Review: Holly Jolly Cowboy by Jessica Clare

 

Holly Jolly Cowboy (The Wyoming Cowboy #7) by Jessica Clare

Publication Date: October 26th 2021 by Berkley Books

Pages: 304

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads 

My Thoughts:

Holly lost her parents at seventeen and had to drop out of high school to support her thirteen-year-old sister, Polly lest she be put into foster care.  Holly’s barely scraping by even though she works six days a week at the local bar/grill.  She loves to bake and would love to find a way to make extra money doing it. Money is stretched tight with Polly off at college and Holly paying tuition so when she’s offered a job to cook for the workers at the Flat C Ranch she jumps at the chance. There’s only one problem: Adam Calhoun is one of the ranch hands, and while he’s gorgeous, he’s grade A jerk. Rude and cheap every time he visits the bar.

 

Adam left the Navy because he got tired of being away from his wife only to find out she’d been cheating on him. With nothing holding him back he left the state for ranch work in Wyoming. When Adam first laid eyes on Holly he thought she was beautiful and enjoyed her flirty service while dining, but got the impression she was only nice for tips. He felt like a fool, so since then, he makes is a point to ruffle her feathers at every opportunity, and they get off to a rotten start when she’s starts working at the Flat C Ranch.

Adam was a total jerk when this story started and even though Holly gave as good as she got, he, IMO, was mainly responsible for their petty exchanges. When a particularly nasty prank ends with Holly being devastated, Adam feels terrible and determines to make a change. Even though I wanted to smack Adam, I understood his history with his wife influenced his behavior with Holly. I was thrilled when they started to let go of their animosity and started to see the true person underneath, falling a little more in love with every dinner spent together.

I admired Holly so much with the way she worked so hard to take care of her sister and everyone else around her. She was positive had a kind spirit even if she did get a bit petty with Adam, he deserved it. I was annoyed with Adam, but he quickly won me over when it was apparent how sorry he was. His care and deep feelings for Holly came through loud and clear, she definitely deserved to have someone taking care of her for a change! I loved how desperate they were for each other, and their time together was hot!

I’ve been loving The Wyoming Cowboy series, eagerly anticipating every new installment! Holly Jolly Cowboy sucked me in from the very first page and it seemed like the story just flew by! So much to love here: A spicy enemies-to-lovers romance, delicious food, and baked goods (I was salivating throughout!) and an ending that'll leave you warm and fuzzy all over!

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

From New York Times bestselling author Jessica Clare comes a Christmas romance about a cowboy grinch and the woman who stole his heart.

Local waitress Holly Dawson needs a better paying job to cover her sister's college tuition. Given that it's Christmas and she's broke as a joke, she's feeling pretty bah-humbug. New jobs are hard to come by in a town as small as Painted Barrel, especially as the town dropout.

When Holly's offered a job at the Flat C Ranch to clean and cook for the cowboys that work there, it seems like a dream come true...except for one thing. Her nemesis, the incredibly handsome (and annoyingly arrogant) Adam Calhoun works there. It doesn't matter that he loves dogs more than people, or that he's a war veteran. No Christmas spirit can save that particular grinch.

When the rest of the ranch hands go out of town for the holidays, Holly and Adam will be forced to work closely together. No sweat. Holly can deal with Adam. And if she doesn't kill him first, she just might fall in love.