Showing results by author "Carolyn Brown" in All Categories

Everyone is talking about Jennie Sue Baker and the mess she made of her life in New York. The former high school queen bee - and wealthy darling of Bloom, Texas - has returned home after all these years, riding on a common bus and bearing two bounced alimony checks. In a town that thrives on gossip, Jennie’s fall from grace has shamed her mother, set the town buzzing, and caused old, jealous enemies to whisper in delight. They say she’s taken a job as a housekeeper, gotten a garage apartment, and might be crushing on Rick Lawson, a simple farmer with modest dreams.

Being broke, unemployed, and stranded back in the tiny town of Pick, Texas, was not part of Jancy Wilson’s plan. Yet here she is, watching her car literally go up in smoke - along with her last-ditch hope of staying with her cousin in Louisiana. When Jancy spies a Help Wanted sign hanging in the window of the quaint Strawberry Hearts Diner, the memories of the two years she spent there as a teenager - and the lure of the diner’s beloved strawberry tarts - are enough to draw her in and plant her feet...but only temporarily.

Maggie vowed to never marry a man who can't laugh or dance, but when she and the dull new doctor in town, Everett Dulanis, wind up spending the night together in an abandoned dugout house, all that changes. Her father is the best man and his shotgun is the bridesmaid at the wedding where a union has been made, but there's certainly no unity.

If gossip is the lifeblood of a small town, then Lizzy Logan has been its beating heart. After being dumped by her fiancé for another woman, she could have decided to crawl under a rock. But no, she'd rather really set tongues wagging by "moving on" with one of the hottest cowboys in Texas, who happens to live next door at the Lucky Penny Ranch. Those busybodies don't have to know it's actually all pretend. And just because Lizzy has no aim to tame her wild, blue-eyed neighbor doesn't mean she can't enjoy the ride of her life.

Allie Logan isn't the type to land a hot hunk of cowboy. Truth is, she's given up on dating since shedding her no-good ex. But the new owner of the most ramshackle ranch in Texas might just change her mind about that. He's six-foot-plus of tall, dark, and charming - the kind of guy who could make a girl throw caution to the wind...or the kind of guy who could break her heart.

Tessa Wilson's life is all over the map. She may be clumsy, but this time she's stumbled into a pickle by choice, not by accident. She's agreed to take a month-long trip around Texas jammed into a '59 Cadillac with a drama-loving teenager, two elderly spitfires, and—oh, yes—her biological mama who gave her away at birth. And the ride gets even crazier when hot-as-sin cowboy Branch Thomas crosses into her lane. They don't call him the sexiest man in the Lone Star State for nothin'.

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.

Fancy Lynn Sawyer says that before she'll even think about the M word, a man has to say the three magic words, but 'I love you' isn't enough. He has to promise her a forever thing. She intends to find her forever thing in Florida, her home since she was 15, so she wasn't even looking for it when she comes to Texas to help her grandmother. With a job at the elementary school lined up, Fancy Lynn moves but she intends to stay only until her grandmother regains her health. Theron Warren has absolutely no intention of falling in love again. His one failed marriage was painful enough.

She's here to claim her birthright....Ex-army sergeant Abby Malloy feels no loss after the father she never knew passes away. Still, part of Ezra Malloy's ranch belongs to her, and if the stubborn blonde has to live there for a year with two half-sisters who are strangers to her, so be it. Nothing could stand in the way of her inheritance... except a local sheriff wrapped in snug blue jeans and a sexy grin. He's here to claim her heart....

When Double Deuce Ranch has two prospective buyers, owner Walter Jones decides to let the two run the ranch together to see who comes out on top. Adele O’Donnell and Remington Luckadeau roll up their sleeves for the fight of their lives. Ready to battle it out over cleaning stalls, milking cows, and training horses, neither expects the attraction that grows between them. Can the two of them change from enemies to more than friends? And what happens when Walter returns to find the two have come up with their own solution for who gets the ranch?

