1st Blogoversary and Giveaway.

One year ago today I restarted my blog and I have kept it up regularly since then (and for me that is a major miracle).  So what have I learned in this first year?

• Blogging is time-consuming.  Once you get to reviewing books for others there are deadlines and special posts and interviews and other things that take a little more time.
• Even though it is time-consuming, it is well worth it.  I have gotten to know some wonderful authors and had a great time reading books.
• I have read the big names and I have read new authors.  New authors are so fun to work with because they really want to get their names out there.  The big authors are fun too - they are just much busier.
• I love blogging to help the lesser-known authors.  There are some wonderful authors out there waiting to be the next big author and each blog that helps put out good reviews help that author get closer and closer to that.
• Blogging has expanded my reading repertoire quite a bit.  I was pretty much a romance, romantic suspense and suspense kind of girl.  I still am, but I have read self-help, non-fiction, biographies, historical fiction, general fiction, literary fiction, science fiction and my new love young adult.
• Bloggers are wonderful helpful people.  Even though I don't always have the time to comment on other blogs, know that I am reading and enjoying your reviews and adding to my tbr pile as usual.
• Read-a-thons are a blast.  I love telling the hubby and kids - I'm doing a read-a-thon, don't bother mommy and then curling up with book and computer all day long!

I'm sure there is much more, but that is enough for now.  I am looking forward to doing even more with the blog in the next year.  I plan on commenting more on other blogs and putting more time into my posts and getting better about posting in advance, for times when life seems to get in the way.

Mostly I am looking forward to interacting with you my followers more and reading more great books!


GIVEAWAY

So how to celebrate?  Well I'll giveaway three choices from my giveaway pile to one commenter for first place.  Two choices for second place and one choice for third place.  Know that the pile may change over time as I use it as my general giveaway pile, and that other titles will be added as I finish them.  I am working hard to clear my shelves and you can benefit.

To enter, simply comment for the first entry.  For an additional entry tell me your favorite thing to see on blogs (reviews, interviews, memes, etc).  For other entries, be a follower (rss, email, blogger, networked blogs, twitter - see my sidebar to follow), tweet about this giveaway (1 entry per day), and post on your blog (sidebar is fine).  Open to international because I know I have readers everywhere!  Giveaway closes on April 1.

Please use separate comments for each entry as it makes it easy for me to pick winners.  I will be randomizing the entries and then drawing so don't worry if you are first or last - the entries will be shuffled up in the computerized hat.

Thanks to all of you who follow me and read my blog - it's been a great first year because of you!

Here's the 20 of my current selection of books (subject to change, but there will always be plenty to choose from, some are arcs, some are hardcovers, paperbacks, etc.  All are in good shape, read once.)

Giveaway books

Link to my complete giveaway shelf:

Friday Finds (March 19)

Friday Finds is hosted over on Should Be Reading. It's all about what great books you have heard about/discovered in the past week. Here is my entry, and head over to the Should Be Reading Blog to read others and find books to add to your TBR pile!

I have two that I have made note of this week - I know there is more I have found - but these are the two I noted:

Freezing Point by Karen Dionne 

Found when I was browsing around Audible.com to spend my two credits.  I'm actually getting this one from the library though.  It sounds like a great Crichton-type adventure.

From Goodreads.com

One man’s dream of providing clean drinking water for millions, tapped from the polar ice, sparks a conflict of humanity, science, big business, and environmental extremism.

But no one can foresee the true danger hidden deep within the ice— an enemy more deadly than any could imagine, and an apocalyptic horror mankind may not survive. 

Mistwood by Leah Cypess

Found while blog surfing the Waiting on Wednesday posts (one of my favorite memes because everyone finds such excellent books).  I found this at The Serpentine Library.

From Goodreads.com:

The Shifter is an immortal creature bound by an ancient spell to protect the kings of Samorna. When the realm is peaceful, she retreats to the Mistwod.

But when she is needed she always comes.

Isabel remembers nothing. Nothing before the prince rode into her forest to take her back to the castle. Nothing about who she is supposed to be, or the powers she is supposed to have.

Prince Rokan needs Isabel to be his Shifter. He needs her ability to shift to animal form, to wind, to mist. He needs her lethal speed and superhuman strength. And he needs her loyalty--because without it, she may be his greatest threat.

Isabel knows that her prince is lying to her, but she can't help wanting to protect him from the dangers and intrigues of the court . . . until a deadly truth shatters the bond between them.

