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I’ve read and enjoyed a few of Kelly Hunter’s romances in the past (in fact, her Harlequin Presents duet Claimed by a King was so good that I bought physical copies to go with my e-copies) so I was fairly confident that I’d find a lot to like in her latest, Must Love Christmas, part of her Montana Bachelors and Babies series. And I was right! It’s a sweet, low-heat romance that within the first two chapters I could envision as a Hallmark Christmas special. Indeed, I’ve noticed that several romances from the Tule publishing line have in fact made it into the pantheon of holiday romances you can find on TV. If this one does end up on the bigger screen, I’ll definitely be setting my PVR for it.
Madeline Love is an interior designer whose career is just starting to take off. Her relationship with her wealthy father is complicated and has been distant ever since her mother’s passing – at the family ranch in Montana – from cancer when Maddie was young. On her twenty-fifth birthday, she finds out that the ranch, abandoned since her mother’s death,  is part of her inheritance from her mother – an inheritance she’d never heard about before. Her memories of the ranch are mixed, but the Christmas ones are her favourite. In a flurry of nerves and excitement she invites her father to spend Christmas with her there, and he agrees, while dropping the bombshells that he has a seven-year-old son (a brother she never knew about!) and a fiancée, both of whom he will bring with him. With that, Maddie finds herself heading to Montana to see her ranch – and finds out she’s not the only one interested in her property.
Seth Casey comes from a large ranching family – too large for him and his four brothers to amicably run things together – and as a result he’s branched off on his own and made a prosperous construction company. His specialty in restoration and renovations means a rich and varied clientele, but seeing the Love ranch sitting empty and going to ruin, has prompted several purchase offers from him over the past few years, to no avail. When Maddie Love comes waltzing onto the property he’s been surreptitiously fixing up on the outside (wishing he could get at the inside) and announces that she’s the new owner, he’s hoping the amount of repair work he’ll scare her with will have her turn tail, sell it to him, and head back to the big city where’s she from. But things don’t quite work out that way. Something about Maddie makes Seth want to help her and he offers to do her one favour (one only, no exceptions). Yet that one favour stretches pretty far. And the friendship between Maddie and Seth soon turns into something more. Can the ranch become a home filled with happy memories again?
What makes this romance sparkle is the banter between Seth and Maddie. Though Seth keeps insisting he’s not doing her any favours (having had a previous relationship with a woman who took one too many favours from him before leaving him flat), he clearly is trying to help made the Love ranch back into a habitable place. Seth is a nice guy hero with a good heart. Maddie is excited to try out some of her design ideas and between the two of them, they are able to get the ranch ready for the big Christmas party she is planning for her father and his new family. Maddie is welcomed into Seth’s family with warmth and kindness, and after having felt alone for so long due the distance between herself and her father, it soothes the ache left by her mother’s passing. There are some moments of sadness and grief but they are tempered by the humor, friendship, and heartwarming moments.
This is a low angst story, with no big misunderstanding between the main couple to derail their romance, but there’s still some drama nearer the end for them to handle. Family is complicated and that has center stage here, both for Seth with his brothers, and obviously for Maddie and her father. I really enjoyed how Maddie’s character evolves over the story, as she becomes stronger and more confident in her career aspirations and making choices that make her happy. The Christmas season definitely features strongly (as expected) and Seth and Maddie get a satisfying happy ending. I’m intrigued by the glimpses of Seth’s brothers and plan to read more of the series. If you’re a fan of sweet Christmas romances, I am happy to recommend this one.
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Grade: B+
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Kisses
Review Date: 15/12/21
Publication Date: 11/2021
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a biochemist and a married mother of two. Reading has been my hobby since grade school, and I've been a fan of the romance genre since I was a teenager. Sharing my love of good books by writing reviews is a recent passion of mine, but one which is richly rewarding.
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Will check this sone out soon!
