An Officer and a Rebel: An Accidentally in Love Novella

By Cindi Madsen

The last person police officer Nate Walsh expected to discover stranded in a snowstorm is his brother's ex—and former town rebel—Kelsey Cooper. His complete opposite in every way, Kelsey's the girl he never allowed himself to want. But when she agrees to stay with him until the storm passes, he definitely finds himself wanting the gorgeous, tattooed woman. Too bad Nate's sure his brother is still in love with her…

Kelsey had only meant to drive through her tiny hometown, not end up spending time there. With a cop. But despite her issues with authority figures, even she can admit Mr. Serious looks pretty hot in his uniform. Unfortunately, she's sworn off relationships—and she'll never be the girl for a nice guy.

Each book in the Accidentally in Love series is STANDALONE:
* Falling for Her Fiance
* Act Like You Love Me
* An Officer and a Rebel (novella)
* Resisting the Hero

Previously released as part of the Stranded with a Hero anthology. Now available individually!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Publishers
• Release date: Jul 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781633750258

Cindi Madsen

Cindi Madsen is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance and young adult novels. She sits at her computer every chance she gets, plotting, revising, and falling in love with her characters. Sometimes it makes her a crazy person. Without it, she’d be even crazier. She has way too many shoes, but can always find a reason to buy a pretty new pair, especially if they’re sparkly, colorful, or super tall. She loves music and dancing and wishes summer lasted all year long. She lives in Colorado (where summer is most definitely NOT all year long) with her husband and three children. You can visit Cindi at: cindimadsen.com, where you can sign up for her newsletter to get free books, win prizes, and receive all the up-to-date information on her books. Follow her on Twitter @cindimadsen. Find her on FB: Cindi Madsen & Cindi Madsen Books

Book preview

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Epilogue

About the Author

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2014 by Cindi Madsen. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Entangled Publishing, LLC

2614 South Timberline Road

Suite 105, PMB 159

Fort Collins, CO 80525

[e-mail]

Bliss is an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC.

Edited by Alycia Tornetta

Cover design by Bree Archer

Cover photography by urbanglimpses/GettyImages

ISBN 978-1-63375-025-8

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Edition July 2014

Dear Reader,

Thank you for supporting a small publisher! Entangled prides itself on bringing you the highest quality romance you’ve come to expect, and we couldn’t do it without your continued support. We love romance, and we hope this book leaves you with a smile on your face and joy in your heart.

xoxo

Liz Pelletier, Publisher

Chapter One

Nostalgia was a nice idea and all, but what Kelsey hadn’t thought about when she’d decided to take a detour down memory lane—aka the windy mountain roads to Marion, North Carolina—was that it was going to start dumping snow, something her ancient little car with its needing-to-be-replaced tires wasn’t properly equipped for.

She could hear the mechanic’s voice in her head, warning that the tires were bald and should be replaced as soon as possible. She’d thought she could do it once she got to Lexington. Or when she got back from Christmas vacation. Time off was so hard to come by, and all she’d wanted was get to Mom’s—it’d been way too long since they’d seen each other, and for months she’d been looking forward to kicking back and enjoying the holidays.

I should’ve never gotten off the interstate.

Come on, little car. We got this, Kelsey said, though the tires continued to slip. The snow was coming straight at her, making it impossible to see. It was the hypnotizing kind that could make you drive right off the road without realizing it.

Kelsey gripped the wheel tighter, a bead of sweat forming between her shoulder blades despite the chilly temperatures outside. I remember it getting cold here next to the mountains, but I don’t remember it snowing this much.

And haven’t they heard of a snowplow?

Marion’s town slogan was Where Main Street Meets Mountain. That was one of the reasons she’d loved the town, with the nearby woods, its colorful shops, and the feeling that time hadn’t touched it the way it had the cities. They occasionally closed down Main Street for festivals where the entire town came out to mingle and eat hot dogs and snow cones. There was even a dress the pig contest at the Livermush Festival. Some of her happiest memories were of those events, going to ballgames, and working at Mom’s jewelry shop downtown. Yes, a lot of the older folks thought she was a troublemaker, with her constantly changing hair color, fashions they’d never seen—and obviously didn’t want to—and tattoos. But that was sorta fun, too, watching their eyes go wide when she walked into a room. Instead of easing back, it only egged her on to be louder. More outlandish.

