E.E. Burke's Best of the West: Look what's new for Christmas! Carolyn Brown's newest Longhorn Canyon novel

Are you ready for Christmas with a Cowboy?

A rugged Texas cowboy gets into the Christmas spirit to prove himself to the woman he loves in this heartwarming fifth novel of the USA Today bestselling series. 

Maverick Callahan lives up to his reputation as a freewheeling cowboy. But a year ago he fell head-over-heels for an extraordinary woman he met while on vacation, a woman he was convinced he'd never see again. So when she appears on his doorstep like a Christmas miracle, Maverick is determined not to waste his lucky break.

Bridget O'Malley's world has flipped upside down. As the new guardian of her best friend's baby, she hasn't had a moment to think about the Texas rancher who broke her heart. He's just as sexy as ever, but she knows better than anyone that he's not the settling-down type. As the trees are trimmed and mistletoe hung, will some holiday magic help Bridget trust this carefree cowboy with her heart and her future?


Includes a bonus novella, "Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas" by Sara Richardson!

Excerpt

Maverick Callahan zeroed in on a tall blonde Irish girl playing darts in the Irish pub the minute he pushed through the door. He threw a little extra swagger in his walk when he walked past her and settled onto a bar stool. When he caught her eye, he tipped his hat toward her and then removed it, laid it on the bar’s polished wooden surface and raked his fingers through his dark hair. When she finished her game, he intended to ask her to dance.

“Jameson or Guinness?” asked the Irish bartender with a voice like honey.

His focus shifted from the blonde girl to the bartender. “I was thinking more of a shot of Jack Daniels.”

“You’d be in an Irish pub, not a honky tonk, cowboy,” she said with a sparkle in her green eyes.

He really wanted a pint of Guinness, but flirting was Maverick’s game and red heads—well, he’d always had a weakness for them. “Well, then give me a pint of what you suggested since y’all ain’t got good whiskey.”

“I didn’t say we don’t be havin’ it, cowboy. I just told you where you were.” She did a cute little head wiggle, and the dim light above the bar lit up her Christmas tree earrings. “And Mary Kate, the tall blonde you’ve got your sights set on is a married woman.” The bartender leaned over the bar. “And her husband, he’d be one jealous man. You don’t want him to catch you flirtin’ with her.”

“Why are you telling me this?” He almost reached out to touch the tiny shamrock topping the tree on her earrings. “How’d you know I was a cowboy?”

“I saw you swagger in here in those boots and that hat,” she answered. “I knew you had to be American.”

She went to the other end of the bar to draw the beer up in a tall mug. He glanced around the place. Some of it was the same as the Rusty Spur honky tonk in his home state of Texas—stools in front of a long bar, mirror behind the bar with shelves of liquor, beer mugs and shot glasses at the ready. But where the places in Texas had signed pictures of bull and bronc riders on the walls, along with old beer signs, the Shamrock Pub had dart boards and pictures of Ireland hanging on the walls..

The cute little bartender set a pint of foaming Guinness on the bar in front of him. “Where’d you come from, cowboy?”

“Texas, darlin’,” he flirted. “What’s your name?”

“Bridget?” she smiled.

“Bridget what?” He asked.

“Just Bridget, cowboy,” she said. “What your name?”

“Maverick,” he answered.

“Maverick what?”

“Just Maverick.” He gave her a dose of her own medicine.

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly and #1 Amazon and #1 Washington Post bestselling author and a RITA finalist. With more than 90 books on the market, she’s a recipient of the Bookseller’s Best Award, and the prestigious Montlake Diamond Award, and also a three-time recipient of the National Reader’s Choice 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 plot new stories in her backyard with her tom cat, Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, and watch him protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Visit her at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.

