A Laramie, Texas Christmas
Cathy Gillen Thacker
Harlequin American, December 2006, $4.99
ISBN: 0373751451

In Laramie, Deputy Sheriff Kevin McCabe knows three things about newcomer Houston party planner Noelle Kringle. He wants her from the first time he sees her; he also wants to be a friend to her reticent two year old son Mikey, who thinks he is Santa. He knows she is hiding something monumental from him. He plans to uncover her dark secret before Christmas arrives, although there are less than two weeks of shopping days left.

Noelle finds the kind hearted Kevin is the sexiest hunk she has ever seen, and he is so kind to her son that she fears Mikey sees him as a surrogate father. She knows she will have to move on if she does not control her heart, because she has no time for her love with a past that could catch up to her, and worse to vulnerable Mikey. Her life is flight not fight, but Kevin makes her reconsider her choices.

Contemporary romance readers will enjoy this Texas holiday tale starring a congenial lead couple and a precocious two years old who steals the hearts of readers. Cathy Gillen Thacker provides a warm tale with a subtle suspense, so that everyone knows someone bad is coming, but whom, when and why requires reading the book.