Hopeless Romantic

Carolyn Brown
Cowboy Bold
Release Day May 29, 2018

With her sassy humor and sexy cowboys, USA Today bestseller Carolyn Brown launches her new Longhorn Canyon series.

One city girl, one die-hard rancher, and eight mischievous kids. What could go wrong?

Every summer Cade Maguire looks forward to opening his Longhorn Canyon Ranch to underprivileged city kids. But this year, he's having no luck finding a counselor for the children-until Retta Palmer walks through his door.

Flat broke after selling everything she owns to pay her father's medical bills, Retta is thrilled to hear of an opening for a counselor position. She's not as thrilled about the ranching part, or the sexy cowboy with beautiful blue eyes who's her new boss.

After being left at the altar two years before by his fiancée, Cade isn't sure he can take another heartbreak. And Retta isn't even sure she wants to stay. But the sparks between them are absolutely undeniable. And with a couple of lovable kids and two elderly folks playing matchmaker, Cade and Retta may find that the best way to heal is with each other.

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REVIEW: COWBOY BOLD (LONGHORN CANYON) BY CAROLYN BROWN

Q&A

Where do you find your inspiration?

From anything and everything. I once saw a couple arguing with a barbed wire fence between them. I couldn’t hear their words but their body language said it all. That became my first cowboy book. Then another time I saw an old run down house in the middle of a mesquite covered place in Texas. That became the basis for Wild Cowboy Ways. I could just imagine three cousins pooling their money and buying that old place with intentions of turning it into a prosperous ranch.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Writing the end. I get to know the characters so well that I had to tell them goodbye. But Cowboy Bold wasn’t as difficult because I get to see them again in Cowboy Honor Cowboy Brave and Cowboy Rebel.

What are your current projects?

I’m working on a women’s fiction book right now titled The Perfect Dress. When I finish that I’ll dive into Cowboy Rebel, the fourth book in the Longhorn Canyon Series. Right now there are plans for a fifth book but it’s not titled yet. I get to work with all the characters from the previous books. It’s like having a family reunion with each one of books.

Does music play any type of role in your writing?

Yes, it does. I’m an avid country music fan and my characters often listen to the music with me. My editor for the cowboys even makes a play list for my readers.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your life?

Benjy in Cowboy Bold is based on a brief encounter I had with a bunch of kids in a fast food place. Mr. B and I had gone on a research trip, and we’d stopped in a burger shop for lunch. A group of kids, along with a couple of sponsors, came in and sat down at a long booth. One little boy sat off to himself reading a book. It was obvious that he had problems, but he stole my heart and became Benjy in my book. I don’t know who he was, but I did stop and comment to the supervisor about how well behaved the children were, and she told me they all lived in a group home. That became the basis of my story—what if a cowboy had a ranch and he invited a few at risk city kids to stay there several weeks in the summer? What if he couldn’t find a bunkhouse mama for the girls? What if he didn’t want to like her because he’d had a bad breakup with his girlfriend?

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Thank you from the bottom of my heart and soul. Without readers it wouldn’t take long for authors to be on the endangered species list, and that’s one place I never want to see my name. I love all my readers, and I appreciate their support. Thanks to all y’all for buying my books, for talking about them in your book clubs, for sending me fan mail when you love a story and for taking time to write reviews. Y’all are all amazing and I’m blessed to have you in my life.

Do you have a special time to write? How is your day structured writing-wise?

I’m an early riser so I start writing before seven. On a good day I write a thousand words before breakfast, two more thousand before lunch and then finish up the last two thousand by supper time. With rewrites and promo, I don’t have all good days, but when I do, it sure is nice.

When you start a book, do you already have the whole story in your head or is it built progressively?

I try to have about five chapters planned out, but pretty often before they are written, the characters have taken over. And I never argue with the characters—like the folks say in business about the customer always being right, the characters can be hard to live with if I argue. I have a plaque in my office that says, I know the voices in my head are not real but they have really great ideas. That plaque is the story of my life!

When and why did you begin writing?

As soon as I learned those squiggly things on the page were words—in the first grade—I fell in love with words and stories. And I started making up stories on my own.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

When I sold my first books (I got the call about twenty years ago from an editor who said she wanted to buy both of the books I’d submitted). I’d collected rejection slips for twenty years before that, so it was a pretty exciting day for me.

Tell us something that people would be surprised you know how to do.

I’m a seamstress. I don’t get out the sewing machine very often, but I made all my daughters clothing when they were in school, up to and including prom dresses and their wedding dresses. I also made my son’s and Mr. B’s three pieced suits. But these days I’m too busy writing to do much sewing.

Will you write more about these characters?

Oh, yes. Don’t put your cowboy boots away. There are more cowboy books on the way!!

About Carolyn:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Brown was born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma. These days she and her husband make their home in Davis, Oklahoma, a small town of less than three thousand people where everyone knows everyone, knows what they are doing and with whom, and read the weekly newspaper to see who got caught.

A plaque hangs on her office wall that says I know the voices are not real but they have such great ideas. That is her motto and muse as she goes through the days with quirky characters in her head, telling their stories, one by one, and loving her job.
She has been married almost half a century to a retired English teacher that she calls Mr. B and he does not read her books before they are published because she cannot afford a divorce. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them busy and young.

When Carolyn is not writing she likes to sit in the back yard and watch the two tom cats protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, other cats, spiders and blue jays.

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

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