Spotlight & Giveaway: Love Struck Cafe by Carolyn Brown

Posted February 28th, 2022 by in Blog, Spotlight / 52 comments

Today, HJ is pleased to share with you Carolyn Brown’s new release: Love Struck Cafe

 

Spotlight&Giveaway

 

Hello to all ya’ll this morning. I always enjoy coming back to HJ for a visit, so thank you for the invitation, Sara.

This brand-new novella from beloved New York Times and USA Today bestseller Carolyn Brown has all the sassy fun and Southern charm you love!

Authentic small town Texas and a lively cast of characters

A resilient heroine determined to keep her dream alive

A strong, sexy hero with a heart of gold

Jasmine Thurman is desperate. If someone doesn’t answer her “Help Wanted” sign soon, her struggling café in the heart of Texas won’t be open much longer. But when a handsome traveler pops in for a country-fried steak, Jasmine’s luck begins to turn around. Hiring Flint Walker is the answer Jasmine has been looking for, and if her business can have a second chance, then maybe her love life can too.

(NOTE: This is a what-if story. In One Hot Cowboy Wedding from years ago, Jasmine and Ace get married, but the what-ifs got into my head.

What if that didn’t happen? What if Jasmine was still single and still running the Chicken Fried Cafe years later when Flint came swaggering into the place? What if she hired him on the spot?)

 

Enjoy an exclusive excerpt from Love Struck Cafe 

Flint Walker had been driving since daybreak, and his plan was to stop at the casino right in Terral, Oklahoma, for a bite of lunch. The signs along the road had advertised the best barbecue sandwiches in the state at the RiverStar Casino, and Flint loved barbecue—almost as much as he loved chicken-fried steaks.
He passed a sign that welcomed him to Ringgold, Texas, and from what he could see on his phone GPS, he was just five miles from deciding if the advertisement about the best barbecue sandwich in Texas could pass a lie-detector test. He glanced over to his left and saw a two-story house with a wide front porch. When he shifted his eyes back to the road, a big yellow dog was sitting right in the middle of the it. He honked but the animal just looked at him like he had rocks for brains and didn’t move an inch.
Flint braked hard, swerved to the left, slid across the gravel parking lot in front of the house, and finally brought his pickup truck to a stop just inches from the porch. He hopped out of his vehicle to make sure he hadn’t grazed the dog, only to see the animal wagging its tail and coming toward him at a snail’s pace.
“What the hell!” A short brunette stepped out onto the porch and let the old wooden screen door slam behind her. “Did you have a blowout?”
Flint shook his head and pointed. “No, ma’am. That dog right there was in the middle of the road.”
The lady clapped her hands. “Go home, Max, and go through the pastures, not on the road.”
As if the old dog could understand every word she said, he dropped his head and started out around the end of the porch toward the backyard.
“He’s old and gets confused,” the woman said. “Sorry that he scared you.”
“No problem,” Flint said. “I’m just glad I didn’t hurt him.”
He started to turn around and get back into his truck but noticed something stenciled on the window of the house: CHICKEN FRIED.
“What’s that?” He pointed toward that way.
“This is the Chicken Fried Café. We make the best chicken-fried steaks in the state,” she answered.
“Are you open for business?” Flint asked.
“Barely.” She wiped a tear away from her cheek with the back of her hand.
“Is that a yes or no?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m open,” she answered.
He left his truck, and in a few long strides, he had climbed the four steps up to the porch. “Then I’ll see just how good your chicken-fried steak is.”
“All right then, but I’m doing it all today, so it might take a little while.” She opened the door and went on inside.
That’s when he noticed the red and white HELP WANTED sign thumbtacked to the wall next to the screen door frame. “Where’s your staff?” he asked as he removed his cowboy hat and hung it on a rack with ten empty hooks just inside the door. Evidently, the place catered to a lot of cowboys to have places for coats and hats.
“I’ve been running this café for ten years now , and my biggest problem is keeping help,” she answered as she headed for the kitchen. “Don’t suppose you want to apply for a waitress job, do you?”
“No, ma’am.” He removed his fleece-lined leather coat and hung it beside his hat. “I’m just passin’ through on my way up north.”
“How far up north?” She raised her voice.
“Don’t know. Colorado, Wyoming, maybe even Montana.” He sat down at the table nearest to the kitchen. Red-and-white-checkered oilcloths covered ten tables for four. A pint jar filled with sunflowers sat in the middle of each of the tables. Pictures and framed newspaper clippings of what he supposed was Ringgold both past and present hung on the walls. Shiny black and white tile covered the floor in a checkerboard pattern.
Before the lady had finished making his steak, the door opened and two guys in overalls, cowboy boots, and mustard-yellow work coats entered the room. Like Flint, they hung their coats and hats on the rack and then sat down at a table in the middle of the café.
“Hey, Jasmine, me and Elvis want the Monday special. We both been hungry for meat loaf all week,” one of the men called out.
“I’ll get right on it. How are you and Elvis today?” Jasmine yelled through the window that had a ledge for passing food through.
“Old, and gettin’ older every single day,” Amos answered, then focused on Flint. “Ain’t seen you around these parts. You got business around here?”
“No, sir,” Flint answered. “I’m just passin’ through on my way up north to find me a ranch to buy.”
“Plenty of ranches here in Texas,” Amos said. “One right out beside my place that just went on the market today. If I wasn’t so damned old, I’d buy it and double the size of my place.”
“You’d be crazy to do that.” Elvis said and folded his arms over his chest. “Me and you both are goin’ to die, and our kids is going to sell off everything we got. Kids today don’t want to live in a place like this where it’s twenty miles to a decent grocery store or a doctor.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Amos removed his glasses and cleaned them on a red bandanna that he pulled from his bib pocket, then squinted across the room at Flint. “What’s your name, son?”
“Flint Walker,” he answered.
“Well, if you change your mind by the time you get done eatin’, that ranch is about two miles south of here on the west side of the road. Looks like crap right now because the old folks that lived there moved out after that big fire we had more’n a decade ago. Fire didn’t hurt their house but burned up their stock, so they went to live close to their kids up around Amarillo. You could buy the place a helluva lot cheaper than what you’ll likely have to give for a ranch up in Wyoming, and besides, you’re going to freeze your butt off up there, come winter,” Amos said.
“And winter lasts ten months out of the year up in them parts.” Elvis put in his two cents.
“Come on now,” Flint said. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”
“Might be, but it’ll seem like that long when you’re ass deep in snow and tryin’ to bust ice off the waterin’ troughs,” Elvis said.

