Not Done Yet by Brian Nelson #excerpt #nonfiction #sports #photography #comingsoon #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

The Magical Run of the College Team That Lost Its School

Nonfiction; Sports, Baseball

Date Published: 11-17-2026

Publisher: Mission Point Press

In the spring of 2024, Birmingham-Southern College’s baseball team learned that their 170-year-old school would close before their season ended. Rather than surrender to disappointment, Head Coach Jan Weisberg and his players rallied around the program’s culture of playing for the person beside them. Amid uncertainty, grief, and growing national attention, the young team mounted a remarkable final run built on resilience, brotherhood, leadership, and purpose. More than a baseball story, Not Done Yet explores how people respond when the future they expected disappears—and what it means to finish with integrity when everything around you is ending.

Excerpt

The rise and ultimate fall of Birmingham-Southern College, a small liberal arts school on a hilltop in Birmingham, has a history that mirrors the fortunes and struggles of the United States since the mid-nineteenth century. In 1859, Alabama Southern University opened its doors in Greensboro but nearly closed them two years later when most of its all-male student body left to fight in the Civil War. By 1866, the student body had dwindled to twenty-eight. The school quickly rebounded, however, and in 1889, the graduating class numbered 289 students, including the first woman graduate.

In 1898, another Methodist school, Birmingham College, was established less than a hundred miles away. The new college was perched on a hill near the western edge of the rapidly growing city of Birmingham. After the Civil War, the two cities were a study in contrasts. While Greensboro was still largely dependent on cotton, Birmingham had made the smart move to steel, and its booming economy led to its nickname: “The Magic City.” By 1918, it was clear that two Methodist colleges this close together would be unsustainable. The answer: merge the two and call the new school Birmingham-Southern College.

The merger solved an immediate problem, and BSC thrived—for a while—but faced a devastating enrollment drop during World War I. The college hung on during the Great Depression but lost most of its male students and faculty during World War II. Two decades later, the Civil Rights Era brought new challenges. BSC became an early supporter of the movement, enrolling its first Black students in 1965, and continued to embrace diversity as a core part of its mission.

 

About the Author

 

 Brian Nelson is a lifelong baseball fan, former player, and dedicated coach whose love for the game spans generations. A pitcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara in the 1980s, he later coached his three sons and their teammates through Little League, high school, and college. Drawing inspiration from a deeply literary family—especially his grandfather and mother—Nelson brings an analyst's brain, a storyteller’s heart, and impressive baseball knowledge to his writing. After a multi-decade career in finance, he has returned to his earliest passion to tell this story. This is his first book.

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Kill Code by Clive Fleury #bookreview #scifi #sciencefiction #giveaway #rabtbooktours @clivefleury @RABTBookTours

 

Science Fiction

Date Published: 12-05-2018

Publisher: TCK Publishing

WHEN THE OCEANS RISE...THE TRUTH DROWNS

It's the year 2031. Our future. Their present. A world decimated by climate catastrophe, where the sun's heat is deadly and the ocean rises higher every day. A world ruled by the rich, powerful, and corrupt. A world where a good man can’t survive for long.

Hogan Duran was a good man once. He was a cop, forced to resign in disgrace after he couldn't save his partner from a bullet. Now Hogan lives on the fraying edges of society, serving cruel masters and scavenging trash dumps just to survive.

But after four years of poverty, Hogan finally gets a chance to get back on his feet. He's invited to join the National Security Council, the powerful paramilitary organization responsible for protecting the rich and powerful from the more unsavory elements of society. All he needs to do is pass their deadly entrance exam, and he'll be rewarded with wealth and opportunity beyond his wildest dreams.

But this ex-cop's path to redemption won't be easy. The NSC are hiding something, and as Hogan descends deeper into their world, he starts to uncover the terrible truth about how the powerful in this new world maintain their power...and just how far they will go to protect their secrets.

In a world gone wrong, can one man make a difference, or will he die trying?

Kill Code is the first novel in an exciting new dystopian science fiction series from the mind of award-winning author, screenwriter, and director Clive Fleury.

 

Review

An intense science fiction adventure set in a future where climate catastrophe has transformed the world into a dangerous place for anyone without wealth or power. 

Hogan Duran is a fascinating main character. The story raises thought-provoking questions about corruption, morality, and the price of security.

The suspense surrounding the NSC kept me interested, while Hogan’s personal struggles gave the action an emotional foundation. 

It's a very involved read that will keep your mind completely consumed. 

