What do you think?
Mistletoe Cowboy
The best Christmas gift…
is a second chance with her!
Cody Jones is a good cowboy with a bad past. But he’s paid for his mistakes and is finally coming home to Barren, Kansas. Only this time, ranch princess Willow Bodine won’t be waiting. She’s gotten engaged to another Cody’s enemy. Now Cody must prove that a bad boy cowboy can change his spurs…and become the man Willow truly deserves by Christmas.
is a second chance with her!
Cody Jones is a good cowboy with a bad past. But he’s paid for his mistakes and is finally coming home to Barren, Kansas. Only this time, ranch princess Willow Bodine won’t be waiting. She’s gotten engaged to another Cody’s enemy. Now Cody must prove that a bad boy cowboy can change his spurs…and become the man Willow truly deserves by Christmas.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published November 10, 2020
About the author
Leigh Riker
100 books28 followersUSA Today bestselling author Leigh Riker can't imagine anything better than having a good romance novel to read--unless it is to write one! When not writing or thinking about writing, this award-winning author also likes to garden, play the piano, travel and try to learn Spanish. At home in the Southwest with her husband/hero, she is at work (of course) on a new novel.
Please visit her at leighriker.com, on FaceBook at LeighRikerBooks, or on Twitter @lbrwriter.
Please visit her at leighriker.com, on FaceBook at LeighRikerBooks, or on Twitter @lbrwriter.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 31, 2021
I received this book from Harlequin for an honest review.
Cody Bodine is returning back to Willow Springs and is looking for new beginnings and to make right for the past wrongs that he committed. He also is telling the people he harmed or their property he is sorry and will do right this time. Working on overcoming his past mainly his childhood where he says his father kill his mother, he works at overcoming those feelings. He did find a woman that he fell in love with before all of his troubles and when coming home he finds that she is engaged to the man who worked at getting him the longest sentence for someone who had never been in trouble before and who also is her brothers’ best friend.
Willow Bodine is marrying someone who she really does not love. She likes him just because they grew up around together, for he is her brothers’ best friend. She feels responsible for her father dying of a heart attack when he was yelling at her for being with Cody so she feels that the only right thing to do is marry him. The problem is she can’t come up with a date and he wants her to stop her training with horses. He feels she needs to be a wife for dinner parties, pictures for when he runs for office, and someone pretty on his arm when they go out. She really gets a taste of it when he and her mother pick out a totally different dress for her to wear for a dinner and then she sees the type of people she would be with and she is not happy.
She really begins to rethink when she begins to run into Cody at different times and she sees that he has changed but also is the same guy she fell in love with. She also sees the way with training horses and that is something she really likes. Now you have to read the story to see what happens for there is so much more going on in this book. With her brother and her best friend, about Cody trying to get a horse and someone working at stopping him, just a really good book and very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at
www.1rad-readerreviews.com
Cody Bodine is returning back to Willow Springs and is looking for new beginnings and to make right for the past wrongs that he committed. He also is telling the people he harmed or their property he is sorry and will do right this time. Working on overcoming his past mainly his childhood where he says his father kill his mother, he works at overcoming those feelings. He did find a woman that he fell in love with before all of his troubles and when coming home he finds that she is engaged to the man who worked at getting him the longest sentence for someone who had never been in trouble before and who also is her brothers’ best friend.
Willow Bodine is marrying someone who she really does not love. She likes him just because they grew up around together, for he is her brothers’ best friend. She feels responsible for her father dying of a heart attack when he was yelling at her for being with Cody so she feels that the only right thing to do is marry him. The problem is she can’t come up with a date and he wants her to stop her training with horses. He feels she needs to be a wife for dinner parties, pictures for when he runs for office, and someone pretty on his arm when they go out. She really gets a taste of it when he and her mother pick out a totally different dress for her to wear for a dinner and then she sees the type of people she would be with and she is not happy.
She really begins to rethink when she begins to run into Cody at different times and she sees that he has changed but also is the same guy she fell in love with. She also sees the way with training horses and that is something she really likes. Now you have to read the story to see what happens for there is so much more going on in this book. With her brother and her best friend, about Cody trying to get a horse and someone working at stopping him, just a really good book and very much worth the read. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at
www.1rad-readerreviews.com
January 14, 2021
2.5 stars, really.
This book certainly has an exciting start but the story doesn’t really go anywhere. I was super excited when I started reading it because I felt like the story will only get more intriguing and thrilling but boy, was I wrong. After the first few chapters, the story just fizzles. I got super bored but I continued reading with the hopes of a surprise twist here and there but that twist never came. The story was as boring as a straight line. I also tried to compare this book with plots from silly Bollywood movies where stuff like this happens all the time (rich woman falls for poor guy, woman’s family doesn’t approve etc.) and tried to draw parallels. The only similarity I found was that the plot in both cases are totally unrealistic but in the end, Bollywood movies are a lot more entertaining.
