Cowboy Christmas by Mary Connealy

Annette Talbot is in a traveling mission group when they encounter trouble and the next thing she knows, her captor wants her to wear a revealing dress and sing to a bunch of drunks! She escapes though and is running for her life. Why? Because she sings like an angel.
Elijah Walker is reeling from spending months investigating and bringing to justice his father's killer-a woman.
Is that the make up for another great Mary Connealy book? Sure as shooting, it is, partner. It's so good, it's won the 2010 Carol Award for Long Historical Romance!
Annette mistrusts all men now and Elijah mistrusts all women, too. Yet somehow, he can't help himself, he needs to help Annette. It doesn't help that his mother loves Annette either.
So begins the danger, hilarity, and romance.
I love historical fiction because it's a fun way to learn about history and this story shows how frontier women had to protect themselves from would be intruders, such as keeping a pipe up their sleeve as they worked through out their day, 'just in case.' I've been the victim of physical violence and knowing about strong women has helped me overcome it although it was years ago now and this book kicked up the 'suspense' meter just a bit. I love how Mary ends a section or chapter on one note and flips it around at the beginning of the next section or chapter. I laugh out loud nearly every time (and my family looks at me like I'm nuts for just a moment). The book ends at Christmas time so it didn't really feel like a Christmas story to me but the romance is quite good as usual. I absolutely loved the chapter heading graphics in this book, great idea! Just writing this review makes me want to read it again...
The sequel is Deep Trouble and I can't wait!!!