Now Isabel faces a choice that threatens her loyalty, her heart . . . and everything she thought she knew. 

So what did you find this week?

Blog Tour: Chosen by Ginger Garrett (FIRST Wild Card Tours)

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Ginger Garrett

and the book:

Chosen

David C. Cook; New edition (March 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, of The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Focusing on ancient women’s history, critically acclaimed author Ginger Garrett creates novels and nonfiction resources that explore the lives of historical women. In addition to her writing, Garrett is a frequent radio and television guest. A native Texan, she now resides in Georgia with her husband and three children.


Visit the author's website.



Chosen, by Ginger Garrett from David C. Cook on Vimeo.


Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (March 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434768015
ISBN-13: 978-1434768018

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Prologue

Fourth Day of the Month of Av

Year 3414 after Creation

If you have opened this, you are the chosen one.

For this book has been sealed in the tomb of the ancients of Persia, never to be opened, I pray, until G-d1 has put His finger on a new woman of destiny, a woman who will rise up and change her nation. But we will not talk of your circumstances, and the many reasons this book may have fallen into your hands. There are no mistakes with prayer. You have indeed been called. If this sounds too strange, if you must look around your room and question whether G-d’s finger has perhaps slipped, if you are not a woman with the means to change a nation, then join me on a journey. You must return with me now to a place without hope, a nation that had lost sight of G-d, a girl with nothing to offer, and no one to give it to.

I must introduce myself first as I truly am: an exiled Jew, and an orphan. My given name was Hadassah, but the oppression of exile has stripped that too from me: I am now called Esther,2 so that I may blend in with my captors. My people, the Hebrew nation, had been sent out of our homeland after a bitter defeat in battle. We were allowed to settle in the kingdom of Persia, but we were not allowed to truly prosper there. We blended in, our lives preserved, but our heritage and customs were forced underground. Our hearts, once set only on returning to Jerusalem, were set out to wither in the heat

of the Arabian sun. My cousin Mordecai rescued me when I was orphaned and we lived in the capital city of Susa, under the reign of King Xerxes.3 Mordecai had a small flock of sheep that I helped tend, and we sold their fleece in the market. If times were good, we would sell a lamb for someone’s celebration. It was always for others to celebrate. We merely survived. But Mordecai was kind and good, and I was not forced into dishonor like the other orphans I had once known. This is how my story begins, and I give you these details not for sympathy, but so you will know that I am a girl well acquainted with bitter reality. I am not given to the freedom in flights of fantasy. But how can I explain to you the setting of my story? It is most certainly far removed from your experience. For I suspect that in the future, women will know freedom. And freedom is not an easy thing to forget, even if only to entertain an orphan’s story.

But you must forget now. I was born into a world, and into this story, where even the bravest women were faceless specters. Once married, they could venture out of their homes only with veils and escorts. No one yet had freed our souls. Passion and pleasure, like freedom, were the domain of men, and even young girls knew the wishes of their hearts would always be subject to a man’s desire for wealth. A man named Pericles summed up my time so well in his famed oration: “The greatest glory of a woman is to be least talked about by men, whether they are praising you or criticizing you.” Our role was clear: We were to be objects of passion, to receive a man’s attention mutely, and to respond only with children for the estate. Even the most powerful woman of our time, the beautiful Queen Vashti, was powerless. That was my future as a girl and I dared not lift my eyes above its horizon. That is how I enter this story. But give me your hand and let us walk back now, past the crumbling walls of history, to this world forgotten but a time yet remembered. Let me tell you the story of a girl unspared, plunged into heartache and chaos, who would save a nation. My name is Esther, and I will be queen.

1 Out of respect for God, Jews write the name of God without the vowels, believing that the name of God is too holy to be written out completely by a human. God is referred to as either “G-d” or “YHVH.”

2 The name Esther is related to the Persian name of Ishtar, a pagan goddess of the stars.

3 Esther refers to the king by his Persian name. In the Hebrew texts of antiquity, he is also referred to as Ahasuerus.


1

Eleventh Day of Shevat

Third Year of the Reign of Xerxes

Year 3394 after Creation


Was it today that I became fully awake, or have I only now begun to dream? Today Cyrus saw me in the marketplace haggling gently with my favorite shopkeeper, Shethana, over the price of a fleece. Shethana makes the loveliest rugs—I think they are even more lovely than the ones imported from the East—and her husband is known for his skill in crafting metals of all kinds. When I turned fifteen last year, he fashioned for me a necklace with several links in the center, painted various shades of blue. He says it is an art practiced in Egypt, this inlaying of colors into metal shapes. I feel so exotic with it on and wear it almost daily. I know it is as close to adventure as Mordecai will ever allow.