Contact Information:

Website: https://bit.ly/2TtQUeI

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecarolynbrown

Instagram: https://bit.ly/2FApe47

FB (Author’s Page): https://bit.ly/2GZ2HAz

Buy Links:

B&N:  https://bit.ly/2OOKxFJ

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2YKHWRF

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/A_Cowboy_Christmas_Miracle?id=wh-MDAAAQBAJ

iTunes:  https://books.apple.com/us/book/christmas-with-a-cowboy/id1448670028

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/christmas-with-a-cowboy-2

Q&A:

I know it’s a little early, but the holiday books are on the shelves now, and I’d like to take this opportunity to say Merry Christmas. I hope that you enjoy Christmas with a Cowboy, the fifth book in the Longhorn Canyon Series. This is Maverick and Bridget’s story, and I absolutely loved having these characters in my head all the weeks it took to get the story written. So I hear you’ve got questions to ask? Let’s hear them!! I’m always excited to talk about a new book or the holidays!

What is your biggest vice during the holiday season?

That would be food. I love holiday cookies, especially the sugar cookies that my son-in-law makes. I can eat a dozen of them, and of course we all know that Christmas cookies have no calories or fat grams. I only wish I could convince the bathroom scales of that.

Where do you spend Christmas Day?

My family gets together at my daughter’s house for Easter and Thanksgiving, and at my son’s for the 4^th of July. When the grandchildren started coming along, Mr. B and I decided that the children should all stay at their own homes on Christmas Day. We didn’t want our precious grandchildren to grow up to hate us for taking them away from their toys that morning. As Ma on Golden Girls used to say, “Picture it…” They open up their presents and have all their Santa gifts, and then their parents say they can’t take time to enjoy them because they have to go to their grandparents’ house. So these days, Mr. B and I go to the beach for a week, or go on a week long road trip, and enjoy the holiday with just the two of us.

What’s the best holiday present you ever received?

A couple of years ago, my family joined me and Mr. B for our week (after Christmas Day) on the beach. We rented ten condos and had supper in our condo every night for the whole bunch of them. They’re still talking about how much fun we all had.

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

I have Irish DNA so I’ve always wanted to write about a book about an Irish lady. Maverick mentioned meeting Bridget in a previous book in the Longhorn Canyon Series. He’d met her on the very last night he was vacationing in Ireland with his grandmother.  That story played around in my head for a year before I finally got the opportunity to bring Bridget to Ireland, put them together and see what sparks might fly.

What’s your favorite holiday movie of all time?

The Home Alone movies. I’ve watched them dozen of times and still laugh until tears roll down my cheeks every time I see them.

What can we look for next from you?

The Family Journal, (my 100^th novel), November 12

Cowboy Courage, Jan. 28

Wildflower Ranch (a novella), Feb. 4

The Banty House, May

Cowboy Strong, May

Thank you, again, to the folks who asked questions, and all y’all at Get Lost in a Book who were so kind as to ask me to visit with y’all again.

Now a question for readers. In your travels at Christmas, what has been your favorite memory?

Carolyn will give away a signed copy of Christmas with a Cowboy. You must leave a comment and enter the Rafflecopter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Get Lost with Cowboy Rebel from NYT Bestselling Author Carolyn Brown

The next heartwarming romance in this USA Today bestselling series proves it's tough to resist a sexy cowboy with a Texas drawl and heart of gold!

Taggart Baker has always lived life on the edge, making the country song, "Live Like You Were Dying" his motto, after his best friend died in a motorcycle accident when they were eighteen. But after one bad brush with the law, he realized it was time to move on. Now he's looking thirty in the eye and running his own ranch next to the Longhorn Canyon spread in Texas. Still, no one would ever call him tame...

Trauma nurse Nikki Grady likes life slow and steady. She has too much drama in her job to want a man who's only going to create more headaches. But when her best friend's younger brother shows up in the ER after a bull-riding accident, something in his haunting crystal clear blue eyes draws her to him like flies to honey. The more time they spend together, the more Nikki begins to relish the idea of his cowboy in her life forever. But just as Tag is ready to ditch his wild ways for good, his past comes calling, threatening not only their love, but their lives.

