Book Review of Shelf
Life
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Book Blurb
Title: Shelf Life
(The Publicist Book Two)
Author: Christina
George
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
“…this
book grabbed my interest from page one. I’m sure Ms. George has more than a few
industry insiders chuckling at her stories and cringing at how close to home
they hit.”
Scandalicious
Book Reviews
Shelf
Life:
The
Publicist Book Two
~
The
story only an insider could tell.
Publishing: An industry of out-of-control of egos, unrealistic expectations, and books with the shelf life of milk.
This is Kate’s
world, but for how long?
When one of Kate Mitchell’s star
authors is carted away in handcuffs, she thinks it’s only the beginning of her
troubles. As her world crumbles around her, Kate desperately looks for anyone
to hold onto but finds that happy endings are truly works of fiction. When her
career and love affair hit their expiration date, Kate sets off on a new
adventure….
Starting over in
California is easy, but Kate soon learns that leaving her old life behind
isn’t. Nicholas Lavigne is eager to help her forget, but two things still own
her heart, the dream of discovering the next great American novel, and
MacDermott Ellis.
As Kate tries to
rebuild her life she finds a surprising gift that reboots her career in a new
and unexpected direction. Suddenly her name becomes synonymous with one of the
biggest bestsellers publishing has seen in ages and she's welcomed back with
open arms. At the height of her success the ghosts of her past come back to
remind her of the world she'd been trying to forget and the man who never let
go of her heart.
Behind
the book, there’s always more to the story.
Welcome
to Publishing, the ego has landed.
“The
Publicist is great chick lit!” Elizabeth Barbarick, Stuffed Shelves
“Very well written with a great cast
of characters.” Kindles & Wine Book Blog
Author Bio
I've worked in publishing for twenty years (give or take).
Here's what this book isn't. It's not a slam against publishing (though it is
broken) and it's not a slam against authors (though some of them are crazy).
This book is not autobiographical though many of the stories are true. No you
won't know which ones, hell it's more fun to guess, right? I continue to work
in publicity and help authors because at the end of the day I do love books, I
love publishing, and I love authors. I hope you'll enjoy this romp through
Kate's world as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Find our more at: www.thepublicistnovel.com
Links
Book
Excerpt
Lulu popped her head into Kate’s
office. “The New York Times is trying
to reach you for a quote, but somehow he got transferred to me. I’m sending the
guy to you, Rick somebody. Given how he got bounced around, I think he’s new.”
“Thanks, Lu. Do
you know what he wants a quote on?”
“No idea. Want me
to ask?”
“No, just put him
through.”
Lulu went back to
her desk. “Rick, I’m sending you to her now. Hang on.” Lulu had an odd feeling
about this guy. Maybe she should have asked him what he wanted instead of just
sending this on. She hit the transfer button and hoped for the best.
“Kate Mitchell,”
she answered in her best, crisp, ‘I am a publicist’ voice. Regardless of the
matter, it was always important to keep the publicity face on for the New York Times.
“Thanks for taking
the time, Kate, I appreciate this. My name is Rick Vaughn, and I’m new to the
book department. I’ve been assigned a story on fake reviews polluting the
Amazon pages of authors.”
Kate knew this
topic well. A piece in the Times
weeks before had launched a firestorm of discussion about authors who faked
their reviews either by populating the page with a slew of fake identities or
hiring someone to do it for them. There were companies set up to do just this,
and authors hired them in droves, hoping to glam up their Amazon author pages
with high praise in the form of five-star reviews. Now, however, an author page
with nothing but five star reviews was regarded as suspect. Several weeks
before, Edward had brought this touchy subject up in a meeting and had strongly
encouraged all publicity people to caution their authors about doing this,
reminding them that this could negatively affect the integrity of their book.
“Yes, I am well
aware of this problem,” she said.
“We started doing
this piece after someone had populated their book with a truckload of negative
reviews, then we realized that the issue of fake review placement is still
going on.” He was referring to a recent book about Michael Jackson that had
triggered an outrage from his fans who went onto Amazon and posted over one
hundred one-star reviews, all anonymously.
“I imagine it’s
hard to stop this, but MD takes this matter very seriously. We discourage our
authors from this type of activity.”
