She’s the gift he never expected...
He returned for his sister’s wedding...
Not a romance of his own.
Back in his hometown to help his family, rancher-turned-businessman Max St. James has no intention of staying beyond the holidays. But the more time he spends with his sister’s wedding planner, Sierra Lawson, the more the small town he left behind feels like home again. Falling for Sierra wasn’t part of his plan, but he’s never wanted anything more for Christmas.
Mercy Ranch
BRENDA MINTON lives in the Ozarks with her husband, children, cats, dogs and strays. She is a pastor’s wife, Sunday-school teacher, coffee addict and sleep deprived. Not in that order. Her dream to be an author for Harlequin started somewhere in the pages of a romance novel about a young American woman stranded in a Spanish castle. Her dreams came true, and twenty-plus books later, she is an author hoping to inspire young girls to dream.
Mercy Ranch
Reunited with the Rancher
The Rancher’s Christmas Match
Her Oklahoma Rancher
The Rancher’s Holiday Hope
Bluebonnet Springs
Second Chance Rancher
The Rancher’s Christmas Bride
The Rancher’s Secret Child
Martin’s Crossing
A Rancher for Christmas
The Rancher Takes a Bride
The Rancher’s Second Chance
The Rancher’s First Love
Her Rancher Bodyguard
Her Guardian Rancher
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
The Rancher’s Holiday Hope
Brenda Minton
ISBN: 978-0-008-90066-3
THE RANCHER’S HOLIDAY HOPE
© 2019 Brenda Minton
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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“We have a wedding this weekend and today the caterer almost quit.”
“But you brought them back on board,” Max said.
Sierra nodded. “Yes, I did. I didn’t want this job. I’m not a romantic. I am the last person who should be planning other people’s happy-ever-afters.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
She shrugged, unsure of how to answer him. She’d never been coveted, guarded, cherished.
“Until I came to Mercy Ranch, I didn’t know any happy marriages or couples who cherished each other. You have this lovely, kind and supportive family. You have the dream.”
“I do,” he admitted, looking somewhat shy. “I almost threw it all away. But about you. Now that you have the job and since you’ve been here, in Hope?” he asked. “Now do you believe in happy-ever-after?”
“Sometimes.”
She had never really thought about it, but deep down inside, she wanted to believe it existed.
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
—Lamentations 3:22–23
Sierra Lawson has been a favorite character of mine from the conception of the Mercy Ranch series. I loved her dry sense of humor, her angst, her heart that she kept safely hidden. While writing the previous books, it only made sense to make the less-than-romantic veteran a wedding planner.
As she continued to evolve, I knew she needed a hero to show her that she is both strong and that she can trust and find love. The perfect hero came along unexpectedly in Max St. James. Gradually love came to Mercy Ranch’s wedding planner. In the end she trusts that this man is hers, forever.
Thanks for reading The Rancher’s Holiday Hope. For more information on me and the Mercy Ranch series, find me on Facebook at Brenda Minton Author, or on Twitter at @brendaminton.
Happy Holidays!
Brenda
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