TUESDAY POTPOURRI: INTROS/TEASERS — WHAT I DID FOR LOVE — JULY 24

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading.

Just grab your book and share the opening lines; then find another excerpt that “teases” the reader.

Today’s spotlight is on What I Did For Love, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

How did this happen? Georgie York, once the costar of America’s favorite television sitcom, has been publicly abandoned by her famous husband, her film career has tanked, her father is driving her crazy, and her public image as a spunky heroine is taking a serious beating.

What should a down-on-her-luck actress do? Not go to Vegas . . . not run into her detestable former costar, dreamboat-from-hell Bramwell Shepard . . . and not get caught up in an ugly incident that leads to a calamitous elopement. Before she knows it, Georgie has a fake marriage, a fake husband, and maybe (or not) a fake sex life.

It’s a paparazzi free-for-all, and Georgie’s nonsupporting cast doesn’t help. There’s Bram’s punk-nightmare housekeeper, Georgie’s own pushy parent, a suck-up agent, an icy studio head with a private agenda, and her ex-husband’s new wife, who can’t get enough of doing good deeds and saving the world—the bitch. As for Georgie’s leading man, Bram’s giving the performance of his life, but he’s never cared about anyone except himself, and it’s not exactly clear why.

Two enemies find themselves working without a script in a town where the spotlight shines bright . . . and where the strongest emotions can wear startling disguises.

***

Intro:  The jackals swarmed her as she stepped out into the late April afternoon.  When Georgie had ducked into the perfume shop on Beverly Boulevard, only three of them had been stalking her, but now there were fifteen—twenty—maybe more—a howling, feral pack loose in L. A., cameras unsheathed, ready to rip the last bit of flesh from her bones.

Their strobes blinded her.  She told herself she could handle whatever they threw at her.  Hadn’t she been doing exactly that for the past year?  They began to shout their rude questions—too many questions, too fast, too loud, words running together until nothing made sense.  One of them shoved something in her hands—a tabloid—and screamed in her ear.  “This just hit the stands, Georgie.  What do you have to say?”

***

Teaser:  She grabbed her suitcase and carried it out into the hallway.  Once again, the sense of being trapped made her heart race, and once again she fought to steady herself.  p. 83

***

What do you think?  Would you keep reading?  I am looking forward to this one.