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Feature Post and Book Review: Defending Allye by Susan Stoker

 

This Feature Post and Book Review is for DEFENDING ALLYE (Mountain Mercenaries #1) by Susan Stoker. It includes a guest piece where Ms. Stoker introduces her new heroes, my book review, an excerpt from the first book, info about the title and author and a Rafflecopter giveaway. I hope you enjoy this post, buy this start to a great new  Romantic suspense series and as always good luck on the Rafflecopter giveaway!

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Meet the Mountain Mercenaries by Susan Stoker 

In my new romantic suspense series, the “Mountain Mercenaries” were formed by a mysterious “handler” named Rex. He brought all the men to Colorado Springs for an “interview”, then never showed up, leaving the men to get to know each other on their own. At the end of the night, however, he offered each of them the job.

Rex is a voice on a phone, and none of the Mercenaries has ever met him face to face. He does the research and sends the men on the missions. He only choses to assist in cases involving women and children.

Each of the men are former special forces. Grayson “Gray” Rogers and Lowell “Black” Lockard are former Navy SEALs. Ronan “Ro” Cross was a British SAS soldier. Archer “Arrow” Kane was a Marine. Kannon “Ball” Black was in the Coast Guard. And Hunter “Meat” Snow was Delta Force.

The men all live in the Colorado Springs area now and have “regular” jobs. Their missions with the Mountain Mercenaries aren’t exactly top secret, but no one talks much about the organization because of the nature of the missions they go on and the kind of enemies they make as a result.

And to whet your appetite for the men…

Gray has a knack for being “invisible” on jobs.

Ro has a sext British accent that seems to be more pronounced when he’s angry.

Arrow is slightly claustrophobic because of an incident that happened in England (and where he actually saved Ro’s life).

Black is the best interrogator of the group and Ball is the best driver.

Meat is the computer genius of the group and is relied on heavily to gather intel.

And Rex, is a mystery to the men on the team. They don’t know much about him except that his wife disappeared into thin air years ago.

There’s no real reason why Gray was the first on the team to find his woman in my newest release Defending Allye. Someone had to be first, and who better to find a woman who he was attracted to in the middle of the ocean, than a former Navy SEAL?

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WOW! This first book in Susan Stoker’s new Romantic suspense series is intense, gritty, sexy and HOT!

DEFENDING ALLYE (Mountain Mercenaries #1) by Susan Stoker has everything I am looking for in a Romantic suspense. The excitement takes off from page one with the alpha hero rescuing the heroine, but she is no ordinary, shrinking violet heroine. The villain of the book is pure evil and sadistic. (WARNING for those who have problems with extreme sexual and physical violence against women, the villain’s crimes are graphic and this series is about a group of ex-military men who fight outside the law against human trafficking.)

Gray Rogers is a former Navy SEAL now working for the mysterious Rex as one of his Mountain Mercenaries in Colorado Springs. The Mountain Mercenaries are all former military with regular jobs, but one call from Rex and they are dispatched around the world to fight human trafficking and/or rescue victims.

Gray cannot stop thinking about his most recent rescue, Allye Martin. He has never had trouble separating his feelings from his job and rescued subjects before, but something about Allye will not let go. Of course she is unique with her one blue eye and one brown and her streak of white hair in her auburn curls, but it was her calmness and fortitude during the rescue that set her apart.

When Allye comes to Colorado Springs from San Francisco to deliver a USB drive that could contain the information needed to catch the head of the human trafficking ring in San Francisco, she remains with Gray in his home and in his bed. But her fellow dancers begin to disappear and turn up dead with a message for her to return to the city.

She refuses to hide as much as Gray fights her return and possible capture. The Mountain Mercenaries have their backs as Allye returns to face her possible capture. Will they be able to stop the human collector who wants to add Allye to his collection permanently?