A lot of mundane details get attention in this book. There was a chapter where we learn how Cody tames a horse - like, the techniques he is using are described in great detail. For some reason that part annoyed me a lot. As it is the story wasn’t going anywhere - why do I care about his horse taming techniques? However, there are certain other things that happen in this book that I wish were described in a lot more detail. For example, during Willow and Thad’s engagement party, it rains heavily and one of the tents outside “had indeed collapsed from so much rain”. I wish that whole collapsing of tent was described in great detail because I wanted to sing November Rain in my head while reading that part and picture Willow and Thad getting soaked, and people running helter-skelter to find shelter - just like in the video. Yes, I badly wanted to use my imagination to get through this book - I was that bored. Also, I cannot believe that out of nowhere, a horse became a crucial element of the love story.
And by the way, Chad has anger issues but yeah, just brush aside that toxicity because machoism is cute, especially in boring romance novels.
Anyway, this is a pretty mediocre book. I finished it only because I signed up to read way too many books this year. Otherwise I would have abandoned it in a heartbeat. One thing this book did do is get me curious about this whole cowboy subculture, if i may. I am willing to read more books in this series but I demand that they be no more than 200 pages!
This book certainly has an exciting start but the story doesn’t really go anywhere. I was super excited when I started reading it because I felt like the story will only get more intriguing and thrilling but boy, was I wrong. After the first few chapters, the story just fizzles. I got super bored but I continued reading with the hopes of a surprise twist here and there but that twist never came. The story was as boring as a straight line. I also tried to compare this book with plots from silly Bollywood movies where stuff like this happens all the time (rich woman falls for poor guy, woman’s family doesn’t approve etc.) and tried to draw parallels. The only similarity I found was that the plot in both cases are totally unrealistic but in the end, Bollywood movies are a lot more entertaining.
A lot of mundane details get attention in this book. There was a chapter where we learn how Cody tames a horse - like, the techniques he is using are described in great detail. For some reason that part annoyed me a lot. As it is the story wasn’t going anywhere - why do I care about his horse taming techniques? However, there are certain other things that happen in this book that I wish were described in a lot more detail. For example, during Willow and Thad’s engagement party, it rains heavily and one of the tents outside “had indeed collapsed from so much rain”. I wish that whole collapsing of tent was described in great detail because I wanted to sing November Rain in my head while reading that part and picture Willow and Thad getting soaked, and people running helter-skelter to find shelter - just like in the video. Yes, I badly wanted to use my imagination to get through this book - I was that bored. Also, I cannot believe that out of nowhere, a horse became a crucial element of the love story.
And by the way, Chad has anger issues but yeah, just brush aside that toxicity because machoism is cute, especially in boring romance novels.
Anyway, this is a pretty mediocre book. I finished it only because I signed up to read way too many books this year. Otherwise I would have abandoned it in a heartbeat. One thing this book did do is get me curious about this whole cowboy subculture, if i may. I am willing to read more books in this series but I demand that they be no more than 200 pages!
October 11, 2020
“Mistletoe Cowboy” by Leigh Riker is a story about forbidden love, redemption, and second chances.
Willow Bodine is engaged to marry someone else when her former love returns home. Even though she still has feelings for Cody Jones, she has obligations to her family for what, she believes, is her role in her father’s death.
Cody is back in Barren to start fresh and find forgiveness from those he hurt in the past. He has plans to start a horse training program and, while he is still in love with Willow, knows he has to let her go.
But feelings of the heart are tough to ignore and Willow and Cody have to decide which path they are going to take.
“Mistletoe Cowboy” can be read as a standalone from the previous books in the Kansas Cowboys series, but there were times where I felt as if I walked in the middle of a character’s story and missed something important about them.
Also, with the forbidden love trope, there can be tendency to dislike one of the characters involved (in this case Willow), but Ms. Riker does a great job at writing this difficult trope and creates characters you hope will find their happily-ever-after.
Willow Bodine is engaged to marry someone else when her former love returns home. Even though she still has feelings for Cody Jones, she has obligations to her family for what, she believes, is her role in her father’s death.
Cody is back in Barren to start fresh and find forgiveness from those he hurt in the past. He has plans to start a horse training program and, while he is still in love with Willow, knows he has to let her go.
But feelings of the heart are tough to ignore and Willow and Cody have to decide which path they are going to take.
“Mistletoe Cowboy” can be read as a standalone from the previous books in the Kansas Cowboys series, but there were times where I felt as if I walked in the middle of a character’s story and missed something important about them.
