PROBLEMS IN PARADISE by Kelsey Browning

Author of Texas Nights Series
Co-author of The Granny Series

Title:                Problems In Paradise (Texas Nights, #3)
Release:          July 14, 2014
Genre:             Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy
Format:           e-book

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Books-A-Million / Carina Press / Goodreads

 

Synopsis

Eden Durant hasn’t always been Eden Durant. She’s made a fresh start in Shelbyville, Texas, far from her mother’s notoriety. Running the Paradise Garden Café is as much excitement as Eden wants—or it was, until she meets Beck Childress. Although he’s the one man who could expose her past, she’s willing to open up enough to see if he might be her future.

Chief Deputy Childress is determined to get to know the real Eden, when he isn’t busy cleaning up after the sheriff and running in the election to replace him. When several men fall sick after eating in Eden’s café, he investigates even as her mysterious past raises both his suspicions and his protective instincts.

As their relationship heats up, so do the pressures of Beck’s campaign. When Eden’s secrets are revealed, jeopardizing his dream of becoming sheriff, he’ll need to choose: serve and protect the town he loves or the woman who makes it home.

Praise for Texas Nights Series

Problems in Paradise:

“Starring a sexy lawman and a woman with a scandalous secret, a deliciously fun read.” – Shannon Stacey, New York Times bestselling author

Personal Assets:

“A hot man, a headstrong woman, and sizzling chemistry set against a homey Texas backdrop—Browning’s contemporary debut has all the assets that count!”  -Ruthie Knox, USA Today bestselling author of Flirting with Disaster

“Sinfully hot, sassy, and laugh-out-loud hilarious—everything a southern romance should be!” -Macy Beckett, author of the Sultry Springs series

Excerpt

She’d only thought her knees were wobbly before. Still, she edged around him and darted back into the kitchen to brace herself on the countertop before her traitorous joints could fail her again. Then again, splitting her chin on the stainless steel and knocking her head on the tile could be her saving grace. “What…what guy?”

“The one who strolled out of here just a few minutes ago looking like he’d walked off the pages of a European fashion magazine. He was no local, that’s for damn sure.”

“Oh, him.” Her words came out with a breathless rush and that brought Beck to attention.

He stretched to his full six-feet-plus height and his left hand stroked his gun. “Did you even know he was in the café? Or were you back here? God, Eden, what if he’s your intruder?”

“He’s harmless.” Yeah, if only. She grabbed a cloth and began polishing her already spotless counters. Round and round and round. “I mean, he was just some out-of-towner looking for a place to eat. I forgot to lock the front door and he had no idea I was closed.”

“He sure as hell had a wide smile on his face when he walked out of here. Eyes were kinda shifty too. Not like a guy who’d just been turned away for a meal.”

This was why getting involved with Beck Childress was so dangerous. They might have this running redneck-versus-California thing going, but he wasn’t some small-town hayseed guy. He not only had a killer formal education, but he was smart. Paid attention. Too much sometimes.

“Oh, I gave him a cinnamon roll and coffee. Couldn’t let him go away empty-handed.” She laughed, but even to herself, it sounded a little hollow. “Besides, he didn’t know better than to eat my cooking.”

Beck’s heat against her back, rather than any sound he made, alerted her that he’d moved across the room and was within inches of her. Don’t look up. He’ll know. He’s a cop. Cops know things. But her body didn’t give a crap what her brain was demanding. Her body went all tingly and come-closer-big-guy. She scrubbed harder to combat her flesh’s weakness.

When he caught her elbow, stalling her frantic cleaning, his touch lit up all those weak spots and then tossed on a can of lighter fluid for good measure. Why couldn’t her body tell the difference between danger and pleasure?

His breath was warm against her neck and ear when he lowered his voice and said, “If that’s all there was to it, why are you about to rub a hole in your metal countertop? Something isn’t right here, Eden.”

Now, her body was blipping between overheating and flash-freezing. The whole mess mixed together to create a sick feeling in her stomach. So she whipped around and went on the attack. “You’re begrudging me one customer? Or do you really think I had something to do with Jimmy and the others becoming sick?” She went toe-to-toe with him, even though that meant her breasts were skimming his shirt front, and the sensation made her want to get close to him, lean on him, confide in him. Not a good idea. “Well, that’s just great. The man who says he wants to go out with me doesn’t trust me. You know what, Beck Childress, you can just take your date and shove it up your—”

“Don’t.”

That single word reverberated across her nerve endings, burrowed under her skin to settle into an aching lump in her chest. She swallowed, but the lump only grew.

“Don’t make whatever this is about us. I don’t know who that man was, but I’d bet my right arm he wasn’t some stranger wandering around looking for breakfast. If that were the case, he would’ve stopped on the interstate.”

Eden stared at his badge. Duty and responsibility. Serve and protect. “I may have agreed to a date, but I’m a big girl, Beck. I’m not helpless and I’m not stupid.”

Beck sighed, scrubbed his short blond hair with his palm. “Is this somehow related to the baggage you were talking about?”

Just when she thought that lump couldn’t get any bigger, the damn thing grew teeth and drew blood. The pain glazed her eyes, and she blinked to keep from shedding those blood tears. “No,” she lied, “my baggage is thousands of miles away.”

With one finger, he tilted up her chin, and Eden could swear he was able to see inside her. Into the dark swirl of her mother, Hayes and her past. “Whatever your burden is, whoever that guy was, I want you to know you can always trust me to be on your side.”

 

About the Author

Kelsey Browning writes sass kickin’ love stories and cozy Southern mysteries. Originally from a Texas town smaller than the ones she writes about, Kelsey has also lived in the Middle East and Los Angeles, proving she’s either adventurous or downright nuts. These days, she hangs out in northeast Georgia with Tech Guy, Smarty Boy, and Bad Dog. She’s currently at work on the next book in her Texas Nights series and The Granny Series.

 

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Giveaway

Kelsey will be giving away one digital copy of Personal Assets, the first book in the Texas Nights series to one winner at each blog stop, so enter below to win!

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