 

 

About the Author

 

 Clive Fleury is an award-winning writer of novels and screenplays, including most recently the murder mystery detective novel "All Or None". He is also a TV/Film writer, director, and producer who has worked for major broadcasters and studios on a wide variety of successful drama and documentary projects, worldwide. He has written and directed four feature films, one of which, "Big City Blues," starred Giancarlo Esposito, the late Burt Reynolds, and Balthazar Getty. His most recent film, "Sons of Summer," is a surfing movie set on the Gold Coast of Australia and stars Temuera Morrison and Isabel Lucas. Clive currently spends his time between Florida and Sydney, Australia.

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Foster Freddy Wants a Family by Christina J Donato #juvenilefiction #chapterbook #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

Juvenile Chapter Book

Date Published: September 7, 202

Foster Freddy Wants a Family is a heartfelt true story about resilience, second chances, and the journey to finding a forever home.

Freddy is a spirited rescue dog with a big personality and an even bigger heart. Though he can be stubborn, bossy, and sometimes a bit of a troublemaker, his playful nature and determination shine through—even as he faces serious medical challenges, including multiple surgeries.

Through three foster homes and nearly three years of waiting, Freddy’s journey is filled with ups and downs, laughter and tears, and the unwavering hope of belonging. His story offers a meaningful look at the realities of fostering, the patience it requires, and the profound impact of love and care.

This inspiring and emotional story reminds readers that every animal deserves a chance—and that sometimes the most challenging journeys lead to the most rewarding endings.

About the Author

Christina J. Donato is an author with a background in creative writing, political science, and sociology. Raised on Long Island, New York, she later relocated to New England, where she built a career as a mainframe programmer.

Now based in Rhode Island, she shares her home with her husband and their dog, Nera.

Ms. Donato enjoys word puzzles, black-and-white movies, anything Beatles-related, being active in her church, practicing the frame drum, and hosting doggy playdates with Nera.

Her love of animals and deep appreciation for poetry and storytelling come together in her writing, where she highlights meaningful, real-life experiences with warmth and authenticity.

 

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The Vote by David Swanson #bookreview #giveaway #fiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

A Story of Political Peril

Fiction

Date Published: 09-10-2026

Publisher: Mission Point Press

A cautionary political tale that shines a light on the danger to our country when the wrong people have too much money and power.

The Vote is a political thriller built around a conspiracy among powerful political actors, billionaires, and party operatives who seek to manipulate the constitutional amendment process in order to permanently reshape the structure of American government. The mechanics of American politics, particularly the Article V constitutional amendment process, is the framework that informs the central premise of the novel. The current political landscape of the country lends credibility to the story and gives the narrative an interesting and timely foundation.

The manuscript opens with a series of interconnected storylines involving political figures, wealthy conspirators, and emerging state-level candidates. These threads gradually reveal a coordinated effort to gain control of state legislatures and Congress as part of a broader plan to fundamentally alter the country’s political system. The concept itself is ambitious and grounded in recognizable political realities.

 

Review

There is something especially chilling about a political thriller whose central conspiracy feels close enough to reality to make you pause and consider the possibilities. 

With its ambitious premise and interconnected characters, this is a timely read for anyone interested in politics, constitutional questions, and the struggle over who truly holds power.

About the Author

David Swanson was raised on a dairy farm in central Michigan. He received a degree in political science from the University of Puget Sound and an advanced degree in foreign trade from the Thunderbird Graduate School of International Management. Between degrees, he served a stint in the United States Navy.

In 1981, he founded Daavlin, a medical technology company that eventually grew into a prominent player in the field of dermatology. As part of his career, he stepped foot on every continent and dipped his toes in every ocean on earth. Reading, writing, traveling, acting, and directing live theater are his favored pastimes.

He’s also a lifetime political junkie. As this book goes to press, Swanson is a candidate for the Ohio House of Representatives.

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WhiteGrass by Richard Smith #bookreview #technothriller #thriller #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

 

A CliFi Technothriller

Date Published: October 24, 2025

Publisher: Manhattan Book Group

In 2048, the planet is running out of time.

Superstorms flatten cities. Coastlines collapse. Climate change is no longer theoretical—it is lethal. When a near-apocalyptic storm nearly kills their family, teenage siblings Jimmy and Lizzie Marshall urge their brilliant but reluctant father, nanoscientist Greg Marshall, to deploy a technology before he’s brave enough to release it.