Sam's daddy always said she shouldn't get a vintage car until she knew how to fix one. And when her 1965 Mustang breaks down in a town smaller than a matchbox, she realizes he might have been right. Now she's stranded in the middle of nowhere, on the run from heartache, until she can get the vehicle repaired. At least Jack the mechanic is one tall drink of water. And Sam's pleasantly surprised to learn there's more to him than meets the eye when he shows his soft side by sending her to the only B&B in town, run by his grandmother, to take refuge.

Josie Dawson is new in town, but it doesn't take a local to know that Deke Sullivan is trouble - in a smokin' hot package. He's sweet and sexy and has charmed just about every woman in Dry Creek, Texas. Well, Josie won't be next. She'll keep her distance, even if he is great with babies and makes a mean cup of homemade hot chocolate. Deke Sullivan really is a one-woman type of guy. He just had to do a lot of looking to find that one woman. Now he thinks he's found her, and he won't let a strong, sassy gal like Josie slip away.

Leaving one widow behind is unfortunate. Leaving three widows behind is just plain despicable. Oil heiress Kate Steele knew her not-so-dearly departed husband was a con man, but she's shocked that Conrad racked up two more wives without divorcing her first. The only remnant of their miserable marriage she plans to keep is their lakeside cabin in Bootleg, Texas. Unfortunately, she's not the only woman with that idea.

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the house is the presence of one wickedly hot cowboy who's come to stay for the holiday. Fiona Logan is downright shocked to return to her childhood home and find that the tall blond stranger who came to her rescue on an icy road will be sleeping just across the hall from her bedroom. Talk about temptation.

Stella's mama never should've put Stella on the church prayer list. With Stella's 27th birthday coming up fast, Nancy desperately wants to see her daughter married and giving her grandbabies. Petitioning heaven seems like a surefire way to get it done. But in Cadillac, Texas, where the gossip's hotter than the city's famous jalapeño peppers, it isn't long before all hell breaks loose.

A sassy redhead with an axe to grind…After catching her husband kissing another woman in the barn, Loretta Sullivan Bailey left Lonesome Canyon Ranch and swore she’d never come back. But when her daughter threatens to drop out of college to become a rancher’s wife, Loretta refuses to let her baby make the same mistake she did. She returns to the ranch, determined to get her daughter back in school by the summer’s end…and resolute on ignoring her feelings for her ex-husband.

After spending years traveling the world with the military, Rose O'Malley is ready for a change. Heading back to Texas to hold down the fort at her aunt's bed-and-breakfast will give Rose just the break she needs. But while she may speak seven languages, she can't repair a leaky sink to save her life. When Hudson Baker strides in like a hero and effortlessly figures out the fix, Rose can't help wondering if the boy she once crushed on as a kid could now be her saving grace. Hud has always been rock-solid and dependable - a quintessential cowboy to his core.

Since it’s Christmas, all seven sisters will be coming home too. The sisters take the holidays very seriously, and as soon as they’ve celebrated Thanksgiving, it’s on to decorating for Christmas. All of the sisters, and some helpful neighbors, pitch in to make the spirits bright, but younger sister Endora is dismayed to find some of her sisters flirting with the handsome men who’ve come to help.

Two and a half months have passed since Brodie Carter showed up at the Paradise and announced that he is Joe Clay Carter’s son. Getting to know all seven of his half sisters and their spouses has not been an easy job. Add to that Audrey Ross, the obnoxious, sassy, overbearing woman who owns the orchard and farm next to his. Between Audrey haggling Brodie to buy his property and his matchmaking Great Aunt Bernie setting him up on flop dates, nothing seems to be going right. And then a tornado hits, demolishing the house Brodie and his brothers live in and everything they own.

Retired combat medic Jesse Ryan hasn’t been home much since he enlisted twenty years ago. Now he’s headed back to Texas to help take care of his aging foster parents and run Sunflower ranch. But when he gets there, he finds his parents’ live-in nurse is Addison Hall, his high school best friend and the woman he always regretted leaving behind after their one steamy night together before he shipped out.