E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Cowboys! And the cowboy queen Carolyn Brown

From New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown comes "a story that is sure to please fans" about a "slow-simmering romance" and the "simple pleasures of ranch life" (Publishers Weekly). Includes a bonus novella by Katie Lane!

Patience was never one of her virtues. After her SUV runs off the road in the middle of a Texas blizzard and her cell stops working, Claire Mason is about to snap. Getting back home to Oklahoma with her four-year-old niece is top priority. And lucky for her, help comes in the form of a true Texas cowboy...

Levi Jackson has always been a sucker for strays. So he can't help getting involved when he comes across Claire and her little niece shivering in the cold. By offering them a place to stay until her car is fixed, he can make sure the two are taken care of - and get to know the sassy Claire better.

What starts as something awkward and temporary starts feeling cozier by the minute. And soon Levi is hoping he can convince Claire she has a permanent place in his heart.

Plus, bonus story "O Little Town of Bramble" by Katie Lane!

All Ethan Miller wants for Christmas is to celebrate in Bramble, Texas, with family and friends. But when his childhood neighbor comes home for the holiday, Ethan realizes that the girl-next-door could be the girl of his dreams.

Here's an excerpt from Cowboy Honor:

At the sound of heavy boots stomping across the wooden porch of the old cabin, Claire grabbed her purse, unzipped the side pocket, and brought out a small pistol. Her heart was in her throat, and her pulse raced so fast that she couldn’t breathe, but she held the gun in both hands and pointed it straight at the door. A key rattled in the lock and the knob turned, but her hands were rock steady and the red laser dot was unwavering on the left side of the intruder’s chest. What looked like the abominable snowman filled the space, and her four-year-old niece, Zaylie, squealed and dived beneath the quilt they were both huddling under.

With shoulders and a chest so broad that it obliterated the blowing snow, the man just stood there staring at her. After what seemed like forever but was probably less than a minute, he whipped off the black face mask and wiped snow from his thick eyelashes. Fear sent adrenaline rushing through Claire’s body, but her brother had told her to never show that she was afraid—even if she was terrified.

“Who are you and what are you doin’ here?” She kept the pistol aimed at his chest. If she missed a target that big, her brother would never let her live it down.

Both of his hands went up. “Don’t shoot, lady. I’m Levi Jackson, the foreman of this ranch.” He shut the door behind him with a heavy thud. “I’m not here to hurt anyone. My four-wheeler ran out of gas, and I need a place to hole up until this storm is over.”

She lowered the gun but kept it in her lap. “Just don’t get too close.”

“Okay, I’ll keep my distance. Take it easy.” He kicked off his cowboy boots and bent forward to undo the short zippers on the legs of his coveralls and then the longer one down the front. He shrugged his wide shoulders out of the garment and hung it on a nail inside the door.

“What are y’all doin’ here anyway?” he asked as he made his way across the room toward the kitchen area.

“My vehicle slid off the road in this awful snow storm and hit a tree. We saw this place. It was unlocked.” She kept her finger on the trigger and her eyes on him. “We’re not hurting anything, and we’ll be gone as soon as it stops snowing.”

He removed his cowboy hat and combed his light brown hair back with his fingers. “When did this happen? Were you injured?”

“It was last night. We’re fine except for a few bruises. We slid off the road, went through a fence, and hit a tree. My van is down there not far off the road if you need proof. My cell phone battery had gone dead, and I left the charger at my brother’s, and…” She shrugged.

“I’m glad you found shelter. It’s nasty out there! I’m just going to get a fire started so we can warm this place up a bit.” He kept one eye on her as he walked to a cabinet. “I’m going to get the matches. Don’t shoot me.”

Zaylie pushed the quilt back far enough to peek out with one blue eye, but she quickly dived back under when the man took a few more steps.

“It’s okay.” Claire hugged the child closer with her free hand. “He’s going to start a fire so we can get warm.”

The huge cowboy removed his gloves and stuck them in his pocket, then retrieved a box of matches from the top shelf. “I’d sure feel better if you put the safety back on that pistol and put it away.” He strode back across the room and dropped to his knees in front of the old stone fireplace. “It won’t take long to get this place warmed up.”

“I wish I’d found those matches. I would’ve started that fire myself.” She pushed the safety switch to the off position but kept her thumb on it.

“Seems like we might be here a while. Mind if I ask your names?” He dropped the match in the fireplace, and the kindling blazed.

“I’m Claire Mason. This is my niece, Zaylie. Sorry to be trespassin’ like this.”

