Good mornin’ to everyone. Here’s hoping that your holidays were amazing, that
you got to spend time with your family and friends and that you now have time to
sit down, prop up your feet, enjoy a good cup of coffee, hot chocolate or wine
and enjoy reading for a few days.
Thank you, Sara, and all the folks at Fresh Fiction for letting me stop by today
and talk about my newest release, THE BAREFOOT SUMMER. Three
women all married to the same man. None of them know about the other two. Until
they all three show up at his funeral.
They all three listen to country music and the songs that they like play a part
in the book. There were five that really made an impact on the women’s
decisions, though.
Number 1 was “Heartbeat” by Carrie Underwood. Kate is helping
out a ranch belonging to the detective who is trying to prove that one of the
women killed the cheating husband when she hears the song. The story the words
tell is one of her heart. She’s trying to decide whether to go on with the path
that was set out for her by her mother when she was just a little girl or to set
her heels and travel down another road.
Number 2 was an old hymn, “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah,” that they
sang in church one Sunday morning. It talked about laying down their burdens and
all the women related to the snappy tune.
Let me introduce you to Gracie. She’s a sweet little dark haired girl, Conrad’s
only child up until that time. Jamie, the second wife of the dead man, is her
mother and she’s stolen the hearts of Kate, first wife, and Amanda, the third
wife. The whole bunch of them, along with some neighbors, are fishing in the
lake right behind the cabin where they’re all staying. The third
song that has a bearing on the story is the one that Gracie makes up
while she’s fishing. Maybe a little excerpt…
“Come on little fishies, eat the worm on my hook,” Gracie sang.
Before she could sing the line the fourth time, something took the cork
under the surface. “Come help me, Mama,” she squealed.
“I can’t,” Jamie shouted. “I’ve got a bite, too.”
Kate laid her fishing pole to the side and hurried over to Gracie’s side.
Putting her arms around the little girl’s shoulders, she gently held the rod
steady and helped her turn the handle on the reel. Victor looked like he was
about to dance a jig right there on the rough wood platform when they brought in
another nice-size catfish. With those moves, maybe he could have mastered the
tightrope.
“Would you look at this, Hattie? We’re going to have a feast,” he yelled.
“I’m not hard of hearing!” She tapped her ears. “But take a look at Jamie’s
fish. It’s almost as big as Gracie’s! Your singing worked, child. You really
might snag the biggest fish at the festival.”
“I’ll get these two cleaned up while y’all get out the picnic,” Victor
said.
“Kate, do you really think my song helped?” Gracie eyed her seriously. “Or
are they just tellin’ me that to get my hopes up about them tickets?”
Kate hugged the child to her. Would her daughter have looked like Gracie? Or
would she have had blonde hair and blue eyes?
Number 4 song was the one that the high school band was playing
in the parade at summer festival. I could hear it in my head as I was writing.
The name of the song isn’t listed because I wanted each reader to hear their own
high school fight song as they were reading. Maybe one more little excerpt…
The Bootleg High School band, all wearing street clothing and crazy fishing
hats instead of their usual uniforms, marched behind the fire truck. Twice the
band stopped and performed a fancy two-step routine that garnered catcalls and
applause from the crowd.
Kate took a picture of the band with her phone and then took several
up-close snapshots of Gracie. Maybe she’d scatter pictures of Gracie throughout
her new home, wherever it turned out to be.
Maybe that was her sign. She could travel around to the festivals
taking pictures like they did on cruise ships and selling them to the people.
The possibilities were endless. Lovers, married folks, old people, little
kids—she turned her camera up and shot another picture of Gracie and Lisa with
their heads together as they watched the band. Then she took one of Paul and
Jamie standing about a foot apart as they minded the children.
And the fifth song is a lot like Number 4, no name but it was
an important piece of music in the storyline, one that the characters won’t ever
forget. There’s an epilogue that takes place a year later, a time when Kate and
the detective, Waylon, are riding the Ferris wheel. Again, the song isn’t named
but I’m sure the reader can hear that familiar tinkling music as the Ferris
wheel makes its rounds.
Thanks again to all the folks at Fresh Fiction for letting me stop by and visit.
And thanks to all my family, friends and fans who are propping up their feet and
reading THE BAREFOOT SUMMER!
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.
Fiery, strong-willed Jamie wishes Conrad were still alive—so she could kill the
scoundrel herself. But for their daughter’s sake, she needs that property. As
does Amanda—twenty-eight, pregnant, and still weeping over the loss of her true
love. On a broiling July day, all three arrive in Bootleg…with a dogged
detective right behind who’s convinced that at least one of them conspired to
commit murder. One momentous summer filled with revelations, quirky neighbors,
and barefoot evenings on the porch offers three women the chance to make the
journey from enemies to friends, and claim a bright, new beginning.
Romance Contemporary
[Montlake Romance, On Sale: January 3, 2017,
Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781503941281 / ]
Carolyn Brown is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling
author, as well as a RITA finalist. She has written several beloved and popular
romance titles, ranging from historical to contemporary to cowboy-themed. She
and her husband live in Davis, Oklahoma. They have three grown children, and
enough grandchildren to keep them young.
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