Excerpt 1.
Two koi swam away, but a majestic red one with white fins and tail stayed. “Oh, I see how it is. They’re loyal to Nina. But you?” Serena pointed to the fish. “Have sympathy for everyone.” She threw her head back and blew air through her lips. “Where do I begin?”

When Serena looked at the pond again, the koi hadn’t budged. “I loved him, you know. Madly. Passionately.” She stared at the fish. “Who am I talking about, you ask? My ex-husband, Justice Tate. He was a bad boy, and I loved bad boys. He owned a motorcycle, and we’d go on day trips, seeing parts of the state I’d never seen before. We had fun together, so much fun. When he asked me to marry him, I think I fainted. Not literally. But in my mind, I did.”

The koi’s mouth formed in the shape of an “O”. He, because Serena decided it must be a male, seemed interested in the story. “You want to hear the rest? It gets uglier. Sadder. I can’t really label it.”

Other fish swam by, distracting the red and white koi. He turned away but reappeared after a dip underwater. “What do you like to eat?” Serena asked. “Next time I’ll come prepared.”

The fish seemed to like her statement. Serena swore he nodded. They sat in silence for a moment, and she decided he was waiting to hear more of her sad tale. 

“Okay,” Serena finally said. “Fine. I’ll tell you. We were young when we got married. Twenty-one, to be exact. We had two great years together, then I got pregnant with twins. Girls. Justice wanted to name the girls Jade and Jewel like the shiny, precious gems they were, and so we did. At first, everything was fine. Justice was the typical doting dad. But they cramped his style. We couldn’t take off at a moment’s notice with a double stroller. That didn’t fit on the back of a motorcycle. We needed a practical car. I encouraged Justice to choose whatever he wanted so he’d feel invested. Once the girls started school, I thought things would get better.” She paused and shook her head. “Nope.” She put emphasis on the ‘p’. “They got worse.”

Excerpt 2.
Where should I start? Ooh, that cameraperson looks frazzled. I’ll offer my help. Serena headed in the man’s direction. “Hi, excuse me, I’m Serena Tate…”

“Yes, yes, Serena Tate.” The slim, nervous man, a few inches taller than Serena, stopped fumbling with the camera lens and stuck out his hand. “A pleasure to meet you. I’ve been meaning to read your book, but with all this going on, I’m overwhelmed.”

“I see that.” Serena gave him her friendliest smile. “May I ask why you are…?” She twirled her forefinger in the air. 

“Upset? Flustered? I’m Ted Lewis, by the way. My friends call me Teddy.”

“Well, Ted, nice to meet you.”

“You can call me Teddy.”

“Fine. Teddy.” Friends already? Serena bit her lip, a habit she’d had most of her life, to keep from laughing. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Do you know Ava Taylor?” Teddy checked the room with an uneasy gaze as if she’d appear in a puff of smoke.

“From photos, yes. She’s a top model.” Serena winced, not sure if her answer was correct. Her girls had shown her photos and videos of models, but Serena had no interest and didn’t know one model from the other.

“A supermodel,” Teddy corrected. “A highly paid fashion model.” He leaned closer to Serena. “She thinks she’s the boss of everyone.” He dropped his voice. “No one likes her.”

“A difficult supermodel. Who knew?” Serena nodded. “What can I do? Ask her to be nicer?”

“If you see her coming, let me know,” Teddy answered. “She wants to critique every photo I take. I can’t do anything right in her opinion. Do you know how many hours I’ve wasted reshooting her when I already have perfectly good photos?”

I hope that was a rhetorical question. “Does Mia get a say?”

“No. It’s in Ava’s contract. She gets the first right of refusal no matter who hires me.”

From the corner of her eye, Serena noticed a tall, sleek beauty headed their way. She walked as if on a runway. Obviously, a model. Her long caramel brown hair had natural golden highlights. Parted to one side, it draped enticingly over one of her shimmering green eyes.

“Teddy, my dear man!” Ava said when she reached them. “I’m surprised Mia hired you for the shoot. I guess she couldn’t get Raphael to fly in from New York City.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

That’s insulting. “Hi,” Serena said, offering her hand. “I’m Serena…”

“Tate. I heard.” Ava sneered. “Sorry, I don’t have time to read books.”

Excerpt 3.
A woman, screaming profanities, interrupted their conversation. “Will you please move?” she bellowed.

Serena recognized the voice. “Ava Taylor,” she whispered.

“You met her?” Lily widened her eyes.

“Yes. Not too friendly. Let’s go rescue whoever she is yelling at.”

“Although I’d love to meet her, you go,” Lily answered. “I must tend to my duties. Talk later?”

“Absolutely.” Serena rushed toward the catwalk, hoping Ava Taylor might be her next story. Is she a female Roman like the character in my book? A sociopath or a narcissist? Did the sociopath thing. I’ll make her a narcissist. She can do all kinds of nasty things in the book. 

A woman, perhaps a size larger than Serena, stood on the runway, hands on hips. “I have every right to practice, Ava. Just like you.” 

“Excuse me?” Serena waved her hand since she was three feet below them on the path around the reflecting pool. 

“What do you want?” Ava narrowed her eyes as she glanced downward. “Oh. You.”

“Yes, it’s me. Hi.” Serena turned to the other woman. “I’m Serena Tate.”

“I’m Natalie Grey.”

“Nice to meet you, Natalie.”

“The plus-size model,” Ava informed Serena, flaring her nostrils. “She has two changes. I have five. I need the space to figure out my moves.”

“And I don’t?” Natalie asked.

“Hey, Natalie, mind if we talk for a minute?” Serena asked.

“Okay.” Natalie headed down the runway, which sloped to ground level when it reached the reception hall. The sun cast a golden glow on her auburn hair as she traveled along the ramp.

Serena walked alongside the stage until they met. “Let Ava have her time,” she said, connecting with Natalie’s baby blue eyes. “Once she’s done, I’ll make sure you get to walk the entire route.” She glanced at the four-foot-wide stage which traveled the total length of the reflecting pool, turned at the end and continued along the other side until it reached the hall.

“How?”

“I know Mia.”

“Mia Takeda, the designer, who’s putting on the show?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, you’re lucky. I’d give anything for her to notice me.”

“If you’re her plus-size model, and I say that lightly, she’s noticed you. What size are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Sounds normal to me.” Serena did a quick scan of the room. “You stay here, and I’ll find Mia.”