This review was written by Phyllis L. This story was nominated in the Best Romance Novella category.

The summary: On the eve before Christmas a blizzard arrived, transforming a small Texas town into a night to remember.

Four ladies desperately in need of saving, four hard-ridin' cowboys who aim to please. . . When a lone farmer strides to a pretty store owner's rescue, their deepest wishes just might come true.

And here is Phyllis L's review:

This novella is set in and near a small town in Texas, Christmas 1887. In a blizzard. Maggie feels like an outsider and Samuel really is one. He saves her from armed robbers/rapists in her store and takes her back to his hidden cabin when the robbers say they'll kill any witnesses.

I enjoyed this story a good deal, though I had some quibbles.

The relationship between the hero and heroine is sweet and quickly gets hot (No sex, just kissing and groping under her clothes). They were friends when they were six, then she was sent away to boarding school and he stopped going to school. His son (certified Plot Moppet) is much too sweet for a two-year-old, though he's a good example of the hero's care of his family and the other outcasts and eccentrics.

Much of the climactic action takes place off-stage or by someone other than the hero or heroine. “Oh, there was torture/ambush/gunfights and we won. Yay us!” And since Thomas showed us the fight in the store in the beginning, I wanted her to show the fight at the end, too, and have the hero and heroine save themselves instead of the hero's late wife's brother showing up to save the day.

(SPOILER ALERT) I really didn't like that she didn't see him for a week or more when he was recovering from torture he suffered to protect her. I also didn't like how no one was going to tell the town that the sheriff was a bad guy and was dead. (SPOILER OFF)

I give it a B-.

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