Merry Christmas, Cowboy

Jaded Denver cop Paula Lewis tries to get into the holiday spirit by joining a group of volunteers at a local mansion that is being extravagantly decorated as a Christmas showpiece. Through an unnecessary traffic stop she encounters hunky cowboy Zach Bennett, who coincidentally has come to town to do carpentry work on the “Christmas House.” The transformed mansion enchants the crowds, and despite the plotting of some troublesome teens to steal the admission fees, the magic of Christmas and Zach’s blue eyes eventually soften Paula’s lonely heart. The characters are disappointingly one-dimensional, but perennial bestseller Dailey (A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree) evokes an appealing sense of community as the backdrop for the romance. (Oct.)