WhiteGrass—a self-replicating nanotechnology capable of removing carbon from the atmosphere is the parent technology. It saves golf courses and ski resorts and the towns they serve. Icarus could reverse climate change on a global scale. It could also reshape global power forever.

To protect the technology, Greg and his wife Ginny, an elite AI expert, reprogram the world’s most advanced humanoid android, Valada. Designed as property—an object without rights—Valada begins to evolve, developing emotional awareness, moral judgment, and something disturbingly close to humanity.

As governments unravel and climate disasters accelerate, a covert alliance of oligarchs, corporations, and political power brokers moves to seize WhiteGrass/Icarus for themselves. Led by the President of the United States, the syndicate will stop at nothing—surveillance, blackmail, assassination—to control the technology that could save the world or enslave it.

They deploy their own deadly android.

Now the Marshalls are trapped in a global sci-fi political conspiracy, hunted by forces with unlimited resources, as skyscrapers fall, cities burn, and artificial intelligence begins to ask questions no human is prepared to answer.

“We call it ‘Climate Change,’” Lizzie interrupted, “because it’s not just the heat.”

“It’s everything—the rains, the droughts, the storms, the sea level… even the acidification.” It could change everything.

At its core, WhiteGrass is a gripping near-future climate change thriller about family survival, technological power, and the terrifying moment when artificial intelligence stops serving humanity—and starts judging it.

Blending nanotechnology science fiction, AI humanoid emotional evolution, and hard-science realism, WhiteGrass delivers relentless pacing, cinematic stakes, and deeply human emotion. It is a story about parents willing to risk everything to protect their children—and a world forced to confront whether it deserves saving at all.

Perfect for fans of near-future disaster thrillers, technothrillers with political intrigue, and science fiction where artificial intelligence becomes human, WhiteGrass is a powerful warning—and an unforgettable ride.

 

Review

Richard Smith’s WhiteGrass delivers a fascinating blend of climate fiction, science fiction, and political conspiracy. 

The premise immediately captures attention: a technology capable of removing carbon from the atmosphere could potentially reverse the damage humanity has done to the planet, yet putting that technology into the wrong hands could create an entirely different catastrophe. 

I enjoyed the tension surrounding Greg and Ginny Marshall as they attempt to protect their invention while governments and powerful organizations close in around them. 

With global stakes and plenty of suspense, this is an engaging read for fans of futuristic thrillers.

About the Author

Richard H. Smith, MSc.

Author | Futurist | Nanotechnology & Policy Expert | Climate Technothriller Writer

Richard H. Smith, MSc., is a futurist, technologist, and climate policy expert whose career has placed him at the intersection of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, healthcare innovation, and climate change foresight for more than three decades. Drawing on real-world experience working alongside scientists, engineers, Fortune 50 companies, and Ohgovernment agencies, Smith writes hard science fiction grounded in plausible futures, where technology collides with political power, ethics, and human survival.

Smith’s professional background spans leadership roles in nanotechnology R&D, AI-based medical diagnostics, strategic technology forecasting, and science policy, including serving as research director at a major university medical center and founding multiple technology ventures. He has advised U.S. and international governments on emerging technologies and was formally trained on climate change science by Al Gore, giving him a rare combination of technical depth and policy insight.

Raised in Virginia, Smith built his career while raising a family—an experience that deeply informs the emotional core of his fiction. Today, he lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a coastal community already facing the realities of sea-level rise. He teaches courses on climate change and coastal vulnerability, witnessing firsthand how future scenarios are rapidly becoming present-day realities.

WhiteGrass is Smith’s first full-length novel and the culmination of a lifetime spent studying how advanced technologies shape—and endanger—civilization. The novel explores nanotechnology, climate collapse, political conspiracy, and artificial intelligence becoming human, all through the lens of family survival in a destabilized near-future world. A prequel, The Iliad Virus, is available now, with the sequel Icarus Rising currently in development.

Smith writes with one driving purpose: to expose uncomfortable truths about climate change, technological power, and political control—while telling a story compelling enough to feel like a blockbuster movie unfolding on the page.

 

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Almost There by Jean Seager #newbooks #releaseday #giveaway #historical #fiction #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

  

A Collection Inspired by True Stories of the Jewish Immigrant Experience

Historical Fiction

Publisher: Acorn Publishing

Almost There offers an intimate, emotionally resonant portrait of the Jewish immigrant experience in early twentieth-century America. This collection of linked short stories follows individuals who faced the uncertainty of a new land, summoned the courage to navigate unfamiliar cultures, and endured the antisemitism that shaped their world.

