Wedding planner Lexi Harrington needs a manager for her inherited Wyoming ranch. Clint Romine is the perfect man for the job, but the ruggedly handsome cowboy soon presents a new dilemma—distraction.

Lexi can’t fall for a small-town rancher when she’s planning to return to her big-city career after the holidays.

Home has always been elusive for former foster kid Clint. Working alongside Lexi at Rock Step Ranch feels too cozy—and too risky. Opening up to her means revealing a secret about his past that could jeopardize everything he holds dear.

This Christmas, can Clint learn to trust Lexi with the truth . . . and with his heart?

Titles in the Wyoming Cowboys series include:  The Rancher’s Mistletoe Bride ~ Reunited with the Bull Rider ~ Wyoming Christmas Quadruplets ~ His Wyoming Baby Blessing ~

This is a no-spice romance, perhaps with closed-door or fade-to-black scenes. Tension and kisses might be involved.

Title:  The Rancher’s Mistletoe Bride
Series:  Wyoming Cowboys #1
Author:  Jill Kemerer
Published:  October 1, 2017
Publisher:  Love-Inspired (Harlequin)
My Rating:  4.5 stars

The Rancher’s Mistletoe Bride opens the Wyoming Cowboys series with a delightful, faith-based, emotional romance between Lexi and Clint.  Lexi’s father has recently passed away, leaving her the Rock Step Ranch as her inheritance.  The ranch is her home, but Lexi now lives in Denver, where she’s opened a successful wedding-planning business.  Right now, she’s juggling grief, the needs of her business, and the need to hire a ranch manager she can trust because she’s not planning on staying in Wyoming… or is she?

Clint is gearing himself up to go through with the interview for the ranch manager position.  He’s a man who has dealt with so much loss; the only family he’s ever had is the found family he formed with three other kids who were also in the foster system.  He’s made mistakes, huge mistakes in his mind, and he’s second-guessing whether he can trust himself with the future of Lexi’s ranch.  He’s accepted that he’ll always be alone; no one wants him around for very long anyway, and with the decision he made in the past, perhaps that’s understandable.  Clint is a man living in the past, reliving an honest mistake over and over again to the point where he actually believes that he is unworthy of anyone’s trust or affection.  This ranch, this woman could show him just how wrong he is… but it’s not going to be easy to convince this stubborn cowboy that he’s worthy of Lexi’s love and so much more.

I enjoyed The Rancher’s Mistletoe Bride so much.  I’m going to point out now that any story that hasn’t been read by me is a “new” title, no matter the publication date.  Please don’t turn your nose up at the book if it’s been around for a bit; you’ll be missing so much.  (Lecture over)

Lexi and Clint are both wounded souls, yes, Lexi is too, but in a different way than Clint is.  Each has regrets that, to some degree, define them.  And each needs to let go of the past and forgive themselves to heal.  Watching them come to this realization while fighting their growing attraction to each other was an emotional journey.  I loved Clint’s “brothers” in his found family, and I can’t wait to experience the stories of these fine men to come.  This romance is well-written and emotional, and it brings much-needed reminders to us all.  Love isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the challenges, and sometimes the first step in finding that forever kind of love is in forgiving ourselves.  If this sounds like your kind of romance, then you’d love The Rancher’s Mistletoe Bride.

I read this title through my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

I’m adding this title to a few “Challenges” I’m taking part in, mainly to clear up some of my TBR leaning tower.  Those can be found under the Challenges tab at the top of the page if you’re interested.  Finishing the Series ~ TBR 26 in ’26 ~ 2026 Beat the Backlist ~ and perhaps others, who knows?  🙂

This title is available at Amazon