“Then you’ll
probably be surprised to learn that we’ve found newly-released books with no
less than ninety-five, five-star, raving reviews. When we investigated further,
we found that they were all set up from dummy accounts.”
“Wow, terrible;
it’s amazing the lengths people will go to. I would hope that Amazon would step
in on this kind of a thing. Who was the author?”
“Sasha Meiner.”
The name fell on Kate like a ten-ton load of bricks from the sky.
“Excuse me, did
you say Sasha?” Kate drummed her fingers on her desk in a nervous rhythm.
Sasha was her author and although she was
talented, a negative review by the New
York Times for her first book had sent her into a tailspin. The sales had
been affected, though it was tough to prove it was the only reason why the book
had done less than stellar. MD had reluctantly published her second, and though
she had a three-book deal, it was likely that MD would find a way around the
third book unless the second one blew the doors off of their expectations.
“We discovered
this and went back to Amazon for clarification. They have yet to respond to
us.”
“Right, well, it’s
tough to get them to respond to anything, isn’t it?” Kate tried to force a
lighthearted tone into her voice, but the truth was she couldn’t even fake a
smile, unlike Sasha who could, apparently, fake dozens of reviews. It was all
Kate could do not to slam the phone down, find Sasha, and slap some sense into
her.
“So, would you
like to say anything about this, Ms. Mitchell?”
“Please call me
Kate,” she said, trying to buy some time. What the hell could she say? My freak
of an author didn’t think the rules applied to her? If Kate could rip the
reviews down from Amazon herself, she would. But that was out of her control,
much like anything this loose cannon did.
Kate took a deep
breath, and in her best publicist voice said, “Rick, we discourage our authors,
and in fact, we admonish them for doing this. It’s never been an issue before.
I suspect Sasha was feeling vulnerable; she has a lot riding on her publishing
career. Not to defend her actions at all. We’ll make sure she sets this right.”
“What will you
do?” the reporter asked.
Go over there, handcuff her to her computer,
and force her to remove every one of her fake-ass love-letter reviews until
she’s blue in the face. Then I’ll slap the crap out of her and hopefully knock
some sense into this spoiled, rich bitch child. Kate, of course, couldn’t
say that. She also wondered if anyone in publishing gave out medals for showing
amazing restraint.
“I’m going to call
Sasha and demand that she remove these. We don’t tolerate this at MD.”
“Thanks, Kate. If I
need anything else, I’ll let you know.”
Kate slammed the
phone down. “Damn it!” she said to no one, and dropped her head in her hands.
Of course, it had to be one of her authors, and of course, it had to be Sasha.
Kate scrolled through her contacts for Sasha’s number. Without taking a minute
to calm herself, as she normally would, she punched “call.” It rang once before
Sasha picked up.
“Sasha here!” said
the chipper voice on the other end of the phone. Kate wished she could reach
through the phone and punch her.
“Sasha, you once
called me at three a.m. when you got a bad review, and you cried in my ear for
twenty minutes. Do you remember that?” Kate was furious, but her voice remained
almost frighteningly calm. She gripped the phone so hard, she was pretty sure
her knuckles were turning white.
“Uh-huh.”
“That incident
pales in comparison to what you’ve done now. I just got off the phone with the New York Times. They are doing an
article on fake reviews and discovered that your page is polluted with five-star
fakers.”
Kate could hear
Sasha gasp. “No, Kate, really, I promise. These are all just people who love my
work!” Sasha’s insistence sounded as “authentic” as her reviews.
“The Times has been investigating this, and
you’ve been caught. Now I don’t care what you have to do, but you need to
remove those reviews immediately. Do you hear me?”
“I can’t and I
won’t!” Sasha said. Kate could almost see her jutting out her chin. Kate was
grateful she wasn’t in the same room with Sasha. She would certainly do
something that would get her arrested, and she knew she looked terrible in
orange.
“You can and you
will. Why on earth did you do this?”
She could hear
Sasha start to cry, Kate had flashbacks to the night Sasha called her in
hysterics because the Times hated her
book. Sasha’s breath came out in sobs. “I had to do something. You weren’t
doing anything for me. You got me no reviews—well two—but I needed more, and
you weren’t helping me.”
