In a secret corner of my brain the story sounded rather familiar and as a long time reader of anything Diana Palmer has written it wouldn't be so surprising to come across a reissued tale. Both stories in WHITE CHRISTMAS are reissued, originally published in 1987 and this information is clearly noted. However if you weren't lucky enough to have read these stories now is your chance to get two for the price of one. WHITE CHRISTMAS is a welcome revisit to some old and dear friends who delighted me the first time and brought back nice memories the second time around.

In the first story Woman Hater we have a young woman basically sent into the lion's den when Nicole accompanies her boss Gerald home to the family ranch. Gerald needs to get away from corporate stress and give his body a chance to rest. Going to the family ranch in Montana would be just the thing.

Nicole had turned her back on her family's wealth and social standing. She was making her own way and loved her job as secretary to Gerald at his company. The two of them worked very well together with great respect for each other.

But flying into Montana was going to present some issues for Nicole. She came from horse country and her father was a well-respected horseman. Hopefully no one would make the connection between Nicole and her family.

Being at the ranch was kind of bittersweet reminding Nicole of all she missed being in the city. Winthrop was becoming quite impressed with all this very young lady knew about horses. In fact he was becoming attracted to Nicole even though he was fighting that attraction with all his strength.

Winthrop used his unfortunate experience with his fiancé as a means to keep his distance from most people and most especially women. But Nicole was finding a way into his carefully brick walled life. And if he was being honest with himself he was beginning to enjoy the sunshine this young woman brought into his very drab life.

The second story is The Humbug Man which is a shorter almost novella tale about a woman Maggie and her son Blake. Maggie's grandfather's ranch is kind of up for grabs. He left it to her and now she has to decide what to do with it. Her intention is to sell since her life and her sons are in the city now. Not that she had much of a personal or love life to return to and being on the ranch was such a wonderful opportunity to spend time with her son. The only truly down side was their surly neighbor Tate who barely acknowledged her presence and yet made an indelible impression on Blake. And now Blake has a plan -- a way to keep him from returning to the dreaded military school and stay with his mom while playing matchmaker between Maggie and Tate.

Quite an undertaking. Perhaps with a little help all things will fall into place and Christmas will bring the best gift possible to all of these three wonderful but lonely people.

Diana Palmer loves to write about strong men with very specific weaknesses especially when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. Her ongoing theme seems to be love can bring even the strongest man to his knees -- marriage minded so to speak. It's truly a gift making a hard man into a loving family one but no one does it better than Palmer. In WHITE CHRISTMAS Diana Palmer treats us to her signature style of rough and tough cowboys with plenty of passion and strong family values.