While fictionalized, these narratives were inspired by interviews with Americans who shared memories of their immigrant ancestors. Their stories unfold against the backdrop of sweeping historical events, such as the Great Depression, World War II, the Holocaust, and the founding of the State of Israel.

Poignant and powerful, Almost There illuminates a pivotal chapter in American history and speaks to the timeless search for belonging, identity, and home.

 

About the Author

 

 Award-winning writer Jean Seager graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and received two graduate degrees from San Diego State University. Her writing has appeared in the

literary publications Mikrokosmos and The Long Story. In 2018, her story “The Award” won second place in the San Diego Public Library’s short story contest.

A granddaughter of Jewish immigrants who came to America from eastern Europe in the early twentieth century, Jean was fascinated by her mother’s stories of growing up as a second-generation immigrant in Tennessee’s tobacco country. The Jewish immigrant experience continued to intrigue her and became the catalyst for her writing.

Jean is a native Californian and long-time resident of Coronado, a suburb of San Diego, where she lives with her husband Bill.

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Sword Brethren by Jon Byrne #bookreview #audiobook #historical #adventure #giveaway #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

Book 1 of The Northern Crusader Chronicles

 

Historical Adventure

Date Published: 28th November 2024 (book/ebook) Audiobook: Approx. February 2026

Publisher: The Book Guild

Narrator: Kerry Hutchinson

Run Time: 12 hours and 2 minutes

Bound by faith. Forged in battle. Haunted by doubt.

1242: Wounded at the Battle on the Ice, English knight Richard Fitz Simon becomes a prisoner of Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod. Intrigued by his captive, Alexander orders his scholar to record Richard’s life story.

Richard’s chronicle begins in 1203, when betrayal shatters his training for knighthood and forces him to flee England. In Lübeck, he finds work with a ruthless salt merchant and becomes entangled in an illicit affair – until scandal and violence drive him onward once more.

Seeking purpose, Richard joins the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a militant order bent on bringing Christendom to the pagan Baltic. In the harsh outpost of Riga, he faces not only enemy tribes beyond the walls, but suspicion, ambition, and betrayal within – while grappling with doubts that threaten his faith.

When a vast pagan army threatens to overwhelm the commandery, Richard must choose what kind of man – and believer – he will become.

Sword Brethren is Book One of The Northern Crusader Chronicles, a gritty, historically grounded series focused on realism, moral ambiguity, and the brutal realities of medieval warfare.

Review

A wonderful production of a series that encourages thought and is incredibly well-balanced.

We get real history, characters who have real weaknesses, make real mistakes, and have real successes. It makes them feel authentic and easier to get behind.

This book slowed down at times while being accurate and definitely also picked up at times.

A must listen for medieval history readers.

 

 About the Author

Jon Byrne, originally from London, now lives with his German family by a lake in Bavaria with stunning views of the Alps. As well as writing, he works as a translator for a local IT company and occasionally as a lumberjack. He has studied the medieval world for over twenty years, building up a comprehensive personal library and a particular interest in the often-overlooked Northern Crusades.

The Northern Crusader Chronicles is a gritty, historically grounded series focused on realism, moral ambiguity, and the brutal realities of medieval warfare.

Written for readers who value authenticity and atmosphere over romanticised adventure, the novel explores a largely forgotten crusading frontier, culminating in the first of many confrontations in a harsh wilderness of forest and swamp.

Readers who enjoy the historical detail of authors such as Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, or Ben Kane may find familiar ground here.

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Miracle Grow of the Mind by Carol LaHines #releaseday #literary #fiction #newbooks #rabtbooktours @CLahines @RABTBookTours

 

Literary Fiction, Family Fiction

Date Published: October 13, 2026

Miracle Grow of the Mind is a funny, heartbreaking exploration of parenthood, disability, medical bureaucracy, Big Agro, food allergies, and environmental pathogens. When Amy and Michael’s son is born prematurely, they are thrust into a world of pediatric neurologists, sensory reintegration therapy, and endless evaluations.

Michael also struggles with a mother suffering from dementia, who insists he is the grown-up version of a brother who died in infancy. When the Kafkaesque Bureau of Preschool Special Education threatens to make their son repeat kindergarten, the family must confront how they are living and decide which therapies—everything from Mel Finkelstein’s sensory reintegration sessions to pediatric neurologist visits—are worth the emotional toll.

