Bestelling author Carolyn Brown makes her first foray into women's fiction with this poignant and hilarious novel about four friends in Cadillac, Texas—where the best jalapeños in the world are grown.

Everything is calm in Cadillac, Texas until Aunt Agnes declares war on Violet Prescott, the president of the Blue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society, just in time for the annual jubilee. But after the festivities—and the hostilities—are over, it's four friends who are left standing, proving once again that friendship is forever.

All’s fair in love and war, and Sophie is determined to win the battle for her aunt Maud’s cattle ranch — even if it means fighting Elijah, a rude ex-military man. But it seems that even from the grave Aunt Maud is still matchmaking; her will states that both Sophie and Elijah must share the ranch evenly, and neither wants to give up a share. But Sophie’s main focus is on the ranch, not romance; she just put her life back together after being betrayed in her previous marriage. As the two work side by side, their feelings begin to change. But before they can find their happily ever after, Elijah must see through Sophie’s hard armor to the sweet soul beneath, and Sophie must help Elijah overcome his wartime nightmares of fallen friends. In Life After Wife, second chances and true love are strong, triumphing amid heartache and despair.

Praise for Red's Hot Cowboy:

'An old-fashioned love story told well...A delight.'—RT Book Reviews, 4 Stars

She's Got Her Eyes on the Prize...

Gemma O'Donnell wasn't the first woman to win the ProRodeo buckle for bronc riding, but she was darn well going to be the second. What she didn't count on was her main competition sweeping her off her feet.

He'll Do Whatever It Takes To Win...

Trace Coleman isn't really after a title—he needs the cash prize to buy his dream ranch. But one sexy, determined cowgirl keeps getting in his way. In his effort to take her out of the running, he risks losing both the title—and his heart.

They're Both in For a Little Surprise...

Everybody's world is turned upside down when a pint-sized bundle of joy gets dropped right into Trace's lap...and suddenly all the stakes are higher.

Praise for Love Drunk Cowboy:

'Brown revitalizes the Western romance with this fresh, funny, and sexy tale.'—Booklist

After her divorce, bestselling romance author Mary Jane Marsh Simmons decided to move all seven of her girls out of the big city and back to her small hometown of Nacona, Texas. So when the last remaining relative of Miz Raven died and the Paradise was put on the market, she bought it, an old house that had been a brothel during the cattle trail days in Spanish Fort, Texas. Joe Clay Carter had just retired from twenty years in the Marines, Special Forces. He'd lived through wars and rumors of wars and decided to go home to Nacona to do nothing but play poker, draw his retirement check, and enjoy life. Two weeks later he was bored stiff, his motel room closing in on him, and he was seriously thinking of re-enlisting. Suddenly, his high school crush, Mary Jane, appeared at his door asking him to remodel her new house. As teenagers Mary Jane never gave Joe Clay a second glance, so he was surprised by her offer. Immediately they shook on the deal and he moved into her house to get started. Much to his surprise, the house came filled to the roof with little girls, good food, and crazy conversations, all wrapped up in a house that needed a minor miracle to fix by Christmas. He wasn't sure if he could get it done in time but he was willing to try. If only Mary Jane was willing to give him a chance too.

Dixie Nelson arrived in Florida with a mad spell sitting on her shoulders. Her two friends Faith and Jill could flirt with the tanned and gorgeous men on the beaches all they wanted. She wasn't going to do anything but try to get over her anger and enjoy a perfect summer... one with no men allowed in her heart. Not even the good looking T-shirt painter who employed her right after he accused her of shop lifting.Boone Callahan spent all his summers in Florida, painting and selling T-shirts to the tourists. How was he supposed to know the woman running out of his shop with three tee shirts tucked under her arm wasn't trying to steal them? Or that when he hired her as part-time help she would wind up stealing his heart?Dixie and her friends, all school teachers from Arkansas, have endured wars and rumors of wars, true PMS, men problems, school problems, and shared the joys and sorrows of life for five years. Nothing could possibly destroy their friendship. But during the wonderfully hot summer, the very roots of the Sisterhood are shaken. Will it survive? Can Dixie and Boone find a future together? Is 'happily ever after' a myth or does it really happen?

