Christmas at the Ranch by Julia McKay Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on September 23, 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Romance
Pages: 320
Format: eBook
Source: Personal Collection
Goodreads
StoryGraph
A swoony second chance holiday romance, about a woman who escapes family scandal in the city by fleeing to Evergreen Lake for Christmas, where she first found love and heartbreak at Wilder Ranch.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to a run-in with my ex, two flat tires, and a miracle horse to help me find love.
With the holidays around the corner and her father under arrest for financial fraud, journalist Everly Oakes has no idea where to turn. She’s only certain of one she needs to get away.
Fate and her subconscious take her to Evergreen Lake, the picturesque town where she spent her happiest Christmas as a teenage girl – and fell in love for the first time. Stranded due to car trouble and a blizzard, Everly is rescued by Charlie Wilder, father of her first love, who offers her the guest house at Wilder Ranch. Tate, he promises, is out of town.
But kismet and Christmas magic have other ideas, and when Tate comes home early and finds a half-dressed Everly in his cabin, all bets are off for what else the holidays will hold this year.
Christmas at the Ranch by Julia McKay was the Once Upon a Book Club 2025 Christmas selection. It did take me awhile to get the book read but I will say that it was a quick and easy read when I could focus and sit and read it. The writing and pacing were easy on the brain and it was an enjoyable read.
Evergreen is a small town in Canada that has several thriving small businesses. Emory and her family visited when she was younger and she fell in love with the town and the boy she met at the lake behind the mansion her family rented. Emory came from money and Tate and his dad run a struggling horse trail farm. Things did not work out between Emory and Tate and ten years later Emory flees Toronto after a family scandal makes national news. She unintentionally flees to Evergreen.
Things may not have worked out between Emory and Tate back then but it hasn’t squished the feelings between them. It was very easy to settle down and read Christmas at the Ranch. It wasn’t a difficult book and it had the perfect amount of warm fuzzies feelings for the Christmas season. It also helped that I had a few gifts to open along the way.
My biggest gripe is that it took Tate and Emory so long to stop beating around the bush. Almost 75% of the book was Tate and Emory misinterpreting the events unfolding across the story. Overall the town of Evergreen is pretty forgiving of the situation Emory has found herself in. I feel like that’s the appeal of small town romances though. They exemplify the best parts of small town living even if they are exaggerated. That’s the great thing about fiction in my opinion.
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