E.E. Burke's Best of the West: New York Times Bestselling Author Carolyn Brown Shares Her Newest Release!

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Thank you so much for letting me stop by to talk about Luckiest Cowboy of All, the final book in the Happy, Texas series. It’s always a pleasure to drop by GLIAS and I’m hoping that my readers do indeed get lost in Jace and Carlene’s story. And this is a two-for-one book…you get my brand new release and Sara Richardson’s Hometown Cowboy all in one book. So happy reading!

A secret baby brings a second chance for love.

Carlene Varner's homecoming isn't exactly going according to plan. She thought she'd have some time to adjust before introducing her daughter to Jace Dawson, the father her little girl has never known. Instead, within days of her arrival, her house burns down and she and Tilly have no choice but to move in with the sexy cowboy himself at the Prairie Rose ranch. Now the whole Dawson clan-heck, the whole town of Happy-is all up in their business.

Jace has dealt with stubborn bulls and bucking broncos-but being a dad? He is so not ready for this... Yet the more time he spends with Carlene and little Tilly, the harder it is to imagine life without them. Now he just has to convince Carlene that he's the real deal-and hope that this time she's here to stay.

HOMETOWN COWBOY by Sara Richardson

Outrageously handsome Lance Cortez is practically a living legend in Colorado, as famous for riding bulls as he is for breaking hearts. What would a big-time cowboy star like him see in a small-town veterinarian who wears glasses, rescues animals, and cries when watching rom-coms? Turns out, plenty.

EXCERPT from THE LUCKIEST COWBOY

Carlene drew her jacket closer around her chest and headed back out for the rest of the boxes. “Thank you, Aunt Rosalie, for leaving me everything in your will. At least I own the house, have a place to live and don’t have to pay rent.”

She stepped off the porch when she heard tires on the gravel road. With the house the only one on a short dead end road, she was pretty sure the visitor would be pulling into her driveway any second. She tucked her hair behind her ears and shivered.

Shading her eyes against the bright winter sun, she watched a big black crew cab truck came to a stop right beside her minivan. Cowboy boots were the first thing that appeared when the door opened and then a very familiar figure followed. Jace Dawson tipped back his hat and waved. In a few long strides he was close enough she caught a whiff of Stetson aftershave—a scent that still created a stir in her hormones every time she smelled it.

Happy, Texas had a population of less than seven hundred, so it was a given that she’d run into Jace someday, probably sooner than later, but the first day she was there, before she could even get unpacked meant that the gossip vines had not died in ten years.

“Carlene, I heard you were coming back to town. Here let me help you get those into the house.” He picked up all three of the remaining boxes and headed off toward the porch. “So you’re going to be the new fifth-grade teacher, Mama tells me.”

“That’s right.”

He filled out those Wranglers even better than he had in high school and had maybe even grown another inch or two.

“Been a long time,” he said. “Where you been all these years?”

She opened the door for him and he set the boxes in the middle of the living room floor. “Here and there. Moved around a lot. California, then Georgia and Oklahoma, back to Florida and then here.”

“You plannin’ on livin’ here? Mind if I sit down?”

“When did we get to be so formal? Of course you can sit.” She kicked off her shoes and padded barefoot across the cold hardwood floor.

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MEET CAROLYN

With more than 3 million copies of her books sold, Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist. She’s won the National Reader’s Choice Award three times, the Bookseller’s Best Award and was awarded the prestigious Montlake Diamond Award for selling over a million books.  Her books include romantic women’s fiction, historical, contemporary, cowboys and country music mass market paperbacks. She and her husband, Charles, a retired English teacher, live in Davis, Oklahoma that only has one traffic light. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. When she’s not writing she likes to sit in her back yard with her two tom cats, 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.

Here's where you can find out more about Carolyn and her amazing books:

Facebook | Goodreads | Website

Let's get to know Carolyn a little better...

E.E: Describe an absolutely perfect day.

Carolyn: An absolutely perfect day in my world is a day when my characters talk to me, tell me what happens next in the story and I meet my goals for the day before supper time.

E.E.: What are the next five books on your ‘to be read’ pile?

Carolyn: Whatever the RITA contest book that are coming my way. I’m always excited to get the contest books, to see what genre I have the privilege of judging.

E.E.: What inspires you daily? 

Carolyn: I get so caught up in what I’m writing that the characters become real and when they tell me all about their lives…shhh…don’t tell anyone that I hear voices in my head.