Here's an excerpt:

Taggart, or Tag as the family called him, was one of those men who turned every woman’s eye when he walked into a place—even a hospital emergency room. The nurses, old and young alike, were buzzing about him before Nikki even got him into the cubicle. With that chiseled face, those piercing blue eyes, a cowboy swagger, and a smile that would make a religious woman want to drink whiskey and do the two-step, it’s a wonder he hadn’t already put one of those “take a number and wait” machines on the front porch post of his house.

“The doctor is on his way. He just finished stitchin’ up a patient with a knife wound. From the looks of you, I’d think you’d been in on that fight.” Nikki applied pressure to the cut with a wad of gauze.

The curtain between the cubicles flew to one side, and a white-coated guy came over to the bed. “What have we got here? I’m Dr. Richards.” He gently lifted the edge of the gauze. “Knife?”

“Beer bottle,” Tag said.

“Well, the first thing we have to do is shave off that scruff. Deaden it up and then shave off the area around it, Nikki. I’ll take care of the kid who thought he could ride his skateboard down a slide, and I’ll be right back,” Dr. Richards said.

“Yes, sir.” Nikki nodded.

The doctor had been instrumental in getting Nikki her first job as a registered nurse, and she really admired him. An older man with a white rim of hair around an otherwise bald head covered in freckles, he was the best when it came to stitches, in Nikki’s opinion. Tag was a lucky cowboy that Dr. Richards was on call that night. It could have been an intern doing the embroidery on his face, and it would be such a shame to leave a scar on something that sexy.

“You still going to go out with me even though I’m clean shaven and got a scar?” Tag asked her as she prepared to shave part of his face.

“If I don’t work, I don’t eat, and I’m real fond of cheeseburgers,” she answered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He winced when she picked up a needle to start the local anesthetic.

“That I don’t have time to take a number and wait in line behind all those other women wanting to get a chance at taming you,” she answered.

He wrapped his hand around her wrist before she started. “I’d move you to the front of the line, darlin’.”

“Well, ain’t that sweet.” She patted his hand and ignored the heat between them. “But, honey, you’re way too fast for this little country girl. Now be still and let me get this ready for Dr. Richards.”

Without blinking, he focused on her face as she sank the needle into several places to deaden the two-inch cut. Whispers of other conversations penetrated the curtains on either side of Tag’s cubicle, but heavy silence filled the space where Nikki put in the last shot.

“That all?” he finally asked, but his piercing blue eyes didn’t leave her face.

“Except for cleaning up around it,” she answered. “And you were a good boy. I’ll tell Dr. Richards to give you a lollipop before you leave.”

“It ain’t my first rodeo,” he said. “Did you call Hud?”

“Not yet,” she said.

“Then don’t.”

“With the amount of blood you’ve lost and the shot doc will probably give you for pain, you’ll need a driver or you won’t be released,” she said. “So it’s Hud or Emily. Take your choice.”

“You’re a hard woman, Nikki,” he said.

“And you’re a hardheaded man,” she shot back as she carefully shaved the scruff from around the wound.

“We ready to fix this cowboy up?” Dr. Richards threw back the curtain. “What’d the other guy look like?”

“Not a scratch on him, but he was limpin’. His woman tried to kick his kneecap halfway to Georgia,” Tag answered.

Dr. Richards chuckled. “And I bet you were defendin’ her in some way.”

Tag grimaced when he tried to smile. “Just helpin’ out the bouncer a little. Seemed like the thing to do since ‘Whoop a Man’s Ass’ was playin’ on the jukebox.”

“Well, looks like you was the one who got the whoopin’.” Dr. Richards chuckled and turned to Nikki. “Good job there, Nikki. Now it’s my turn. We could try glue and strips, but as deep as this is, stitches will do a better job.”

“You’re the doctor,” Tag answered.

“It’s up to you whether you shave your face clean when you get home, but if you don’t, you’re going to look a little like a mangy dog.”

“Looked worse before,” Tag drawled. “And probably will again.”

A lady in pink scrubs poked her head between the curtains.

“What do you need, Rosemary?” Dr. Richards asked the nurse.