Ivy Cameo Johnson, an oil baroness from Houston, has wealth that draws men like flies to honey, yet she also possesses intelligence and an awkwardness that runs them off.John William Dalhart, a Texas oil baron himself, out to prove his father and new business partner both wrong, was also born into wealth. There's been noNeither has met nor knows about the other. Until fate, and their meddling fathers, intervenes. Ivy makes a bet with her friend that she most certainly can work in a menial, minimum wage job for a month. Meanwhile, Will picks up the challenge thrown out by his father and Red Marshall daring him to live in a small town and get a woman to say she'd marry him while knowing nothing about his wealth.Both wind up in Murray County, Oklahoma - Cameo as the manager of the Strawberry Moon, a small burger joint on Highway 77; Will, a chief cook and dish washer. She thinks he's in the witness protection program. He thinks she's a poor country girl from the boonies. But they've agreed there'll be no past or future...only today while they're working at the Moon.When the month is over they'll both go their separate ways and never look back at what they shared. What they don't realize is that their future is together, in work, and in love.

Augusta 'Gussie' Dulan is the only Dulan sister to make it all the way to California on the wagon train for brides. Each of her four sisters has taken off along the trail to marry up with a man they fell in love with and now Gussie is hoping to find a man to love here at the end of the trail.Dressing in her fabulous red satin dancing dress, complete with black lace and feathered headdress, Gussie lines up with the other potential brides to see whom it is that they will marry.Gideon Jefferson, the town preacher, takes one look at Gussie and is horrified at her saloon girl outfit, but things turn even worse when his number is called and he 'wins' Gussie's hand in marriage. Gussie is less that pleased to be stuck with this wretched, assuming man. Neither wants to be married, so they make a pact that she will be on the first wagon train out after the winter. In the meantime, Gussie will come home with him and tend to his four young daughters and run his unruly house. It seems like a good arrangement.But Gussie is much more than Gideon could have imagined. She not only keeps the house immaculate, the table filled with delicious food, the girls clean and happy, she has the women of the town following her example and turning Gideon's and the rest of the men's lives upside down.Neither Gussie nor Gideon will admit they actually have feelings for one another. It takes a lot of courage, four little girls, and a whole town to bring them both to their senses.

Douglass Esmeralda Sullivan has just discovered that all men are gutter rats, all except for her six half-Irish, half-Mexican brothers, and sometimes she's not so sure about them. She's sitting in the middle of a dusty road on a hot Texas day, fuming because she's made a horrible mistake concerning Raymond Pierce, a despicable Yankee, one who has led her down the daisy path to destruction. She has no doubts her folks and her brothers would put her in a convent for the rest of her life for her rash misjudgment, but dang it all, it was her choice to show him who was boss. Little did she know that the choice would determine her destiny.Monroe Hamilton is on his way home from a year in Galveston, Texas where he's been assigned to help with the reconstruction of Texas after the Civil War. He's been to the big circus called war and had seen the big elephant called life. His heart is so hardened and scarred, it is impossible for him to foresee a love in his future. He has made up his mind that he will be a bachelor for the rest of his life and that Love's Valley, Pennsylvania will be his love.Then, out of nowhere, he sees an exotic-looking, beautiful woman sitting right in the middle of the road. It's his choice to play a knight in shining armor and rescue the helpless, pretty lady. Little does he know that this choice would determine his destiny.The war might have split the country in two, but it didn't make rascals of all its men. Guided by his conscience, Monroe chooses to escort the lady to the nearest town. Guided by a desire to avoid a life of prayers and meditation, Douglass chooses to lie.

The Irish are hardheaded so Elspeth Hamilton doesn't like them. The Mexicans are hotheaded so likewise, she doesn't think much of them either. Since Rebels burned her family home, killing both her parents in the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania fire, it stands to reason she surely doesn't waste affection on Rebels. Colum Sullivan is all three: Irish, Mexican and Rebel. It would take an utter absence of sanity and total absolution of all the past to fall in love with Colum.The English are a stiff-necked lot so Colum doesn't like Ellie. The Yankees are a cold-blooded bunch so likewise he doesn't like her. All he's going to do is rescue her and then light a shuck back to Texas. But an early blizzard in the mountains of Southern Pennsylvania turns his plans around abruptly. Colum admires the lady but that's as far as it's going because it's absolutely the wrong time in the century for the likes of a lady like Ellie Hamilton and a man like Colum Sullivan to get together. Those kinds of miracles only happen once in a lifetime, and his sister Douglass and her new husband Monroe have already captured that miracle.