I had to pop back in with an update because I must admit I was surprised that Hunter had started another series that had somehow flown under my radar and that she was already three books in. However, when I went to check the Montana Bachelors and Babies series, I saw that the first two books (MUST LOVE BABIES and MUST LOVE COWBOYS) had been previously published with different titles several years ago (respectively, WHAT A BACHELOR NEEDS in 2015 and CASEY in 2017). Make sure you haven’t previously read/purchased the earlier books.
Good to know, thanks!
Due to your recommendation and feeling a need for a christmas story I bought this and I must say I liked it. Despite the fact that cowboys are not my cup of tea, I don’t like snow and cold and don’t care for interior design or building, either ;)
So I must say, Kelly Hunter is a find. I’m off too look at some other books of hers.
Thank you Maria Rose
Oh, thanks! I’m so glad you liked it!
Thank you, happy to see a review of KH!
Kelly Hunter has been an auto buy for many years, and I have not yet read a book by her that I did not like.
Among other qualities, she is funny, her plots vary creatively, her women are strong (in very different ways), and she has ladies who have a serious job or calling.
Her heroes are convincing, how they start out in their approach to life and love, and in the change they make to become a guy who is a convincing HEA for the heroine – that journey is a specialty of hers, her men really need to become able to be a good partner, and do.
She very rarely writes cookie cutter traits, or simplistic conflict, simplistically resolved (sure, within the frame of the book type, an HP is gonna stay an HP).
And versatile, her romances feel different when she writes Presents, or Montana, or her Australian books.
At this time, she is my top favorite #1 series romance author, with some distance to #2.
What is your favorite book by her?
I cannot decide.
I love her West family series, and her Bennett family series.
West is just wonderful for me, I loved the setting and the family of very intelligent people who all work as spies (or similar) … her geeky heroine in one, her boss and younger man in the other, they are all good – worth reading in order, there is a background story that makes it worth to go by order. The last one, the Spy who Tamed me, is my favorite, but Flirting with Intent and Cracking the Dating Code come very close.
Bennett family is good, and each book is very different – I particularly liked the one set in Singapore.
Her standalones are nearly all very good, the Man she loves to Hate was mentioned by Disc DollyDeb, With this Fling and Trouble in a Pinstripe Suit are great, and the others are good. I like the corporate world more than small town, she does both exceedingly well, though.
I liked Montana, the Jackson family, and the 4 Kings.
Jackson, like Montana, is sometimes a bit too cowboyish, or too small town for me, like her Outback – I like them a lot, but I do not love love love them.
The 4 Kings is just soooo HP, again, I like them a lot, but the over the top situation of the 4 small kingdoms just kept it from being perfect for me. I could suspend belief, but I could not completely love the books.
Dani Collins is my #2, by the way, she is very lovely, too. Her Montana books and her standalone series are wonderful, her HPs are very good.
Tara Pammi was excellent, but her last few were weaker in my opinion.
Jennifer Hayward seems to have stopped writing (sigh)
And, as opposed to DDD, I do not like quite as much angst, which is why Caitlin Crews is only occasionally my cup of tea. I must be in some particular mood, to enjoy her. And Ashenden just goes too far into angst for me, though a few of hers are outstanding.
I know the question was not for me, but if you’re looking for a place to start, I’d strongly recommend Hunter’s MAGGIE’S RUN: a woman inherits her late aunt’s rundown sheep station in the Australian Outback and, while converting it to a destination wedding venue, reconnects with a man she knew in her teen years. Excellent on every level.
True, a very lovely book – I may reread it and remember it better, and love it more then. The ones I mention I actually reread occasionally because they really strike a chord in me.
.. and I guess the question is for anyone who can recommend something special from the author :-)
I co-sign everything you’ve said. Ever since I read Hunter’s MAGGIE’S RUN a few years ago, she’s been one of my favorite writers. I think THE MAN SHE LOVES TO HATE is one of the best Harlequin Presents ever—and that’s a pretty high bar for an HP aficionado like me.
Agree. It is one of her most angsty reads, and excellent at the same time.