I loved everything about this story. Allye is a great heroine that has defeated hard luck her whole life and still has an endearing personality, strength and love. Gray is alpha in all ways and is extremely caring and tender with Allye and his family. The sex scenes are smokin’ hot and I feel written perfectly for these two. The plot moves at a fast pace and ramps up the suspense throughout. The head of the traffickers is sadist and his acts are written about graphically and I feel realistically. You cannot sugarcoat the type of evil that is involved in these types of crimes. This is an amazing start to this new series and I am looking forward to the other Mountain Mercenaries’ stories!

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Defending Allye Excerpt

Allye turned to her right and glanced at the group of men sitting at the only square table in the room—and froze.

Her breathing increased, and her fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. The men weren’t paying any attention to her and hadn’t seen her yet.

Allye took one step backward toward the doorway she’d just walked through. But she was too late.

“What the hell?” The exclamation had come from Black. The man she’d met just over a week ago on a mission she knew wasn’t exactly public knowledge.

Five more heads swiveled to look in her direction, and Allye could do nothing but stare. It was as if she could actually feel the amount of testosterone in the room increase.

All six men at the table were big. And good-looking. And staring at her as if they’d never seen a woman before.

But it was Grayson Rogers’s eyes that she couldn’t look away from.

Without a word, he stood, a fluid movement that was as graceful as those of any dancer in her troupe, and walked toward her.

“Kitten, what the hell are you doing here? How’d you find me?”

She loved the sound of her nickname on his lips, but his second question sounded more like an accusation than an actual “Boy, am I glad to see you again” statement.

“I . . . I didn’t know you’d be here,” she stammered. “I wasn’t looking for you.”

He looked confused.

“I called Rex, and he arranged to meet me here. But he hasn’t shown up yet. I was sitting out there”—she pointed at the doorway—“talking to the bartender, Dave, and got bored waiting. I didn’t know you’d be here,” she repeated.

“Rex,” Gray said under his breath, then held out his hand. “Whatever the reason, I’m glad to see you again. Are you okay?”

Allye liked this gentler Gray. She nodded and put her hand in his outstretched one. The second she touched his palm, his fingers closed around hers. The warmth from his body seemed to seep into her. She hadn’t even known she was chilled until she felt how warm his skin was. “I’m okay,” she said softly.

“No one’s been following you?” Gray asked.

Allye shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’ve felt uneasy recently, but it’s probably just a result of what happened to me before.”

Gray frowned and tightened his fingers. “Maybe, maybe not. Come on, I want you to meet my friends.”

She allowed him to lead across the room. He stopped at the table and wrapped an arm around her waist. Their hips were smashed together, and she felt every finger as he gripped her opposite hipbone.

“Guys, I’d like you to meet Allye Martin. Allye, these are the guys. Meat, Arrow, Ball, Ro, and you know Black.”

“Hi,” she said awkwardly. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”

Her greeting was returned by all the men, and she couldn’t help but squirm under their scrutiny. The man Gray called Meat got up, snagged a chair from a nearby table, and placed it next to the empty one. She sat when Gray gestured to it. She didn’t lean back in the chair but instead sat fully upright, wondering what in the world was going on.

“So . . . you’re the woman Gray rescued the other week, huh?” Arrow asked.

Allye swallowed, then gave him a small nod.

“What I’m about to tell you, kitten, isn’t common knowledge. But after what you’ve been through, and given the fact that you’re supposed to be meeting Rex here, so he obviously trusts you, I’m comfortable telling you. These men and I are all part of a group called Mountain Mercenaries,” Gray said quietly. “Rex is our leader, so to speak. He contacts us when he has rescue jobs for us to do, mostly involving women and children who are being abused or were abducted. And before you ask, we’re highly qualified. All of us are former military, all different branches, for the most part, and we’ve been through extensive training.”

Allye stared at him for a second, then her eyes went to the rest of the men around the table. She was surprised that he’d explained as much as he had, but she had no trouble believing that these men had the skills and strength to operate rescue missions.

Then something Gray said sank in.

“Mercenaries?”

He nodded.

Allye was confused. “You have a name? Can I look you up online? Hire you?”

“No.”

“Then why have a name?” Allye thought it was Ball who answered.

