Reality Hero Blog Tour
Author Name: Ashlynn Monroe
Title of book: Reality Hero
Release date: 6-17-13
Sub-genre promoting (Contemporary, Paranormal, SciFi, etc): Fantasy/Superhero Romance
Buy Links: http://beachwalkpress.com/reality-hero/
Website Link: http://www.ashlynnmonroe.com/
Thank you so much for hosting me! I loved writing this book and I hope that
readers will enjoy reading it as much as I adored the process of writing
it. I am working on a novella sequel to
this novel, Ella’s story. Enjoy Reality
Hero, I can’t wait to hear what you think.
I love reader email at authorashlynnmonroe@gmail.com!
Dina Dell's career as a television producer has hit bottom. Desperate to save her job, she comes up with the idea for a reality show called I Want to Date a Superhero. But the only superhero bachelor she knows is the only man she's ever loved—Zane Blair.
Zane was once a normal human, but a traumatic childhood incident mutated him, along with Dina's sister and their friends. Dina was the only one who escaped without any superhero abilities. And while she might be the "normal" one, that only left her feeling like more of an outcast.
Her lack of powers put Zane in danger. Knowing that it was only a matter of time before someone used her to get to him, she left, breaking both their hearts in the process. After all the pain she caused him, will he be willing to help her now?
Then an old enemy emerges, putting Dina's plans on hold. When her superhero friends are the ones who need help, Dina just might learn that sometimes little Miss Average can be a hero too.
Content Warning: graphic sexual content
Cover (link to cover on site or attach cover to email):I’ll
do both. http://beachwalkpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/RealityHero_Medium-200x300.jpg
Dina Dell sat in the conference
room waiting anxiously. A huge lump began forming in her throat. She knew
things weren’t going to go well, yet she held hope old Ervin might be feeling
generous. Her past hip and innovative programming ideas had once made her his
most valued employee. Now she was hanging onto her job by a thread. That’s how
the television business is: unforgiving. She was the mastermind behind top
rated shows such as Kid Exchange and Please, Someone Marry my Mother.
Unfortunately, the wellspring of
creativity had run dry. For the last year, every show she’d produced had been
ratings disasters, if her productions had even been lucky enough to air at all.
Dina saw the writing on the wall, and with the network making major cuts to
combat the economic slump, she knew the axe was coming down…on her head.
Watching the wily old codger
walk toward the room through the opaque glass, even without seeing his face,
she knew he was on the warpath. His body language said it all. His fists were
clenched and his shoulders were tight. He lumbered down the hall as if he were
preparing for murder—the murder of her career. Ervin threw open the door with
dramatic flair.
“My Cat is in Charge?
Really? Really and truly? Dear God, Dina. You honestly thought this was going
to make good television? Who’d ever watch this? What happened to that brilliant
brain of yours? Did you have a head injury? Did you have a stroke? Did someone
hit me in the head, and this is all some coma-induced nightmare? What
could possibly keep me from canning your sweet little ass right now?”
“Well, the sexual harassment
lawsuit over your ‘sweet ass’ comment for one, and two, I have an idea that’ll
blow your mind. I swear it. This one will put the network on top again. When
the big boys hear the premise, neither of us will ever have to worry about our
jobs again.” She paused and took a deep breath. Sweat ran down her face, but
she resisted the urge to swipe at it, just in case he didn’t notice. Oh God,
can he see that I’m lying? “That whole cat thing was just to get your
attention for this. I swear the network will be kissing your ass after this
airs.” Dina was lying through her teeth. She had nothing that she could
produce. Her only idea was one she could never actually use without destroying
people she cared about. The cat thing
was the most creative idea she’d had in months. Plenty of people loved
cats. Someone would want to watch a show about families letting their furry
feline make major life decisions. Oh fuck, that is awful. Crap. Hold it
together, girl. The old man can smell fear. She gulped in another lungful
of air.