Also, with the forbidden love trope, there can be tendency to dislike one of the characters involved (in this case Willow), but Ms. Riker does a great job at writing this difficult trope and creates characters you hope will find their happily-ever-after.
January 26, 2021
This was my first Leigh Riker book so I don't know if it is a usual thing with her books, but I wanted to strangle the heroine. Willow grew up privileged on a ranch in Kansas. Right after college she fell hard for bad boy cowboy, Cody. Cody came from a troubled past where his father murdered his mother and then committed suicide - right in front of Cody. Yes, I think that would mess up most people. But Cody had a temper and eventually was caught for arson after he burned down a barn in anger. He was sent to prison for one year. Willow came to visit him in prison once and just couldn't handle it - but they had officially broken up even before his trial. During the time that Cody was in jail, Willow miraculously fell in love with her brother's best friend, Thad. Thad came from a very wealthy family of politicians and he was slimy. He was manipulative, controlling, etc., but Willow didn't seem to see it. Time and time again Thad would do something to change her appearance, change her career aspirations, etc. and she just went along with it while she very silently questioned it. I kept wanting to shake her and say WAKE UP! Cody gets out of jail and is surprised to find out Willow is engaged to Thad. Cody knows what kind of a sleeze ball Thad is, but Willow just doesn't want to hear it.
I found this book to have female characters that just weren't really strong - Willow, her best friend, her mother, Thad's step mother - they all acted like they didn't have brains of their own and they just did what the men told them to do without question. This attitude really made me discount this book - this may happen in real life, but I really don't want to read about it.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.
I found this book to have female characters that just weren't really strong - Willow, her best friend, her mother, Thad's step mother - they all acted like they didn't have brains of their own and they just did what the men told them to do without question. This attitude really made me discount this book - this may happen in real life, but I really don't want to read about it.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.
January 23, 2021
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
This is book number 8 in the Kansas Cowboy series. While it is a part of a series, it can be read as a stand-alone. I haven't read any of the prior books but I must say that after reading this, I will have to go back and start the series.
Cody Jones is a bad-boy cowboy. After a tragic event in his young life, the young boy took a wrong turn that would lead to trouble. Along the way, Cody meets the "princess" of the WB Ranch, Willow Bodine. The two would apparently make an instant, long-lasting connection. They would would break up and Cody would stand trial for arson.
The book starts with Willow learning of Cody's early release from the Navarro prison. Willow is now engaged to be married to the prosecutor who helped send Cody to prison, Thad. Cody knows that Thad has a dark side to him. Cody still loves Willow and he wants to help her and to get her back to loving him.
This book is written in a multiple POV format. Not only do we get Cody's and Willow's but there is Willow's BFF's Cass'. This makes for a read that I couldn't hardly put down. So not only do we get one love story but two really.
This is a sweet, clean romance that anyone could read.
This is book number 8 in the Kansas Cowboy series. While it is a part of a series, it can be read as a stand-alone. I haven't read any of the prior books but I must say that after reading this, I will have to go back and start the series.
Cody Jones is a bad-boy cowboy. After a tragic event in his young life, the young boy took a wrong turn that would lead to trouble. Along the way, Cody meets the "princess" of the WB Ranch, Willow Bodine. The two would apparently make an instant, long-lasting connection. They would would break up and Cody would stand trial for arson.
The book starts with Willow learning of Cody's early release from the Navarro prison. Willow is now engaged to be married to the prosecutor who helped send Cody to prison, Thad. Cody knows that Thad has a dark side to him. Cody still loves Willow and he wants to help her and to get her back to loving him.
This book is written in a multiple POV format. Not only do we get Cody's and Willow's but there is Willow's BFF's Cass'. This makes for a read that I couldn't hardly put down. So not only do we get one love story but two really.
This is a sweet, clean romance that anyone could read.
November 9, 2020
Another in the Kansas Cowboys series, in which Cody Jones is relieved to get out of prison but not all that happy to learn that the woman he loves is now engaged to someone else. And when he dares to see her, it's clear that people in Barren, KS are watching to see if he's learned his lesson.
Willow Bodine is glad Cody is out of prison, but she isn't sure she should see him and tells him so. Too bad that's impossible when he offers to help train a horse her friend owns and is helping to teach Willow similar skills. Then there's the mare that Cody worked with while in prison. When he applies to buy her, Willow's fiance interferes. Not only is Cody not approved to buy her, but when Cody finds out who did get the horse, he learns that she's set to be sold to a glue factory. Not going to happen! But what can he do without jeopardizing his freedom?
Willow and her brother, best friend of her fiance, step in to find out, but will it be too late for the mare, and too late for Willow at her engagement party where an announcement is scheduled regarding the date of her marriage?
