The Broken Roads

Series · 5 books · 2007-2009

By Carolyn Brown

Books in series

To Trust

2007

Dee Hooper and Jack Brewer grew up next door to each other in sleepy Buckhorn Corner, Oklahoma. From the time they were less than a year old they'd been best friends, but then Dee eloped with a man from Pennsylvania. Seven years later, she's brought a broken heart back home to her dysfunctional family: Roxie, the grandmother, who runs the family with an attitude of steel; Mimosa, the mother, who's been married so many times she's forgotten half of them; Tally, the sister who's in the county jail for writing hot checks; Bodine, Tally's daughter, who's been raised by Rosie just like Dee and Tally were; and Jack, the boy next door who's always loved Dee. Jack was the computer geek in high school, and he's turned that knowledge into a lucrative business - one that allows him to continue to run the convenience store in town, which he loves. He's content, selling picnic supplies and bait to the fishermen and campers. But there's a hole in his heart, and the only person who can fill it is Dee Hooper. Then one hot summer day she appears, and he's determined not to let her hurt him or get away again. With Dee and Jack battling past hurts and fears, they try to reclaim their lifelong friendship and trust again, each secretly hoping they'll be more than just friends this time around.

To Commit

2008

After a divorce from her want-to-be actor husband, Stelle Brannon came home to Sulphur, OK, to run Brannon Inn, a bed, breakfast and supper boarding house established by her late grandmother. She'd thought the Inn would be a white elephant when she inherited it a few months before her divorce, but she fell easily into the job of taking care of the place. At least until the day she literally backed into Rance Harper, a man who looked entirely too much like her ex-husband and stepped on every raw nerve she had left. Rance had made reservations for himself and several of his friends to stay at the Inn while they hunted deer that fall. Stella was a beautiful lady, but she was a tall blonde. He'd sworn off that kind of woman and had vowed to never make a lifetime commitment again.

To Believe

2008

Roseanna Cahill didn't believe in happily-ever-after anymore. Not after a marriage that should never have started and which ended after four years. Country hearts like hers didn t mix with city hearts like that of Colin Vance Fields III, better known as Trey. She thought she'd seen the last of Trey but then his sister showed up at her door begging for her help. Trey had been kidnapped and they needed Roseanna's tracking skills to rescue him. Trey had been left chained to a tree in the Ouachita Mountains of eastern Oklahoma, and had doubts that Roseanna would even consider his sister's plea for help. Not after the way he had treated her. So he was surprised when she slung back the flap and told him to get ready for a long hike. Neither of them was prepared for the emotions set loose during the trek across the mountain range. Roseanna sure wasn't ready for what happened after they got home. Trey was determined that he wouldn't lose her again. She was determined never to believe him again. Funny how fate steps in just when two people think they've got their lives all figured out.

To Dream

2009

Greta Fields had planned to stay one night in Murray County, Oklahoma, to attend her brother’s wedding, even though she thought he was making the biggest mistake of his life for the second time. But on her way out of town, she caused a three car pileup when she dropped her cell phone and tried to retrieve it while traveling ninety miles an hour. For her crime, she was forced to serve four months of community service in Sulphur, Oklahoma, with none other than that policeman she’d had words with at the reception acting as her escort to and from work. She almost opted for six months in jail rather than have to deal with him every day. Kyle Parsons, a rancher and policeman in Sulphur, had looked across the outdoor wedding reception and figured he was staring at an angel straight from heaven. It didn’t take him long to realize his first impression was dead wrong when it came to Greta Fields. His truck and trailer were part of the three vehicle pileup the morning after the wedding, and he lost a prize Angus bull that he hadn’t had time to insure. To add insult to injury, the judge put him in charge of taking Greta to and from her community service job. He would have rather dealt with a hungry rattlesnake than that spoiled brat of a woman. Greta can’t wait to get back to her city life, and Kyle can’t wait for her to go. Somehow their hearts didn’t get the message.

To Hope

2009

A previous winner of the Professional Bull Riders' gold belt buckle, Jodie Cahill plans to ride again. But fate intervenes in the form of a broken wrist, and keeps her from winning another buckle. When the CEO of the PBR offers her a three-month tour on the circuit working as a judge and traveling with a combination newspaper/magazine reporter/novelist, she takes the job. James Moses Crowe jumps at the chance to travel with Jodie Cahill. For years he's been trying to get her off his mind and out of his heart. Now he has the opportunity to do both. It doesn't work. In the course of the trip, they both have to face their own feelings and wonder if, in the end, they will bless or curse the broken road that caused them to run smack into each other.

Author

Carolyn Brown

Author · 135 books

Hi! I'm twenty five years old and movie star gorgeous. The camera added thirty plus years and a few wrinkles. Can't trust those cameras or mirrors either. Along with bathroom scales they are notorious liars! Honestly, I am the mother of three fantastic grown children who've made me laugh and given me more story ideas than I could ever write. My husband, Charles, is my strongest supporter and my best friend. He's even willing to eat fast food and help with the laundry while I finish one more chapter! Life is good and I am blessed! Reading has been a passion since I was five years old and figured out those were words on book pages. As soon as my chubby little fingers found they could put words on a Big Chief tablet with a fat pencil, I was on my way. Writing joined reading in my list of passions. I will read anything from the back of the Cheerio's box to Faulkner and love every bit of it. In addition to reading I enjoy cooking, my family and the ocean. I love the Florida beaches. Listening to the ocean waves puts my writing brain into high gear. I love writing romance because it's about emotions and relationships. Human nature hasn't changed a bit since Eve coveted the fruit in the Garden of Eden. Settings change. Plots change. Names change. Times change. But love is love and men and women have been falling in and out of it forever. Romance is about emotions: love, hate, anger, laughter... all of it. If I can make you laugh until your sides ache or grab a tissue then I've touched your emotions and accomplished what every writer sets out to do. I got serious about writing when my third child was born and had her days and nights mixed up. I had to stay up all night anyway and it was very quiet so I invested in a spiral back notebook and sharpened a few pencils. The story that emerged has never sold but it's brought in enough rejection slips to put the Redwood Forest on the endangered list. In 1997 Kensington bought two books for their Precious Gems line. Two years and six books later the line died with only four of those books seeing publication. But by then Avalon had bought a book and another, and another. Ten years later the list has grown to thirty nine. Last year Sourcebooks bought the Lucky Series which is in the bookstores now. They've also bought The Honky Tonk Series which will debut with I LOVE THIS BAR in June and will be followed by HELL, YEAH, MY GIVE A DAMN'S BUSTED, and HONKY TONK CHRISTMAS. Folks ask me where I get my ideas. Three kids, fifteen grandchildren, two great grandchildren. Note: I was a very young grandmother! Life is a zoo around here when they all come home. In one Sunday afternoon there's enough ideas to keep me writing for years and years. Seriously, ideas pop up at the craziest times. When one sinks its roots into my mind, I have no choice but to write the story. And while I'm writing the characters peek over my shoulder and make sure I'm telling it right and not exaggerating too much. Pesky little devils, they are! I have a wonderful agent, Erin Niumata, who continues to work magic and sell my work. I'm very lucky to have her and my editors who continue to believe in me. Happy reading!