“It’s no problem. We never lock the door just in case someone needs to use the cabin.” He sat down on the worn sofa facing the fire and removed his socks. Stretching his bare feet toward the fire to warm them, he glanced over his shoulder. “Sure y’all ain’t hurt?”

Buy it today!

Amazon: http://bit.ly/cowboyhonorAMZ

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/cowboyhonorBN

Kobo: http://bit.ly/cowboyhonorKOBO

Apple Books: http://bit.ly/cowboyhonorAPPLE

IndieBound: http://bit.ly/cowboyhonorIndieBound

Meet the Author

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist. The author of more than eighty published books, she’s also the three-time recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award, a Bookseller’s Best Award, and a Montlake Diamond Award.

Carolyn and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows everyone else, as well as what they’re doing and when—and they read the local newspaper on Wednesday to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

When she’s not writing, Carolyn likes to sit in her gorgeous backyard with her two tomcats, Chester Fat Boy and Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, and watch them protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Visit her at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.

Social links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolynbrownbooks/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/carolyn.bro76

FB author page: https://www.facebook.com/carolynbrownbooks/?ref=bookmarks

Website: https://www.carolynbrownbooks.com/

Cowboy Bold is the first book in the Longhorn Canyon series, available now in audio, paperback and ebook. The next two books in this series after Cowboy Honor are Cowboy Brave, coming out Jan. 8, 2019; and Cowboy Rebel, being released May 28, 2019, both available for preorder now. Visit Carolyn's website to learn more: https://www.carolynbrownbooks.com/

Q&A 

Today, I'm letting Carolyn take the wheel on this interview. I love this lady and her stories, and her interviews are always better when she's charge! Take it away, Carolyn...

Carolyn: Good morning to everyone! In southern Oklahoma we don’t often get real seasons. We have spring that quickly turns into summer. Then summer hates to let go so sometimes it kicks fall off the calendar and hangs until winter, and then we have a few months of mild winter. But this year we have summer is bowing out and giving over to fall, and I do love it.

Usually, I’m the one that answers questions, I thought maybe you’d like to hear from Claire, the heroine from my newest book, Cowboy Honor, this morning.

If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

Claire: I would love to travel back just a few years to ask my sister in law Haylie just exactly what she would want me to instill in her daughter Zaylie. You see when Haylie died, she left behind my brother, a career military husband, and a little daughter. When my brother is away on missions, I step up and help take care of my niece. It would be so great to get to spend a few more days with my sister-in-law and ask her some very serious questions.

What does it mean to love someone?

Claire: It means putting that person above yourself, trusting them to do the same for you, and being willing to put 100% into a relationship.

What three things are, at this moment, in your heroine’s purse, satchel, reticule, weapons belt or amulet bag (whatever she carries)?

Claire: One of Zaylie’s books, a crayon that she lost in the car and I found, a compact, keys, a little sewing kit, a hair brush,  a half eaten candy bar and my pistol.

What will always make you smile, even on a bad day?

Claire: Zaylie always puts a smile on my face, but here lately, I’d have to say when I’m having a bad day, it would be Levi Jackson. You can feel his kindness and good heart by just looking at his photo on the cover of Cowboy Honor.

What is your favorite tradition from your childhood that you would love to pass on or did pass on to your children?

Claire: Keeping the family traditions at holidays. I don’t have a lot of family left, but when I have children, I want them to always come home for the holidays. Family is very important to me.

Oh, and now you’d like to ask me a couple of questions? Well, Claire and I do have a few more minutes before she has to get back to that quilt she’s working on back on Longhorn Canyon Ranch.

E.E.: What is your biggest vice?

Carolyn: That would be doughnuts with maple icing. There’s this little shop up only seven blocks up the street from my house and they make the very best ones I’ve ever eaten. But I only get them on very special ocassions because the bathroom scales groan every time I bring a dozen home.

E.E.: What would you say is your most interesting quirk?

Carolyn: I was raised by a superstitious grandmother and some of it rubbed off on me. I respect black cats crossing in front of me. I will drive an extra two miles, or walk an extra four blocks to avoid crossing over the place where a black cat has walked. I also do not walk under ladders, tell a dream before I eat breakfast or give a purse or wallet as a gift without putting money in it.

E.E.: What inspires you daily? 

Carolyn: My fans. Hearing that they loved a book, or that by reading one of my books they’ve been able to come up out of depression, or make a needed life change, or just that it brought joy into their lives that day, is my daily inspiration.

Claire and I thank you for inviting us here today, and now it’s our turn to ask you a question. 

What is your most interesting quirk?

Today, Carolyn is giving away a signed copy of Cowboy Honor! Ener the rafflecopter below and be sure to leave a comment. 

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