He cocked a bushy, gray eyebrow
and crossed his arms over his chest. Waiting. She took a breath. Folding her
hands, she put them in her lap so he wouldn’t notice them shaking. Closing her
eyes, she exhaled slowly. It was time to pull out the dramatics. She’d been
around enough TV personalities to have picked up a thing or two about acting. Okay,
maybe if I lie well, he won’t send me to spend the rest of my life living on
the street and rambling incoherently about my glory days working in television.
The desperate thoughts sent her heart racing. She opened her eyes and
regretted it. Ervin was staring at her. He still hadn’t said a word, but she
could see curiosity in his expression. Good. He’d taken the bait, too bad she
had nothing to reel him in with.
“I respect you, Ervin, but I’ll
take this idea to another network if you don’t want to hear it.”
His eyebrow rose. “Okay?”
He was giving her one last
chance. She opened her mouth to condemn the one person who really mattered to
her. Her mouth went dry and she shut it. Biting her lip, she closed her eyes.
There was no more waiting, she had to do it, even if this idea cost her what
was left of her soul. She looked up at her mentor.
“What if I told you I had a
superhero who was willing to star in a new show? Would you want me to run with
that?”
His watery eyes bulged, then he
recovered and a scowl replaced his shock. “You’ve made this network some
serious money, but that’s in the past. For the last year, you’ve been a
harbinger of series death. Whatever you’ve touched around here has turned to
steaming piles of…crap. Your ideas stink. Once upon a time, I called you the
Queen of Reality TV. What happened to my amazing, rising star? Why are you
pushing terrible, idiotic, horrible programming? Everything you’ve done lately
makes me want to stick sharp pencils in both my eyes so I can’t see them, and
scratch off my ears so I can’t hear them. Then I’d rip the hair out of my head
so the pain can distract me from the memory.” His face was turning from red to
purple. She cringed. This graphic assessment of her talent left her queasy. He
glared at her before opening his mouth,
as if to speak, then closing it again. The old man ran a hand through what was
left of his straggly gray hair and pinned her with a less than friendly look.
She tried to stand her ground, but under the weight of her mentor’s ire, she
crumbled. Her shoulders slumped, and she couldn’t meet his eyes.
“If I didn’t respect you so
much, and love you like the daughter I’m glad I never had, I’d have put
you out of here six months ago. I put my sweet ass on the line for yours
this morning with the network, so don’t screw me. I swear this cat thing made
me want to stick a firecracker up my nose and blow my head off.”
She winced, Ervin was never one
to spare feelings, but ouch…harsh. His dramatic criticism felt completely
deserved. He was right. She did suck. The old coot’s face was still red from
his tantrum.
“If this thing works out, I’ll
be the queen again. So cool off before my only supporter has a massive heart
attack and dies. Just think about your wife, and how much she’d like to
spend your life insurance money.” The words seemed to calm him down, but not
much.
“You’re giving your only
supporter the heart problems, so last chance, kid. Turn the dung into gold or
you’re fired.” He whirled around, leaving the same way he came in: abruptly.
She could almost see him wiping her self-respect off his shoes as he marched
away. If she screwed up this time, her career was finished. Dina genuinely
worried about his health. For all his bark, he wasn’t a bad guy. He’d given her
a good start in the industry. She’d been the one to screw it all up.
Dina sat quietly looking at the
blank, smooth tabletop. She nibbled her lip and fought back tears. She had the
perfect idea, but it was going to be a hard sell. Oh, it’d be easy to get the
network interested, they’d love it. Old Ervin would respect her again. Masses
of television viewers would praise her. Yet she’d hate herself…probably until
she died. The only person who could star in this thing was the one person she
loved the most. He was the only person she’d ever intentionally hurt. The
person who could save her was the one who’d given Diamond City almost
everything, and now she was going to ask for one last thing—his heart.
Links:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3442759.Ashlynn_Monroe
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Thank you so much for hosting my book! You ladies have a great blog!
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