COLORADO COUNTRY contains two Diana Palmer novellas previously published as standalones and in Christmas collections namely Christmas With My Cowboy and Christmas Kisses With My Cowboy. As a huge fan of this author, I had already read and reviewed the two stories contained in COLORADO COUNTRY, The Snow Man and Mistletoe Cowboy. Loved them both and adored the characters both two and four-legged. Didn’t realize I had already read them when I got my hands on COLORADO COUNTRY, but I must admit it was fun to revisit some old friends.

The Snow Man centers on Meadow who is a complete neophyte when it comes to ranching. But she finds herself as the owner of her father’s ranch. In need of funds to survive, Meadow looks toward her one profession, law enforcement. She learned a lot during her short stint with the FBI, though she also felt rather inept at most things that required dexterity. To make matters worse, she had difficulty maintaining a healthy distance from her caustic neighbor, Dal. A long history of cold, nasty put-downs with Dal has candidly left Meadow gun shy. Meadow is confused by Dal’s unfriendly attitude although she freely admits to putting herself in rather embarrassing situations when she was a teenager with a mad crush on him.

Mistletoe Cowboy is about new beginnings, which are both awesome and a bit scary. Such is the case for Teddie and her recently widowed mom, Katy. The two have settled on her deceased husband’s family ranch. A little worse for wear, it would be a great place for them to learn to live without their husband and dad. Teddie adopts a rescued, abused horse she names Bartholomew, Bart for short and needs help with training herself along with Bart. Parker works at a neighboring ranch and is in as much need of saving as Bart it seems. Nothing like a child and an old horse to bring folks together.

Diana Palmer likes to link strong alpha men with women who seem at first glance weaker. Of course, both wind up needing something vital from each other. In The Snow Man, we have a woman who is in dire need to have her self-confidence boosted and at first glance, the man who has caught her eye is definitely not one to do that. Diana Palmer also lets her characters grow and part of the enjoyment of reading any tale by this prolific author is waiting for that ah-ha moment when the character has that moment of reflection. 

Book Summary