Christmas at the Ranch: A Novel

by Anita Hughes

Overview

Filled with Christmas cheer, and the magic that can only be found in Jackson Hole, Wyoming under the shadow of the Tetons, Anita Hughes's Christmas at the Ranch is a love story that is sure to enchant, and warm your heart like a cup of hot apple cider.

It’s days before Christmas and Samantha Morgan is in her Brooklyn apartment when her editor, Charlie, shows up. Her publisher Arthur Wentworth is throwing a Christmas party and wants Samantha to be the guest of honor. Samantha tries to come up with an excuse to miss it. She writes a series of books featuring a female James Bond-type heroine named Sloane Parker and Charlie is the only person who knows that Samantha is the opposite of Sloane, though the marketing team has built up an entire social media presence for her claiming that she is just as adventurous. In reality, Samantha rarely leaves her neighborhood and does her research online. She is afraid of almost everything and is only happy when she’s sitting in her apartment and writing.

Samantha reluctantly agrees to go. But instead of taking her to Arthur’s house in Connecticut, the driver goes to the airport. On the phone, Charlie admits that the party is at Arthur’s new ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For a person who hates even walking around the block when it snows, this is her worst nightmare.

But when a handsome stranger sits next to her on the plane, things begin to look up. She feels comfortable enough to spill all her secrets to him, including all of her fears and the truth about her fake Instagram account. However, when she shows up at the house, it turns out that this man, Drew, is Arthur’s son. Now Samantha is worried that Drew will tell his father about her lies.

Over the course of Christmas week, Samantha grows closer to Drew. But when his fiancée, Beatrix (who recently gave him an ultimatum about settling down), shows up, things get more complicated. As Samantha’s fears of bison and giant icicles subside, and her feelings for Drew grow deeper, new fears develop…

Will she leave this Christmas adventure broken-hearted? Or will true love prevail?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250896452
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	4.15(w) x 6.75(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

ANITA HUGHES is the author of Rome in Love (adapted into a Hallmark movie in 2019), and Christmas in Vermont (adapted into a Lifetime movie in 2019). She is also the author of Market Street, Lake Como, Santorini Sunsets, Christmas in Paris, Monarch Beach, and other titles. She attended UC Berkeley's Masters in Creative Writing Program, and lives in Dana Point, California.

Editorial Reviews

08/29/2022

Hughes (A Magical New York Christmas) sparkles in this intricately plotted holiday romance. All introverted author Samantha Morgan wants for Christmas is to curl up in her Brooklyn apartment with her dog, Socks. Instead, her editor pressures her to accept an invitation to a house party being thrown by her publisher’s CEO, Arthur Wentworth, at Arthur’s ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo. A nervous flyer, Samantha only gets through the trip with the help of another passenger, Drew, who distracts her with conversation and Kahlúa. Though she soon feels like she’s known him forever, she doesn’t think she’ll ever see Drew again once the plane lands—only to arrive at the Wentworths’ ranch and learn that Drew is Arthur’s son. Both Arthur and Drew’s fiancée, Beatrix, want Drew to return to Manhattan and take over the publishing company, while Drew wants to continue building schools in Thailand. Over the course of an emotional Christmas week, feelings develop between Drew and Samantha, even as Samantha strikes up an unlikely friendship with Beatrix—and encounters an important person from Drew’s past, who might jeopardize Samantha’s future with him. Hughes crafts characters readers will easily fall in love with and keeps the twists coming throughout this low-heat contemporary. The resulting exploration of unexpected love is sure to capture hearts. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Christmas at the Ranch:

"Hughes crafts characters readers will easily fall in love with and keeps the twists coming throughout this low-heat contemporary. The resulting exploration of unexpected love is sure to capture hearts."
––Publishers Weekly

Praise for A Magical New York Christmas:

"There’s plenty to love in this sparkling Christmas rom-com."—Publishers Weekly

"As the two fall in love in glittering New York during the winter holidays and the storied Plaza Hotel casts its elegant spell, Hughes’ fabulously enchanting tale will inspire readers to revisit the Eloise books."—Booklist

"The perfect holiday romance"—POPSUGAR

"The perfect heartwarming holiday read."—BookGirlsGuide.com

"I really loved this book. It drew me in immediately like a cup of homemade hot chocolate with real whipped cream—I just wanted to curl up and savor it. I loved the story within the story, the history of the Eloise author and how she lived at The Plaza. Just a wonderful, romantic, and engaging holiday story in the best of all possible settings: Christmas at the Plaza hotel."—Pamela Kelley, bestselling author of Nantucket Threads

From the Publisher

07/01/2022

Novelist Samantha Morgan is afraid of everything, but flying is near the top of the list. When she's coerced into flying to her publisher's holiday ranch party, to distract herself, she fixates on the attractive man in the next seat, who turns out to be the publisher's son, Drew Wentworth. Drew is trying to work up the courage to tell his fiancée that he doesn't want to move back to New York and break the news to his father that he doesn't want the family business. As Samantha faces her fears, she begins to rely on the security she feels with Drew, but then his fiancée arrives, planning a surprise holiday wedding. Will Drew break the engagement, or will Samantha end up maid of honor at his wedding? This chaste holiday romance features insipid characters with no chemistry. There are problematic scenes and plot devices throughout the novel: Samantha's fears are trivialized and dismissed by Drew, a white shopkeeper continually draws on her knowledge of Native American beliefs to give advice, and Samantha relays long summaries of her books. VERDICT Despite an interesting love triangle and forced-proximity premise, this romance from Hughes (A Magical New York Christmas) falls flat.—Heather Miller Cover

Library Journal