Passion-Excerpt

Chapter 1

Denver, Colorado

"Black with the silver star."

Jacqueline Tyler peered closely at the three book cover designs laid out on the

table. After an intense

debate,

the members of her staff were deadlocked, which

meant that it was up to her to cast the deciding

vote. "Yes," she

stated with a nod

of her head. "It's definitely the right choice."

"It's the wrong choice."

Jacqueline stiffened her spine and lifted slightly perturbed eyes to meet the dark

and embittered gaze of

Mason Reed, Jr. Mason, a compactly built man with curly

brown hair and light brown skin, had a scowl of

disapproval on his face. As the

assistant publisher, he had vehemently opposed her promotion to

acquisitions

editor. Jacqueline already knew the reason behind Mason's constant challenges of

her

decisions and the criticism

he seemed to enjoy espousing in public forums.

"Why is it the wrong choice, Mason?" Considerable effort kept the expression on

Jacqueline's face

pleasant

and the frost out of her voice.

"Because no other house would use it, and to remain competitive, we have to

keep up with the other

houses."

Jacqueline's posture relaxed somewhat as she weighed the relevance of Mason's

reasoning. He had a

valid

point, and for once, it dealt expressly with the issue at

hand rather than being a disparagement against

her

character or abilities. "I agree,

Mason. We do have to remain competitive; however we also want to

distinguish

ourselves from the pack, and this cover will make this book stand out on the shelf."

"But the book's title is Dark Star."

"That's why the black cover will work. It's sort of a visual oxymoron, and amid all

those other covers

with

men and women grappling in each other's arms-"

A visual oxymoron? What is that supposed to mean? This is a romance novel, and

the women who

buy

these books expect to see a man and woman grappling on the

cover!"

"Our cover will grab the buyer's attention." Jacqueline continued as if Mason had

not spoken. "They

will

pick up the book, and as you well know, Mason, more

handling leads to more sales. And sales is what

this game

is all about." Jacqueline

looked at the production assistant. "Print the black cover; the first run

will be

fifteen

thousand." She let her gaze sweep the faces of the other staffers sitting

around the large,

walnut conference

table. "That's it, people. It's snowing outside,

so drive safely and come back tomorrow."

Jacqueline waited until the staff had cleared the room before taking a seat in the

black leather chair at

the

head of the table. It had been a long day, spent mostly in

meetings routinely scheduled for every

Monday of

every week of every year, since

she'd started nine years ago at JuneHart, an African-American

owned publishing

firm. She picked up the book cover she'd chosen. Contrary to what Mason Reed

thought,

the book was not just a

romance novel which was why she'd opted for

cover that was simple, to the point,

and in her mind more

applicable to the theme of

the book.

Dark Star was the debut novel of Jacqueline's newest author. The writing was

fresh, at times witty,

and as a

romantic thriller woven into a futuristic setting, a

novel that could arouse the interest of readers

across three

genre lines.

Jacqueline had read the manuscript three times, and each reading had only

confirmed her belief that

with some minor editing, the book had the potential to hit

the bestseller lists.

Backed by that belief, she'd

convinced management to give

her the go ahead and the budget needed to give

the novel the push it would need

to make a big splash in the marketplace.

At least she hoped it would be a big splash, because her last three acquisitions

had tanked after only a

couple

of weeks on the bookshelves. She really needed a

hit-if not a hit, then at least a decent showing.

Jacqueline placed the cover in a manila folder, set it on top of her pile, and leaned

back in the chair.

Maybe

she'd been at this too long. Though slightly more loyal,

readers, like television viewers, could be very

fickle, and

both groups could be

swayed in their likes and dislikes as easily as the next big promotional

campaign.

Then

again, perhaps her ability to judge what appealed to the average reader in

her genre was

impaired.

Jacqueline sighed and sat up. She probably just needed a break. For the last few

weeks, she'd been

toying

with the idea of taking an extended leave of absence.

She loved her job, but maybe it was time to try

her hand at

some else, something

totally outside of the publishing game. That thought had led her to

explore her

options and

her interests. So far, nothing she'd come up with had induced any

excitement in

her; at least not like the thrill of

anticipation she'd felt when she'd

learned that JuneHart Publishing had

decided to hire her. Lord knew she had

to do

something though, because with her love life on the `ailing

and about to die list',

she desperately needed

something to go right.