All Suzanne St. Michelle wants is an over-the-top, eggnog-induced holiday with her best friend in Credence, Colorado. But when her hoity-toity parents insist she come home for Christmas in New York, she blurts out that her sexy landlord is actually her boyfriend and she can’t leave him—Joshy loves Christmas. The more twinkle lights the better.Rancher Joshua Grady does not love Christmas. Or … love Christmas. Or company, or chatty women. Unfortunately for him, the chattiest woman ever has rented the cottage on his ranch, invited her rich, art-scene parents, and now insists he play “fake rancher boyfriend” in a production of the Hokiest Christmas Ever. And somehow…she gets him to agree.
Apparently, he’ll do anything to get his quiet life back. At least there’s mistletoe every two feet—and kissing Suzy is surprisingly easy. But in the midst of acres of tinsel, far too many tacky Christmas sweaters, and a tree that can be seen from space, he’s starting to want what he lost when he was a kid—a family. Too bad it’s with a woman heading back to New York before the ball drops…
Each book in the Credence, Colorado series is STANDALONE:
* Nothing But Trouble
* The Trouble with Christmas
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Suzanne and Grady’s unexpected love story in The Trouble with Christmas by Amy Andrews, book two in her Credence, Colorado series, was a fun, charming, amazing, and amusing story that I struggled to put down. Grady was lost soul, a loner, one who kept to himself and wanted to be out of the spotlight, at all cost. After all the adversity he’s dealt with, he just wanted to work his ranch. Suzanne was the daughter of a famous sculptor who feared her paintings could never live up to her mother’s reputation; so she painted reproductions of famous paintings. Suzanne wanted a normal, over the top, Christmas celebration instead of the minimalist-type her mother always insisted on. Spending it with her best friend in Credence, Colorado would only make it better and more fun; as would renting a cottage, on a ranch. When Suzanne’s mother insist she spend Christmas with them, she lies, saying that Grady is her boyfriend, she can’t leave him, and, oh yeah, Josh Grady just loves Christmas; so her parents will come to her. Josh must have lost his mind as he agrees to play her fake rancher boyfriend and allow her to decorate his house with the cheesiest decorations, ornaments and lights that can be seen from the space station. Décor like Elvis Santa on a motorcycle, Elf Barbie dressed as a pole dancer, cat garland, and so forth. Then there’s the mistletoe in every doorway and spaces in between. This fake relationship of two opposites makes for one hysterical story.
While at the ranch, Suzanne found that her artistic muse had returned. The problem was instead of painting landscapes of the beautiful scenery, she was painting Grady’s face on the body of well-known models; David, a cherub, Atlas, and others. As Grady and Suzanne negotiate for the paintings, spend time together, and talk they discover a chemistry that is off the charts. Kissing, especially under all that mistletoe, is no hardship for them and there’s enough electricity arcing and sparking between them they could set off the New Year’s Eve fireworks.
Ms. Andrews wrote a wonderful, funny and charming story that is not to be missed. She provided a tale rich with sexual chemistry, amusing banter, and endearing characters giving Grady and Suzanne a chance at love, happiness, and a future neither expected. I highly recommend The Trouble with Christmas to other readers and look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
Suzanne just wants to celebrate Christmas her way, and there’s nothing wrong with it including her best friend and a lot of eggnog. That’s what the holidays are for, aren’t they? And Credence is where she wants to spend it. But nooooo, Her uptight, uhh, pretentious, no, that’s not nice either, appearance appreciative? – okay, that works – parents insists she stay in New York. Perhaps blurting out that she doesn’t want to be away from her new boyfriend wasn’t the best defense considering he doesn’t exist. Well, he does, but he’s really just her landlord.
Josh merely rented a cottage on his land to the woman, a chatty one at that. He doesn’t like Christmas, nor talking, nor people that much, to be honest. And now she’s just made his life even harder by inviting her parents to stay with her AND is insisting he pretend to be her boyfriend. This has to be a nightmare or a joke, right? But if he wants things to return to how they were before she turned his world upside down, maybe the charade won’t be so bad. Everything else might be a bit too much to take, but kissing Suzy just could make up for all of it, and help him get back his holiday spirit.