E.E.: What has been your most rewarding publishing moment? 

Carolyn: I love getting new contracts and hearing that I’d made the New York Times and the USA Today lists was amazing. But the most rewarding thing I’ve ever had as a writer is hearing that a reader has overcome a major problem by reading my books. Now that’s rewarding.

E.E.: Which already filmed movie represents your writing style?

Carolyn: The Longest Ride comes to mind. I’d love to see any of my books made into movies!

E.E.: What could we find in your heroine's purse?

Carolyn: Carlene is an elementary school teacher so there would be broken crayolas, maybe tissues for little noses, a package of crackers in case her daughter, Tilly, gets hungry on the way home and a rubber band to use when either she or Tilly needs to pull their hair up in a pony tail.

E.E., thanks again for inviting me back to GLIAS!

Now it’s my turn to ask a question. Do you like secret baby/second chance stories? Do you think a woman is totally selfish when she doesn’t tell the father of her child that he’s a father or do you take all the facts into consideration before you pass judgement?

Giveaway: One signed copy of Luckiest Cowboy of All or an ebook for Kindle or Nook. Reader’s choice.

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Get Lost in Happy, Texas with the Toughest (and Sexiest) Cowboy

Get ready for brand new series and the Toughest Cowboy in Texas from New York Times Bestselling Author Carolyn Brown.

The Spark of an Old Flame

Last time Lila Harris was in Happy, Texas, she was actively earning her reputation as the resident wild child. Now, a little older and wiser, she's back to run her mother's café for the summer. Except something about this town has her itching to get a little reckless and rowdy, especially when she sees her old partner-in-crime, Brody Dawson. Their chemistry is just as hot as ever. But he's still the town's golden boy-and she's still the wrong kind of girl.

Brody hasn't had much time lately for anything other than ranching. Running the biggest spread in the county and taking care of his family more than keeps him busy. All that responsibility has him longing for the carefree days of high school-and Lila. She may have grown up, but he still sees that spark of mischief in her eyes. Now he's dreaming about late-night skinny dipping and wondering how he can possibly resist the one woman he can never forget...

Here's an excerpt

   Lila picked up a basket filled to the brim with hot French fries just as the door to the Happy Café opened. The hot western sun silhouetted the cowboy in the doorway, but she’d recognize Brody Dawson anywhere—in the darkest night or the brightest day.

   The energy in the café sparkled with electricity and her chest tightened. She gripped the red plastic basket to keep from dropping it and slowly inhaled, willing herself to take a step toward the table where a couple of old ranchers waited for their order.

   “Well, well,” Brody drawled. He closed the door behind him and slowly scanned her from the toes of her boots to her black ponytail. “The wild child has returned.”

   “But not for long, so don’t go getting your hopes up,” she smarted off right back at him.

   In a few long strides he slid into a booth and laid his hat on the space beside him. He filled out the butt of his jeans even better than he had when they were in high school and his chest was an acre wide. Lord, why couldn’t he have developed a beer gut and two chins?

   She carried the order to the other end of the café and set it down between Paul McKay and Fred Williams, two ranchers she’d known her whole growing up years.

   “I’d forgotten that they called you the wild child, Lila.” Paul grinned.

   “People change,” she said. “Anything else?”

   Fred squirted streams of ketchup across the fries. “Nah, we’re good for now. Might need some more tea before we leave. You should wait on poor old Brody. He looks like he’s spittin’ dust.”

   “Yeah. I’m dying over here,” Brody called from across the small dining room. “How about a glass of half sweet tea and half Molly’s fresh lemonade?”

   “Anything else, Your Highness?” Lila asked as she turned to face him and made her way to his table.

   His sexy grin and that twinkle in his baby-blue eyes made every hormone in her body beg for attention. But then she reminded herself that she didn’t have to impress Brody Dawson. She was not that girl anymore. Oh, but to kiss those lips one more time just to see if they still made her knees go weak. No! No! No! Yet her fingertips went straight to her lips to see if the memory made them as warm as they felt.

Meet Carolyn

With more than 3 million copies of her books sold, Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist. She’s won the National Reader’s Choice Award three times, the Bookseller’s Best Award and was awarded the prestigious Montlake Diamond Award for selling over a million books.  Her books include romantic women’s fiction, historical, contemporary, cowboys and country music mass market paperbacks. She and her husband, Charles, a retired English teacher, live in Davis, Oklahoma,, which only has one traffic light. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. When she’s not writing, Carolyn likes to sit in her back yard with her two tom cats, 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.

