| Title | : | A Rocky Mountain Christmas (Christmas, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0786031387 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780786031382 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2012 |
A Rocky Mountain Christmas (Christmas, #2) Reviews
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Title: A Rocky Mountain Christmas
Author: William W. Johnstone & J. A. Johnstone
Pages: 336
Year: 2012
Publisher: Kensington
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars.
A Rocky Mountain Christmas is the latest in Johnstone’s writing repertoire, taking place during the Christmas holidays. Some of the characters from the previous book, A Lone Star Christmas, continue to develop in this story. Here, the story enlarges to include a corrupt judge and a rancher accused of murder being taken on a train to go to jail along with another convict.
Rebecca is now an older woman, but was 6 years old at the time of a train accident that would change her life forever. She was the daughter of a senator and his wife. Her parents were going to a speaking engagement when an avalanche changed every passenger’s plans. Rebecca is now being approached for an interview before her flight leaves. The only reason she agrees to participate in the interview is due to a delay in her flight. Her only condition for the interview is that she be allowed to tell her story without interruption. She begins by telling how she came to be on the train.
Luke had been a sailor until an inheritance changed all that. Matt is going to spend Christmas with people who have been like family to him. Jenny used to be a hostess on the Mississippi River when her life changed in more ways than she ever saw coming. Luke, Matt, and Jenny are on the same train that is stranded at the top of a mountain pass due to an avalanche begun by a single gunshot. Who made the mistake of not thinking before firing their weapon during a heavy snowstorm?
The use of flashback makes the novel really intriguing. I was so absorbed in the adventure I forgot about the flashback until the very end of the book! There are many stories going on at the same time, but not where it would make things too hard to follow for a reader. In fact, the more strands added, the deeper the plot.
There are a few curse words sprinkled over the course of the story, but not so much as to distract the reader or become the focus of the story. Sometimes when I read books, it seems like the author writes it with the intent to shock the reader by using foul language. One thing I appreciate about Johnstone’s novels is that isn’t the case at all. I believe storytellers can hone their art to such a fine point that they would actually be able to tell an excellent tale and not use any foul language.
The Seeking with all Yur Heart blog exists for two main reasons: First, it exists to help readers locate excellent novels that truly entertain without the “extra” stuff added. Second, it exists to encourage authors in writing tales that entertain readers without the use of negative modern day verbiage or sexual content in the book.
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This is the first I have read in this Christmas series and am looking forward to reading the next one in my que. Christmas set in the Wild West where the law was fast and loose. I loved the characters and the Christmas spirit they held. Not your typical cozy so beware that some of the events are brutal.
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My first (and probably last) book by Mr. Johnstone. This is the stuff that Hallmark specials are made of. It was sweet and thank god, it was short. I wasn't expecting Lonesome Dove Christmas style so I wasn't that disappointed but I was hoping for just a little less cheese and sap. Oh well, I read it for my Xmas challenge (PBT Challenge). Tis the season.
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From the Book Jacket: Three days before Christmas, Matt Jensen is traveling the Denver and Pacific railway, when an avalanche slams down onto the train, trapping it. But it wasn’t an act of nature that caused the accident; it was a gang of outlaws attempting to rescue their leader,who is being taken to Red Cliff to be hanged. As Smoke Jensen and Duff MacCallister frantically try to make their way to the scene, Matt struggles to save the survivors, among them a beautiful young woman with a dark past, a merchant seaman turned rancher, and a senator with his very ill young daughter.
My reaction
If that description sounds melodramatic … well that’s because the story is melodramatic. I picked this up strictly based on the cover because I needed to complete a challenge. I should have read the plot description first and gone looking for a different book.
The characters were all stereotypes and the message was heavy-handed. I don’t think I’m spoiling much by saying that the bad guys get what’s coming to them and the good guys win. It wouldn’t be a Western romantic Christmas story otherwise.
I couldn’t help but think of David Baldacci’s
The Christmas Train … not a western, but a contemporary romance with mystery … also featuring an avalanche. Baldacci’s work was first published in 2001, eleven years before this effort. Hmmmm.
At least it was a fast read. -
The description of this book sounds great: villains cause an avalanche to free their leader from a train - cool! It takes a long time to get to this part of the book (nearly halfway), at which part it all becomes really tense.
(spoiler alert!!!)
However, this incredibly tense situation ends up being resolved not by the heroic acts of the good characters in the book, but by acts of God. It's one thing to believe that a good outcome was a result of God's will and another to have a messenger of God (in the form of a dead character called Preacher) repeatedly (and mystically) clearing paths in deep snow so that the saviors can get to the people trapped on the train. So even though we have two awesome cowboys on the train, they're not the ones who stops the evil cowboys. There's no final confrontation between them. I feel that Johnstone missed a great opportunity here to show good triumph over evil. -
A second Christmas book by William W Johnstone. Having just listened to A Lone Star Christmas, I thought I'd give this one a listen. I enjoyed it too. It is a story told by one of the characters looking back to an incident almost 70 years in the past. Again, as in the previous Christmas book, characters from other books the author has written are in this book. Lots of action with outlaws on their way to the gallows, a robbery leading to murder, an avalanche with a train full of passengers stuck on the tracks. Friends, family, politicians, and outlaws, add in a little romance and a sick child and this book kept my interest. I listened to a library copy of the audiobook and was not required to write a review. Jack Garrett did a great job narrating this Christmas time story.