If only she wasn’t returning home, putting a deadline on what they may have found.
One-click now and follow along as this cranky loner and a Christmas happy chatterbox discover the best gift of all might be each other. I loved watching these two spend time together and how Suzy helped Josh recover what he lost…family. By Elizabeth
4.5 Stars
I’m a sucker for anything Christmas and throw in that it’s written by Amy Andrews you have me sold. I loved this book so much. It had me right from the beginning and I could hardly put it down. I have a book hangover because I kept saying just one more chapter last night. I loved Grady and Suzy together. They are definitely opposites but, they are so perfect for one another. I loved all the Christmas activities in this book. Did I mention Grady is not a fan of the holiday season so that sets up for intriguing times at his cabin. The small town vibe is awesome and a draw for this series. This was the second book in the series. The epilogue was perfect and it was one of my favorite scenes of the book. If you’re looking for a book to get you into the holiday spirit, but also with a story to warm your heart I would highly recommend this one!
5 star review of The Trouble With Christmas (Credence, Colorado #2) by Amy Andrews
Amy Andrews is a relatively new author to me. This was a fun, entertaining read that had me riveted from the first to the last chapter.
There was humour and the banter that flowed was well written and amusing. I loved the main characters of Suzanne and Joshua as they were easy to relate to.
I love cowboys and small town romance and this ticked the boxes for me. It was amusing to watch Suzanne and Joshua dance around the feelings that were developing between them. The secondary characters were great and enhanced this feel good story and I am looking forward to reading more in this series.
The Trouble With Christmas is a romantic, sweet, heart warming story that is centred around the most magical time of the year. What’s not to enjoy?
I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley.
Sweet, funny, and touching
Book 2 in the series, this works extremely well as a standalone. I really enjoyed the first book in the series, though, so I was happy to get a chance to revisit Credence.
A fake boyfriend story (one of my favorite tropes), this is also a little bit enemies to lovers, a little bit opposites attract, a little bit small town romance, and a whole lot of fun. Suzanne is a New York artist who has made a good living painting reproductions; she’s in Credence to try to wake her muse back up to create original works, but is surprised and a little dismayed when said muse focuses on her surly landlord. Suzanne made me laugh with her awkward verbal rambling, something I’m prone to do when I’m uncomfortable as well, so I found her very relatable, while Grady was swoony as the morose ex-military rancher who keeps everyone at arm’s length after a tragic loss as a teenager. While the sparks are there from the start, the fire takes a little time to build—I really enjoyed the journey these two took to realize they really could have something more.
There were quite a few secondary characters around, as you’d expect in a small town kind of story (Suzanne’s friend Winona, and Grady’s uncle Burl both had roles to play), but Grady and Suzanne held the stage for the majority of the book. The subplot with Suzanne’s parents was a lovely touch, adding both motivation for the main plot and its own emotion to the story.
Sweet, funny, and touching, with enough heat to spice things up, this was the perfect recipe for a Christmas story that’s an enjoyable read year round. 5+ stars
B2B Kelly
This is a book full of laughter, sadness, embarrassment, hope, cringy at times (I will never look at tinsel or well Christmas decorations the same again lol) rekindling love and potential love all wrapped up in one great read. Grady is a silent broody cowboy who just wants to be left alone to be well all silent and broody while Suzanne is all talky talky, finding her true self and muse driven … broody cowboy muse driven to be exact. If you love Christmas and a great slow burn love story this is the one to go for as you will not only fall in love with Joshy and Suzy but also everyone in Credence.
Suzanne its an artist who paints copies of masterpieces for museums, etc. They display her copies while the real painting stays safe in a vault (who knew that was a thing?!) She decides to visit friends in Credence, Colorado while wanting to see if she has what it takes to paint something new…not just a copy of of someone else’s work. She also wants to experience an over-the-top Christmas…not the boring and uptight one her parents have planned back in Boston. She comes up with a crazy scheme to fool her parents with the help of her landlord and neighbor, Grady. There’s only one smallish…ok, big…problem…
Joshua Grady hates Christmas…and people. He just wants to be left alone so he can work his ranch in peace. He still isn’t sure why he allowed Suzanne to stay in the first place. She won’t leave…or stop talking. And now she’s trying to rope him into some harebrained scheme about Christmas. Did he mention he hates Christmas? Yeah? Well…it bears repeating. He’s not really sure what to do with Suzanne or her scheming, luckily, she has some ideas of her own.
