The Vixen & the Vet
Katy RegneryBlurb -
Burned by an
unreliable source, Savannah Carmichael, returns to her hometown of Danvers,
Virginia with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the
opportunity to get her skin back in the game by writing a patriotic human
interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a
wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn’t been seen
since.
After an IED
explosion in Afghanistan took Asher’s hand and disfigured half of his face, he's
lived a quiet life on the outskirts of Danvers where the locals respect his
privacy…that is, until Savannah Carmichael comes calling in a borrowed sundress
and a plate of homemade brownies. When Asher agrees to be interviewed by
Savannah, he starts feelings things for the beautiful reporter that he hasn’t
felt in years.
Misfits in
small-town Danvers, Savannah and Asher create a bond right away, touching each
other’s hearts in ways neither thought possible. When a terrible mistake
threatens to drive them apart, they’ll have to decide if the love they found in
one another’s arms is strong enough to fight for their hard-won happily ever
after.
Savannah
sent the next installment of “Asher Lee:
An All-American Story” to Maddox by noon on Friday, and she waited, tense,
to find out what he thought. Her phone rang by 12:30.
“Carmichael? Maddox McNabb here. I
read your piece.”
“And?”
“Something’s missing. You’re holding
something back.”
“How do you mean, sir?”
“Your general descriptions are just
fine. But, the way you describe him;
it’s half-asssed. It’s like you’re afraid to say too much. This was a date,
wasn’t it? This dinner in the Grove?”
Savannah grimaced. She’d tried to
write the piece as two friends having dinner together. Apparently it didn’t fly.
“I guess so, sir.”
“Let me give you some advice,
Carmichael. Give it heart, or give it up. You falling for this man?
Asher?”
Savannah gritted her teeth. She’d
promised a human interest story, not her personal business. It felt like whoring
herself. Worse, it felt like whoring Asher.
“Your silence tells me all I need to
know. That’s the story, Carmichael. Whether you like it or not, that’s the
story. How you went after an interview and fell in love instead. Like it or lump
it, that’s the story I want. That’s the story I need. That’s the story my
readers will “ooh” and “ahh” about on the Fourth of July. The beautiful
hard-nosed reporter who fell for the mysterious, disfigured war vet. It’s
“Beauty and the Beast” with the “Star Spangled Banner” playing in the
background. Don’t like it? Don’t write it. We go our separate ways. You decide,
kid.”
Her hackles rose, bitter and
indignant. “But, sir, I can do a fine piece on Asher Lee’s injuries, the way
this town turned their backs on him, how he writes poetry and went to UVA and
got into John’s Hopkins but decided to serve his country instead. His story is
remarkable. He’s remarkable. I’m nobody. I’m nothing. No one wants to read a
story about me.”
“Wrong!” bellowed Maddox McNabb. “I
hate to tell you kid, but right here, right now? You’re the story. Name of the game is
human interest. You’re human. I’m interested. Either re-write it by tomorrow, or
don’t contact me again.” And he hung up.
Savannah clenched her jaw, lowering
the phone from her ear to her lap, her head spinning. Damn it, but she was
stuck. And damn it, but she hated being stuck. There had to be another way:
another person she could interview, another war vet who had a story to tell…but
no, Maddox McNabb wouldn’t be interested in that story. He already had a
humdinger on the line.
She took a deep breath, lying back
on her bed and staring despondently at the ceiling. Whatever was happening
between her and Asher felt too good, too fine, to be used as fodder for a news
story. It felt low and cheap even to consider it. And yet…she was a good writer
wasn’t she? All of her professors at NYU had told her so, and she’d been the
fastest rising reporter at the Sentinel before her inglorious fall. Couldn’t she
pull it off in such a way that would appease Maddox but not expose the most
private man she’d ever met? She bit her bottom lip, thinking.
There must be a
way, she thought,
and whatever that way is, I will figure
it out before tomorrow.
Head over to Katy Regnery's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/KatyRegnery) today for more cover reveal fun! She's having a #CoverRevealCelebration that will include giveaways (with 24-hours to enter), excerpts and teasers. All you have to do to enter is share her cover reveal announcement - it couldn't be easier! Also, please note that 50% of everything Katy earns on "The Vixen & the Vet" in June and July 2014 will go directly to Operation Mend, a non-profit organization at the UCLA Medical Center that offers assistance to the returning wounded in our armed forces. Make sure you pick up a copy when "The Vixen & the Vet" is released on June 17th, just in time for your Fourth of July reading!
Add "The Vixen & the Vet" to YOUR TBR list today!!
No comments:
Post a Comment