BOOK REVIEW- SAGEBRUSH CHRISTMAS

Following a desperate letter from her sister, Jessida Wilcox travels from her cozy home in Kansas to Pell's Valley, Oregon, where she is surrounded by sagebrush, bitter winds, and blizzards--and heartbreak as she finds Abby dead and her baby orphaned. Cal Rutledge, the cowboy who buried Abby and saved the baby's life, is drawn to the spirited Jess. She is turning the sleepy town upside down with talk of a Christmas program, a church, a school, and most important, a fight for custody of the baby. But does Jess have room in her ambitions for a simple cowboy? Is the Lord's plan for Cal and Jess to share a sagebrush Christmas, then part ways? Or could he have a life in store for them that surpasses all they thought the desert could provide?   AMAZON 4 STARS

I liked this story, even more than I first expected to.  Cal was a great main character, who though short in stature had a big heart.  The story started out in a dramatic way as Cal meets Jess's desperate sister Abby.  The emotions came through pretty good in the story and there were also some interesting people secondary to the story.  There is also Brady, a friend of Jess's who has always wanted to be more than a friend.  Under pressure, that likable guy wasn't quite so likable anymore.
I liked that the story had the hero have the "disadvantage" of being a short man, that was unexpected.  It made me smile when he compared his sweet late wife Millie to Jess.  Millie had been sweet, easy going and fun.  Jess was a bit more difficult, she was more spunk.  Jess was out of her comfort zone and she came across as someone demanding and as someone looking down her nose at this situation and this town.  I'm glad that didn't last long, because that would have really made it hard to like her.  And as I got to know her, it wasn't really her.  
Jess began to think of Cal as a man who maybe might need her because he was a lonely man who went out of his way to help others.  I like how that was put. 
After going through various challenges, the story has a sweet ending.