I really enjoyed this book. Suzanne and Grady are just perfect for each other. Yes it’s a little Hallmark Christmas movie-ish, but that’s fine with me. I loves me some Hallmark.
I received a copy of this book through BookishFirst. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias.
The most fun you will ever read as one grumpy rancher play Christmas boyfriend in The Trouble with Christmas by Amy Andrews. No one is less likely to fit in at Credance, Colorado than Suzanne St. Michelle but then she does.
Retired military now rancher Joshua Grady is wonderful as the Grinch in this story. He has a heart that grows exponentially as the story progresses. Of course this is with a lot of humor, sass along with kicking and screaming. A pretend relationship story but we all know how those end. The relationship becomes too real and no longer fake.
I love this author ability to turn a phase, making the story a sheer delight to read. Ms. Andrews can make me laugh out loud one minute then cause me to put my hand to my heart because of a touching moment. It happens many times in The Trouble with Christmas. The most fun I have had when anyone was getting ready to celebrate Christmas.
An ARC of the book was given to me by the publisher through Net Galley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This return to Credence has the gaudiest Christmas I’ve ever experienced.
Suzanne and Grady couldn’t be more different. An artist who is engaging and a rancher who is basically a hermit. The instant attraction nearly shorted out my kindle but the heat kept me wanting to read more.
I loved the opposites attract, fake relationship and while I don’t normally love angst in my holiday books, this one felt right. There were some parts that dragged on for me and I would have loved a little more effort from Grady but this hilarity in this book definitely made up for that.
I can’t wait for more visits to Credence! Everyone in that town needs a HEA!!
I loved this book! The main character, Suzanne, is all about having a crazy, outrageous Christmas with her best friend. Her snotty parents have other ideas and want her to come home for their normal, boring Christmas. She panics and tells her parents that her sexy landlord is her boyfriend and that her “Joshy” loves Christmas. In actuality, he does not like anything about Christmas. He reluctantly agrees to pretend to be Suzanne’s boyfriend and goes along with the charade.
Their relationship is played out and is full of emotions. He doesn’t want any woman in his life because of past experiences and Suzanne is loaded with baggage of her own. They do what they have to do to make it through Christmas and eventually wind up in each other’s arms. This is a fun, interesting book with great characters who are engaging. I highly recommend this holiday read!
Overall, I enjoyed Grady and Suzanne’s story. I had not read the first book in the series, but I didn’t feel like I was missing any background information into either the town or its citizens. So, The Trouble with Christmas, to me, is a stand-alone book.
Grady is probably the grumpiest hero I’ve ever read. I mean, I certainly understand why, and it didn’t turn me off in any way. But for him to so readily agree to Suzanne’s fake boyfriend/tacky Christmas scheme seemed a bit of a reach.
Suzanne was not only chatty, she was more than a bit scattered. Her internal monologues were both funny and annoying while she tired to draw Grady out of his shell. I think she took the whole Christmas decorating to an extreme..do Hallmark Christmas movies really deck the halls with tacky decorations and seizure-inducing lights? Asking for a friend, as I don’t watch them!
Oh, and how many times did we need to told her name was pronounced Su Zahn?! While her mother was pretentious, Suzanne herself wasn’t. While I think the first half dozen or so chapters were slow moving, I though it ended with a bang, and I was definitely satisfied with their HEA.
So, 3.5 stars for this quirky Christmas tale. It looks like it’s Winona’s turn next; I’ll read that book!
My thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy. All opinions are voluntarily and honestly given.
Grumpy, loner cowboy falls for talkative city girl. This Christmas romance book has a bit of comic relief. I found myself skimming the pages at times. I thought the beginning was very slow and it didn’t really get my interest until maybe chapter 8, then later on I went back to skimming the pages. It’s not my typical Christmas read so maybe that’s why I wasn’t too in to it. The main couple weren’t my fave but I’m intrigued by the secondary characters of Suzanne’s friend Winona, an erotic novelist, and Arlo, the towns policeman. The writing was descriptive and the author came up with hilarious over the top Christmas decorations. I’m sure others will enjoy this holiday romance but I found it to be a so-so read for me.
