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Back As Seen on TV Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  42. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  43. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  44. Chapter Forty
  45. Chapter Forty-One
  46. Chapter Forty-Two
  47. Chapter Forty-Three
  48. Chapter Forty-Four
  49. Chapter Forty-Five
  50. Chapter Forty-Six
  51. Chapter Forty-Seven
  52. Chapter Forty-Eight
  53. Chapter Forty-Nine
  54. Chapter Fifty
  55. Acknowledgments
  56. Discover More
  57. About the Author

He made puppy-dog eyes. “Not at all. I wanted you to succeed as much for me as for you. I have to temporarily live in this town, remember? I even planned to enter the sandwich contest at Pinkie’s.”

I propped myself up on my elbow. “Do tell.”

“Nope,” he said, zipping his lips. “Not until Judie returns from Djibouti, in case they change their minds.”

I grinned at our shared sense of humor. Take that, Doreen. Then reality caught up with me once again. “It’s time to face the hard fact.”

Finn squinted at me. “Which is?”

“If I want a story to match my pitch, ‘The Heart of TV in Your Own Backyard,’ I’ll need to find another town, one that also has the benefit of a greedy city person barging in on their territory.”

He grabbed my knee under the covers. “Wait. Am I supposed to be the greedy city person in this scenario?”

“Yes. And you were a major failure in the role.” We shared a smile.

“What are you going to do?”

I covered his hand with mine. “I’ll figure it out later. Maybe you can pound some creative mojo into me?”

He winked. “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

I spent the night with Finn and tried to ignore the twinge of guilt for wasting over a hundred dollars on a hotel room I didn’t sleep in. Now he was at work, and it was time to face reality.

First thing Thursday morning, I called Twinkly Nails to cancel my appointment. It was a luxury I couldn’t afford, and the return on investment wasn’t worth it. They’d laugh in my face at a suggestion for a town manicure-a-thon. Hadn’t I already made a big enough fool of myself?

I sat on the bed with my laptop sprawled across my thighs and scrolled through my private Twitter list of magazine editors, hoping for inspiration. I read through Tea’s latest columns. One of the staff writers had done a piece comparing the most popular dating podcasts. One professed to give men guidance on how to succeed in dating, whatever that meant. Dying to know how the host defined “success” and what kind of advice he handed out to lead men toward it, I searched for it on my podcast app and clicked Get to listen later. Then I tossed the phone across the bed.

Enough is enough. No more procrastinating.

My story wasn’t going to write itself, but I couldn’t write the one I’d pitched. What could I write? I tapped my socked feet on the comforter, watching my laptop bounce up and down. I needed a shower. Sometimes I got my best ideas as hot water cascaded down my back.