down.
Allison Kendricks left her fiancé, Bryce, the day of the wedding because she found out he was gay and needed her to cover for him so that his senatorial seat would not be jeopardized. His “boyfriend” handed her a pre-nuptial to sign stating that she would never give away his secret and would not fight the fact that he continued his relationship with the “other.” Allison did not really love him, but she had quit her job and moved across country to live with him in Washington. Unfortunately, she took off from Bryce’s home without changing clothes or checking the weather report. She found herself in the middle of a blizzard, lost in Wyoming in her wedding gown.

She was led by a older woman in a leather fringe-trimmed dress to a ranch house where she found a young man and a baby boy. C.J. Hall, owner of the “Crazy H” ranch could not believe that anyone was traveling in a storm like this one. His nephew was staying with him because his dad could not get home from town because of the storm. Allison and C.J. became interested in each other quickly and, even having no prior experience with babies, Allison started helping with Trevor.

How they made it through a family Christmas, one brother a flirt and one a skeptic, one sister a matchmaker and all of them wonderfully accepting of Allison and the wrong brother! Did CJ and Allison live through all the problems? What could possibly be the outcome of this Christmas season? And what about that Indian lady in the leather fringed dress motioning for Allison to take a certain road which led to the Crazy H Ranch? I heartily recommend this book. You will definitely not be sorry! I guarantee it!

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Very sensual



Fallen Angels Reviews
Allison cannot believe her luck. Her soon-to-be fiancé is gay. Talk about miserable luck and on her wedding day to boot. Allison cannot believe that she was so blinded by love that she didn’t see the obvious about her fiancé, which leads her to wonder if the feelings she has for CJ Hall are real or just another stupid mistake she’s going to make. She’s stranded on his ranch and with a baby, which makes her wonder why she finds CJ so sexy and irresistible to her heart. She knows going into another relationship would be a disaster but she can’t ignore CJ’s tender touch with his nephew or the sexual attraction between them. Maybe being stranded on his ranch is a good thing but one thing she knows, she can’t be another bride unless they both love one another.

CJ Hall knows falling for Allison would be a bad thing but something in her innocence and naiveté has him drawn to her like a magnet. CJ is not sure exactly what is driving him to Allison. He’s been burned before by an ex, which has somewhat turned him away from women. At least that’s what he thought until Allison showed up in a wedding dress, making him wonder if she wants to continue with a honeymoon but with him warming her bed instead. CJ and Allison are two people attracted to one another but not sure how to continue for a permanent relationship. Life as a cowboy is not something he planned yet that’s his life. Now he just wishes that Allison enjoyed the same view of life and he might just find peace and a good person to love him.

What to do when you’re trapped with a sexy cowboy? Heck, you jump him! Duh. Yet for Allison it’s hard to learn that love is blind after being burned in such an embarrassing way. This time she’s got her eyes open and CJ is totally a man that will confuse her heart. I loved that Allison had this innocence about her yet still looked and felt all alone in CJ’s family. Here’s a person who needs love in her life but because of her past, she’s not sure about CJ’s attraction. On the other hand CJ is a cowboy I wouldn’t mind getting for Christmas. Cindy Spencer Pape sure knows how to tempt a person to be stranded with a cowboy like CJ. By the end, I realized I can’t wait to see about the rest of his family. Each character in the book besides Allison and CJ were a treat to read, making me wonder if there will be a story for each cowboy.