But as Shethana and I haggled over the fleece, both of us smiling because she knew I would as soon give it to her, Cyrus walked by eating a flatbread he had purchased from another vendor. He grimaced when he took a bite—I think he might have gotten a very strong taste of shallot—and I laughed. He laughed back, wiping his eyes with his jacket and fanning his mouth, and then, oh then, his gaze held my eyes for a moment. Everything in my body seemed to come alive suddenly and I felt afraid, for my legs couldn’t stand as straight and steady and I couldn’t get my mouth to work. Shethana noticed right away and didn’t conceal her grin as she glanced between Cyrus and me. I should have doubled the price of her fleece right then!

Cyrus turned to walk away, and I tried to focus again on my transaction. I could not meet Shethana’s eyes now—I didn’t want to be questioned about men and marriage, for everyone knows I have no dowry. To dream of winning Cyrus would be as foolish as to run my own heart straight through. I cannot dream, for it will surely crush me. And yet I can’t stop this warm flood that sweeps over me when he is near.

I haven’t told you the best part—when Shethana bought her fleece and left, I allowed myself to close my eyes for a moment in the heat of the day, and when I opened them again, there was a little stack of flatbread in my booth. I looked in every direction but could see no one. Taking a bite, I had to spit it out and started laughing. Cyrus was right—the vendor used many bitter shallots. The flatbread was a disaster.

©2010 Cook Communications Ministries. Chosen by Ginger Garrett. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.

Author Interview and Giveaway - Mary Margret Daughtridge

Please welcome Mary Margret Daughtridge, Author of SEALed with a Ring to My Reading Room - she is joining us today for an interview and is willing to answer any questions you have and will be checking in during the day.  So ask away.

1.   How did you celebrate when you received the first call that you would be published?

I have a wonderful friend who’s better at celebration than I am.  She hurriedly called several other friends who had “been in on” the ups and downs of finding a publisher. We met on the patio of a favorite restaurant, ate stuffed mushrooms and drank champagne.

2.   How did it feel to see all of your hard work come to fruition with the first book in your SEAL series, SEALed with a Kiss?

Wonderful. Shocking. Scary. Funny. Confusing. A sense of déjà vu. Such a pot full of emotions all stewed together for so long, it’s impossible to separate out the components.

3.   Has the thrill been the same with the release of the two other books in the series, including the newest one, SEALed with a Ring? 

It’s still a thrill to see my words in print, but the thrill changes. I always sit down and read the book as soon as I receive my author’s copies. The thrill that hasn’t changed is the moment I’m reading along and for a second, it isn’t my book, it’s just a book, and I think to myself, “Oh! This is good.”

4.   Without giving anything away - what is SEALed with a Ring about?

The heroine, JJ desperately needs some balance in her life—a fact her grandfather recognizes. He has tried enticing her to make her life more rounded without success. Since he blames himself for teaching her that work was the be-all end-all, he threatens to take away the only thing she cares about, the family business, if she doesn’t get married.

In many was Davy, a Navy SEAL medic is as consumed with his career as JJ, but he does have a hobby: sex. He’s so drop dead gorgeous getting girls is easy. A career he loves and all the sex he wants? Life is good.

Everybody knows with a marriage of convenience plot, the hero and heroine are going to get married. The question is what will it take for them to fall in love? Ms. I’m-Too-Busy-Being-Responsible fall in love with Mr. Live-For-Today? It was so not going to happen. :-)

5.   Do you get time to read? What are your favorite types of books to read?

I can’t not read. I’m addicted, and I’ll read anything.

Crystal: I know that feeling well.  And thanks to all the wonderful authors like you who provide me with great reading material.

6.   What is your favorite spot to read in?

I do most of my reading for pleasure in bed. I can’t go to sleep without reading for a few minutes.

7.   What is your favorite snack food?

I like celery. No, really. I do.

Crystal: Sure you do ;) No actually I understand - right now I love carrots, of course they are dipped in honey mustard dressing, but hey it's low-fat :)

8.   Do you have a schedule for writing each day or do you just do it when you can?

I write best early in the morning—like around five AM.

