Chicki Brown’s I Want You Back.

One of my recent reading pleasures has been checking out Chicki Brown’s Stafford Brothers series. I’m excited to say that her latest is out and by all accounts it’s another hit. Fifth in this wonderful family series, I Want You Back, features the youngest Stafford brother, Nick.

Synopsis I Want You Back:

Cherilyn Vernon had been dating Nick Stafford for two years. She loved him and adored his family. He’s finished his internship and is now doing his residency at an Atlanta hospital. His next step is to take the final section of the Board exams. Marriage seems like the next logical step in their relationship, but when she starts talking to him about it, he panics and abruptly ends their relationship. Cherilyn starts dating another doctor who asks her to marry him after only eight months. That’s when Nick walks back into her life…

Excerpt:

In the morning, Cherilyn got up, showered and dressed. She was supposed to be away on her honeymoon, and the job wasn’t expecting her for a week, so she could throw on anything to run to the FedEx Office, but no one would catch her out in sweats and a t-shirt. She put on a casual linen Capri outfit, sandals and clasped the necklace Nick had given her around her neck. Being her size, she was a stickler for always looking as neat and fashionable as possible. Giving her appearance a final check in the mirror, she rested a hand over the brilliant diamond pendant, which looked stunning against the white fabric, smiled at her reflection and headed out to handle the task at hand.

Before she even got to her destination, her phone pinged with an angry text from Derrick. I know Nick came to see you. Send the ring back. D.

Her emotions churned as she stared at the words on the screen. He had every right to be angry. She’d handled this whole mess totally wrong. If she had only responded to Nick’s messages all those months, she could’ve worked it out before she and Derrick started making wedding plans. They had only been together for three months before he’d proposed, and he’d been so insistent about getting married right away. Nick’s rejection had bruised her heart so badly she’d accepted Derrick’s proposal based more on how much Nick had hurt her than how much she loved Derrick. If she’d ever really loved him at all. She respected and admired him, but that wasn’t enough on which to base a marriage. Was it?

There was no need to try to explain anything to him. She typed, Sending 2 yr office 2day by FedEx. I’m so sorry. C.

No response.

A little while later, her phone rang. “Good morning. Are you okay?” Nick asked in a hoarse voice, sounding as though he hadn’t slept much last night.

“Good morning. I’m okay. Derrick just texted me that he wants his ring back, so I’m on my way to overnight it to him. I need to talk to him about the wedding expenses, since we were counting on cash gifts to help out with that.” She sighed. “What do you think I should do?”

“I’m supposed to get off at six tonight. Let’s wait until then to talk about it. I can meet you somewhere to grab a bite to eat.”

“I don’t want to run into anyone we know, Nick. Not yet. I’m not ready to face people and their questions.”

“We can go someplace out of the way. I know lots of those.” He gave a cynical chuckle. “A burger and fries is about all I can afford anyway.”

“Stop exaggerating.”

I’m not. Meet me at the Vortex in Little Five Points at six-thirty. I don’t think you’ll see anybody you know there, and they have great burgers. If it looks like I’m going to be late, I’ll call you by six.”

“All right.”

“Cher? I went to sleep last night thinking what a lucky man I am. I won’t blow it this time.”

“You’d better not. God don’t like ugly. Goodbye, Nick.”

The sound of his laughter on the other end made her smile. “Goodbye.”

The stop at FedEx Office didn’t take much time. She had to sign a special contract declaring a high-value jewelry item. Before she left the house, she’d looked up the current value of a three-carat platinum ring. Since she wasn’t sure how much Derrick had paid for the ring, she declared the value to be fifteen thousand. Cher hesitated before handing it to the attendant behind the counter then took a deep breath and left the building with a sense of relief that the whole situation was over. Maybe now she could get on with her life.

Purchase I Want You Back here:

Kindle US: http://amzn.to/1qi7bFc

Kindle UK – http://amzn.to/1UUfALq

CreateSpace (paperback) – https://www.createspace.com/6179027

Nook – http://bit.ly/1qr3H2Y

Author Bio:

Contemporary women’s fiction/romance author Chicki Brown has been featured twice in USAToday. She was the 2014 B.R.A.B. (Building Relationships Around Books) Inspirational Fiction Author and also the 2011 SORMAG (Shades of Romance Magazine) Author of the Year. Chicki was also a contributing author to the Gumbo for the Soul: Men of Honor (Special Cancer Awareness Edition).

A transplanted New Jersey native who lives in Atlanta, Georgia, Brown still misses the Jersey shore, the pizza and the hot dogs.

Nia Forrester, Beverly Jenkins, Iris Bolling, Lisa Kleypas, and J.R. Ward are among her favorite authors.

Reach Out to Chicki Brown:

Blog: http://sisterscribbler.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/@Chicki663

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chicki.brown

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/chicki663/

Amazon Central Author Page: http://amzn.to/l2kjXQ

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/qcsiMD