Romantic? Check.

Swaggering, strapping cowboys and roguish outlaws? Check.
(And maybe a few bull-headed men who need tending to.)

Strong female characters? Check, check, and check.
I love an anthology, especially when they include beloved authors, so I was happy to get my hands on this collection of romance stories. All are set in western settings, where times are tough, life is both simpler and hard, and the snow is falling because the Christmas holidays are approaching. Some stories are sweetly romantic while others bring a little more heat!
Linda Broday brings back a character with whom I fell in love in one of her previous novels (which you needn’t have read to enjoy this one) and near broke my heart with what she puts poor Rebel through!

Margaret Brownley’s tale of a woman rallying her town to bring Christmas to its children was perhaps my favorite. It was a story of love and sacrifice and warmed my heart.

If you like a little more heat to your romance stories, author Amy Sandas delivers it in droves in her story of a strong, resilient woman who rescues an outlaw in a snowstorm – and what follows as they are snowed together.

Anna Schmidt captures the frustration of a female doctor of the early 1900s in her tale “One Snowy Christmas Eve” as her first love stumbles, sick to death, into her practice. Nursing him back to health opens old wounds and stirs old flames.

Ultimately, all six stories paint pictures of hard times, love enduring and winning in the end – perfect for curling up under a cozy blanket but enduring enough for any time of the year. ( )