Adelida Broussau took a big chance by saying she was Rueben Hamilton's new bride. But even a rat will stand up and fight when it's cornered and she was surely feeling the pinch of being pushed in the corner. Her sister, Maria, was dead. Her sorry, Yankee loving brother-in-law, Victor, had issued her an ultimatum to be out of New Orleans by night, or else; then stole the rest of her money so she couldn't leave. Then there was Rueben, hit on the head for attempting to thwart a bank robbery, his memory gone and leavingtown that very day. All she had to do was say she was truly his wife. Everyone in the chaos after the robbery already thought they were newlyweds. So she took a big chance andlet them go right on believing she was.Rueben Hamilton went to New Orleans from southern Pennsylvania at the request of the President of the United States to help with the reconstruction of Louisiana after the Civil War. He'd gone into the bank to finish his business before boarding The Queen for the first leg of his journey home. He didn't remember the bank robbery. All he remembered was awakingwith a headache, no memory, and a wife fresh from the Acadian bayou country. None of it made a bit of sense.It was supposed to take a month for them to reach Love's Valley, an obscure little valley near Shirleysburg, Pennsylvania. That was if everything went according to plan and Rueben's memory didn't return; if he didn't toss Adelida off at the next port of call to fend for herself, or worse,throw her overboard. But fate played her hand and dealt the two of them some unforeseen cards that turned their world upside down.Their hearts didn't care that there'd been a war and it was the worst possible time for a Yankee soldier and a Louisiana bayou woman to fall in love. But listening to the stirrings of hearts bound for love isn't an easy thing to do.

Geneva Garner's mind was fixed on survival, her unborn child, escaping out of Savannah, and getting away from the men in the white robes with hoods over their heads. Covered in dirt and smoke from the cellar where she took refuge when the Klan burned her plantation home, she fled on the first stagecoach headed north. She vowed never to trust a man again as long as there was breath in her body. They were all scoundrels and the past would haunt her forever.Harry Reed Hamilton was on his way home from Savannah to Love's Valley, Pennsylvania. The Civil War had been over for two years and his term of enlistment was finally over. The only thing marring his happiness was the fact that he was riding with a dirty, heavy woman in the stagecoach. After consoling himself that it was only for a day, he was surprised to find himself and the large woman tossed out on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere after a stage heist.Trapped together by fate, they travel by any means possible heading to Lynchburg, VA, where she hopes to find relatives.A friendship buds amidst the difficulties they face. A love is born from the friendship but neither of them are willing to admit that the past can truly be forgotten and a sweet future can lie ahead.

Indigo Hamilton was a lovely bride and the day was perfect as she walked down the aisle toward her smiling groom, Thomas Brewster. She was the absolute center of attention and loved being there - until the priest asked if anyone had any objections to the marriage. Then the doors of the church swung open and Indigo's world fell apart.Flannon Sullivan chose to sit at the back of the church. Thank goodness Indigo would be out of Love's Valley and living in Shirleysburg for the next several months. Flannon had promised his sister, Douglass, and his brother, Colum, he'd stay until spring to help with the new horses and the new homes being built in Love's Valley but only because Indigo would be married and gone. When the world came crashing down around Indigo's white wedding dress, he sure enough wished he could break that promise.Indigo hated all things Southern, especially the swaggering, handsome Flannon Sullivan. Flannon could have forgiven Indigo for being a Yankee but he sure hated that well-honed sharp tongue she used too often. Each of them made a silent vow that disastrous day they'd stay out of each other's way all winter. But fate had different plans.

Kim Brewster’s ill-fated marriage was annulled so quickly that she thought she could keep the whole thing a secret…until she found out she was pregnant. But before her confession can blow a hole in the seemingly perfect lives of the Brewster women, her great-grandmother, Hannah, drops a bomb of her own. She’s selling her hotel and moving to a farm in Oklahoma — and all the Brewsters are coming with her. Kim is sure her grandmother, Karen, and mother, Sue, won’t go along with the plan, but Hannah can be very convincing. Soon the women are working the farm, selling their wares from a roadside stand, and finally feeling like a family.And as the Brewster women’s lives take shape in ways they never expected, Kim may have found another shot at love. Luke thought he’d washed his hands of women, but when he stops by the vegetable stand and meets Kim, he’s instantly smitten. To find love, though, they’ll both have to dig past their hidden secrets.

