MISTLETOE MIRACLES
Ransom Canyon
by
JODI THOMAS
Sub-genre: Holiday Romance / Western
Publisher: HQN
Date of Publication: September 25, 2018
Number of Pages: 354
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A small-town Texas Christmas story, where hearts are lost, love is found, and family always brings you back home.
Griffin Holloway is desperate: the Maverick Ranch has been in his family for generations, but lately, it’s a money pit. He’d sooner marry one of his horses than sell the ranch. Marriage, though, could be a solution. If he can woo a wealthy bride, he might save the ranch—just in time for Christmas. Jaxon O’Grady likes his solitude just fine, thank you very much. But when a car accident brings the unexpected to his door, he realizes just how much one person can need another. Crossroads is the perfect place for Jamie Johnson: avoiding nosy questions about why she’s single, she’s happy to keep to her lakeside home. So she’s baffled when she gets the strangest Christmas present of all, in the form of a Mr. Johnson, asleep on her sofa. Who is he, and why does everyone think he’s her husband?
In this uplifting novel, three unlikely couples discover just what Crossroads, Texas, can offer: romance, belonging, and plenty of Christmas spirit.
”Deeply poignant moments and artfully rendered characters create a rich story that transports readers to an idyllic place.” – Publishers Weekly
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EXCERPT
From Mistletoe Miracles
by Jodi Thomas
Elliot tried again. “You’re the oldest, Griff. You go first. At thirty-four, you’re about to go from ripe to rotten anyway.”
“But you’re the best-looking one, Elliot. Remember those tourists who stopped us in town and wanted to take your picture? Perfect profile of a cowboy, they claimed. Put the word out that you’re available and women will come from all over the state. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bella Brantley didn’t come back. Last I heard she’s still single. Maybe she just planned a long engagement?”
Elliot shook his head. “We broke up seven years ago, and she’s not exactly single. She might be between husband numbers three and four for all I know.”
“What about me?” Cooper jumped in. “I’m the youngest. Women like men who are still young and wild.”
They both looked in his direction, but Elliot spoke first. “Good idea. There’s a kind of woman who’s attracted to stray dogs. Cooper might have a chance. We could advertise him as a makeover project. Flipping houses is popular. Maybe someone could flip Cooper.”
“We’ll talk about it at supper. Right now, we’re wasting daylight.” Griffin ended the meeting. “Just think about it and come up with some ideas by tonight.”
Neither of his brothers looked challenged. Griffin had a feeling he’d be doing all the thinking, all the work, all the sacrifice.
Shoving on his battered hat, Cooper headed outside.
Elliot turned toward the huge study where each brother had a desk, but Elliot was the only one who ever used his.
Griffin passed through the kitchen, smiling. He’d introduced his plan. At least that was a start. Step one.
Next step: make a list of possibilities, and he knew exactly who to ask for help. The Franklin sisters. The two old ladies might never have married, but they knew every eligible woman in the county. All he’d have to do was line up the ladies and parade them by. The Holloway men might be a little rough around the edges, but their ranch was one of the oldest in West Texas.
“It’ll never work,” whispered a voice, scratchy with age, from across the wide bar lined in stools with saddles for seats. “It will take all three of you boys to fill the qualifications to any girl’s list.”
Griffin glared at Mamie, the cook at the Maverick Ranch for thirty years. “Why won’t it work? You turn into a fortune-teller in your old age?” He tolerated the round little woman and made a point of never taking her advice. “And, Mamie, we’re not boys. I took over the ranch at twenty-four, remember? Dad was getting sick and Mom was dead.”
“I know. I was here. Who do you think was cooking three meals a day for you boys? Don’t need to be a fortune-teller. None of you will ever find a woman dumb enough to take any one of you on.” She giggled and all the rolls from her neck to her stretch-pant-covered knees wobbled like Jell-O. “The three of you can’t get along. What makes you think bringing a woman in this house will solve anything? Besides being rich, she’d have to be crazy and blind to even think of taking one of you Holloways on.”
Griffin frowned. “Fair enough. I’ll add those to the list of requirements.”
Cramming on his hat, he decided talking to Mamie was like taking a once-per-day depression pill.
As he stepped out into the crisp November air, Griffin smiled. For a moment he just closed his eyes and breathed. This was his home, the place he’d always belong, and if he had to marry a rich, crazy, blind wife to keep it, he would.
By the time the town put up their eight reindeer on the light poles, he’d be engaged, and by Christmas he’d be married.
A fifth-generation Texan, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jodi Thomas chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. A former teacher, Thomas traces the beginning of her storytelling career to the days when her twin sisters were young and impressionable.
With a degree in family studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics. Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A&M University campus, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence.
Commenting on her contribution to the arts, Thomas said, “When I was teaching classes full-time, I thought I was making the world a better place. Now I think of a teacher or nurse or mother settling back and relaxing with one of my books. I want to take her away on an adventure that will entertain her. Maybe, in a small way, I’m still making the world a better place.”
When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo and checking up on their two grown sons.
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