“Because Rex decided, rightly so, that we would become more well known if we were associated with a name. He wanted the bad guys to fear hearing the Mountain Mercenaries were coming for them. And it’s worked. There was a situation not too long ago where a bad guy in Chicago was desperate to keep Rex and his Mountain Mercenaries out of his business. Desperate enough to kill his own son when he couldn’t control him anymore.”

Allye wasn’t sure she wanted to know the details about that. But she was still a little confused. “But mercenaries are guns for hire. Like, they go where the money is and don’t care about right or wrong, good or bad. They’re all about the money. Aren’t you more like vigilantes or something? Working around the law to do what’s right and good?”

Gray stared at her, but the other men around the table chuckled.

Finally, Gray grinned. “Knew you were too smart for your own good,” he said. “You’re right, but when Rex formed our little group, he thought Mountain Mercenaries sounded tougher than vigilantes.”

Allye rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I guess Vengeful Veterans doesn’t exactly have the same ring, does it?”

And with that, the other men burst out laughing.

***

About the Book

Title: Defending Allye

Author: Susan Stoker

Release Date: August 7, 2018

Publisher: Montlake Romance

 

Summary

Ever since his rescue op off the Pacific Coast, Mountain Mercenary Gray Rogers hasn’t been able to forget his latest “job”—Allye Martin. Any other woman would have panicked during a rescue, but the wily dancer kept her cool—even after being kidnapped by an elusive human trafficker. And Gray couldn’t be happier when a grateful Allye follows him home to Colorado Springs…

For Allye, finding sanctuary in the arms—and bed—of the former Navy SEAL is only temporary. People are disappearing off the streets of San Francisco, victims of the same underground trade that targeted her, and Allye could be the key to dismantling the entire operation. She’s willing to do anything to bring them down. Gray isn’t—for good reason. But you don’t say no to a tough girl like Allye who refuses to play it safe.

Now Gray is risking more than ever before. The Mountain Mercenaries have his back. But is it enough to keep the woman he loves out of harm’s way?


Author Biography

Susan Stoker is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author whose series include Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, SEAL of Protection, and Delta Force Heroes. Married to a retired army noncommissioned officer, Stoker has lived all over the country—from Missouri to California to Colorado—and currently lives under the big skies of Texas. A true believer in the happily ever after, Stoker enjoys writing novels in which romance turns to love. To learn more about the author and her work, visit her website, www.stokeraces.com, or find her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/authorsusanstoker.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.stokeraces.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsstoker

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Susan_Stoker

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8247140.Susan_Stoker

 

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Feature Post and Book Review: Second Time Around by Nancy Herkness

   

Hi, everyone!

I am very excited to share this Feature Post and Book Review for SECOND TIME AROUND (Second Glances #1) by Nancy Herkness. This includes an “Opposites Attract” guest post from the author, my review of the book, an excerpt from the title, and a Rafflecopter giveaway.

I loved this second chance romance and am looking forward to reading many more romances from Ms. Herkness. Good luck on the giveaway!

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Guest Post

Opposites Attract: Character Questionnaire from Second Time Around by Nancy Herkness 

Today it is a pleasure to introduce Will Chase and Kyra Dixon to readers! The hero and heroine are from Nancy Herkness’ newest release Second Time Around and the title of the story certainly is inspired by the characters’ story. The ‘first time around’ for this couple was in college when Will was dating Kyra’s roommate. This evil ex cheated on Will and while Kyra longed to comfort her secret crush, but she was firmly friendzoned.

Years later in an accidental meeting in NYC, Kyra and Will are reunited–only this time sparks fly with nothing to get in the way of igniting….except the fact that Will is a little (okay, a lot) out of Kyra’s social circle. This makes interacting with his family and friends a teeny bit awkward. But while Will may have money, he is also kind, funny, hardworking, and stubborn. Too stubborn in fact to let a little bit of status stand in the way of him and the woman he wants.

However, we have to ask: Just how different are these two characters really? Read on for a questionnaire where we find out if Will and Kyra are true opposites or if they are more alike than they realize.

