Carolyn Brown | The Rest of the Story

Hello to everyone at Fresh Fiction! I’m so excited to be here on the launch date of COWBOY BOOTS FOR CHRISTMAS (Cowboy not Included). It’s the first book in the Burnt Boot Series and introduces Finn and Callie and the feud that’s going on in Burnt Boot, Texas.

Remember back when Paul Harvey used to say, “And now the rest of the story”? Do you ever wonder, when you pick up a book, and the hero and heroine knew each other before what happened back then? Well, as Mr. Harvey said, this is the rest of the story.

Finn was a military sniper stationed in Afghanistan and Callie was his spotter. There’s a quote in the book that says: They were partners, sniper and spotter, and were closer than a husband and wife in lots of ways.

Partners didn’t act on crushes and they damn sure didn’t get involved with each other, not when they had to do the jobs that Finn and Callie were called upon to do. But that didn’t mean that Callie wasn’t attracted to Finn in those two years they were close partners or that in the beginning Finn didn’t have a crush on her. However, before Callie could get up the nerve to defy protocol and say a word to him about her feelings, he’d fallen in love with a native woman, Lala.

Maybe fate stepped in at the right moment because Finn loved ranching and planned to go back to that life when his enlistment was up. If there was one thing Callie had no intentions of ever doing again, it was living on a ranch. However, the heart doesn’t always understand logic and she did shed secret tears when she hugged him goodbye and left him with Lala.

The relationship with Lala didn’t work out but when he tried to get in touch with Callie, she’d moved and left no forwarding address. Thinking that Lala was now Mrs. Finn O’Donnell, Callie didn’t even try to get in touch with Finn once she was stateside. Not until the nephew that she’d come home to raise witnessed a murder and they wanted to put him and her into the Witness Protection program.

There was only one person in the world that Callie would trust with her life. Thank God he didn’t have any idea that she’d had feelings for him because she was about to ask him if she and Martin, her nephew, could hide on his ranch in the tiny little town of Burnt Boot, Texas. Hopefully, Lala wouldn’t see her as a threat and the trial would be over soon because she had no intentions of living on a ranch very long.

Then the tug of war started. Finn could see that Callie’s dislike of ranching wasn’t the job but the people she’d associated the job with. Getting her to realize that might be tough but he was a patient man. Callie could tell that Finn wasn’t truly over Lala and her heart ached for him. Helping him overcome the betrayal of a woman he truly thought he’d loved wouldn’t be easy.

Miracles can happen. Especially over the Christmas holidays. Even in the midst of a feud that has been going on for over a hundred years. All it takes is believing and listening to the heart. Tell me folks, what’s your favorite Christmas miracle story?

About COWBOY BOOTS FOR CHRISTMAS

Feasting

Frolicking

And...Feuding?

All he wants for Christmas is peace and quiet...

After two tours in Afghanistan, retired Army sniper Finn O'Donnell believes his new ranch outside the sleepy little town of Burnt Boot, Texas, is the perfect place for an undisturbed holiday season. But before he can settle in, an old friend shows up looking for protection and a place where nobody knows her name.

But that's going to take a miracle...

Callie Brewster must relocate to protect her young nephew, Martin, and the only person she trusts is her old Army friend, Finn. Burnt Boot seems like the perfect place to be anonymous, but it turns out a small town with big drama is no place to hide...

About Carolyn Brown

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times bestselling author with more than sixty books published, and credits her eclectic family for her humor and writing ideas. Carolyn was born in Texas but grew up in southern Oklahoma where she and her husband, Charles, a retired English teacher, make their home. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. Visit Carolyn's website and Facebook page to learn more.