Cowboy Boots for Christmas (Cowboy Not Included)

Brown starts the Burnt Boot series with a sketched-out story populated by too many characters. Finn O’Donnell, the new owner of Salt Draw Ranch, thinks he wants peace and quiet. But his intentions are turned upside down by the arrival of Callie Brewster, a former soldier he knows from his days as an Army sniper. Callie brings along her nephew, Martin, to hide out with Finn instead of entering him into a witness protection program. The details of Martin’s need for protection are thin and the resolution to that plot point is barely tacked on at the end. A local family feud waxes and wanes, and numerous characters appear and disappear without much effect on the story. Even the development of intimacy between the principles is skipped over quickly. Brown has shown herself capable of better, but this novel is hollow through and through. Agent: Erin Numata, Folio Literary Management. (Oct.)