Story of her life,
Kate thought. Authors telling her, “You’re not doing enough for me.” While some
authors were genuinely grateful, many had serious entitlement issues, expecting
their publishers to pull out all the stops and forget every other author except
for them and their book launches.
“Sasha, I’m not
going to sit here and defend the work I did for you, nor will I let you use
that as an excuse to do this. It’s completely unethical, and I won’t tolerate
it. Neither will your editor.”
Sasha was still
crying on the other end of the phone. “No, you can’t! Please don’t tell
Rebecca!”
“I can and I will.
Now remove those reviews, and let me know when you’ve taken care of it.”
Kate hung up
without waiting for Sasha’s reply. She knew Sasha would call her editor
immediately and try to play her case with Rebecca. Kate punched up Rebecca’s
extension.
“Becca, it’s Kate.
I’m coming by. Promise me you won’t pick up the phone until I get there.”
Kate walked out of
her office and right into Pete, who was hovering near her door. Pete was, in a
word, the company rodent. He spent most of his time sucking up to everyone and
annoying the hell out of Kate. Somehow, he always found a way to insert himself
into situations he had no business being in.
“Get out of my
way, Pete,” Kate said as she tried to maneuver around him.
Wrinkling his freckled
face, Pete broke into a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You look
upset, Kate. What’s going on? Is this about that Times reporter? He seems to have bounced around a bit. I spoke to
him, too, but he was dead set on talking to you.”
“Go back to your
desk, Pete, and mind your own business.”
“Is this about one
of your authors?”
Kate stared him
down and debated shoving him out a window. Instead, she pushed him out of the
way. “Go back to your desk.” Her voice was low, almost threatening, and she
noticed the spineless one seemed to flinch, if only slightly. Kate left him and
marched to Rebecca’s office.
“What’s up, Kate?”
“I’ll be there in
a second.”
Kate stopped by
Lulu’s desk on her way to see Rebecca. “Lu, the Times is doing a piece on fake reviews and our very own Sasha has
packed her book page full of them. I told her to yank them down immediately. I
want you to keep checking her Amazon page today, and see if there’s anyone at
Amazon we can reach to expedite this.”
“The Times is really running a story on this
and mentioning Sasha?” Lulu asked.
Kate nodded and
headed to Rebecca’s office.
The editor was
waiting for her. “My phone’s been ringing off the hook since you called me,
Kate. What’s going on?”
“It’s Sasha. She
wrote about a zillion fake reviews on her Amazon page.”
“Fuck.” Rebecca
leaned back in her chair.
“It gets worse. I
just got off the phone with a reporter at the Times. They discovered this first. Isn’t that great? They’re
running a story on this in tomorrow’s paper.”
“Shit, Kate. What
did you say?”
“I told them it
isn’t MD’s policy to tolerate this and that I would direct our author to remove
these immediately. Then I called Sasha and laid into her. I told her to get
those reviews off of there. I figured she’d call you to see if she could beg
your understanding.”
Rebecca shook her
head. “Suddenly staying home with a screaming infant sounds more soothing than
this day so far. Porn and Sasha, great combination.”
Kate wrinkled her
nose. “Don’t even mention that word in the same sentence as Sasha. God knows
that might be the next thing she attempts in order to make sales.”
“Damn it. This
will tank her book,” she said with a sigh.
Kate nodded. “I
checked their pages; I checked all of my author’s Amazon pages. I swear, I
checked Sasha’s not even three days ago. I don’t know how she did this.”
“Kate, this isn’t
your fault. You can’t babysit these people.”
“Edward expects me
to,” Kate replied, taking a deep breath.
Rebecca rolled her
eyes. “Yeah, well, trying to control what Sasha does is like trying to stop a
dam break with your finger. That girl is just out there.”
“Well, I wanted
you to hear it from me, first, Becca, and I’m sorry.”
The editor shook
her head. “Not your fault, so don’t worry. I’ll send Sasha an email, too, so
she knows she shouldn’t waste her time trying to convince me to take her side.”
“Thanks. Let’s
hope we can fix this, but candidly, by the time the piece runs, it’ll be too
late anyway. I asked Lulu to check on it, too.”
“Listen, Kate, let
me take you to dinner tonight. Danny can watch the baby, and I’d love to grab a
bite with you.”
