Cowboy Christmas Jubilee

Holiday, Tex., the locale for this uneven contemporary, is full of holiday cheer, kindly characters, and charm, none of which Joy “Jinx” Jacobs was looking for when she set off to ride her motorcycle from California to New Orleans. But when the bike breaks down, she’s stranded in aggressively quaint Holiday. Deputy Cash Walker has his hands full with his seven-year-old daughter, Kenzie. The last thing he needs is for his precocious child to become enamored of the teal-haired, tattooed, pierced Jinx—because then he’d have to admit his own attraction to the outrageous biker. When Jinx finds she’s mistakenly taken valuable gift cards from her drug-dealing ex-boyfriend and former boss, she decides to use the goods for good, which lands her in hot water that she’ll need Cash to get her out of. Cash and Jinx are an unlikely pair, but their connection works. However, readers may need a dose of strong eggnog to get them through the slow start. Agent: Jessica Watterson, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Oct.)