Amazon Betty Jo Writes Books We Love Publ. All Romance E Books Category:  Romance Publisher: Books We Love Publ. ISBN-10:  9781927111086 Type: Fiction Copyright: August 19, 2011 ISBN-13: 9781927111086 Small towns and sunny people are hard to leave behind. Sam Champion doesn’t realize how much Lily Madison’s brightened his life until he walks away. Sam, a math professor, arrives in tiny Browning, Illinois, eager to sell his mother’s childhood home and return to Arizona for his appointment to department head. But when his red-haired neighbor, Lily, sets her house on fire, and he invites her to move in with him, everything changes. Lily--owner of an aromatherapy shop--is also Browning mayor, water commissioner, welcome wagon ambassador, board member, and chairman of the upcoming twentieth class reunion. An optimist with big plans for the small town and a dream for Sam, who’s not a dreamer, she’s sure his mother wanted him to live in his grandparents’ house and insists life in a small town is the best. Sam’s head is swimming, and Lily’s winning on several scores, but he has a career, condo, and a relationship with a female colleague in Phoenix. Lily Madison brightens Sam Champion’s life, but he doesn’t realize how much until he tries to walk away from her and Browning.     Excerpt Browning, city limits. "Yes." Sam Champion tapped a fist against the steering wheel. All he saw was a string of farmhouses, but the sign reassured him; his mother's birthplace was still on the map and two long days of driving would come to a close. Rotating his shoulders against the back of the seat, he looked at the clock on the van’s dashboard for the hundredth time since he left an Iowa motel that morning. He was due at Joe Bottomley’s office at eleven o'clock, and thanks to getting stuck behind farm machinery on a dusty two-lane country road, it was ten minutes past noon. There should be a law against detours. The road curved suddenly and a billboard loomed ahead. Grow Browning. Sunlight bounced off ears of brilliant yellow corn and iridescent green leaves. Cornstalks formed the letters, and the roots were made up of…people. Men, women, and children branched out below the stalks, anchoring them in the ground. At the bottom of the billboard were changeable numbers like those on a baseball scoreboard. Population: 3653. The numbers were a novel touch. Would the population automatically change to 3654 when he passed by, or did he have to move into the old Thornbury place? His mother talked fondly of her hometown. "Everybody goes back, at least once." Maybe that was why, to see if the number changed. Sam chuckled for the first time since he left Phoenix two days ago. Slaphappy from staring into clouds of dust, he’d realized Illinois must be suffering a drought. The state road passed through town, and at one time, probably brought in a lot of commerce. Now, most people took the interstate, an option offered a dozen miles back. Many small towns suffered the same plight, but someone must be trying to save this burg. Sam had only lived in a small town once, an experience he barely remembered. But he liked city life. Starbucks. Cyber cafes. Theaters. Concerts. Small town life was for homebodies. Maybe if he were married, he’d feel differently, but he doubted it. Whenever Mom talked about Browning, Dad's standard retort was, "You'd have to be crazy to return once and damned bored to go back at all." Sam never intended to come back, but it seemed his mother had other plans for him. The farmhouses gave way to homes set close together, and just ahead, he saw the downtown district. Joe Bottomley said his law office was in the first block. "Can't miss it," he said. “Want to bet?” He just did. You could miss the whole town if you blinked twice. He circled a block and went back to park on the right side of the street in front of the attorney's office. Finally. Grumbling, he got out on the driver's side and walked around. Sam stopped dead. There was a sign in the window. "Closed. Come back again." He strode to the door of the law office, hoping someone might still be inside. Sunlight reflected off the glass, so he was six inches away before he spotted a note taped inside, facing out. "S.C., pick up your key next door. Had to go out. J.B." He stalked to the next building where the glass door bore the word Mayor in gold letters. "CLOSED," a sign flipped over in the glass window, announced boldly. Another sign gave the hours, and the mayor's office, open five days a week, closed at noon. Talk about a one-horse town. It was so quiet in Browning, you could hear the corn growing if it wasn't dying from the drought. His green van was so thickly coated with dust a passerby—if there was one—wouldn't recognize the color. Sam was about to turn around when a wisp of breeze fluttered a pink notepaper taped to the mailbox labeled, "Mayor." Under that, there was another box with "Municipal Service" painted on it in…coral nail polish? What person with good sense would tape a note where it could blow away or someone take it? Not that there was much likelihood of either in this lifeless town. He pulled the paper loose to read a scrawling note penned in purple ink. "You're late. Pick up your key at Inner Radiance across the street." “Radiance?” His word echoed in the silence. Sam, crossing the street, felt like he'd entered a strange Alice-in-Wonderland-type world with no one there but him, and no sound, only handwritten messages. *** Sam Whozit was slower than molasses in January. Lily Madison, standing at the plate glass window of her shop, Inner Radiance, looked up and down the main street. It wasn't every day Browning got a new resident and the grand old Thornbury house had stood empty since before she moved in next door. Of course, she was curious. Who wouldn't be? Tapping a fingernail against her teeth, she glanced at her Cinderella watch and returned to peering. The sun shone brightly on southern Illinois this early June Day, but no one was in sight. Lily snatched a feather duster from under a counter and waved it over a eucalyptus wreath in the display window, stirring up a soothing aroma. Leaning forward, she inhaled deeply. Sam…she didn’t know his last name…was late. Closing her eyes, she tried to picture what a "Sam" would look like, but all she could envision was the noontime crowd, minus one, at Jodie's Chrome Grill. She loved the friendly chatter and laughter, with the soft clink of coffee cups and the enticing voice of Elvis spilling forth from the jukebox in the background. Today, she'd eaten stale peanut butter crackers at a black enameled table in the back room of Radiance, alone. Jodie’s, the town's only restaurant was the heart of Browning. The love life of Jodie Davis, proprietor, was a real life soap opera, and Lily suspected many of the regulars came for the next episode as much as they did for her home cooking. Teeny Williams, owner of the local bed and breakfast, and Miss Rosalind China, long-retired schoolmarm, blushed to the roots of their white hair at some of Jodie's accounts. But let someone drop a coin in the jukebox making those ladies miss a word, and rumor had it Miss China would rap her spoon against her plate. Striding to the back room, Lily chuckled as she filled an enameled watering can. The hanging ferns needed watered and she might as well put her time to good use. If Sam were married with kids, it would be nice to hear children’s laughter ringing out. Residents on Vine Street were mostly older folks, like the owner of Lily’s house, Jenny Oates. Lily had nothing against elderly people, and she visited Jenny regularly since she’d gone into a nursing home with a broken hip, but it was so quiet in the neighborhood, she could almost feel herself growing old, alone. She mounted a stepstool, watering can in hand. If Sam was a handsome, eligible bachelor who was instantly attracted to her, life would be perfect. Like that was going to happen. Ha. The townspeople’s sons, and daughters, moved away after high school, and most never returned except to visit. She’d left too but she’d come back, and the only time she’d questioned her decision was now, when twenty years after receiving a “Dear Lily letter” from Nick Noland, it looked as if she’d be attending their twentieth class reunion, single and alone. ***