Kate smiled. “I’d
love to Becca, but let’s do it another night. I already have plans.”
Rebecca returned
her smile. “I hope it’s a date, Kate. You deserve a nice man who can take you
away from all of this, or at least make you forget it for a while.”
* * *
When Kate left the office, it was
already past six. She was going to be late. Mac insisted she come by his
apartment before they headed to dinner. He was being pretty mysterious, even
for Mac. Kate pulled her jacket tighter around her. The cold, biting air almost
cut through her. They were expecting more snow—maybe even later that night. By
January, New Yorkers hoped for the end of snow season, but often that’s when it
began. Weather reports said up to a foot in some areas, which meant that some
trains might not be running tomorrow and the folks who live in Westchester
could be delayed for hours getting into Grand Central. Kate kept a few extra
sweaters and blouses at Mac’s; a habit that she’d only recently started after
Mac had encouraged her. “Too far to go in the morning from my place to your
apartment and then to work.” He was right, of course, though if they were a
real couple, they might be talking about living together in the near future.
Kate walked into Mac’s building, and the doorman waved her on. By now, the
staff all knew who she was. Kate wondered if they ever talked about Mac’s
“visitor.”
Kate pushed the
thought from her mind. Mac didn’t sleep around, he had promised her that. It
seemed like an odd promise, but she tried not to think about it. She was
already knee-deep into this relationship with Mac, and each day that passed
made it harder to get out. As the elevator sped up twenty floors, Kate thought
about Nick. She really needed to call him soon. Tomorrow, she promised herself,
and the elevator doors slid open.
As Mac had
requested, the doorman had alerted him of Kate’s arrival. Mac was waiting for
her with a smile on his face. The faint glow that peeked through the door
silhouetted Mac’s body. He swung his door open wider, and Kate could see dozens
of lit candles and a roaring fire in the fireplace. Mac quietly closed the door
behind him,
“Good to see you,
Katie. I didn’t get my fill of you at work today.” He reached for her, helping
her out of her coat, and then he tipped her face and kissed her lips, which were
cold from the wind. Kate noticed an unmistakable glint in his eye.
“Mac, what are you
up to?” she asked.
“You had a rough
day, Katie. I have something set up for you in the bedroom. Why don’t you go
check it out?”
Kate smiled. “Mac,
can we at least eat first? I’m starving.”
He laughed.
“That’s not what I meant, Kate. Come here, let me show you.” Mac led her to his
bedroom and opened the door. A woman dressed in a simple, crisp white shirt and
yoga pants was standing over a table.
A massage table,
Kate observed. She spun around. “Mac, what’s this about?”
“Rebecca told me
what happened; you have had a rough few weeks. I thought you might like a
treat, and I know you’d never do this for yourself.”
“Mac, this is so
sweet of you. I don’t know what to say.”
Mac wrapped his
arms around her. “Say thank you, and get on the table. You deserve this, Kate.
I want to do something for you after all you’ve done for me.” His voice was
soft, the words caressing her face.
“What have I done
for you, Mac?”
He leaned in and
whispered in her ear, “Everything, Katie. Absolutely everything.”
As Kate closed the
door, his phone buzzed. He walked over to the counter to retrieve it.
“MacDermott,” he
said.
“Mac, it’s me.” It
was Carolyn. “I’ve left a few messages for you. I know you’re busy, but I
really need an answer about the house refi.”
Of course she
needed to hear from him, he was her husband and their house needed his
attention. He’d been ignoring her calls. He told himself it was because he’d
been busy, but the truth was he was becoming too wrapped up in the pretend life
that he’d carved out for himself. He wanted a world where it was just him and
Kate, but that wasn’t realistic. The awkward truth was that she was in the
other room, and later they’d make love, but she was only his lover and his wife
was on the phone.
“Mac,” Carolyn
sighed. “Are you there?”
“Yes, I’m here.
Sorry, it’s been crazy at the office.”
“Look, I don’t ask for a lot, Mac, but this is important.”
“Look, I don’t ask for a lot, Mac, but this is important.”
“Of course,” he
said, keeping his voice low, “What’s going on?”