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Rating: 3.5 Stars
Review: This book was ok til Chapter 10-30 cause those chapters bored me a lot!! I thought this would be a story about Christmas when it was actually a Wilderness/Western Story set around Christmas which disappointed me a lot!!
I read this book for the Tis the Season Readathon in We Be Book'N Book CLub on Facebook for the prompt: Read a book that was gifted to you.
If it wasn't for the prompt I wouldn't of read this book at all, i'll give this author 1 more try in the future but if all his books end up disappointing I doubt i'd read the rest in this series!!! -
Engaging 'old west' tale about good guys versus bad guys. Thieves, murders, and general no-good-nicks are challenged by the white hats. The setting is a train ride through the Colorado Rockies just before Christmas in a time before the snow was tamed and avalanches were a real danger.
It is a classic feel-good story that will leave you hoping for goodness and worrying about the outcome. -
These Christmas novellas are utterly ridiculous. But then most Holiday stories are kind of ridiculous. And I find these super charming. This one took a long time to get all the different storylines together. But I really enjoyed the difficult situation and the miraculous resolution. It was also lovely how people with different talents all work together.
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I don't read very many westerns, but I absolutely fell in love with "A Rocky Mountain Christmas." Having lived in Colorado for many years, it was a delight to recognize many of the places that are described in this fast-paced, lively story.
While the characters of this tale are familiar to fans of the Johnstones, as a first time reader I was able to grasp their back-stories and become acquainted with them quickly. I also loved the story of the prodigal son as well as the Christmas story that was a part of the over-all tale.
I just really enjoyed reading this book, and will be looking at the other books from William W. and J.A. Johnstone on more regular basis!
For more information on William W. Johnston or J.A. Johnstone's books, check out the websites at
www.williamwjohnstone.net -
Since this is the Christmas season, I always read Christmas stories. I noticed this one and since I live in Colorado near the Rocky Mountains, it peaked my interest.
It has well developed characters and is quite descriptive of the area. I know the town of Pueblo, CO and Buena Vista, CO, and did a search on Trout Creek Pass and Red Cliff. The last two do exist on the map of Colorado.
Matt Jensen is coming up to Big Rock to spend Christmas with Smoke Jensen and Duff MacCallister. He boarded the train in Nevada and made it up to Pueblo where he changes trains that will take him to Red Cliff. On that train he meets Jenny who is being run out of town, Luke, a seaman turned rancher who is going to jail for killing a deputy sheriff, and others. Among them is a killer, Michael Santelli.
The train leaves and heads up to Trout Creek Pass. There it is stopped by men who intend on rescuing Santelli, causing an avalanche. Then the problems begin, The hold up men hole up in the dining car and the rest of the passengers end up in the last car without much heat and no food. What happens to them is surprising.
It turned out to be a great read and one that I will want to read again. It is such a heart warming tale. -
I wasn't expecting much from this book. I wanted something with a Christmas theme that would be available at my local library, and the pickings for classics/literature were slim. I decided to take a chance on something a little different. The first 40% or so read like a classic western, or so I imagine. That was alright, but for me the story picked up after that, or at least my interest did. What started off as frustration and disappointment, watching good people get a bad deal, turned into warmth, companionship, and happiness. There were several biblical references. The ending may have been over the top/a little too perfect, but overall, I thought it was not bad, all things considered! 3.75 stars
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Christmas 2, AudioBk-B, RBDigital, @ 1/1/12, listened 11/25/19, release date 8/1/13, Jack Garrett, duration approx. 9-1/2 hours. Fiction, Western, Christmas. A huge avalanche forces a train with 40 passengers plus the crew to be stalled on the tracks at the top of the rail line in the Rockies. A sheriff's agent is aboard, with two convicted men being transported to prison, and a supposed prostitute being run out of town. Westerns are not my usual genre, but this is one of the best Christmas stories I have ever read (other than the true Christmas story, of course)! 5 ☆'s = Excellent. I loved it!
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This certainly wasn't what I expected ... being more of a wild west story with gunfights, burials, etc. But it did keep my interest, and I enjoyed the developing characters ... when I could keep them straight. There were quite a few, and they had similar names, and it was difficult to remember who was who. Still, a nice piece of Christmas fluff to finish off the year!
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I had never read a western before but I remember watching Western movies w my grandpa and what better way to get into the Christmas spirit than w some nostalgic reading?! It was a fun read and i especially loved the back story on all the characters, which culminated nicely w them all being stuck together thanks to an avalanche. Really enjoyed this book!
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I’ve never read a western so I don’t know if I’m the best judge of this book. But it had cowboy saviors, dirty outlaws, saloon women, spiritual visions, and a touch of Christmas heart. Cheesy, good for a Christmas read, not too shabby.
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I found this story to be annoy.....ing good. It was full of tough times and happy endings. I would recommend this story to friends, family, and strangers alike, especially around Christmas. I hope you all have a good season.
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The first Christmas book by Johnstone that I read didn't disappoint, and this one certainly didn't either! This was a great read, and it's especially great for those who want to get into the holiday mood!
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What an enjoyable holiday story...it's like a good clean western or version of Little House On The Prairie meets Hallmark...and then throw in a little Christmas miracle (if you believe). I want to read more in this series because I truly enjoyed the characters and writing.
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Snow bound train
My dad used to read western books but I don't be!have he ever read books by William W. Johnstone. Wonderful story, variety of characters and a book you will not want to put down!