Website: http://www.carolynbrownbooks.com/

Blog: http://carolynlbrown.blogspot.com/

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

FB (Author's Page): https://www.facebook.com/Carolyn-Brown-198727816879253/?ref=bookmarks

Email: ccbrown66@att.net

Goodreads: Toughest Cowboy in Texas

Thanks, E.E., for asking me to stop by your site today and talk about my brand new hot off the press release, Toughest Cowboy in Texas. It’s the first book in the Happy, Texas series and will be followed by Long, Tall Texas Cowboy in September and Luckiest Cowboy of All in January. There really is a Happy, Texas out in the panhandle where the ground and sky meet each other on the flat horizon. It’s a part of the country that has stolen my soul and I love that area, so having the opportunity to set a series there was amazing.

I understand that you have questions for me. I’ve got coffee in one hand and a doughnut in the other so I’m ready.

E.E.: Here goes! I love listening to music while I write. Is there a playlist you’d recommend for reading your latest release?

Carolyn: Oh, yes, ma’am! I listen to country music when I’m writing and it means a lot to the characters who are living, breathing souls in my world when I’m telling their story. The songs that I listened to and mentioned in Toughest Cowboy in Texas include: “17” by Cross Canadian Ragweed, Blake Shelton’s “Boys Round Here” and “Straight Outta Cold Beer”; “If You’re Gonna Play in Texas” by Alabama; “Sideways” by Darryl Worley: “Red Neck Woman” by Gretchen Wilson; “Feels Like Love”, “Never Knew Lonely”  and “Which Bridge to Cross” by Vince Gill; “Heaven’s Just a Sin Away” by The Kendells; Jennifer Nettles, “Unlove You”; “Check Yes or No” and “So Much Like My Dad” by George Strait; Sammie Kershaw’s “Don’t Go Near the Water”; Tracy Bryd’s “Holdin’ Heaven”; Rascal Flatt’s “Broken Roads”; “H.O.L.Y” by Florida Georgia Line; and “Rockin Chairs,” By Dolly Parton. I have to admit that “17” was the one that was the theme song for the whole book.

E.E.: What sound or noise do you like?

Carolyn: I love the sound of the ocean. I can sit on the beach and listen to it all day. Some of my best stories are hatched when I’m listening to the waves splashing up on the sand.

E.E.: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

Carolyn: I love Steel Magnolias. There’s laughter and tears and it touches my emotions. I watched it three times in one day when it first came out.

E.E.: What’s your biggest vice?

Carolyn: Food wise that would have to be fresh bread right from the oven, slathered in butter with maybe either homemade strawberry preserves or else honey. But my biggest vice has to be my writing. When I first started in this business, I wrote under a pen name so that it could be my vice and no one would ever know who I really was. But my sister was so proud of me for finally getting published after twenty years of rejections that she fired an article off to three newspapers. It’s still my vice because I’m addicted to telling stories even though I now write under the name that’s on my birth certificate.

E.E.: Who is your favorite villain?

Carolyn: Oh, honey, that would be Boyd Crowder of Justified. I love Raylan Givens in that television series but it’s the first time I think I ever fell in love with the villain, too. Boyd was such a character that I didn’t even want to see the actor play another part in other movies or series.

E.E.: Fairy tale or action?

Carolyn: Depends on my mood and whether I’m reading or watching something. Got to admit that I do love a good romantic movie like The Longest Ride but then I really like something like The Shooter or the old Lethal Weapon movies, too. Reading wise, I’m an eclectic reader who will read anything from the back of the Cheerio’s box to Faulkner and love it all!

E.E.: Can you tell us about a real-life hero you’ve met?

Carolyn: In a heart beat! My husband that everyone knows as Mr. B. It takes a special person to be married to an author who always has voices in her head and who needs one more hour to write her way out of a scene. While I was getting established in my career he worked as a high school English teacher and then in the evenings took on other jobs so we could raise three kids together. He’s my real-life hero for sure.

Now it’s my turn. What is it about a cowboy romance that just flat out melts your heart?

C'mon, GLIAS readers, tell us why you love cowboy romances? Don't forget to enter the raffle for your chance to win one of two copies of Carolyn's new release, Toughest Cowboy in Texas.

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