JUST A LITTLE CHRISTMAS

Can a pregnant divorcée and a widowed cowboy let go of the past long enough to rekindle the flame of first love?

When Ellie Marsden left Branding Iron, Texas, she didn't look back—not even at Jubal McFarland, whose heart she broke. Now that she's back, fate seems to keep throwing them together. On the night of their high school graduation, Jubal proposed to Ellie, asking her to return after she finished college. Eager to live a bigger life than their small town allowed, she turned him down. Later, she quit law school to marry Brent, who abused her and cheated on her with one of his legal clients. Pregnant and divorced, Ellie returns to her mother's house in her hometown with her tail tucked between her legs. Jubal has his own complications. A car accident left him a widower with an 8-year-old daughter, and an unpaid loan of his father's left the land he grew up on the property of a mysterious outfit called Shumway and Sons Property Management. In spite of all their baggage, Jubal comes to Ellie's rescue when her car is hit by a falling tree branch. Ellie helps Jubal research the mysterious property company that might have cheated his father out of the farm. Predictably, the two grow closer, and Ellie's baby, her lap dog, and a Christmas miracle all contribute to a sweet if formulaic happy-ever-after. While watching the love between Jubal and Ellie unfold is the main event, Jubal's precocious daughter, Gracie, and Ellie's teacup poodle almost steal the show in this novel written by Dailey's (Refuge Cove, 2017, etc.) longtime collaborator after the author's death in 2013.

A good pick for some wholesome family-oriented romance.