 

Question #1: What can you tell us about your favorite childhood memory?

Kyra: My father worked at the Mack Truck factory so he was very wiry and muscular, even though he was short in stature. When I was a child, he would toss me up in the air and catch me. I’ll never forget feeling the strength of his hands wrapped around my waist as he boosted me up, the sense of exhilaration as I flew through the air, and the security of knowing with absolute certainty that his steely, powerful arms would be waiting for me when I came down.

Will: My parents’ house had a two story library with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and ladders on rails to reach them. It seemed like a magic cave filled with treasure to me. Once I convinced them that I would treat the books and the room with respect, they allowed me free run of it. I spent many a happy hour deciding which book to read and then stretching out on the Oriental rug to read it. Sometimes I even walked in merely to smell the scent of books waiting to be read.

 

Question #2: When you were growing up what types of activities did you enjoy?

Kyra: I was a voracious reader, and loved going to the public library where the librarians would set aside books they thought I would like. However, my favorite time spent there was wandering among the shelves until a book called out to me. Ice skating and riding my bike got me outdoors when Mom decided I’d spent too much time inside reading. Mom liked to shop, so we went “malling”, as she called it. I enjoyed that because I always got a treat.

Will: Reading was my activity of choice. However, my sister would sometimes bother me until I came to help her with her beloved horses at the stables, and I got to like that, especially because it was away from our parents. Tennis wasn’t bad. I hated sailing, which my mother forced me into. Couldn’t wait to give that up. I did the usual sports in school: soccer, lacrosse, basketball, etc. Working up a good sweat was satisfying.

 

Question #3: When it was time for college, how did you decide to attend Brunell college?

Kyra: I couldn’t afford to go far from home, so I stuck to schools in Pennsylvania. Brunell was the best school that offered me a good financial aid package. It also had a terrific English lit department, which was my passion. I only wish I had been able to finish my degree there.

Will: Brunell was my first flash of rebellion. Pops went to Harvard; Mum went to Princeton. I refused to apply to either of those. I wanted to study the classics and a noted authority on Homer taught at Brunell.

Question #4: What was your favorite part about college?

Kyra: Playing quote wars with Will Chase! Well, pretty much anything that had to do with Will. This smart, rich, golden boy from Connecticut was so alien that he fascinated me. Okay, so I loved the classes, too. I was pretty drunk on the whole “learning for the sake of learning” concept. The campus is gorgeous as well. All those brick buildings with white trim and vast, rolling, green lawns.

Will: The classics professor who made me choose Brunell, Dr. Weiss, was a spectacular teacher and mentor. His classes made me think and stretch and grow. Sometimes he’d hold class in his home where he always served the most delicious, sugary doughnuts from the local convenience mart. Every now and then, I still buy a box of those for nostalgia’s sake.

 

Question #5: What’s your career? How did you choose it?

Kyra: I didn’t exactly choose my career, if you could call it that. I needed to pay off the debt from college and my parents’ health issues and heard that bartenders at high end clubs in New York City could make a lot of money. I knew a little bit about bartending—and cooking— from working at a local restaurant in my hometown, so I packed up and moved. I also cook for the kids at the Carver After-School Care Center, which I love. But I started there only because the job offered a free apartment.

Will: I’m the CEO of Ceres, a multinational chain of cafés that I founded. I started the company because I didn’t want to join my father’s law firm, as he expected me to. Do you see a theme here? It was satisfying to battle the challenges of building a company, never knowing from day to day if it would survive or fail. Now that it’s grown so huge, I find myself restless.

 

Question #6: Do you have an active social life? What is a favorite date you have been on recently?

Kyra: Social life? I tend bar at night and cook for kids during the day. Who has time for a social life? I can’t remember the last time I went on a date.

Will: I’m the face of Ceres so I attend quite a few charity events, if you consider that a social life. I’m not sure I do. Between that and the hours I work, dating isn’t a priority. Not to mention, a broken engagement left a sour taste in my mouth when it comes to romance. My favorite recent charity event was held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I could wander through the classic Greek and Roman art exhibits without a crowd. That was an unexpected pleasure.

