Christmas Ransom by B.J. Daniels finds rodeo star Davy Colt back in town to visit his family, and 
the one woman he never stopped loving, Carla Richmond. Carla works at Lonesome Bank, and she goes into work on her day off, coming face to face with a bank robbery. All are wearing Santa masks, but when Carla notices a little too much about one of the robbers, her life becomes in danger.
The FBI believes Carla is involved, but Davy knows better. Since the FBI won’t take Carla’s concerns about the robber seriously, Davy and his brothers, two of which are P.I.’s at Colt Investigation, and one which is a sheriff’s deputy, join forces to get to find the villains, before they get a chance to take Carla’s life.
This is the third book in A Colt Brothers Investigation series, but it can be read as a standalone. I haven’t read the previous two books but didn’t feel like I was missing anything.
I will point out that the book blurb, if it’s not changed before publication, is slightly inaccurate. It states that “Former Rodeo star Davy Colt traded his competition spurs for a PI license”, but this isn’t true. When Davy returns to town, he’s still participating in the rodeo and has plans to go back to it after Carla is safe. Not having read the previous books I don’t know if he actually has a PI license as well, but nothing in this book gave me the impression that he did.
The villains in the book are known from the get-go, which I didn’t mind. The chapters dedicated to them provided an understanding of their motives and how things were unraveling on their side. They actually left me feeling slightly sorry for one of them, as he seemed to have gotten into a situation he wasn’t expecting.
Davy and Carla were high school sweethearts, but neither had been willing to give up their dreams and ended up going their separate ways. Some of the same issues that separated them after graduation still exist, but they can’t help but start to fall back into a relationship. I thought the author did a good job of balancing out the romance with the action so that neither really overshadows one another.
This is an action-packed book that will keep readers engaged from beginning to end. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in the series, including with what appears to be an on-going investigation into the death of the brothers’ father.
This would be for readers who enjoy romantic suspense, small-town romances, and second chance romances.
Book Info:
Publication: November 29, 2022 | Harlequin Intrigue | A Colt Brothers Investigation #3
Former rodeo star Davy Colt traded his competition spurs for a PI license. But even after years away, he never stopped loving hometown sweetheart Carla Richmond. A robbery and hostage situation at the Lonesome bank leaves the loan officer injured and shattered. With the escaped culprit still at large, Davy will ransom his heart to the hilt to avert a deadly Christmas for Carla and their long-overdue reunion.