Once Upon a Romance's Review of Love in a Small Town
4.75

A breath of fresh air in the romance industry!! How long has it been since I’ve had the chance to read a solid, old-fashioned, boy meets girl kind of a romance?

Sam Champion is returning to Browning, Illinois to clean out his grandparent’s home and sell it off. His mother hung onto the place, even when Grandpa & Grandma died and left it to Sam when she died. She always said, "Everyone goes back, at least once." Having lived there only during his senior year of high school, he’s not thrilled to return.

Lily Madison is sick and tired of waiting for "Sam" to return to town and pick up his key. She has things to do and a business to run. But when he finally shows up, she has to admit that even though he’s late, he sure is a good-looking late guy. Too bad she accidentally drops a bottle of lotion on his head for his welcome.

Sam thinks Lily is a redheaded airhead. After all, who sells lotions, potions, candle and worry stones at a place called "Inner Radiance" anyway?? Then she drops lotion on him and tells him he’s stressed. Imagine the shock to find out the redheaded ditz is his next-door neighbor. To top it all off, she’s trying to get him to stay in Browning.

From here, the story just takes off. Wait until you (and Sam) discover that air-headed Lily isn’t so air-headed after all. She’s also the mayor and she’s got plans to grow Browning and keep it alive instead of letting her small town fade into oblivion. She likes having Sam as a neighbor and wishes he would just consider staying.
Well, when a little fire forces Lily to move out of her home during repairs, Sam graciously allows her to stay at his house. The sexual tension is thick and sparks are constantly flying. However, in the vein of old-fashioned romances, they don’t sleep together. It’s so unheard of in our day and age, but oh---the romance and the fun of it all.

This book slowly peels the layers off of both Sam and Lily until we get a crystal clear view of their hopes, dreams and desires. Can they ever put aside their differences and will they ever give into the longing they have for each other?? You’ll have to get your own copy and find out.

Love in a Small Town is an excellent, lighthearted read. Ms. Schuler writes solid characters that feel like best friends. Her story is well crafted and a pleasant diversion. I hope you enjoy it, too.
Robyn

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