Crystal: Ouch - that is early - you know that time used to be my best time so I do understand.  Now I am a night person and I want to be a morning person again.

9.   I must tell you that the covers for your books are awesome.  I could stare at those abs all day.  Are you a leg, butt, hair, face, etc. woman?  (Sorry I had to ask because I just can't get past the amazing abs on the covers).

:-) The Sourcebooks art department does an awesome job, don’t they? Great abs are great, but buns are good too, as well as pecs, and biceps, and defined forearms, and the groove of the spine in a well-developed backs, and…I guess I’m more of a big-picture type.

10.  I also must say that I love that this book is set in NC.  I realize you live here, but I so enjoy reading books about my home state.  It was neat reading about Wilmington and knowing some of the places you mention (road names for example).  DH and I vacation down there some even though we live just 1.5 hours up the coast at the beach.  What led you to use our beautiful state as your setting for SEALed with a Ring?

I’m glad you enjoyed the feeling of familiarity. I’m a North Carolinian, born and bred in the eastern part of the state, so I’m really only writing what I know. I’ve vacationed on Topsail Island for years, and Wilmington is one of my most favorite places to visit.

Crystal: Have you visited the Atlantic Beach/Morehead City/Beaufort area?  Because that is where I am at.  I love it here.  I was just up your way two weeks ago to see my extended family who live in Mount Airy.

11.  JJ is such an interesting heroine, working in the car sales business and Davy is dreamy - just the ultimate sexy man (and he knows it yet not in an annoying way).  How did these characters come to you, were they just there and developed or did you slowly get to know them? 

I’m glad you liked them. My characters become so real to me and I love them so much, I often feel a little guilty for letting the world see their flaws—kind of like talking about a friend behind their back. My heroes often pop fully formed into my mind. Davy did. Because I couldn’t change him I worked really hard to help the reader see what a sweetie he is—in a drop-dead-gorgeous-and-he-knows-it, arrogant, jerk sort of way. :-)

As soon as I met him in SEALed with a Promise, I decided I would like to see him get his comeuppance, but then I saw his sweetness and the way he loves to take care of people, and I knew he had to have a woman who was strong enough to stand up to him, and one strong enough to protect him too. I know a lot of forceful women and it’s a kind of woman I like.

12.   Any book signings/conferences/public/blog appearances in the near future?

I’d love to schedule a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in Wilmington, NC. Wouldn’t that be cool? If I do, I’ll drop you a notice.

Crystal: Yes, please do let me know if you do that - I would love to come to a book signing for you - you know I've never been to one before (I know it's an awful shame).

13.  Do you have a new book in the works?

Lt. Garth Vale (sometimes called Darth Vader behind his back, but never to his face) whom you meet in SEALed with a Ring, is on a temporary assignment when he discovers a box in the back of a spy transport plane. The box has a baby in it.

Crystal: Now that sounds interesting, I definitely have to read that one.


14.  Anything else you would like to say?

Thanks for having me. Maybe your readers would like a turn at asking questions. I’ll be around all day to respond to their comments.

Crystal: Yes - everyone please do ask questions for Mary Margret. Ask a question and be entered in a giveaway for one of two copies of SEALed with a Ring by Mary Margret Daughtridge.  Giveaway open to US/Canada only, but asking questions is open to everyone (more information about the giveaway below).

SEALed WITH A RING BY MARY MARGRET DAUGHTRIDGE—IN STORES MARCH 2010

She’s got it all…except the one thing she needs most

Smart, successful businesswoman JJ Caruthers has a year to land a husband or lose the empire she’s worked so hard to build. With time running out, romance is not an option, and a military husband who is always on the road begins to look like the perfect solution…

He’s a wounded hero with an agenda of his own

Even with the scars of battle, Navy SEAL medic Davy Graziano is gorgeous enough to land any woman he wants, and he’s never wanted to be tied down. Now Davy has ulterior motives for accepting JJ’s outrageous proposal of marriage, but he only has so long to figure out what JJ doesn’t want him to know…

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Margret Daughtridge has been a grade school teacher, speech therapist, family educator, biofeedback therapist, and Transpersonal Hypnotherapist. She is a member of Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Romance Writers of America, and Romancing the Military Soul, and is a sought-after judge in writing contests. She resides in Greensboro, North Carolina. For more information, please visit http://marymargretdaughtridge.com/.