This book was an early Christmas gift. I loved this book, Grady and Suzanne were a fantastic couple even though they were complete opposites. Suzanne was exactly what Grady needed to get him out of the loneliness that he was stuck in. Suzanne was the type of person that didn’t like silence and had to fill it with chit chat and Grady loved his silence. But what he didn’t realize was that while he thought he was alone and liked that he was actually lonely and Suzanne filled that void for him. Grady was alone and avoided Christmas for 17 yrs and then Suzanne showed up and basically threw up Christmas all over his house. She grew up in a house where Christmas was more about art and not the cozy, warm Christmas that she dreamed of.
I loved the way Grady had to go about fixing things with Suzanne after he basically told her to leave and that he wanted to be alone again. It was the perfect way to prove to Suzanne how much she meant to him.
It’s September, and I couldn’t wait to read my first Christmas book. I’m one of those people that loves watching the Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies. I can’t get enough of them, and The Trouble with Christmasdefinitely got me in the Christmas spirit, even if the male protagonist was being broody and mean to the female protagonist most of the time. This was the first book I read by Amy Andrews, and now I need to read other books from her.
I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down to the banter between Joshua Grady (aka Grady) and Suzanne St. Michelle. Grady didn’t sign up to have someone stay in the cottage next to him, but now he’s forced to have a New York artist in his mince, and he’s very grumpy about it. Suzanne has come to Credence, Colorado to get her muse back for her art. She usually replicates famous paintings and gets paid for it. Now she wants to create her own original art pieces and hoping the beautiful scenery in the small town of Credence will help her. Instead, her muse has other plans to get her creative juice flowing. It is the rancher Grady that doesn’t want anything to do with her. Things are about to get even more hectic between these characters when Suzanne tells her parents that want her to come back to New York for Christmas that she can’t since she’s with her boyfriend, Grady for Christmas. Before she knows it, her parents are coming to the small town, and now she has to tell the grumpy rancher that he has to pretend to be her boyfriend. Let’s say the man is not very happy at all with her but will do it for her at a price.
These two characters have their moments of hatred between each other. It more leans towards Grady though to Suzanne since he doesn’t want a relationship. He doesn’t like Christmas either, due to what happened several years ago. The whole town wants him happy, though, but he won’t let anyone in. The minute Suzanne waltz into his life is when things turn upside down for them. There is so much tension between the two that it gets out of hand at times. I loved it, though. I love the back and forth of two characters that are complete opposites of each other.
Grady is grumpy, broody, but sexy too. He did get on my nerves with his broodiness at times towards Suzanne. Suzanne knew how to handle Grady though with her crazy smart remarks and also with her quirkiness. My favorite scene between the two was when Suzanne was making cookies, and those cookies were not regular Christmas cookies. They were naughty cookies. There was also the scene when Suzanne was painting Grady.
If you are looking for a book to put you in the Christmas, spirit that is funny, sexy, and hot than check out this book. I loved how Amy Andrews close out the book at the end. There is a perfect HEA for these two characters that deserve it.
Story Rating: 4 stars
Steaminess Rating: 3.5 stars
Standalone or part of series: Book can be read as a standalone.
Do I recommend this book? Yes.
Will I read other books from the author? Yes.
Tropes/Elements: Fake/Pretend Relationship; Enemies to Lovers; Opposites Attract; Small Town Romance
Hero: Rancher; Grumpy; Heartbroken; Broody; Pain in the Butt
Heroine: Artist; Creative; Upbeat; Independent; Smart-Mouth
Oh, I loved this romance! I went into this book rather blindly. I had not read any of Amy Andrews work before this book. This is the second book in the Credence, Colorado series but it works perfectly well as a stand-alone novel. I do want to go back and read the first book though but that is just because I liked this one so much. I really had a fantastic time with this story.