“Everyone should read this miracle of a book. Carol LaHines is a fearless writer. With brutal honesty, laugh-aloud-humor, faultless dialogue, understanding, and ultimately with great empathy and compassion, she portrays all our misguided efforts to control our bodies, our children, and our lives.” —Sheila Kohler, author of award-winning novels including Bluebird, Cracks, and Becoming Jane Eyre

 

About the Author

 

 Carol LaHines’ debut novel, Someday Everything Will All Make Sense, was a finalist for the Nilsen Prize for a First Novel and an American Fiction Award. Her second novel, The Vixen Amber Halloway (Regal House 2024) was a gold medal winner in the Foreword Indies awards, a finalist for an American Fiction Award and the Pencraft Award, and a Shelf Unbound notable indie, and was featured on NPR and C-SPAN. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals including Fence, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Denver Quarterly, Cimarron Review, The Literary Review, The Laurel Review, North Dakota Quarterly, South Dakota Review, The South Carolina Review, The Chattahoochee Review, Sycamore Review, Permafrost, redivider, Literary Orphans, and Literal Latte. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and the recipient of the Lamar York Prize for Fiction. Her short stories and novellas have also been finalists for the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction from Sarabande Books, the David Nathan Meyerson fiction prize, the New Letters short story award, and the Disquiet Literary Prize, among others.

Ms. LaHines’ eldest son Dylan was born with Pierre-Robin sequence. His condition, which can lead to breathing obstruction and is potentially fatal, went undiagnosed and was compounded by other egregious medical errors, as a result of which Dylan was medically challenged and severely disabled, at least as defined by society. Having navigated these labyrinthine, Kafka-esque corridors herself, she was moved to write this book as a testament to him and all the other families like hers who have coped with an indifferent medical bureaucracy. Miracle Grow is also laced with the satire, acerbic commentary, absurdist subplots, and the tragic-comic sensibility Ms. LaHines is known for.

 

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Christmas in the Presidential Suite by Judith Keim #romance #womensfiction #releaseday #newbooks #rabtbooktours @RABTBookTours

Women's Fiction with Romantic Elements

Date Published: October 13, 2026

Emily “Emmie” Withers is given a surprise gift from her deceased husband. It’s a ten-day stay in the Presidential Suite of The Beach House Hotel, presumably for her and their two daughters. But much has happened since his death, so Emmie goes to the hotel by herself, wanting to follow through on her husband’s generous gift. Knowing she’s feeling a bit lonely, Ann and Rhonda suggest that Emmie keeps busy by helping them with kids’ activities, including acting as Mrs. Claus to Ted McAllister, a handsome widower who’s agreed to be Santa. One thing is for sure, there’s no better place than The Beach House Hotel for family love.

 

A special spin-off book where characters have their own stories but end up at The Beach House Hotel in Florida with Ann and Rhonda. A chance to stay connected to the series in a different way.

 

About the Author

Judith Keim, A USA Today Best-Selling Author, is a hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes. Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way, stories with heart. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she's lived or visited and on the interesting people she's met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love.

She enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their adorable dachshunds, Wally and Kacy, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she loved the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories.

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Ropacabana (Viva Los Regalos 2) by Isabella Jordan #paranormal #bdsm #romance #excerpt #comingsoon #rabtbooktours @ChangelingPress @RABTBookTours

 

(Viva Los Regalos 2)

A Futuristic Paranormal BDSM Romance

Date Published: October 16, 2026

Publisher: Changeling Press

Welcome to the Ropacabana, the hottest club in Los Regalos! Here you'll find the best BDSM floor show with the most exotically beautiful dancers. For the right price you can have anything in the Ropacabana -- including star of the show, Salome.

One client wants just that but he only likes to watch. He wants Salome to put on a private show for him and he's picked out just the right stud, er, guy for her to play with. Ropacabana bouncer Tony Fontaine.

Tony doesn't like the idea of having to put on a sex show as part of his job, but he loves the idea of learning all of Salome's intimate secrets.

Salome is more than pleased with Tony as her latest assignment, except for his habit of trying to look beyond her exotic dancer persona. Can Salome keep it all professional? Or will she make the biggest mistake someone in her position can make and fall in love with him?

 

Excerpt

Copyright ©2026 Isabella Jordan

Salma Fuentes, known in Los Regalos as Salome, made her way offstage, tossing her crop onto one of the props tables as she went. Jerry, the stagehand, passed her a bottle of water. Ashley waited to help her into her short robe of crimson silk since all she was wearing at the moment were her nipple clips, four-inch stilettos, and diamond studded G-string. The backup dancers trotted along behind her, the applause beyond the curtains ringing out.