* * *
Kate emerged from
Mac’s bedroom an hour later. The masseuse had quickly packed up her table and
left. Kate draped herself in one of Mac’s fluffy robes. She could smell
something delicious coming from the kitchen.
“I’m glad you’re cooking,”
she smiled, her face as relaxed as he’d seen it in weeks. “I don’t think I
could summon up the energy to leave and go somewhere.”
He stirred
something and looked over his shoulder at her. “How was it?”
“Amazing. I’ve
never had a massage like that.”
A sexy grin
consumed his face, “Not even mine?”
Kate slid onto one
of the kitchen barstools; she liked sitting there and watching Mac cook. She
recalled that last time he’d cooked for her. It had been on a Saturday morning,
after only their second night together. Had that really only been a few months
ago? It felt like they’d been together forever.
“I have rosemary
chicken in the oven, baby red potatoes, and a special sauce my mother used to
make.” Mac took a kitchen towel, tossed it over his shoulder, and reached for
two glasses.
“I have a great
white wine I’ve been wanting to try. You game?”
“I’d love a glass.”
“I’d love a glass.”
Mac expertly
uncorked the bottle and let it breathe for a few minutes. “So, tell me about
Sasha.”
Kate shook her
head. “It’ll be all over the Internet tomorrow, I’m sure. The desperate author
who faked her own reviews.”
Mac poured a small
taste of wine, swirled the glass and handed it to Kate. “Sasha is such a train
wreck. I’m sorry you have to deal with that. Wine should help. Here, see if you
like this.”
Kate sipped it.
“Mac, it’s fantastic. What is it?”
“It’s Leoness
Viognier from California. I thought it was appropriate since we’re heading out
there soon.”
The writers conference, she thought. Next week with Mac, alone in Southern
California. The upcoming trip along with the wine, the man, and the massage
helped brighten her mood.
“Now, tell me
about Sasha.”
“It’s insane, Mac.
I’m just so sick of her crap. I bet Edward pulls her third book deal.”
“She’d deserve it.
So, how many reviews?”
“I counted
ninety-eight; we suspect she wrote all of them herself. She wasn’t even
creative enough to get other people to write them for her. Many of them sound
alike, and she even cut and pasted some reviews.”
Mac shook his head
as he pulled the chicken from the oven. “What a moron. I’m sorry you have to
deal with this on top of everything else.”
Kate sighed, “I
often wonder what it would be like to go freelance, you know, to be able to
take whatever authors I wanted.”
Mac walked out of
the kitchen to set the dining room table. “You thinking of leaving?”
Kate slid from the
barstool. “No, I mean, it’s security. I just think, you know, sometimes it
would be nice to say ‘no.’”
Mac slipped his
hands under the collar of his robe, feeling her bare shoulders. She was
completely naked underneath, and the thought of her body made him hard.
“Well, let’s hope
that whole ‘no’ thing doesn’t start tonight.” He smiled and leaned in to kiss
her.
She pulled him
closer. “I could no more say no to you than Sasha could write a good review.”
Laughter erupted
from Mac’s throat. “Come, Kate, let’s eat before I carry you off to the bedroom
and leave this dinner to burn.”
* * *
Kate was sitting
on one of Mac’s big, overstuffed leather couches watching the fire. Mac brought
the bottle of wine over and refilled her glass. He sat down beside her and Kate
nestled into him. He draped his arm around her and she could feel his heart
beating under his shirt. She felt safe and cared for and even loved, though
neither of them had ever said the “L” word. That, much like living together,
was off-limits.
“Kate, I have a
question to ask you.” As Mac spoke, Carolyn became an unwelcome intruder in his
mind. Carolyn, his wife. He pushed
the thought of her to a far corner and smiled at Kate. Mac was an expert at
compartmentalizing his life.
“What is it?” She
was wondering what else he had in store for her. The evening had been
absolutely wonderful, exactly what she needed.
“I want us to go
away together, to Whistler for a ski weekend. A long
weekend, just the two of us.”
Kate was startled,
and turned to face him, “Mac, are you serious? What brought this on?”
Mac took her hand
and stroked her fingers. Every time he touched her, it sent thunderbolts of
heat ricocheting through her. Her core warmed at his touch, her body eager for
release.