Thank you again to Mary Margret Daughtridge for allowing me to interview her today and thanks to Danielle Jackson at Sourcebooks for my ARC of SEALed with a Ring and coordinating this interview.

Giveaway:

Ask Mary Margret a question - she will be popping in and out through the day to answer them, so ask away and gain an entry into the giveaway for one of two copies of SEALed with a Ring provided by Danielle Jackson at Sourcebooks.  Ask a question and leave your email for one entry.  Additional entries for tweeting about this giveaway, and being a follower.

Giveaway open to US/Canada only, but please if you are international, ask a question anyway.  Open through 3/24.  Questions asked on 3/18 will be answered but know that questions asked after Thursday the 18th may or may not be - Mary Margret is a busy woman and we need her to get cranking on her next book (and let her have a life too) :)

Review of SEALed with a Ring coming in the next few days.

Want to Win a Kindle?

If you want a chance to win a Kindle (and trust me it is wonderful) then simply head on over to Misty Taggart's site to vote for your favorite book trailer. Each voter gets an entry for the grand prize giveaway- A KINDLE! Hurry- midnight (PST) March 23, 2010 deadline .



It's that easy - so go and vote!



Promotion is hosted by Kathy Carlton Willis Communications.  Giveaway hosted by Trailer to the Stars.

Waiting on Wednesday - March 17

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

From Goodreads:

Mason 'Mace' Perry was a maverick cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything - her career, her liberty - and spent two years in prison. Now back on the outside, Mace is trying to rebuild her life and track down the people who set her up. But even with her police chief sister at her side, she has to work in the shadows: there's a vindictive US attorney on her tail and she's just looking for a reason to send her back behind bars...Roy Kingman is a young lawyer, still getting used to his high-paid job at a law firm in Washington. When Roy discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm, his fate becomes entangled with Mace's, as the two team up to investigate. But as their inquiries gather pace, Roy and Mace soon find themselves in unexpected territory; drawn into both the private and public world of the nation's capital, as dark secrets begin to emerge. For what began as a fairly routine homicide investigation will quickly turn into something far more complex. And possibly lethal...

I love David Baldacci - I just recently finished Absolute Power on audio and loved it.  I started with his Sean King and Michelle Maxwell books and have branched out to The Camel Club and also some of his stand-alones.  I will finish all of his backlist eventually but I eagerly await each new book of his that comes out.

Book Tour: The Right Call by Kathy Herman (FIRST Wild Card Tours)

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Kathy Herman

and the book:

The Right Call

David C. Cook; New edition (March 1, 2010)

***Special thanks to Audra Jennings, Senior Media Specialist, of The B&B Media Group for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathy Herman is a best-selling suspense novelist who has written fifteen novels since retiring from her family’s Christian bookstore business. Kathy and her husband, Paul, have three grown children and five grandchildren and live in Tyler, Texas. This is the third title in the Sophie Trace trilogy, which also includes The Real Enemy, and The Last Word.


Visit the author's website.

The Right Call, by Kathy Herman from David C. Cook on Vimeo.

Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (March 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434767841
ISBN-13: 978-1434767844

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Drew Langley jumped at the loud thud upstairs and resisted the temptation to bang on the wall and dispel the roaring laughter that followed. Was he the only student in the apartment building still studying for finals?


A warm breeze rattled the blinds, and he closed his eyes, inhaling the intoxicating fragrance of magnolia blossoms wafting from the south campus of Stanton College. It took every ounce of discipline he could muster not to close his books and give in to the lure of spring.


He heard rubber soles on the hardwood floor and lifted his gaze as his roommate came to a quick stop in front of the mirror over the worn living-room sofa.


Tal Davison wet his fingers and smoothed his hair. “I see you’re still studying. I guess that means you’re not coming.”


“To what? I thought you had a date.”


“Why do you make me tell you everything twice? You’re worse than my grandmother.”


Drew put down his pencil. “Sorry, I’ve been focused on other things. Tell me again. I’m listening.”


Tal came and stood in the doorway of Drew’s bedroom, his arms folded across his chest. “I’m going over to Henry’s for a junk-food buffet and beer. You’re invited.”


“Thanks. But I really need to study for my English lit final. It’s next week, and I’ve got chapters of catching up to do.”


“Suit yourself. I’m brain-dead. I couldn’t learn another thing if you paid me.” Tal started to go and then stopped. “Listen, thanks again for letting me move in here for the last few weeks. It’s nice sharing an apartment that doesn’t reek of marijuana. I hope I haven’t been as big a pain as your other roommate.” He shot Drew a half smile.