So went another night at the Ropacabana.

"Awesome show, Salome." Ashley smiled at her. "You looked so beautiful up there."

"Thanks." Salome nodded to the younger woman, hoping she could make it to the dressing room without being followed.

"Salome?"

Salome didn't stop, knowing Ashley wasn't likely to give up until she pled her case. "Yes?" Might as well get this over with.

"I was hoping to… um… talk to you if I could." The girl's tone revealed her anxiety. "If you have a moment, that is."

No matter how much ambition she could smell on Ashley, she just couldn't bring herself to be rude. She probably should have. Sure, her years in Los Regalos had made her cynical and jaded. Yet Salome wasn't so arrogant that she couldn't sympathize with the amount of courage it took for Ashley to approach her.

She was pretty sure she knew what the other woman wanted. It was always the same thing. Every year it seemed there was a new bright-eyed girl working backstage at the hottest club in Los Regalos wanting to be the new star.

She herself had once been one of those bright-eyed girls.

"I've just got a moment," Salome told her. "I have a meeting with Hamilton upstairs in ten minutes."

Ashley nodded, swallowing visibly in her nervousness. "Well, I was hoping you could give me some advice. I've been working backstage for the last year on all the shows I could get on with as an assistant. I guess I'm interested in doing more now. I'm hoping to become a dancer. You know, like you."

Salome smiled patiently at her, looking her up and down. As far as wereleopards went, Ashley was a fine specimen. A lovely girl with cocoa colored skin, gorgeous dark hair, and a thirty-nine inch inseam unless she missed her guess. Nice slender build but not too skinny. She had large breasts but not too large. They didn't look like they'd pull the rest of her willowy frame over with their weight.

Ashley's best features were big, dark eyes that were very trusting and open. Maybe a little too open. Ashley had always been a friendly girl, like a puppy. If Ashley had been a real bitch, Salome wouldn't worry so much.

She shook her head. Had the girl already been there for a year? In two more years Los Regalos would tear Ashley apart no matter what path her future took.

That or it would make Ashley a cynical asshole like she was.

"Why?" she had to ask the younger woman. "Why would you want to do what I do, Ashley? You're smart, right? You're educated."

Ashley nodded again, wringing her hands in front of her. "Well, I do have a degree from the real world but… there's not a lot I can do with that here."

"Sure there is." Salome sat on the edge of her dressing table for a moment, opening the bottle of water to take a long drink. "You could get an office job and work for one of the admins. You can make as much money there as you could doing this. Someone has to keep the books in this place. And trust me, you'd be a lot happier."

"Happier? Being a paper pusher? Sure, the money might be good but I'd die if I had to do that every day. Locked in an office, away from the shows? I could have done that in the real world. No, I came here to do more."

"You could still see the shows," Salome pointed out. "You could afford to come and see all the shows you wanted."

Turning to the mirror, Salome hurried to put herself together to meet with her supervisor. She didn't have time to change clothes or shower. There was really little point. He probably had a client he wanted her to fuck waiting up there right now. If she looked sweaty and disheveled, it was all for the better.

"You don't think I'd m-make a good dancer?"

Salome took a deep breath. Somehow she knew the girl wouldn't give up that easily. Turning back, she took in the girl's unease as she stood there, her little hands still busy knotting and unknotting.

"Ashley, I don't know if you can dance or not. I do see a woman who could do anything she wanted. I'm just trying to tell you to consider carefully what you choose."

The girl's eyes widened a little at that.

"How old are you?" Salome asked.

"Eighteen."

It figured. "I was your age when I started dancing up here."

"You're still so young and you're the star here."

Salome didn't miss the enthusiasm in the girl's voice. Enthusiasm was a great thing but there was something Ashley didn't quite grasp. "I'm twenty-five. I've been here for eight years and yes, I worked hard to get where I am. But where I am isn't exactly what you might think."

"What's to think about? Everyone knows who Salome is. Everyone comes here to see you dance. You look so gorgeous up there, so sexy. That's what I want. I don't mind dancing nude or suggestively. It's an art, a celebration --"

"There's a price," Salome warned.

 

About the Author

Isabella Jordan is the alter ego of an otherwise stressed out web designer, programmer, and internet junkie. When she's not trying to perfect her own personal caffeine IV drip, she enjoys spending time with her family, doing volunteer work, and writing. She loves creating new stories of all kinds and chatting with readers and friends.

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