Excerpt. ©Carolyn Brown. Posted by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
 

Giveaway: I’ll give away a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and post a comment to this Q: What did you think of the excerpt spotlighted here? Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book…

 
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Meet the Author:

Carolyn Brown is a New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly and #1 Amazon and #1 Washington Post bestselling author. She is the author of more than 100 novels and several novellas. She’s a recipient of the Bookseller’s Best Award, Montlake Romance’s prestigious Montlake Diamond Award, and also a three-time recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award. Brown has been published for more than 20 years, and her books have been translated 21 foreign languages.
When she’s not writing, she likes to plot new stories in her backyard with her tom cat, Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, who protects the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Visit her at www.carolynbrownbooks.com
 
 
 

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52 Responses to “Spotlight & Giveaway: Love Struck Cafe by Carolyn Brown”

  2. Diana Hardt

    Nice cover. I liked the excerpt. It sounds like a really interesting book.

  3. Jeanna Massman

    Flint and Jasmine are a great couple! I would love to read their story.

  5. Diana Tidlund

    Love the sounds of the heroine Jasmine so can’t wait to read about her

  16. Pat Lieberman

    I always love Carolyn’s books and did not know about this one; so thanks for heads up. I am sure I will love this one as well. Sounds good.

  17. Kay Garrett

    Love Carolyn Brown’s books and “Love Struck Cafe” is most definitely on my TBR list. Enjoyed the excerpt and wished I could have kept reading.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

  18. Sue Galuska

    I love how polite Flint sounds! I’m thinking someone is going to end up in Texas! 😉

  25. Marcy Meyer

    The excerpt sounds good. Definitely makes me wonder if he stays in Texas. Thanks for sharing.

  27. Laurie Gommermann

    Entertaining with a lot of information
    I can’t wait to meet Jasmine. Find out more about Flint and why he wants to move further NW. The two old guys add some light hearted entertainment. I definitely want to return for a visit and try some country fried steak!!

  29. auntiemissmaria

    I love the playful banter between Jasmine & Flint! I can’t wait to read more!

  33. Joanne B

    I love all Carolyn Brown’s books. Can’t wait to read more about Jasmine and Flint.

  34. Dianne Casey

    I really enjoyed the excerpt. Sounds like a great read. Looking forward to reading the book.

  40. Patricia B.

    I love Carolyn Brown’s books. This excerpt introduces us to the main characters and 2 local characters. It also lets us know the situation all four of them are in. Brown’s people and situations are so down to earth and relatable, you immediately “know” the type of people they are and have a familiarity with the locale. This sounds like it will be another enjoyable story.

  41. Bonnie

    What a wonderful book! Great cover and excerpt. I’d love to read more.

  48. Eva Millien

    Fantastic excerpt that makes me want to read Love Struck Cafe right now! Thanks for sharing it and have a wonderful day!