 

Question #7: What are your goals for the future? Where do you see yourself in a few years?

Kyra: My most urgent and immediate goal is to pay off my debt. Sometimes it feels like a boulder crushing me into the sidewalk. If I ever manage to do that, my aspiration is to finish my college degree in English lit and get a job as an editor at a publishing house. Hey, a girl has a right to her pipe dreams, doesn’t she?

Will: My goal is to figure out where the hell I see myself in a few years. Right now, my future looks like more of the same: long hours at work, too much business travel, attending events for PR purposes, and resisting my mother’s efforts to marry me off to one of her friends’ daughters. Not an exciting prospect.

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

I love when I start a book from a new to me author and everything just fades into the background and I fall into their story. This is what happened when I started reading SECOND TIME AROUND (Second Glances #1) by Nancy Herkness. This is a second chance contemporary romance with a plot that is not unique, but the characters are so realistic and relatable, they make you feel invested in their HEA and you just have to keep turning the pages.

Kyra Dixon is from a blue collar Pennsylvania family. Will Chase is from a blue blood Connecticut family. They meet in college while Will is dating Kyra’s suite mate. College life is a great equalizer for them and they become good friends, enjoying tossing famous quotes back and forth as a personal game. Kyra would love their relationship to be more, but he is not free and she always stays aware of their social differences. When Kyra’s father becomes ill, she returns to her small hometown and does not return to school.

Ten years later, Kyra is grabbing a bite at her favorite NYC café chain and runs into Will. Will has become the billionaire CEO of the chain and is as successful as Kyra knew he would be. Kyra is working days in the kitchen of a childhood community center and nights at a high class club to pay off debts left from her mother before her death. The sparks are still there and when Will asks Kyra to accompany him as his date to a family annual event she jumps at the chance.

Kyra falls hard for Will all over again, but always feels that their social and money differences make it a relationship with a time limit. Will starts to discover all over again the things that excite him and make him feel happy with Kyra always being honest and looking at his world in a different way. Kyra loves Will, but is it enough to bridge their differences? Does Will know what he truly wants?

I loved Kyra and Will. I related personally with everything about Kyra. She especially shines in all her scenes at the center with the kids. That the center also had a canine program made it even better. Kyra is such a strong character and I was very happy with the way this author moved Will towards her, rather than having Kyra drop everything for a HEA with just his money. This author definitely has a way with realistic, in-depth characters. Besides the romance growing at a believable rate, there are well written sex scenes that are explicit, intense and smoking hot.

I highly recommend you clear some time, curl up in your favorite chair and fall in love with Kyra and Will just like I did. I am looking forward to reading many more romances from Ms. Herkness.

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Second Time Around Excerpt

“Speaking of my family, I came here with an ulterior motive.”

“Oh?” What on earth could Will want from her?

“My mother throws an annual spring garden party—she calls it her Spring Fling—in Connecticut, on the family farm. She invites the whole extended family, all her friends, and my father’s business associates. I wondered if you might be willing to come with me. Next Sunday. Short notice, I know.”

His gaze didn’t waver from her face, which made it hard to respond, since she had to concentrate on not letting her mouth fall open in astonishment.

“I, um, well, that sounds like fun.” Total lie. It sounded terrifying. But she had Sunday off from work, so she had no commitments to stop her.

“Fun?” He shook his head. “It’s stuffy and tense and boring. My family all snap at each other when no one else is listening. That’s why I’m asking you to come as a buffer.”

“When you put it that way, how can I refuse?” She would be like a fish that didn’t even know which way the ocean was. But the chance to see Will in his childhood environment was irresistible. In college, he’d dropped casual comments about racing his sailboat on Long Island Sound, or his sister getting thrown from her horse in a cross-country event, or his mother winning the club’s tennis championship. It sounded like The Great Gatsby come to life. She had to experience it just once. “I’d be happy to go with you.”

The expression that crossed his face was hard to read, except for relief. “That’s the best news I’ve had all day,” he said.

