Book 9: The Christmas Cowboy
The Cowboy Academy Series
On this page, you’ll find the story blurb, an excerpt, the story behind the story, and bonus content.
Will he find the ultimate present or lose his heart?
Zane Duvall has one goal this Christmas: attend all Twelve Parties of Clementine and win the grand prize—a small ranch he’s always dreamed of owning. But his plan hits a snag when his well-meaning family decides he needs a holiday romance to go with his holiday cheer. Lily Smith has come to town to confront a man claiming to be her father—and ends up facing a lot of questions she’s not ready to answer. When Zane proposes a fake relationship to keep nosy citizens and matchmakers at bay, Lily agrees. After all, it’s just pretend…right? But when family secrets and old wounds come to light, will their budding romance survive the season?
Excerpt:
“The plot thickens,” Lily said, intrigued. “What is the Twelve Parties of Christmas?”
Zane straightened his stack of holiday cards. “It’s Clementine’s new holiday tradition. Or so some folks hope. The twelve largest ranches in the area are each holding a shindig in December, all with the goal of nurturing a sense of kinship in Clementine. The organizers believe single folks in their twenties and thirties aren’t embracing the community the way they did when they were our age. And you can bet my mothers will have a matchmaking strategy for each party.” He turned up his nose.
“You don’t have to go.” Although Lily was curious to witness what his mothers came up with next. Their ideas so far seemed rather brilliant.
“Oh, but my presence has been requested,” Zane countered. “My foster mother is on the committee that organized the whole shebang. Wouldn’t look good if one of her foster boys didn’t show.”
“The old guilt trap. Do they also tell you stories about when they were younger and dating?” Lily leaned closer, continuing in a conspiratorial whisper, “Did they both marry their high school sweethearts? Or…” And here, she gasped dramatically. “…did they walk miles through the snow to meet their dates? Barefoot? During a blizzard? All in the pursuit of love?”
“Something like that.” Zane lightened up, as she’d meant him to. A smile spread across his chiseled cheeks and he bent his head toward her to whisper, “You forgot to mention how they fell in love at first sight and wouldn’t have if they hadn’t shown up in that blizzard.”
Oh. He smells good. Woodsy.
It brought to mind a walk through the pines. She imagined holding this cowboy’s hand on a trail strewn with pine needles and—
I’ve strayed outside the friend zone.
Feeling her cheeks heat, Lily sat back on her stool, reminding herself that Zane wasn’t attracted to her. Thankfully, he didn’t meet the basic requirement she used to set for potential suitors—that they were attracted to her on the get-go, not just seeing her as one of the guys.
Lily drew a calming breath. “That still doesn’t mean you have to attend these Christmas parties.”
“Oh, but I do. The organizing committee sweetened the deal this year.” Zane swirled a triangular corn chip through the last swath of melted cheese. “There will be prizes awarded at each event, like for the best ugly Christmas sweater and best line dancer. But they’re also giving out raffle tickets to Clementine residents at every party for one special drawing. The grand prize winner will be chosen at our Santapalooza Parade on Christmas Day.” There was a wistful note in his voice that Lily took to mean he really wanted that grand prize.
She’d heard of the Santapalooza Parade, where all riders wore Santa suits. But it was the giveaway, whatever that was, that Zane seemed to want so badly and made her so curious. “The grand prize being…”
“A plot of land.” His gaze softened, turning wistful. “Ten acres plus a modest house.”
“That’s some grand prize.” Made Lily wish she’d set down roots here, if only for a chance to win her own spread.
The Story Behind the Story
The Cowboy Academy series is about foster cowboys who haven’t had the best of childhoods. But in this book, Lily is the one trying to reconcile with her past. She’s just learned the man she thought was her father isn’t. And so, she’s come to Clementine at the holidays to meet her biological father and learn the truth.
But almost as soon as she arrives, she gets sucked into Zane’s life. Both his foster and biological mothers believe he should settle down. And this holiday season, they’ve devised several clever ways to bring him to the attention of eligible women. And with the 12 Parties of Christmas to attend, they’ll get plenty of chances to help him find love. But not if Lily pretends to be his fake holiday date…
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