Lynn Montagano - Effortless

LYNN MONTAGANO

A division of HarperCollins Publishers

www.harpercollins.co.uk

Harper Impulse an imprint of

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2015

Copyright © Lynn Montagano 2015

Cover images © Shutterstock.com

Cover layout design © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover design by HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd

Lynn Montagano asserts the moral right

to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is

available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction.

The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are

the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to

actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is

entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International

and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

By payment of the required fees, you have been granted

the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access

and read the text of this e-book on screen.

No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted,

downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or

stored in or introduced into any information storage and

retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

whether electronic or mechanical, now known or

hereinafter invented, without the express

written permission of HarperCollins.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © January 2015 ISBN: 9780007558445

Version 2015-02-10

For you, the reader.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. See you on the next adventure…

Contents

Cover

Title Page Effortless LYNN MONTAGANO A division of HarperCollins Publishers www.harpercollins.co.uk

Copyright Harper Impulse an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk First published in Great Britain by Harper Impulse 2015 Copyright © Lynn Montagano 2015 Cover images © Shutterstock.com Cover layout design © HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd 2015 Cover design by HarperColl‌insPublishers Ltd Lynn Montagano asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins. Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress. Ebook Edition © January 2015 ISBN: 9780007558445 Version 2015-02-10

Dedication For you, the reader. Thank you for taking this journey with me. See you on the next adventure…

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

EPILOGUE

Also by Lynn Montagano…

Also by Lynn Montagano…

Lynn Montagano

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

“Amelia Meyers.”

Julian Archer always announced my name so the entire newsroom could hear it even though we were in the confines of my office. Part of me liked the way it sounded wrapped in his Scottish accent. The other part of me knew he wanted something big. He perched himself on the edge of my desk and fidgeted with a pen. The brash, allegedly difficult host of The Archer Hour bubbled with excited energy. I leaned back in my chair, ready for whatever insane request he’d no doubt throw at me.

“We have Brent Garrison on this week.” His sharp blue eyes gleamed. I stifled an eye roll. I’d been dreading this week’s show since my first day of work here.

“He’s my biggest get all year and I expect nothing but perfection,” he continued. “Your track record so far is impeccable. Since you started our ratings have soared. This week should be no exception.”

Julian hopped off the desk and started pacing. Everything he did had a certain flourish to it. Tugging at his shirtsleeves, he spouted off another round of ‘expectations’ mostly to hear himself talk.

“It’s a five minute segment,” I interrupted. “Just stick to the talking points and you’ll be fine.”

“Be prepared to make changes if needed.”

“Be prepared to follow the rundown exactly as I’ve laid it out.” I lifted an eyebrow. “This isn’t the Brent Garrison hour. He’s part of one segment.”

Exhaling in dramatic fashion, he placed his hands on his hips and looked at me. “I don’t like being on a leash. Although I’ve grown quite fond of the way you tug at me.” His smile was flirtatious and gross at the same time. “Alastair Holden is a lucky man.”

Not a day goes by when Julian doesn’t invoke the name of my fiancé. Not that I minded too much. Anytime Alastair filled my thoughts was like being in heaven. Julian’s constant mentioning of his name was done out of pure determination. He wanted an interview with Alastair and he wanted it yesterday. I was the concrete wall he’d have to bust through in order for that to happen. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t about to budge.

“Tell that boyfriend of yours if he ever changes his mind about that exclusive—”

“— to call me ,” I said in unison with him. “Don’t hold your breath waiting for the phone to ring.”

“Feisty.” He grinned.

After Julian finally left my office, I sighed and focused on the checklist of tasks I wanted to finish before noon. I had a standing lunch date with my best friend Stephanie Tempe and couldn’t wait to get out of the office for a little while.

Before that could happen though, I had my morning meeting with my news director, Sam Dunning and producer, Robbie Watson. They’d both welcomed me into The Archer Hour family with open arms before summarily throwing me out of the frying pan and into the fire. This program was in shambles when I’d started. There’d been a revolving door of executive producers, a lack of direction and a general feeling of apathy among the staff. The past few weeks had seen a drastic improvement but we still had a long way to go.

“Excuse me, Miss Meyers?”

I looked up and was greeted by my intern smiling shyly, holding several files.

“Mr. Dunning asked me to drop these at your desk. It’s for Friday’s show.”