“What’s the dress code?”

“Casual. It’s outdoors. There are tents in case it rains. Although even the weather rarely dares to displease my mother.”

“‘Casual’ covers a lot of territory for women,” she said. “Not jeans, I assume.”

He thought for a minute. “Dresses, sort of colorful. Flat shoes because of the grass. Straw hats, if it’s sunny.”

“What are you wearing?” That might help.

“My uniform. Khakis and a button-down shirt. Loafers.”

“No tie?”

“Hell, no!” he said. “Shirtsleeves rolled up, too.”

She got the picture, and she had nothing appropriate to wear. She sighed inwardly. This was going to cost her more money than she could afford. However, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to journey into the exotic country of upper-crust Connecticut. Not to mention, spending time with her college crush, who was even more crushworthy now.

“Okay, a rolled-up shirtsleeves kind of dress.” She took a gulp of her club soda as she debated where to find a dress that looked expensive but was bargain priced.

“I’ll pick you up at noon. We’ll make a fashionably late entrance. Which means we won’t have to endure the party as long.”

“This sounds more and more delightful all the time.”

Will finally smiled, albeit with an edge. “It won’t be as bad for you. They’re not your family.”

“I hear you.” But at least he still had his mother and father. As complicated as her parents had made her life, she sometimes felt terribly alone without them.

He sat back against the banquette. “Now I’m looking forward to the party.”

“You don’t have to flatter me. I’ve agreed to go.” But she couldn’t stop a smile of gratification from curling the corners of her mouth.

“You might begin to have second thoughts.” He pulled out his cell phone. “May I get your number so I don’t have to track you down?”

He tapped at the phone’s screen as she rattled off her phone number.

“Do you still have my cell number or did you chuck my card?” he asked with that self-deprecating smile that always charmed her.

“Just text me and I’ll have it on my phone.”

“So you chucked it.”

The disappointment in his tone surprised her.

“No, it’s at my apartment.”

His fingers flew over the keys of his phone.

A ping sounded from her back pocket, indicating she’d gotten his text, and she started to reach for her phone.

“Read it later,” he said with a roguish glint in his eyes. He placed his empty glass on the tray. “My apologies, but I have to go. Overseas business makes for odd working hours.”

 

***

About the Book

Title: Second Time Around

Author: Nancy Herkness

Release Date: July 24, 2018

Publisher: Montlake Romance

 

Summary

Kyra Dixon, a blue-collar girl from the boondocks, is dedicated to her job at a community center that matches underprivileged kids with rescue dogs. When she runs into Will Chase—Connecticut blue blood, billionaire CEO, and her old college crush—she’s surprised that he asks a favor from her: to be his date for his uptight family’s dreaded annual garden party. If his parents don’t approve, all the better.

Kyra’s not about to say no. It’ll give her a chance to be oh-so-close to her unrequited love. What begins as a little fling turns so mad hot, so fast, that Kyra finds herself falling all over again for a fantasy that won’t come true. How can it? She doesn’t belong in Will’s world. She doesn’t want to. But Will does want to belong in hers.

All he has to do now is prove it. Will is prepared to give up whatever is necessary to get what his heart most desires.

***

Author Biography


Nancy Herkness is the award-winning author of the Wager of Hearts, Whisper Horse, and Second Glances series, as well as several other contemporary romance novels. With degrees in English literature and creative writing from Princeton University, she has earned the New England Readers’ Choice award, the Book Buyers Best Top Pick honor, and the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, and she is a two-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award.

 Nancy is a native of West Virginia but now lives in suburban New Jersey with a goofy golden retriever.

 

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.nancyherkness.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancyherkness

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NancyHerkness

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/594870.Nancy_Herkness

 

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Feature Post and Book Review: Small Town Rumors by Carolyn Brown

  

I am so happy to share this Feature Post and my book review of Carolyn Brown’s new novel Small Town Rumors. This is the perfect summer read with great characters, a sweet romance, small town life and two senior sisters that will have you laughing out loud.