Willow Bodine is glad Cody is out of prison, but she isn't sure she should see him and tells him so. Too bad that's impossible when he offers to help train a horse her friend owns and is helping to teach Willow similar skills. Then there's the mare that Cody worked with while in prison. When he applies to buy her, Willow's fiance interferes. Not only is Cody not approved to buy her, but when Cody finds out who did get the horse, he learns that she's set to be sold to a glue factory. Not going to happen! But what can he do without jeopardizing his freedom?
Willow and her brother, best friend of her fiance, step in to find out, but will it be too late for the mare, and too late for Willow at her engagement party where an announcement is scheduled regarding the date of her marriage?
November 3, 2020
4 1/2 STARS!
A heartwarming story of forgiveness, rediscovery and redemption. With book eight in her always addictive Kansas Cowboys series, Leigh Riker brings us a tainted hero and the one that got away in MISTLETOE COWBOY. The characters and plot drew me into the story quickly and their connection kept me enchanted throughout.
Cody comes into the story needing redemption for the bad he's done, but I found it really easy to forgive him once we get to know the guy he is now and hear his back story.
Willow was also easy to like and sympathize with, but she was also irritating with the way she let herself be walked over instead of listening to her heart.
I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who enjoys a sweet romance filled with a sexy cowboy, a gentle partner and a happily ever after to write home about.
A heartwarming story of forgiveness, rediscovery and redemption. With book eight in her always addictive Kansas Cowboys series, Leigh Riker brings us a tainted hero and the one that got away in MISTLETOE COWBOY. The characters and plot drew me into the story quickly and their connection kept me enchanted throughout.
Cody comes into the story needing redemption for the bad he's done, but I found it really easy to forgive him once we get to know the guy he is now and hear his back story.
Willow was also easy to like and sympathize with, but she was also irritating with the way she let herself be walked over instead of listening to her heart.
I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who enjoys a sweet romance filled with a sexy cowboy, a gentle partner and a happily ever after to write home about.
January 20, 2021
While I didn't dislike this story and didn't love it either it was a little blah to me I sort of had the impression been there done that and have the t shirt to show it in that it was a storyline done to death and there was nothing to make this special Sometimes there was a little to much detail and now feel like a could go out and tame and train a horse
Cody Jones hurt a lot of people but he has returned to his hometown determined to make amends and one of the first people he reconnects with is Willow Bodine the woman he has always loved The feeling is mutual but Willow blames herself for her fathers death and will do what her family wants even if that is to marry a man she doesn't love Can these two star crossed lovers find a way to be together You will have to read to see
Cody Jones hurt a lot of people but he has returned to his hometown determined to make amends and one of the first people he reconnects with is Willow Bodine the woman he has always loved The feeling is mutual but Willow blames herself for her fathers death and will do what her family wants even if that is to marry a man she doesn't love Can these two star crossed lovers find a way to be together You will have to read to see
December 9, 2020
4.5 Stars. Book 8 in the Kansas Cowboys is another hit in this series. Cody’s character made this story come alive. The handsome and sweet cowboy is making amends and deserves a second chance. I was rooting for him as soon as he stepped onto the pages. His attempt to rescue a horse was a perfect plot twist, which hooked me immediately. Willow is a good heroine. I just wished she would have followed her heart and instincts a bit sooner. It was fun to revisit this town and its secondary cast. An emotional story with a little drama. Will Cody get his horse? You’ll have to read to find out! Reviewed for Still Moments Magazine.
November 20, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Once I started reading it I just could not put it down. This is the first book that I have read of Leigh Rikers and can't wait to read more by her.
Willow used to date Cody but he ended up getting into trouble and spent time in prison. While he was away Willow started dating Thad and then they became engaged.
Don't really want to give to much of the story away so I'll leave it at this. Check out the book you won;t be disappointed.
Willow used to date Cody but he ended up getting into trouble and spent time in prison. While he was away Willow started dating Thad and then they became engaged.
Don't really want to give to much of the story away so I'll leave it at this. Check out the book you won;t be disappointed.
January 22, 2021
I like to read second chance romance stories. This one was entertaining. The two main characters are Willow Bodine and Cody Jones. These characters are well-developed and realistic. The road to their Happily Ever After wasn't easy but I liked seeing them together.
Read
October 31, 2020Categories
Western Romance, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Holiday Romance, Wholesome Romance
Miniseries
Kansas Cowboys (Book #8)
Western Romance, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Holiday Romance, Wholesome Romance
Miniseries
Kansas Cowboys (Book #8)
January 24, 2021
What's not to like? Cowboy, romance triangle, rich girl. I read this one straight through. It is a nice cowboy romance. I enjoyed it! Okay Thad was a jerk but it added to the story.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews