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eBook Category: Romance
eBook Description: Susie takes her Top Shelf margaritas on the rocks, no salt, and spends Friday nights at the Candy Bar, the hottest spot in South Beach. She wears a perfect size 2, and blows her money on Jimmy Choo shoes. But appearances can be deceiving. She can never meet her father's impossible expectations and has given up trying. Susie was disfigured at birth and her father, a renowned plastic surgeon, started her life under the knife. The flaws that remain are carried deep. She's a champion for the underdog and volunteers at a homeless shelter. But as a college drop-out, she can't keep a job or a man in her life, and even the art she loves lacks that special spark. One night at the Candy Bar during a tropical storm, she feels something as light as a champagne fizz brush over her. She has been touched by magic and is able to see the world differently. Literally. Her grey world is suddenly filled with bright, vibrant color. She is about to begin an adventure of a lifetime, a six week sojourn in Florence to study painting, when a problem prevents her from leaving. Brett--a hot firefighter who she has known and loved for years, has fallen in love with her too. An explosion nearly costs Brett his life and leaves him scarred. He pushes her away, not wanting to be one of her "pity projects." At first she refuses, unwilling to leave anyone in need, little alone the man she loves. But with the gift of sight came the ability to see the future. Is it possible she can have both--her dream of Italy and the man she loves, or will she always be desperately seeking Susie?

eBook Publisher: The Wild Rose Press/Faery Rose, Published: 2008
Fictionwise Release Date: March 2008

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [704 KB], eReader (PDB) [226 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [210 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [191 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [260 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [239 KB], hiebook (KML) [521 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [316 KB], iSilo (PDB) [174 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [220 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [296 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [293 KB]
Words: 67035
Reading time: 191-268 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

I knew I had to leave before anyone saw me, so I walked past the girls and back into the bar. In the corner I saw Lydia at the piano with her boyfriend, Jed. He was sitting next to her, and they were gazing romantically at each other and didn't notice me.

Candy was pouring flutes of champagne, and Fran was walking around with a silver platter filled with the delicious mini crab cakes she'd made. Brett was sitting at the bar chatting up one of the pretty cocktail waitresses.

And me?

I ducked behind some people and bee-lined it toward the exit. The lights began to flicker, and the brick walls were slick with sweat. I heard Candy laugh, and shout to her customers that magic was in the air.

As I pushed through the door, I felt a tinkling pass through me. It was so quick and fleeting that it might have been nothing. I would describe the sensation like a champagne fizz, a light airy sparkle, nothing more. I do remember thinking how I'd like to be truly beautiful from the inside out. Any other thought I may have had was whisked away when I stepped outside.

Thunder rumbled in the black sky, and then a flash of lightning came bolting down toward me. I jumped and shrieked. The sky lit up like the Fourth of July as electricity sparked and flashed and danced, reminding me of rock concerts, magic mushrooms, and light shows.

Running to the car I'd half expected to get zapped, but somehow I managed to get the door open and slide inside. I was drenched and shaken. From my place of safety I watched the lightning rip open the sky and thought how incredibly beautiful it looked in all of its menacing, malevolent glory. I'd never seen the night as eerie before, like something out of a Tim Burton movie, and my fingers itched to paint it.

With a final flash of lightning came the wish--to view the world as I was seeing it tonight--vividly, with passion and depth, so I could be the greatest painter ever.