Below you will find a guest post from Ms. Brown followed by an excerpt from the book and then my book review. After the book summary and author info you will find a Rafflecopter giveaway. I hope you enjoy this Feature Post, good luck on the giveaway and you just have to get a copy of Small Town Rumors for yourself.

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Top 5 Biggest Scandals in Bloom, Texas by Carolyn Brown

Welcome to Bloom, Texas, where the gossip is hotter’n than the peppers in Rick’s garden. Bloom is located just north of Sweetwater where the land is so flat that you can see all the way to where the earth curves. Well, maybe not that far but it goes out there for miles until it finally meets the sky. It always reminds me of a child’s drawing. He/she makes a line on their paper. Above it is sky with fluffy clouds. Below it is grass with wild flowers. The streets are wide and the bus comes through on the way to Sweetwater once a day.

If you want to hear the local gossip, just stop by the Main Street Café. You’ll love the burger baskets and sweet tea, but if you listen closely, you can learn who didn’t come to church on Sunday and why, who died, who had a baby and whether or not she was married. The list goes on and on, so don’t bypass the café as you wander up and down Main Street. Oh, and ask Elaine, the owner, to fix you up with a large sweet tea to go when you leave.

A couple of doors down, you’ll see a used book store. Go right on in and Amos will tell you the whole history of Bloom. If you have a seat on the sofa inside the front door, he’ll entertain you until all that sweet tea is gone with stories about the folks in town. Don’t be shy, now. He loves company.

As a stranger, you probably won’t be invited to one of the Sweetwater Belle’s club meetings, but even their exclusive meetings aren’t so secret in Bloom. After all everyone knows everything about everyone. They know what they did with whom, where it happened and what time they got home afterwards. Then they read The Bloom Daily News to see who got caught!

After all, gossip is the life blood of the community. It’s what drives the people to get out in the blistering hot sun and go to town. It’s what sets the phone lines to smoking, and why there’s more than one cell tower pretty close to the town.

There were, have been, are will be many scandals in Bloom. But five come to mind. First is the fact that Jennie Sue’s dad has been having affairs for years and every year the mistress gets younger and younger. He has his reasons but Jennie Sue doesn’t know them until she comes home. Second would be the fact that she arrives in town, right there on Main Street on a bus. Not in a rented car from an airport. Not even in her own little fancy sports vehicle, but a bus! That alone will put a strain on the phone company. Third is that she intends to be independent and since her father won’t give her a job in the oil company, she agrees to clean houses for two elderly sisters, Lettie and Nadine, who are the biggest gossips in Bloom, Texas. Fourth is that she’s seen with Rick, a local farmer, and even worse that she’s working on his farm for no money but for vegetables as pay. And number five that she has a baby buried in an unmarked grave at the Bloom cemetery. Now when that last one hits the gossip vine, it really will be hotter’n the peppers in Rick’s garden!

***

Excerpt: Small Town Rumors

“Well, well, well! Are you leaving us already? You only got here yesterday.” Lettie shoved the suitcase over and sat down across the table from Jennie Sue. Short, as round as Mabel, and sporting a kinky hairdo that had gone out of style years ago, Lettie hadn’t changed since Jennie Sue was a little girl.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jennie Sue answered. “How have you been, Miz Lettie?”

“Elaine, I’ll have a big stack of pancakes and two orders of bacon,” Lettie called out across the café.

“Got it,” Elaine yelled.

“So where are you going?” Lettie turned back to Jennie Sue.

“To find a job,” she answered.

“What kind of skills and experience do you have?”

Elaine crossed the floor and set Jennie Sue’s breakfast in front of her. “Millie will bring out your order shortly, Miz Lettie.”

“No rush. Just send me a cup of coffee, and I’ll be happy until it gets here.” Lettie waved her away with a flick of the wrist and turned back to Jennie Sue. “Now, you were about to tell me about your work experience.”

Jennie Sue picked up the saltshaker and applied an unhealthy dose to her eggs. “I have no experience, but I do have a business degree. The only thing I’m good at is keeping a clean house and organizing fund-raisers and parties.”