'Tis the season for...

• A matchmaking grandma on a long-disantance mission
• Mistletoe temptation in every doorway
• A sexy cowboy with a killer smile

When Gran Presely agrees to sell Creed Riley the Rockin' C Ranch for a song at Christmastime, he can hardly believe his good fortune. There's just one little catch-her tantalizing granddaughter Sage is part of the deal...

Praise for Darn Good Cowboy Christmas:

'A story with a cowboy always hits the target, but add a little Christmas flair and a saucy heroine and you have a winner.'—Long and Short Reviews

'This fast-paced holiday romp brims with music, laughter...and plenty of Texas flavor.'—Library Journal

'Full of sizzling chemistry and razor-sharp dialogue.'—Night Owl Reviews, Reviewer Top Pick, 4 Stars

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 fifteen, 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. As an elementary school principal, part-time cop, and full-time ranch owner, he doesn't have time for the sassy woman who suddenly appears in his life: first in the jailhouse, then at his school and soon everywhere he turns.

Fate is trying to tell Fancy Lynn and Theron that they are soul mates, but is having a tough time convincing them.

Secrets told in the church ladies' room are supposed to stay in the ladies' room. But that doesn't mean that what Trudy overhears there during her great-aunt Gertrude's funeral won't change the rest of her life.Trudy has a daughter in the middle of a major rebellion; a two-timing husband who has been cheating for their entire married life; and a mother with Alzheimer's residing in the local nursing home. She doesn't really need a crumbling old house about to fall into nothing but a pile of memories and broken knickknacks.Billy Lee Tucker, resident oddball in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, lived next door to Gert, and in her will she leaves him the funds to help Trudy remodel the old house. That's fine with Billy Lee, because he's been in love with Trudy since before they started school. And just spending time with her is something he'd never ever allowed himself to dream about.A beautiful home rises up from the old house on Broadway, and right along with it rises up a relationship. But is Trudy too scarred from what she heard in the ladies' room to see a lovely future with Billy Lee?

Dee Hooper and Jack Brewer grew up next door to each other in sleepy Buckhorn Corner, Oklahoma. From the time they were less than a year old they'd been best friends, but then Dee eloped with a man from Pennsylvania. Seven years later, she's brought a broken heart back home to her dysfunctional family: Roxie, the grandmother, who runs the family with an attitude of steel; Mimosa, the mother, who's been married so many times she's forgotten half of them; Tally, the sister who's in the county jail for writing hot checks; Bodine, Tally's daughter, who's been raised by Rosie just like Dee and Tally were; and Jack, the boy next door who's always loved Dee. Jack was the computer geek in high school, and he's turned that knowledge into a lucrative business - one that allows him to continue to run the convenience store in town, which he loves. He's content, selling picnic supplies and bait to the fishermen and campers. But there's a hole in his heart, and the only person who can fill it is Dee Hooper. Then one hot summer day she appears, and he's determined not to let her hurt him or get away again. With Dee and Jack battling past hurts and fears, they try to reclaim their lifelong friendship and trust again, each secretly hoping they'll be more than just friends this time around.

'Mississippi author Eudora Welty--winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and the first living writer to be published in the Library of America series--mentored many of today's greatest fiction writers. This fascinating woman observed and wrote brilliantly throughout the majority of the twentieth century (1909-2001). Her life reflects a century of rapid change and is closely entwined with many events that mark our recent history. This biography tells Welty's story, beginning with her parents and their important influence on her reading and writing life. The chapters that follow focus on her education and her most important teachers as well as her life during the Depression and how her new career, just getting started, was interrupted by World War II. Throughout she shows independence and courage in her writing, especially during the turbulent civil rights period of the 1950s and 1960s. After years of care-giving and the deaths of all her immediate family members, Welty persevered, wrote acclaimed short stories, and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for The Optimist's Daughter. Her popularity soared in the 1980s after she delivered the three William E. Massey Lectures to standing-room-only crowds at Harvard. The lectures were later publishedas One Writer's Beginnings and became a New York Times bestseller. This biography will introduce readers of all ages to one of the most significant writers of the past century, a prolific author who comprehends and transcends her Mississippi roots to create short stories, novels, and nonfiction that will endure for all time'--

'Brown is a superstar...Full–throttle fun.'—Wendy's Minding Spot

A marriage made in Vegas...