When Mom announced she was marrying Chris and moving the shop to Lexington, Kentucky, where he was from, Kelsey had wanted to cry, even though she’d been off at college in Charlotte. She supposed that was why she’d gone an hour out of the way to see the place—a chance to see if anything had changed and to say goodbye. Only between the darkness and the snow, she wouldn’t be able to see much, and at this point, she was wondering if she’d even make it into town. Right now she felt like she was the only person in the world, nothing but her and white as far as the eye could see.

But at least she could recognize landmarks. She was only about five miles out of town, but going this slow, that distance might take a while.

A streak of brown ran in front of her and she swerved to miss the large deer. The tires slid. Depressing the brakes didn’t slow her down but sent her spinning into the other lane. The right side of her car hit the guardrail, the impact throwing her forward. Her seat belt caught, digging into her chest, and metal groaned against metal as the car rolled up and over the rail. The rail bent under the car’s weight, and the suitcase from the back bumped into her seat as the front end of the car pointed down, toward the tree-lined slope.

For a moment, there was only a ringing noise, the radio silenced, the falling snow swirling around her car as her heart pounded so fast she couldn’t tell if it or the belt hurt more.

Holy shit, Kelsey said, taking her shaky hands from the wheel. She ran her gaze over herself, checking to make sure she was okay. The airbags would’ve deployed if she had any, she was sure, but this car was almost as old as she was. She felt okay physically, with the exception of her jangled nerves. As soon as she was sure she wasn’t bleeding or knocked loony, she glanced out the window, where a tree was mere inches from her face, some of the branches pressed against the glass. The right side where her car had hit the rail looked pretty mashed, too.

Her heart dropped. There was no way she could simply start up her car, back up, and go on her way. She cranked the engine to see if it’d even start—nope, just grinding followed by a clicking noise. The snow fell faster and faster and the wind blew against her car, making the windows shudder. Without the heater pumping full blast, cold was seeping in, biting everywhere her skin was exposed.

Crap. What am I going to do?

Headlights approached on the road and Kelsey’s heart lurched. Vehicles were few and far between out here this late, and she needed to get this one to stop. But she couldn’t get either of the front doors open, and she was scared one wrong move would send the car barreling farther into the trees. She undid her seatbelt and immediately fell against the steering wheel.

Ouch.

She started crawling to the back of the car, freezing when police lights flicked onto the vehicle. Her happiness that the truck was stopping faded. Sheriff Henderson had always treated her like a criminal—okay, so there was that time she’d been busted at a party, but there were several underage kids drinking, and she’d been the only one carted in. So not fair. Not to mention all the speeding tickets he’d given her, even when she’d barely been over the limit.

If she thought another car would happen by, she might take her chances. But as much as she didn’t like the sheriff, she didn’t want to become a human Popsicle either. The car wobbled and she gripped the headrest to keep from being tossed back to the front.

The lights of the truck lit up a tall figure. Either the sheriff had lost his gut or…

Kelsey squinted at the guy as he got closer. The glowing taillights of her car illuminated him in red, but between that and the snow all she could really tell was that it was someone much younger than Sherriff Henderson.

The backdoor opened with a groan. Give me your hand, he instructed, extending his. The car

Reviews for An Officer and a Rebel

[robert.zimmermann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is my first time reading Cindi Madsen and I can already tell I’ll be tracking down all her other books to read. This may be a novella, but it hit all the right buttons for me.

It seems I’m a sucker for winter romances, and An Officer and a Rebel was no exception. I was reading this one during a hot summer day, but was easily transported into the middle of a snowstorm. Madsen wrote such a great setting for the book, reading that alone made me love the book.

But what’s a romance without great characters? The setting isn’t the only thing Madsen’s great at writing. I really enjoyed reading Kelsey and Nate’s story. They’re great characters, know their flaws, and felt so realistic. Everything in the story felt natural and helped me get sucked in early on and root for them until the finish line.

This Madsen novella was a great read. It didn’t feel to short or too long. Just the perfect length. And if it’s a taste of what the other Accidentally in Love series has in store for me, I may have a new favorite author waiting for me.

[bette_hansen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cindi Madsen shows us sometimes we can go back. Teenage rebel Kelsey returned - well accidentally -to Marion. And who comes to her rescue? Well Sheriff Nate of course. Older brother of Kelsey's ex boyfriend who has always secretly crushed on Kelsey. Great read, I recommend it!