Drew leaned back and folded his arms. “Hey, not at all, man. I hope you don’t think I’ve been ignoring you. It’s just that I have to keep up the grades. No four-oh, no scholarship. There’s no way I can afford to attend Stanton without it.” I don’t have a rich father footing the bill.


“Doesn’t it cramp your style to go to college in Sophie Trace? Your parents are pretty close by, aren’t they?”


“Thanks to the scholarship I can live off campus. That’s all the independence I need. It’s nice going home whenever I want. My parents really help me stay on track.” Drew studied Tal’s expression.


“I take it you wish your dad wasn’t so close?”


Tal got quiet for a moment and seemed to be somewhere else. “He’s much too busy to breathe down my neck. And he doesn’t care about my grades as long as I pass and he can tell his cronies that his namesake’s attending his alma mater and is going to work for him after graduation.”


“Is that so bad?”


“I just wish he cared more about me and less about his image. I’m not sure I can ever measure up to his expectations.”


“Come on, man. You’ve got it made in the shade. All you have to do is get through one more year, and he’ll hand you the job of a lifetime. I thought you were pumped about it.”


Tal flashed a crooked smile. “I’m trying to be. It’s my big chance to make Dad proud of me. It’s all he’s talked about for years. But there’s a lot of pressure, learning to run a big corporation. The closer I get, the more intimidated I feel.”


“He must think you can do it, Tal. There’s a lot at stake for him, too.” Even if he is handing it to you on a silver platter.


“Maybe I’ll buy a little time after I graduate—tell Dad I’m burned-out and need to backpack across Europe for a while before I jump into the corporate world.”


A grin tugged at Drew’s cheeks. “Then you’d need someone to babysit your Hummer. Can I apply for the job? Man, I wish I’d been there when your dad had it delivered to your birthday party.”


“It was an awesome way to turn twenty-one, all right. But I’d trade it in a heartbeat for a relationship with my dad like you have with yours.”


“I guess I take it for granted.”


“Well, don’t,” Tal said. “I can’t remember the last time I sat down and had a real conversation with mine. He’s either working himself to death or hiding out at the lake house with wife number four—the fashion model who’s got silicone for brains.”


“I didn’t realize she was his fourth wife.”


“And she’s pregnant with daughter number seven. Maybe he’s going for the record.”


“Yeah, but you’re still his only son. And you and your mother are close.”


“Not in proximity. She’s spending a lot of time in New York with her boyfriend. He deals in fine art, and she likes to go to the auctions with him. I doubt I’ll see her anytime soon.”


Drew shifted his weight. Why hadn’t Tal mentioned before that his mother was seeing someone?


“Actually, I’m happy for her,” Tal said. “And I don’t mind sharing her Nashville house with the maid, the cook, and the butler. I’ll lie around the pool and read sci-fi novels and give my brain a rest. I’m so burned-out I can’t stand to think about another year of studying.”


“You’ll be ready to hit it again in the fall. Just think how good you’ll feel when you get your degree.”


Tal smiled wryly. “Would you believe my dad’s executive bonus last year was ten million? I must be nuts not to be more excited about the job.”


No kidding. “So why aren’t you?”


“I don’t know … my dad’s ruthless. And the company takes precedence over everyone and everything. I want more out of life than that.”


“I hear you. But if it were me, I’d at least try it long enough to earn a couple million and then go do whatever I wanted.“


“I’ve thought of that.” Tal stood up straight, the result of his beer drinking and bingeing hanging over his belt. “But I have a feeling that once Dad has me under his thumb, I’ll never get out from under. What I really want to do is go to the police academy.”


“Have you told him how you feel?”


“I tried. But Dad doesn’t really care how I feel. It’s my duty as his only son to keep the family business going. If I turn my back on that, he’ll basically disown me. Not that we’re close now, but it’s hard to think of having no dad. Hey, enough serious talk. It’s party time. Sure you don’t want to come?”


“Yeah, I’ve got to hit the books. Who’s your designated driver?”


“Don’t need one. I’m walking.”


“You think that’s smart? Henry’s neighborhood isn’t exactly the safest part of town.”


“I’ll be fine. But I’ll tell you what”—Tal laughed and tossed his keys to Drew—“if I don’t make it back alive, the Hummer’s all yours.”



©2010 Cook Communications Ministries. The Right Call by Kathy Herman. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.