A young widower dedicated to his daughter and his dream job. The woman who followed him to college only to watch him fall for someone else. And the little girl who just might bring them together.

Luke Duncan dreamed of starting an organic farm as an addition to the family ranch, and now that dream is reality. But losing his wife before he could prove his idea has driven him to succeed. With Christmas drawing near, his ideas to support the holiday theme will either take him to the next level or embarrass him publicly.

Allie Patrick was so certain that if she got Luke away from their hometown, he’d finally see her as someone he could date. A real woman. She couldn’t have been more wrong. That truth still stings all these years later.

But now that Allie is teaching Luke’s daughter, Molly, in third grade, she has another chance. Teaching the child of your lifelong crush is a fine line to walk. When Molly grows close to Allie, Luke has no choice but to notice the woman his daughter has grown attached to.

Titles in the Christmas in Sweet Bloom Texas series include — A Wish For The Single Dad Cowboy —♥— A Wish For The Single Dad Sheriff —♥— A Wish For The Single Dad Veteran —♥— A Wish For The Single Dad Flyboy —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Booksprout ARC

Title:  A Wish For The Single Dad Cowboy
Series:  Christmas in Sweet Bloom, Texas #1
Author:  April Murdock
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 25, 2023
Publisher:
My Rating:  4.5

A Wish For The Single Dad Cowboy begins the Christmas in Sweet Bloom, Texas series with a hero who is completely clueless as to the heroine’s long years of loving him.  I can’t figure out if Luke is willingly clueless, personality-wise clueless… or simply wasn’t able to read the signs from Allie, signs that just about everyone in their small town (even his sister, Allie’s friend) could read like a newspaper.  My point is simply that whether you find Luke amusing or frustrating in his cluelessness (I experienced both at different times in the story)… it’s real; he really doesn’t know that Allie has loved him since High School, even going so far as to follow him to attend the same college he did, thinking that away from their hometown, he might start to see that they could be more than just friends.

Unfortunately for Allie, she made the mistake of introducing Luke to her friend Shellie… and they fell in love, married, had a child, and then Shellie died.  Now, Luke is a grieving widower raising his daughter, Molly, being devoted to her well-being, to raising her as he believed his wife would have wanted with a lot of “Your mother would…” beginning so many of his sentences of explaining why rules were to be taken seriously and why she should grow up to be just like the mom she never knew.  He is determined to make his part of the family farm be successful in organic farming, even beginning a new project of Christmas trees to sell in a few years.  He is devoted and driven to succeed since he believes he is living the life that Shellie would have wanted for them both.  He never considered that wouldn’t have been her wish or that he would turn out to be so terribly wrong about so many things.

Throughout A Wish For The Single Dad Cowboy, I felt so badly for Allie.  She’s loved Luke for most of her life, watched his indifference and his falling in love with someone else.  She’s lonely and yet has decided to no longer pursue any other relationship since they all leave her emotionless toward the man who isn’t Luke.  She’s resolved to live her life alone, with her wish for children of her own being transferred to the young elementary children she’s teaching.  Molly will be in her class this year.  That fact will change the dynamics between Allie and Luke as he’s about to hear some things he is not going to want to listen to at all.

I enjoyed A Wish For The Single Dad Cowboy very much.  There is joy for this couple eventually, but they are going to have a very rocky road before finding the love that can last a lifetime for them—without Shellie’s shadow hanging over them.  There are emotions to feel in this one, from empathy to frustration to sadness to eventual joy.  It was an excellent way to start off the new series, and I look forward to the next release soon.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

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