A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe

Starred review from August 26, 2019
Navy vet Jason Clements, the hero in Clare’s heartwarming, delightful third Wyoming Cowboy contemporary (after The Cowboy and His Baby), is wracked by PTSD, mourns the death of his service dog, and has trouble keeping a job. He gets a new kind of therapy when he meets the chipper, bighearted Sage Cooper, lifelong resident of Painted Barrel, Wyo. Sage, who’s 29 and has never had a boyfriend, spent years pining for a man who never paid any attention to her unless he wanted something from her. When she learns that Jason needs a crash course in ranching in order to keep his job, she offers to show him the ropes, and his company curbs her feelings of loneliness. Sage asks Jason to help her save face at her former crush’s wedding rehearsal dinner, but what starts out as a pretend date turns into much more, though Jason worries that Sage deserves better. The residents of Painted Barrel are just as lovely as ever. Clare packs on the holiday cheer with ugly Christmas sweaters and vivid, festive descriptions of holiday joy. Minimal drama and a well-developed plot make this novel pure pleasure. Agent: Holly Root, Root Literary.