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Blurb
Ginny
Bloom Hunnicutt is crawling back home to Cottonwood Cove Alabama-- her
promising CNN news-reporting career in shambles when an on-air flub cost her
the job and cost CNN a lawsuit. Putting ego aside, she takes a position at the
Chatterbox – the local weekly newspaper run by her mother, the town gossip.
What’s a southern belle to do in a crisis but run home to her mama?
But
when a mysterious hot high school football coach rolls into town, Ginny’s luck
begins to change. Seems he has more secrets than a shady politician and Ginny’s
determined to dig up the truth, and write the story that will get her career
back on track. Everyone knows in a small, southern town, nothing stays private.
But
the more she delves into his past, the more she begins to fall for the former
college football star.
The
coach’s star player has some secrets of his own and when Ginny uncovers it all,
she must decide if she should reveal everything or follow her heart and protect
the people she has grown to care for.
Author
Beth Albright weaves a saucy southern tale filled with intrigue, romance and
laugh out-loud comedy. From the bright lights of Friday night football to the
darkened bedroom of unexpected lovers, it’s a richly layered story with more
twists and turns—and mud, than an Alabama back road.
Excerpt
“I’ll
have another,” I said as I ordered my second dirty martini. The Sand Box was a
dingy little bar near the pier in Cottonwood Cove, Alabama.
Covered
in fishing ropes and other remnants of the life on the lake, the place was a
dive for the small-towns folk who lived here, and for the kids who were lake
rats during the summer. But summer had ended weeks ago, the kids back at
school, and we were well into September now. Late that night, the place was
nearly empty.
I
sat there nursing my drink, drowning myself in what I had come to believe was
the most embarrassing moment of my career. The dim lights swung in old metal
fixtures from the ceiling of the Sand Box. A jukebox playing Hank Williams Jr.
stood missing some of its colored lights in the corner. A few old wooden tables
were scattered around with a couple of red vinyl booths shoved in the corner
near the pool table and dartboard.
I
had come home, tail tucked neatly between my legs, to lick my wounds. My name
is Virginia Bruce Hunnicutt. I go by Ginny. My sisters and I all have my mom’s
maiden name as our middle name. I kept it as my last name for my TV job. Ginny
Bruce, reporting. I was a reporter for CNN in Atlanta. Was being the key word
here. I had been fired two weeks prior because one of my sources was a fake. I
swear I checked the credentials but the story turned out to be full of
inaccuracies and CNN is now in a lawsuit. I may never work in the media again.
And CNN was my dream job.
My
name is now as muddy as the Alabama red dirt, which is exactly where I ran home
to: Cottonwood Cove, Alabama. It’s the safest place to be. And even though I
had become quite the big city girl, the one I had always dreamed of being,
somehow, the safety of being home in Cottonwood Cove had its perks. Like being
in this dive bar in the middle of the week late at night, with only one other
soul in here besides me. Oh, God—and he was making his way over to me just as I
was finishing my second round.
“What’s
your poison?” he asked in his deep sexy baritone. He was beautiful. Rugged and
sculpted with dark wavy hair and gorgeous lips; he was about six foot three and
deliciously well built. His dark blue eyes undressed me as he moved closer to
me—or maybe that was just me thinking I’d be more comfortable with my clothes
off with this gorgeous man. He was dressed in a navy Polo button-down and
perfect fitting blue jeans. His large muscular thighs and broad defined shoulders
were evident even under his clothes. One dimple accentuated the right side his
cute, boyish face. He smiled at me like he was fixin’ to eat me up, and oh, I
was feeling like dessert as he slid in next to me at the bar. He looked like an athlete. Or a god. Come to
think of it, in Alabama, those are one in the same. Regardless, he was heaven
to look at, or maybe I was seeing him through double martini glasses. Probably
the latter since I only weighed about 125 pounds and I knew better than to have
more than two drinks. Ever.
“I’m
having dirty martinis,” I answered. “You?”
“I’ll
have the same,” he said to the bartender.
Author bio and links
Beth
Albright is the author of the award-winning, best-selling series The Sassy
Belles. After knowing Beth for just a few short seconds you are sure to learn
she is from Alabama. No, its not the lilt of magnolia you can still catch in
her voice, or even the way she lovingly describes her undying love for her
famous alma mater's football champions. She will tell you she loves Tuscaloosa,
even after living quite literally all over the country. Though Beth has had a
remarkable career, from New York City to Hollywood, and all points in between,
she has never forgotten where she came from...and what she loves. That's why
when it came time to write, Beth had no choice but to write about Tuscaloosa
and The University of Alabama, and all the quirky people she still calls
family, though some do not actually share her bloodline!
Beth
Albright has always been a storyteller. After spending nearly 15 years in talk
radio, as a talk show host, playing the part of a principal character on the
soap opera, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, owning her own acting school and children’s
theater, and raising a son who was a nationally ranked figure skater, Beth has
decided to return to her roots; storytelling. When she was in the sixth grade,
her teacher gave her the floor every Friday to tell her stories. See, Beth was
a talker, a future talk show host in the making, and she was telling stories so
much that her teacher couldn’t teach. The teacher told 12 year old Beth if she
would begin writing her stories down, she would be allowed time to share those
stories with the class.
And
she’s been writing, AND talking ever since. Beth has interviewed Bob Hope,
Oprah Winfrey, Betty White, Wolfgang Puck and George Burns live from the
Chinese Theatre, as well as numerous other celebrities, and authors. Then Beth
became a principal character on Days of Our Lives. But through all of the
excitement of talk shows and soap operas, Beth loved telling stories to her
audience the most. With a degree in Journalism from her beloved University of
Alabama, She always remains true to her roots, born and raised in Tuscaloosa,
“My grandfather was the play by play announcer for the Crimson Tide in the
50s!” Beth will proudly tell you. She
is a down homespun girl, although she currently lives in San Francisco with her
TV producer husband and her brilliant son. But her heart is always in Alabama.
Thanks for hosting!
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