Suzanne is an artist who is looking for a change of scenery. She rents a cabin on Grady’s ranch to get away and work to find her muse again. Her career has consisted of reproducing art for museums and other clients but she would love to create original art. Unfortunately, her muse gets stuck on Grady. Grady wants nothing more than to be left to work his ranch. He likes to be left alone and doesn’t need anything more in his life.
A visit from Suzanne’s parents changes everything. Suzanne and Grady must try to make them believe that they are head over heels in love. And that Grady is really into Christmas. They go straight into over the top cheesy Christmas with tacky decorations and lights everywhere. Oh…and did I mention that Grady is not at all into all this Christmas stuff?
I had so much fun with this book. Grady and Suzanne were great together and had fantastic chemistry. I loved watching them inch closer and closer to each other over the course of the story. I loved that there was some humor worked into the book and it seemed to show up at just the right moment. Both Grady and Suzanne were complex characters whom I grew to love over during this story. I really felt like these two deserved to find happiness together.
I would recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance. I was totally swept away by this wonderful romance and didn’t want it to come to an end. I will definitely be reading more from Amy Andrews in the future!
I received a digital review copy of this book from Entangled: Amara via Bookish First.
Grady needs a hug. He stopped truly living 17 years ago following a huge tragedy in his life. He works the ranch and has established strong boundaries to ensure that he won’t be hurt again. His fear is to love someone and have them leave. Then Suzanne shows up to rent the cottage on the ranch in her van, Ethel, loaded with her paints and hopes of finding her art. Suzanne gave up on her real passion with her painting when so many said her work lacked emotion so she became the best reproduction painter out there. She loves what she does but it feels empty so her hope is that the beauty of Colorado will spark her muse. What she never expects is to meet Grady, the broody rancher that doesn’t know how to smile. Next thing she knows, she is painting and everything she paints is Grady. But the real fun begins when Suzanne’s parents come to visit and she has to convince Grady to be her boyfriend, oh and love Christmas. This is so much fun as they push each other’s buttons while fighting their bone deep attraction. Will the city girl be able to break down the country boy’s walls? I enjoyed every moment to find out. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.
This is the first book that I have read from this author and I found it to be really enjoyable. It is the second book of the series but it can be read as a standalone. I am not a big fan of the holidays but I do love a good Christmas movie or book. This story kind of reminded me of a movie that was the same premises except the heroine “kidnapped a boyfriend” and I love that quirky type of movie so this book was a real treat. Suzanne and Josh were a great couple and you can see the chemistry and attraction that they have for each other so clearly although they don’t want to admit to it. You can’t fight it because if it is meant to be, love will find a way.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Entangled Publishing and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Can an artist who loves Christmas and the bells and whistles that go with the holiday find it in Creedence, Colorado? Oh! And can she find her artistic muse there too? Well, maybe!
She didn’t feel as though she was a “true” artist. Even her very talented artist mother expresses this less than encouraging description of her work. She was making a very good living though painting copies of famous art for private owners and museums to display. She certainly wasn’t going to starve or become homeless any time soon. Okay then. She has let her friend Winona talk her into spending a month during the Christmas season in Creedence, Colorado to help her find her muse. She went along with Winona’s suggestion and rented a cottage on a ranch there. Then she was greeted by hot, sexy Joshua Grady, the owner of the ranch’s nephew who now works it. Bam! She found her muse – in spades. Suzanne St. Michelle (Su-sahn Saan Meeshell as she pronounces her name) HAD to paint this man. She found Grady silent and taciturn but boy did he light up her artistic vibes in spite of his lack of words and standoffishness. Joshua Grady is the definition of “a man of few words.” Suzanne has her work cut out for her. For sure!
The Trouble with Christmas by Amy Andrews is the second book in her Creedence, Colorado series. So far this series has been a lot of fun to read, especially this story. You have a town where the ratio of men to women is so lopsided the town council advertised for single women to come and check out the town in hopes some would stay. Our feisty, Christmas-loving heroine travels to Creedence because her friend Winona, who moved there during “the great female attraction roundup” occurred, talked her into it. From there this author developed an enchanting storyline that tickles the reader’s Christmas spirit along with a couple of opposites who you never would guess could attract do so.
Come join the Christmas fun in Creedence, Colorado. You’ll have a good time!