1 Snowstorm + 0 Snow Tires ÷ 1 Big Moose = Saw That Coming!

 

TITLE: Christmas at the Ranch

AUTHOR: Julia McKay

PUBLISHER: G.P. Putnam's Sons

PUBLISHING DATE: September 23, 2025

PAGES: 320   

SOURCE: Library

FROM GOODREADS: On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to a run-in with my ex, two flat tires, and a miracle horse to help me find love. 

With the holidays around the corner and her father under arrest for financial fraud, journalist Emory Oakes has no idea where to turn. She’s only certain of one she needs to get away. 

Fate and her subconscious take her to Evergreen Lake, the picturesque town where she spent her happiest Christmas as a teenage girl – and fell in love for the first time. Stranded due to car trouble and a blizzard, Emory is rescued by Charlie Wilder, father of her first love, who offers her the guest house at Wilder Ranch. Tate, he promises, is out of town. 

But kismet and Christmas magic have other ideas, and when Tate comes home early and finds a half-dressed Emory in his cabin, all bets are off for what else the holidays will hold this year.

MY THOUGHTS: This book has about every romance trope I've read recently rolled into one - miscommunication, second chance romance, close proximity, yet it also has the Christmas vibes and cowboy/ranch element my dark heart apparently needs right now. Add in that I read it in less than 24 hours during our first snow of the season, and you could say it was the perfect storm - at least for me and perhaps for Emory too.

Ten years ago, Emory and her annoying, pretentious family spent three weeks at Christmas in Evergreen Lake. Emory was 18 and bored tearless when she met Tate Wilder, son of the ranch owner next door.  Emory and Tate strike up a friendship late one night and basically become inseparable for the next three weeks. However, something happened and now 10 years has passed and there has been no contact between the two.  When Emory receives news that her father has been arrested for a Ponzi scheme, something she always knew he was capable of, Emory jumps in her car and starts driving.  She doesn't stop until the snow starts making things difficult and she ends up back in Evergreen Lake.  Emory is afraid being around Tate will bring back too many unresolved feelings so after getting snow tires, she goes to leave when she is run off the road by a giant moose. Now, stuck in town for even longer, can she and Tate resolve what happened 10 years ago despite his new friend Marielle and Emory's pigheadedness?

While this book is primarily romance, I really enjoyed the other aspects of it much more. Tate and his father are trying to make the family ranch prosper despite the smalltown economy, Emory is trying to come to terms with how awful her parents have behaved, and horses, lots of cute horses. Overall, it was a tad predictable but that didn't make me enjoy it any less.  I really enjoyed Emory as a MC and all of her down-to-earth qualities.

I've seen this book compared to Gilmore Girls and Virgin River, both faves of mine and I would have to agree.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a holiday read with low-spice romance and lots of heart.  However, I am left with two questions - what happened to Mistletoe (did I miss this somewhere in the pages) and why is does the synopsis on Goodreads call Emory Everly through the entire thing?

MY RATING: 4 PAWS