Nest Pitch SJ4: Through The Wood

Genre: Adult Speculative Romance

Word Count: 100,000

PITCH: While investigating hiker disappearances, journalist Olivia unearths a realm from Cherokee folklore. Nik, a seductive guardian, must erase her memory to keep it from press. Only problem? Falling in love breaks laws from both worlds.

If the MC was an Easter Egg he/she would be:  Olivia would be a Cadbury Orange Crème egg, the perfect combination of sweet and acidic.

Excerpt:

I could think of a lot of things I’d rather do than spend a weekend in the woods with Chad Ferguson. Like get a Pap Smear from Edward Scissorhands.

Gregory Whitaker, my editor-in-chief, flashed me a grin through cigar-stained teeth. Sinking further into the leather wingback facing his desk, I stared a hole into the brick wall behind him. I was an investigative journalist, not a dessert reviewer or pet expert. The slice-of-life bullshit was getting old.

Ever since Greg promoted his idiot nephew, Chad, to associate editor, my assignments were about as investigative as an episode of Jersey Shore. I’d been brainstorming a real story for weeks.

Four hikers went missing from trails in nearby Linville Gorge over a two-month span. No leads or evidence. As someone familiar with that wilderness, I wanted to go see through the eyes of the missing. Greg’s blue irises sparkled with enthusiasm as I sold my idea. But then he threw an unbearable caveat into the mix.

“Look, Olivia. I know you aren’t afraid to go alone,” Greg said in his fatherly tone. “But it’d be irresponsible for me to send a woman to a dangerous area of the backcountry without some sort of protection.”

His idea of protection? Chad.

“If it makes you feel better, I’ll take a gun.” My vagina does not render me incapable of common sense. I bit my peppermint tongue to keep from saying it out loud.  Three years at the Brevard Herald gave us rapport and I respected him, nephew nepotism notwithstanding.

“This is a sweet gig for both of us, Olivia,” Chad said to my boobs from the chair next to me. “Besides, whatever’s happening out there is serious. There’s strength in numbers, and Greg’s just saying we’ll make a great team.” He trained his sleazy grin on his uncle.