Small Town Charm

By Juliet Holmes

Hazel Alvarez was an internet sensation…

…for a month or so. Hazel tried to leverage her hit YouTube song into a record deal, but it just wasn't clicking. Now she's back in good old Lyndale, tail tucked between her legs, to start her life all over again.

John Chapman is an archaeologist.

Or so he tries to remind his Senator mother who's prepping for a presidential run. Try as he might, he can't wiggle his way out of her upcoming political fundraiser, and if he doesn't bring a date, she'll find him one.

John and Hazel are just friends.

So there'll be no trouble at all pretending to date in front of his mother, sister, and the entire political elite of Dallas, Texas. It's not like they've been secretly pining for each other or anything.

The only thing going well for either of them is their friendship, and they're not about to risk it. Besides, Hazel just ran screaming from the spotlight. Dating a potential First Son is way more than she could ever handle.

Right?

This sweet & steamy short novelette take place between Third Time's a Charm & Criminal Charm.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Juliet Holmes
• Release date: Nov 5, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201490591

Book preview

Small Town Charm

Small Town Charm

Juliet Holmes

Published by Juliet Holmes, 2021.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

SMALL TOWN CHARM

First edition. November 5, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 Juliet Holmes.

ISBN: 979-8201490591

Written by Juliet Holmes.

Small Town Charm

Juliet Holmes

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Epilogue

Criminal Charm Preview

Prologue

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

Also by Juliet Holmes

About the Author

1

Hazel Alvarez was back in good old Lyndale, Texas.

She pulled into the parking lot of her mother’s bed and breakfast and stared at the Lyndale fixture that had doubled as her home for many years. The faded sign outside proclaimed it The Broken Egg, and everyone in a twenty-mile radius knew it served the best danishes in the county.

The beds were slightly less comfortable, but her mama operated on a budget, and there wasn’t so much demand for overnight stays in Lyndale, population 430.

She drummed her hands against her steering wheel. The radio blared George Strait. Producers wanted her to sound like all the other country-pop out there, but she couldn’t sing it convincingly.

She needed something with soul.

And one viral YouTube hit wasn’t enough to build a career for a singer like her.

Ronnie, her mother, walked out of her bed and breakfast and tapped on the window. Hazel reluctantly lowered her radio and rolled the window down.

Hi, Mama.

If anyone came to Lyndale, they stayed at the Broken Egg. If anyone wanted a decent meal that wasn’t bbq or a burger, they came to the Broken Egg.

If Hazel failed at building a singing career, she came to the Broken Egg.

Welcome back, baby. Her mom opened the car door and squeezed her into a hug. I can feel your ribs. Your father hasn’t been feeding you.

Hazel was the same size 10 she’d always been, but her mama showed love through food. She smiled against her cheek and inhaled her familiar jasmine perfume.

I’m twenty-four. Pretty sure I’m the one feeding me.

"Not feeding you. Come on."

Hazel gave a half-hearted wave to Shari, the girl manning the front desk. Shari grinned at her. Everyone in town treated her like some kind of celebrity. She’d almost believed it herself when she was performing her song on the Morning Show in New York. Finally, all of her dreams had come true.

Most people didn’t even get a taste of something like that.

Her mother fixed her up a plate of veggie lasagna and garlic bread, and she sat in the small break-room to eat it while the staff readied her old room.

I guess I’ll see if the ambulance is hiring. She might as well kick start her old-new life. The money she’d earned singing wasn’t much and it wouldn’t last forever.

They’ll take you back in a minute, her mother said, if that’s what you’re sure you want.

She liked being an EMT. She liked being useful, at least. Even if it didn’t pay nearly the same, saving lives seemed more important than singing on TV.

So why did it hurt so much to think about hopping back into her scrubs?

I’ll give Angela a call in the morning.

Coming back home wasn’t a failure. She looked out the window as she ate. In Memphis, she’d missed the old-fashioned storefronts and nosy neighbors. Without her town’s support and the open mic night at Freddie’s, record labels wouldn’t have sought her out, anyway. They’d been the ones cheering her on and posting her videos.

But with her close friends scattered all over the world chasing their dreams, coming back home felt like a step backward. Sage was in law school, John was in Greece digging up old pottery shards he’d describe in excruciating detail when they met again, and even Leo had finally left their sleepy town.

John hadn’t believed it when Leo flew out to meet him in Europe the