Cowboy Boots for Christmas (27 page)

Dear Reader,

Merry Christmas and welcome to Burnt Boot, Texas!

It’s always exciting to begin a new series, to introduce a whole new cast of characters, but even more so for the Burnt Boot Series. Finn O’Donnell of the Ringgold O’Donnells, whom you all met in the Spikes & Spurs series, is back to kick off the series for me.

You readers asked for more O’Donnells, so Finn and Sawyer have come back to star in their own books. Set in a fictional town where there’s a major feud going on between the Gallaghers and the Brennans,
Cowboy
Boots
for
Christmas
debuts the series.

As I finish writing this book, the weather is cooling down in southern Oklahoma, and fall is threatening to push summer into the history books. The stores are decorated for Christmas, and this week I got out the Christmas list. With a family the size of ours, I have to keep track of what goes in which of the gift bags lined up across the spare bedroom floor. But one thing for sure in this family: we all agree that home is where your boots are, just like Callie and Finn find out when they let go of the emotional baggage holding them down.

Here’s wishing you all happy holidays and that you fall in love with Finn and Callie’s story of finding love in the magic of Christmas.

Thank you to all my readers for continuing to read my books, share them, and talk about them. Big thanks to Sourcebooks for continuing to believe in me and to my wonderful agent, Erin Niumata, of Folio Literary Management for all she does. And mere words can’t express my gratitude to my editor, Deb Werksman, for her wonderful icing recipes. I make the muffin (the story) and together we put the icing on it, and believe me, she has some fantastic recipes. And as always, thank you to my own cowboy who has stayed with me through thick and thin for forty-eight years. He can sure enough testify that it takes a special person to live with an author, and I can testify that I appreciate him for all he does to make my world a better place.

Until January when Sawyer gets to tell his story, may your lights all burn brightly and may love surround you.

Carolyn Brown

Welcome to Fiddle Creek Ranch.

Have you met foreman Sawyer O’Donnell?

“That’s pretty bold of you, Jill Cleary.” His eyes sparkled when he teased. “We’ve only known each other a few hours, and a foot massage doesn’t mean we are in a relationship.”

“Honey, we’ve been through more in those few hours than most folks go through in a month. Believe me, I’m not ready for a relationship with anyone, so you don’t have to worry about that, and, yes, I will take a foot massage anytime you want to give me one,” she said.

“Just so we’re clear,” he said. “Now, I’m going to clean my quarters. Last chance—do you want that side of the bunkhouse?”

She shook her head, red hair flying. “I do not. I can be very happy right here with my two rooms.”

Faded jeans hugged his muscular thighs and butt. His dark brown eyes were kind, mischievous, and full of excitement. Tiny little crow’s-feet at the sides of his eyes said that he wasn’t a teenager and that he had a sense of humor. His biceps stretched at the seams of the blue chambray work shirt. Two buttons were undone, showing a bed of soft black hair peeking out. She wished that he’d left all the buttons undone and that she could run her fingers across the hard muscles under the shirt.

Lord, she needed to get a grip!

The Trouble with

Texas Cowboys

Coming soon from Sourcebooks Casablanca

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Carolyn Brown is a
New
York
Times
and
USA
Today
bestselling author, and
Cowboy Boots for Christmas (Cowboy Not Included)
is her seventieth published book. She credits her eclectic family for her humor and writing ideas. Her books include the Lucky trilogy:
Lucky
in
Love
,
One
Lucky
Cowboy
, and
Getting
Lucky
; the Honky Tonk series:
I
Love
This
Bar
,
Hell
Yeah
,
Honky
Tonk
Christmas
, and
My
Give
a
Damn’s Busted
; the Spikes & Spurs series:
Love
Drunk
Cowboy
,
Red’s Hot Cowboy
,
Darn
Good
Cowboy
Christmas
,
One
Hot
Cowboy
Wedding
,
Mistletoe
Cowboy
,
Just
a
Cowboy
and
His
Baby,
and
Cowboy
Seeks
Bride
; and her bestselling Cowboys & Brides series:
Billion
Dollar
Cowboy
,
The
Cowboy’s Christmas Baby
,
The
Cowboy’s Mail Order Bride
, and
How
to
Marry
a
Cowboy
. Carolyn has launched into women’s fiction with
The
Blue-Ribbon Jalapeño Society Jubilee
and
The
Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off.
Now she’s having fun with her new Burnt Boot series, beginning with
Cowboy
Boots
for
Christmas
. She 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.