Journalist
Meredith Hale's ex-husband claimed her Nora Roberts addiction gave her
unrealistic expectations about marriage, and she believed him. All dreams of
happily ever after¾or
Nora Roberts Land as her mother calls it— went up in smoke. But when her family
asks her to temporarily help their Dare Valley, Colorado newspaper, she decides
it’s time to change her life and prove her ex wrong. She's determined to find
her own small-town Nora Roberts hero, prove that true love exists, and publish a
story about her quest.
War
correspondent Tanner McBride has just returned stateside to work for a major
newspaper, and the last thing he expects is blackmail. Yet, before he can even
unpack, he’s headed to Colorado. His assignment? Make his boss’s ex-wife fall
for him and then break her heart. Her article about discovering love à la Nora
might air dirty laundry about her marriage to the media mogul, threatening his
senate run. The mogul wants Meredith stopped, and he makes sure Tanner has no
choice in the matter.
When
the two meet, the sparks between them are undeniable. Meredith, who vowed never
to date another journalist, begins to succumb. Could Tanner be her Nora
Roberts hero? As they work together to uncover the truth behind a suspicious
death, the depth of their feelings unfolds and both realize they've kept their
secrets for far too long. But before the truth can be revealed, their
investigation takes a deadly turn, one that might make Meredith's personal Nora
Roberts Land go up in flames.
Here's a sneak peek:
Here's a sneak peek:
Meredith Hale scanned the bookstore window. There it
was—the new Nora Roberts book—the cover a bold, powerful landscape of sky and
water.
Her superhero alter ego, Divorcée Woman, couldn’t
override the rash of goosebumps on her arms or her knotted stomach. Meredith patted the red lace La Perla bustier hidden
under her black suit jacket and took one hesitant step closer to
the glass, her breath hitching as she scanned Nora’s prominent display. She
imagined Divorcée Woman telling her to suck it up. It was only a bookstore
after all. It wasn’t like she had to take a bullet for the president or
anything.
She’d gone cold turkey on Nora’s books a year ago,
when her ex-husband, Rick-the-Dick, threw Black Hills at the wall, snarling that her favorite
author had given her an unrealistic view of love. “Out marital problems are her fault,” he said. “She’s made you
believe in happily ever after—something any
adult knows is a myth. Grow up.” Then he packed his custom-tailored suits
and slammed out the door of their swanky Manhattan
apartment.
At first she’d thought maybe he was right. But she
missed Nora’s books. And not reading them hadn't made the whole divorce thing
any easier on her. It hadn't made the panic attacks go away.
She wanted her Nora Roberts back, dammit. It was
time to reclaim her life.
Unfortunately, just looking at the cover had her
hovering on the edge of a panic attack. Her hands grew clammy. She wiped them
on her black suit and dug into her matching purse for her cell phone. Her
sister would be able to talk her into going into the store. After all, Jill
could talk anyone into anything.
“Hey, Mere,” Jill greeted, the ever-present sound of
her favorite band, Abba, in the background. Jill wanted to live life like a
dancing queen.
“Hey,” she said, making sure to sound calmer than
she was. “How’s business at the coffee shop?”
“Well, after a regional dairy salesman tried to talk
me into changing my store’s name from Don’t Soy With Me to Don’t Milk Me, I’m
about ready to bash my head against the espresso machine. He was so dense. I
tried to explain it’s a play on words, but he just blinked like one of those dairy cows
and went, ‘Oh.’”
Meredith’s panic slowly eased. Jill and her stories
were always a comfort. “Being in New York , I
don’t run into too many milk salesmen. Does he wear a special outfit?”
“No, thank God. Speaking of milk, did you get my
present?”
Ducking closer to the store window so she wouldn’t
be mowed down by a rush of pedestrians, Meredith said, “You mean the coffee mug
with the line, ‘You’re My Udder One’?”
“Yes. I tried to appease the milk guy by telling him
I’d put those mugs out for display, but he wouldn’t leave. He even offered to
teach me how to milk a cow. I think he was hitting on me.”
As Meredith muffled her laughter, a passing banker
gave her a disapproving stare. His shoes, belt, and briefcase matched—the Wall
Street uniform. “And I thought my love life was pathetic.”
“What love life?”
“Funny. Speaking of which, I’m outside a bookstore.
I woke up this morning and decided I want to read.”
“Oh, honey, I didn’t know you were illiterate.”
“Hah.” She eyed the rush of people heading in and
out of the bookstore on 82nd and Broadway.
“Okay, take a deep yoga breath. Jeez, Mere, you
sound like Great Aunt Helen when she put down her oxygen to steal a swig of
Grandpa’s scotch at Christmas.”
“Right. Breathe.” Was her vision blurring? “I’m
taking a step.”
“Oh, baby, I wish mom and I were there to see it.”
Her sister’s wicked humor cut through the fogginess
in her head. Meredith wasn’t sure she was in her body anymore, but it moved
when she walked. Her hand managed to open the door. She walked in on legs
wobbling like an untangled yoyo.
“Are you inside yet?”
She squeezed into a book aisle as people cruised by.
“Yes.”
“Welcome back to the land of the reading.”