“Sue Ann just arrived. Nikki handles her better than any of us. Would you mind if I help out here and she takes that job?”

“Go on,” Dr. Richards said. “I’ve got this.”

“Where is she?” Nikki asked as she pushed back the curtain. Rosemary had fast become her friend since they both worked the weekend shift. The woman was average in every way—brown hair, brown eyes, but her sense of humor and smile were infectious.

“I’ll show you and then get right back in there with Doc.” Rosemary led the way. “Lord have mercy.” She laid one hand over her heart and fanned her face with the other one. “That cowboy could melt my panties with those blue eyes.”

***

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly and #1 Amazon and #1 Washington Post bestselling author and a RITA finalist. Cowboy Rebel is her 97^th published book on the market. She’s a recipient of the Bookseller’s Best Award, and the prestigious Montlake Diamond Award, and also a three-time recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award.

Brown has been published for more than 20 years, and her books have been translated 18 foreign languages. They’ve also been published in both book club editions and large print, and many are available in audio format. She 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 plot new stories in her backyard with her tom cat, Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, who protects the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Visit her at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.

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

FB Author’s Page: https://www.facebook.com/carolynbrownbooks/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecarolynbrown

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

Buy Links:

B&N
AMAZON
GOOGLE PLAY
APPLE BOOKS
INDIE BOUND
BOOKS A MILLION

Good morning to everyone! It’s a pleasure to be here today talking about Cowboy Rebel. This is Nikki and Tag’s story.

Taggart (Tag) Baker has always lived life on the edge, making the country song, "Live Like You Were Dying" his motto, after his best friend died in a motorcycle accident when they were eighteen. Trauma nurse Nikki Grady likes life slow and steady. She has too much drama in her job to want a man who's only going to create more headaches.

Nikki and Tag are with me today so y’all could ask them some questions today. Of course, you’re free to ask me anything you like, also, so if everyone has a cup of coffee or tea in their hands, let’s get this party rolling.

Question for Tag: What is it about Nikki that drives you crazy?

Tag: (With a smile and a wink toward Nikki). She’s the only woman that I’ve ever met that was immune to my charm. I thought I’d plumb lost my mojo, and that drove me crazy. She made me really work for a place in her heart and life.

Question for Nikki: What color would you make the sky if it couldn’t be blue anymore?

Nikki: The sky will always be the same shade of blue as Tag’s eyes to me. Even if tomorrow I lost my sight, I would still see the sky as the same color in my imagination. He was one of those bad boys that mama’s everywhere warn their daughters about, but his eyes told me that he was an old soul just looking for someone to help him get past the guilt of his past.

Question for Carolyn: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

Carolyn: Cinderella, hands down! That story shows us that even though we might be at the bottom of the heap, we can still dream big, and that our circumstances do not necessarily determine the outcome of our lives. I grew up poor, but I knew I wanted to write stories. My dream is being fulfilled every day.

Question for Tag: What is your “kryptonite”? What will bring you to your knees?

Tag: Nikki’s big brown eyes. If she’s crying or sad, I can’t stand it.

Question for Nikki: Did Carolyn tell your story just like you wanted it told?

Nikki: Yes, ma’am, she did. Somehow she even got my mother’s character down to a T. I have to admit that sometimes late at night, Tag and I’d wake her up to fuss about changes in the last scene, or to talk about what we thought should be written in the next one. But she always managed to work with us and get it told right.

Carolyn: Thank you again for having us, and for having some pretty good questions ready for us to answer. We’ve got to be going now to the next interview, but we’d love to hear what you all think of our story when you read it. 

But first, it’s our turn to ask questions. Nikki would like to know what you think of the cover. She thinks that Tag is a pretty dang sexy. What do you think? Tag wants to know if you like bad boy cowboy books. 

And I’d like to ask what is your favorite genre? Is it cowboy romance, women’s fiction, paranormal? 

I’m giving away a signed copy of Cowboy Rebel. Winner will be chosen from comments, so let us hear from you as readers!!