“I know this is
hard for you, this relationship. I thought we could go away, you know, like a
couple. I used to take the boys to Whistler, just them and me. It’s a fantastic
place, and you mentioned that you haven’t been skiing in ages, so I thought we
could do this…”
“…like a real
couple,” she finished.
Mac nodded. “It’s
a lot to ask you, to do this thing with me, this relationship that’s only half
a life for you. I just want you to know that I get it, and I want to make this
relationship as real for you as I can.”
Kate smiled. “Mac,
this is all very real to me.” She looked around at the room, candles flickered
everywhere, and in the center of this room, and her world, was this man who
took her to places sexually that she’d never been.
“Let’s do this,
Katie. Say you will.”
Her heart fluttered. “I will, Mac. I’d love to. When?”
Her heart fluttered. “I will, Mac. I’d love to. When?”
Mac dipped his
head. “After California, I’ll make the reservations.”
“But won’t it look
suspect if we’re out of the office at the same time?”
“Let me worry about
that, Kate.” Mac slid the robe off of her shoulders and began kissing her neck.
He had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Kate, and his need to be
inside her ached in him more than he cared to admit. Mac’s lips found her
breasts and flicked her nipples with his tongue. Kate leaned back and groaned;
she was already wet with the anticipation of him.
Mac, hard and long
inside her. She needed him right now. Kate tugged at his belt, loosening it.
She fumbled with the button on his pants and tugged down the zipper. Her hand
reached inside and found him, round, hard and pressed against his thigh. She
pulled him out, stroking him softly.
“I need you,” she
whispered huskily, filled with a hot, wet desire. Mac pulled his shirt off and
pushed his pants to the floor. They were naked on his couch, the heat and
sexual tension growing inside them. He nudged her knees apart and pushed
himself into her. She was wet and tight and full of need. He kissed her and he
pushed into her, again and again, until he felt her release, her hands clawing
through his hair. He let himself go, feeling his need for her only heighten as
he climaxed.
Afterwards,
they lay breathless and he kissed her moist skin. His mouth trailed to her
lips. “Katie, you are an amazing woman,” Mac said breathlessly. “Every time I
see you walk into a room, I feel like everyone can hear my heart pounding. I
don’t lose control, ever. But with you, it’s different and new and sometimes
frightening.”
Kate was surprised
at Mac’s sudden confession. “Frightening?” she whispered, trailing her fingers
along his back.
“In a good way, if
that makes sense. No one has ever made me question anything I do. With you, I
question everything. This life I lead, the choices I’ve made.”
“Is that bad?” she
asked tentatively.
“No, it’s good,
just different.” Mac held her eyes. “I never questioned what I did—I just did
it. Now I feel like I want more.”
For a moment, Kate
couldn’t breathe. “More? What do you mean?”
“I needed to tell
you that, Kate, and maybe it wasn’t fair, but I haven’t defined the ‘more’ yet.
I just know that it’s something I think about and I need to keep turning it
over in my head.”
“Isn’t this a
conversation I’m supposed to have, Mac?” she smiled; she could see he was
nervous. Maybe he hadn’t meant to tell her and in a moment of post-passion
euphoria, it had slipped out.
Mac smiled. “I
know, I’m sorry Kate. I should have thought this through more. It didn’t come
out right.”
Kate kissed him
softly. “It came out fine. Don’t worry about it. We’ll figure this out.”
Mac was amazed.
Most women he knew would have jumped on the ‘more’ comment and debated it until
every angle had been inspected and perhaps rightfully so. But Kate just dropped
it, and her lack of pressure and of expectation made Mac want to give her more
than he’d ever given another woman before. Just exactly what that was, he
wasn’t sure.
Review:
Personally
I think Kate didn’t have things all that bad.
She had two men who loved her enough to give up a lot to be with
her. IRL I would call her a bad name
behind her back. In the book I was more
willing to live vicariously through her.
The
story is charming. I enjoyed reading it
and think I could have been friends with most of these people, although I would
have dished about Kate (sorry but she had two guys who wanted to marry her and
some girls don’t even have one).
Although that was never really an issue for me, so maybe we would have
been friends. Easily draw into the story
and into caring about the characters.
I
give this story 4 out of 5 clouds.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
Thanks for the review!
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