Long and Short Reviews welcomes Carolyn Brown who is celebrating today’s release of Small Town Rumors. Enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post for a chance to win a digital copy of The Sometimes Sisters.
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.
Enjoy an Exclusive Excerpt:
Jennie Sue was so busy at the deli counter deciding whether to buy half a pound or a whole one of pastrami that she didn’t even turn around when she heard Lettie talking to someone else. She decided on half a pound and then ordered the same amount of white American cheese. She put her order into the cart and turned around. She recognized Cricket right away and nodded—and then looked into the most gorgeous green eyes she’d ever seen on a man. They were rimmed with thick black lashes that curled upward—entirely too pretty for God to have given to a man. Good Lord, was that Rick Lawson?
“Hello, Cricket and Rick. Looks like the whole town of Bloom came to Walmart tonight,” Lettie said.
Rick took all three women in with a single nod. “Hello, ladies. We were out of brown paper bags for the farmers’ market later this week, so we decided to make a run into town.”
“Don’t know if you remember them, but this is Rick and his sister, Cricket. He grows the best vegetables in the area, just like his daddy did before he passed away,” Nadine explained to Jennie Sue. “And he has a booth at the farmers’ market in Sweetwater on Saturday. But some of us in Bloom get our stuff delivered to the door.”
“Of course, I remember both of y’all from high school. I graduated with Cricket, and you were a couple of years ahead of us, right?” She looked up into his eyes again, and a hot little shiver ran down her spine.
He’d been quiet and smart, two pretty crazy qualities for the quarterback of the football team. Not only had he been a good football player, he’d won every single academic bowl he’d participated in. Neither had run in her circles, Cricket being standoffish, but the Bloom school only graduated about twenty-five kids a year, so everyone knew everyone. But she sure didn’t remember him having such gorgeous eyes.
“Hello, Jennie Sue.” Rick stuck out his hand. “It’s been a while.”
She put hers in it and was surprised by the sparks that flitted around them. “Didn’t you join the army right after high school?”
“Yes, ma’am, I did.” His smile shone warm and friendly.
At least, she thought it did—maybe she was reading too much into a simple handshake, but she thought she’d sure like to get to know him better.
She dropped his hand and turned to face Cricket. “I don’t think I’ve seen you since we graduated ten years ago.”
“You were at one of our all-school class reunions a few years ago, and I was there, too.” Cricket’s tone shed snowflakes.
“Percy and I were on a tight schedule, so we only dropped by for an hour,” Jennie Sue said.
“You missed a good time,” Cricket said.
Rick pushed the cart in the opposite direction. “Well, you ladies have a nice evening.”
“See you at the fireworks tomorrow night.”
Cricket flashed a sweet smile at Lettie, but it turned into a smirk when she looked back at Jennie Sue.
“Don’t mind her,” Nadine whispered when they’d gotten far enough away that Cricket couldn’t hear. “She’s got a burr under her saddle when it comes to you.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” Jennie Sue asked. “I could feel the icicles comin’ off her tone.”
“Jealousy,” Lettie said. “But don’t worry, she’ll get glad in the same britches she got upset in. Let’s go on to the frozen foods now. We don’t buy our fresh vegetables here. Rick’s are so much better.”
“Why would she be jealous of me?” Jennie Sue said. “I’m divorced and cleaning houses for a living.”
“Honey, you are the next Wilshire of West Texas whether you like it or not.” Nadine patted her on the arm. “Now let’s go get some frozen hash browns for the casserole I’m making tomorrow night.”
Jennie Sue picked up a few things as she followed the ladies, but her mind wasn’t on grocery shopping. It kept skipping from the chemistry she’d felt when Rick touched her hand to the idea that Cricket was envious of her and the fact that she’d rather be the next Baker of West Texas than inherit the Wilshire crown. She’d rather be known for bringing extra tomatoes to the church folks than having a hand in one of the biggest oil companies in the state.
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.
Buy the book at Amazon.
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Sounds like a good book.