Was there anything more
comforting? “Thank you. I’m standing by the thriller and suspense section.
Makes me think of Grandpa. He’s convinced there’s some sort of conspiracy going
on at the university. I’m researching the college drug trade for him on the
side. Maybe I should buy him a John Grisham book instead.”
“I know! He keeps
pumping me for information about the parties I’ve gone to. I told him people
drink too much and puke. End of story.”
“Tell that to his
infernal journalism gut.” Not that she could point fingers. Hale DNA had given
her one too.
“I know the fam’s
grateful you’ve been helping out with the paper after Dad’s heart attack,” her
sister said, “But Dad’s still working too hard. He loves that paper like it’s a
child—just like Grandpa.”
“I know, Jill.”
Suddenly guilt pressed down on her, its force almost as strong as the panic.
She was helping, but she wished she
could do more. Sometimes being long-distance sucked.
Her sister cleared her throat. “I don’t know how to
say this, but you need to know. Sorry the timing’s not great with the whole one-year-divorce
anniversary thing, but…” Her sister’s breathing went a little ragged on the
line. “The doctor’s concerned about dad’s progress and wants him to take some
time off. Mom hasn’t wanted to ask you, but someone needs to help Grandpa. I
know he can run circles around us all, but he’s in his seventies. Is there any
way you can come home to help out for a few months? I’d do it, but I have zero
journalistic instincts. Plus, I have Don’t Soy with Me to run.”
“Come home?” She bumped into a book display, and a
whole parade of James Patterson hardcovers slid to the floor. Her lungs seemed
to stop at the thought. “I can’t breathe...and I really want to.” She gulped in
air.
“Go to the coffee shop and sit down. Put your head
between your knees.”
She wobbled over to a chair and caught sight of the
romance section. The tightness between her ribs could have competed with a boa
constrictor as it killed its victim. She didn’t care what people thought. She
put her head between her legs when she saw red.
Her phone buzzed in her clenched hand, signaling
another call. She ignored it, breathing deeply. When her equilibrium returned,
she took deep breaths until she was sure she’d inhaled all the circulated air
in Manhattan . She put the phone to her ear
again.
“You still there?”
“Yep. You okay?”
Question of the year. “I didn’t pass out, but it was
close.”
“Meredith, your husband cheated on you, and then
blamed it on you—and Nora’s books. You’ve been through an emotional wringer.
Give yourself a break. I keep telling Jemma that too.”
Jill’s best friend had just been dumped by her
childhood sweetheart. “You’re pretty good at giving advice.”
“Practice. Jemma’s devastated.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Her eyes burned, and she pinched
the bridge of her nose. “I can’t stand another night in my apartment. I miss my
Tribeca place and eating out in restaurants and visiting gallery openings. I
don’t miss Rick-the-Dick, but I do miss being part of that jam-packed world.”
“You have the Power Couple Blues, Mere. Maybe coming
home to help the paper will give you a new perspective. You don’t have any
family there. Most of your friends changed when you got divorced.”
True, she had become intimately familiar with the
term “fair weather friend” over the past year. “I miss you guys.” But going
home? She’d been in New York since starting at Colombia. “Let me grab a
coffee.”
“I wish I was there to make your favorite. Then I’d
give you a ginormous hug and tell you about Paige Lorton snorting whipped cream
up her nose and old man Perkins giving her the Heimlich.”
Her laughter popped out like the final popcorn
kernels in the microwave. “Oh, Jillie, I love you.”
“I love you too. You’re my big sis. I miss you,
Mere.”
Holding the phone away from her face for a moment,
she walked up to the counter and gave her coffee order—a tall, no foam
latte—before shuffling back to her chair. She slumped against the metal back,
returning the phone to her ear. “Let me think about coming home.”
“Surely Karen knows how hard you’ve worked after
joining her paper. You’ve been there for a year now. Plus, it’s Rick-the-Dick’s
rival paper. That’s gotta be extra bonus points.”
Her coffee magically appeared in front of her. She
looked up to see a petite barista with flat-ironed hair. “You look like you
needed me to bring it over.”
Kindness didn’t happen often in New York. In her
hometown of Dare Valley, Colorado, it happened more times than she could count.
“Thank you.” A wave of homesickness hit her. “Maybe you’re right, Jill. It
would be nice to be around people who know me.”
“Good! So think about it. Talk to Karen. Now, drink
your latte, and then we’ll talk you into the romance section. Nora Roberts Land
awaits.”
A smile tugged at Meredith’s lips. “I forgot how mom
always used to call Nora’s books that. She’d point her finger at dad and say
she was taking a few hours to visit Nora Roberts Land, and then she’d seal
herself off in the bedroom. Like it was an adult version of Disneyland. Dad
never got it.”
“Yeah, but at least he didn’t blame divorce on
Nora’s books. Rick-the-Dick’s the kind of man who can’t take responsibility for
his cheating, so he blamed it on you—and fiction. Isn’t that the most pathetic
thing ever? It’s like blaming teen suicide on Romeo and Juliet. It’s asinine.”
“Actually, I think that’s been done.” She took the
last drink of her latte and stood. Tested her balance. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“So strut your stuff over to the romance section.”
Purchase on Amazon
No comments:
Post a Comment