“Hmm.” Lettie pursed her lips. “So why didn’t you have a housekeeper up there in New York?”

“Percy was never pleased with the way they cleaned.”

“Was?” Lettie asked.

“Been divorced for over a year.”

“Oh, really?” Lettie cocked her head to one side.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Me and my sister, Nadine, lost our housekeeper a couple of weeks ago. The lady that worked for us cleaned for me on Friday and Nadine on Thursday. You interested?”

Charlotte would probably go into cardiac arrest if Jennie Sue became nothing more than a maid for her archenemies. But hey, it was a job, and Jennie Sue damn sure knew how to clean a house so well that it would pass judgment in the courts of heaven.

“I might be interested if you could point me in the direction of an apartment or a rental house of some kind that wouldn’t be too expensive,” Jennie Sue answered.

“I got an apartment over my garage. It’s pretty small, but it’ll work for a single person. I’d be willing to rent it to you furnished. You’ll clean for me on Friday each week, but the last week in the month, you won’t get paid. That’ll be your rent,” Lettie said.

Jennie Sue could imagine Charlotte throwing whatever she could get her hands on at the wall when one of the Belles called her with that bit of news. Even if she was angry with her mother over trying to mold her into another Wilshire woman, she couldn’t do that to her mother—or could she? How else would she be independent?

She picked up a piece of crisp bacon with her fingers and took a bite while she thought about the offer. It was a job that she could do. It was a place for her to live. She didn’t have to live in a shelter or sleep on a park bench. However, her mother would never speak to her again, and the rumors would be so hot that they might burn down the whole town of Bloom.

***

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SMALL TOWN RUMORS by Carolyn Brown is a contemporary romance perfect for a summer read in the shade of a big old tree with a glass of lemonade or sweet tea. It is a sweet romance with wonderful characters and a small town setting. This was my first book from this author, but it will definitely not be my last.

Jennie Sue Baker has returned to Bloom, Texas. The minute she steps off the bus, the local café is buzzing with rumors about her return. Jennie Sue was raised to be a society belle and trophy wife, like her mother, but her marriage falls apart. Her mother goes into damage control and wants to get Jennie Sue back on track for another husband, but Jennie Sue has changed and has other plans for her life.

Jennie Sue wants to build her own life with her business degree and never again rely on a man to support her. Her mother does not understand her and her father is not willing to interfere. As Jennie Sue accepts two jobs house cleaning which includes an above garage apartment her mother is scandalized and the rumor mill is working overtime.

Rick Lawson has returned to Bloom after medical discharge from the army. He is working to keep his family’s farm running with the help of his sister, Cricket who waitresses at the local café. Rick does not believe in gossip, but he is interested to learn of Jennie Sue’s return. He sees Jennie Sue for who she is and not her past status, but he also does not believe she could ever be interested in a scarred veteran with simple dreams.

The romance between Jennie Sue and Rick builds slowly throughout the book. Kisses and hand-holding build at a realistic pace to all other eventual sex scenes happening behind closed doors. The elder sisters that help Jennie Sue are very adorable and funny. Cricket is as big a gossip as the old ladies, but is never really malicious. I loved all of the characters in this book and especially Jennie Sue’s spirit and determination. The small town of Bloom is depicted as a typical small town and I hope there are real small towns just like it.

***

About the Book

Title: Small Town Rumors

Author: Carolyn Brown

Release Date: July 3, 2018

Publisher: Montlake Romance

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Summary

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.

As romance starts to bud, Jennie relishes what it means to follow her heart, find real new friends, and finally be herself—regardless of all the lying town chatter. But fate has another twist in store. Rumor has it that Jennie now stands to lose what matters most . . . unless she can convince Rick of one true thing—and that’s love.

***

About the Author

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author and a RITA finalist with more than ninety published books, which include women’s fiction and historical, contemporary, and cowboys-and-country-music romance. She and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma—where everyone knows everyone else and knows 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.

 

Social Media Links

 

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Carolyn-Brown-198727816879253/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13554.Carolyn_Brown

 

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