Hunky cowboy Ace Riley wasn't planning on settling down, but his family had other plans for him...The only way to save his hide, and his playboy lifestyle, is to discreetly marry his best friend, Jasmine King.

Can't possibily last...

Fiesty city–girl Jasmine as just helping out her friend—that is, until their first kiss stirs up a whole mess of trouble, and suddenly discretion is thrown to the wind.

One hot cowboy, one riled up woman...
And they'll be married for a year, like it or not!

Praise for Carolyn Brown's Spikes & Spurs series:

'An old–fashioned love story told well...A delight.'—RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

'Tender and passionate love scenes...endearing and quirky characters...an absolutely adorable story.'—The Romance Studio

'Plenty of twists, turns, and how cowboys, and a story line that's got to be continued.'—Long and Short Reviews

 

He's One Hot Cowboy. . .
Raylen O'Donnell is one smokin' cowboy. He could have any woman he wants, but he's never been able to forget a certain dark-haired girl who disappeared from his life. So when she suddenly returns to the ranch next door, Raylen's not fixing to let her get away again . . .

And She's Out For a Sizzlin' Christmas
Raised in a traveling carnival, Lizelle Hanson thought all she wanted was a house that didn't have wheels and a sexy cowboy for her very own. But when settling down's going to take some getting used to, and catching Raylen, the hotter-than-hell cowboy next door, might just take a little holiday magic. . .

Praise for Honky Tonk Christmas:

'Sassy contemporary romance. . . with all the local color and humorous repartee her fans adore.' ? Booklist

'This book makes me believe in Christmas miracles and long slow kisses under the mistletoe.' ? The Romance Studio

'Anything but predictable. The most difficult thing about reading a Brown book is putting it down.' ? Fresh Fiction

Praise for Love Drunk Cowboy:
'Charming...full of sassy fun.'
?BookPage

He wasn't looking for trouble...

But when the cops are knocking on your door, trouble's definitely found you. And this is where Wil Marshall finds himself after checking in to the Longhorn Inn. It could all be a big mistake, but Wil's not getting much sleep. Then the motel owner-who is drop dead gorgeous and feisty to boot-saves him from an even worse night behind bars. Now he owes her one, big time...

But Trouble comes in all shapes and sizes...

Pearl never wanted that run-down motel, but her aunt didn't leave her much choice. And then this steaming hot cowboy shows up looking for a place to rest. Next thing she knows, she wants to offer him more than just room service.

But if he calls her Red one more time, he won't be the only one accused of murder...

Sparks are definitely flying and before long, the Do Not Disturb sign might be swinging from the door...

Praise for Love Drunk Cowboy:

'Brown revitalizes the Western romance with this fresh, funny, and sexy tale filled with likable, down-to-earth characters.'
-Booklist

'Tender and passionate love scenes... endearing and quirky characters...What an absolutely adorable story.'
-The Romance Studio

Praise for Carolyn Brown's Honky Tonk series

'Fun, sassy, and fast-paced romance.'—RT Book Reviews, 4 stars

'Sometimes humorous, sometimes touching, and Brown's fans will be pleased to reconnect with her trademark cast of quirky characters.'—Booklist starred review

'Funny, witty, heartfelt, and sexy...a sizzling series!!!!'—Book Junkie

She's a self-made city girl...

High-powered career woman Austin Lanier suddenly finds herself saddled with an inherited watermelon farm deep in the countryside. She's determined to sell the farm, until her new, drop-dead sexy neighbor Rye O'Donnell shows up...

He's as intoxicating as can be...

Rancher Rye O'Donnell thinks he's going to get a good deal on his dream property—until he meets the fiery new owner. Rye is knocked sideways when he realizes that not only is Granny Lanier's city-slicker granddaughter a savvy businesswoman, she's also sexy as hell...

Suddenly Rye is a whole lot less interested in real estate and a whole lot more focused on getting Austin to set aside her stiletto heels...