{"product_id":"kiss-the-sky-isbn-9780593639627","title":"Kiss the Sky","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe TikTok sensation Addicted Series continues with \u003ci\u003eKiss the Sky\u003c\/i\u003e, now in a print edition with special bonus material!\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA virgin \"ice queen\" heiress \u0026amp; the arrogant god who wants to melt her...\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Rose Calloway thought she had everything under control. At twenty-three, she's a Princeton graduate, an Academic Bowl champion, a fashion designer and the daughter of a Fortune 500 mogul. But not everything comes easy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When Rose's fashion line is in peril, she plans an unconventional solution to save it. Making matters more intense, she agrees to be in a relationship with her \"godly\" college rival, Connor Cobalt.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At twenty-four, Connor Cobalt bulldozes weak men. Confident and smart-as-hell, Connor vows to help Rose outside of the bedroom and inside. But melting this ice queen is a challenge no one has been able to succeed at.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd now they're living together.“The Ritchies probe the seedy underbelly of reality TV and excel at creating complex characters who leap off the page. Erotic and fast-paced, this sexy outing will leave readers hot, bothered, and eagerly awaiting the next installment.”\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e​​Krista and Becca Ritchie\u003c\/b\u003e are \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling authors and identical twins—one a science nerd, the other a comic book geek—but with their shared passion for writing, they combined their mental powers as kids and have never stopped telling stories. They love superheroes, flawed characters, and soul mate love.One\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRose Calloway\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou know the stories where the strong, brawny man struts into a room with his head high, his chest puffed and his stocky shoulders pulled back-he's the king of the jungle, the big man on campus, the one who quivers girls' knees. He carries an air of unwarranted superiority for the pure fact that he has a dick, and he knows it. He expects the girl to go tongue-tied and agree to his every demand.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, I am living that story right now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe man settles into a seat at the head of the conference table (instead of the chair nearest me) and just stares in my direction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaybe he thinks I'm going to be that stupefied girl. That I will cower beneath his deep gray eyes and his combed dishwater-blond hair. He's twenty-eight, stained with Hollywood elitism and self-righteousness. When I first talked to him, he name-dropped actors and producers and directors, waiting for me to go slack-jawed and dopey. \"I know so-and-so. I did a project with what's-his-face.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy boyfriend had to grab the phone out of my hand before I cursed at the Hollywood exec for irritating the shit out of me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe finally speaks. \"Do you have the contracts?\" His chair screeches as he leans back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI pull out the stack of papers from my handbag.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Bring them here.\" He motions to me with two fingers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You could have sat beside me,\" I retort, standing on two chunky heels with brass buttons, military-inspired and part of the new Calloway Couture collection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But I didn't,\" he says easily. \"Come here.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy heels clink across the hardwood, and I make the perilous catwalk up to Scott Van Wright.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe props one ankle on his thigh, his finger to his cheek as he unabashedly peruses my body. From my slender legs to the hem of my black pleated dress with sheer quarter-sleeves and to the high collar that frames my stiff neck. He traces my dark-glossed lips, my rose-blushed cheeks, and bypasses right over my pissed-off eyes, spending an extra moment fixated on my chest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI stop by his legs and throw the contracts on the table in front of him. They slide off the polished surface and land on his lap. One stapled stack even slips to the floor. I smile wide since he has to bend down awkwardly to reach them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pick that up,\" he tells me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy smile fades. \"It's underneath the desk.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe cocks his head, giving me another long once-over. \"And you dropped it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe cannot be serious. I cross my arms, not responding to his request. He just sits there, waiting for me to comply.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a test.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm used to them. Sometimes I even dole them out myself, but this one is going to lead me nowhere good.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf I bend down, he'll establish this strange power over me. He'll be able to command me in the same way that Connor Cobalt can force people to do his bidding with simple words.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's a manipulator's gift.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm not even close to possessing it. I think I wear my emotions too much to have that type of influence over other people.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Grab it,\" he says, his gaze halting on my breasts again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI remind myself why I need Scott and why I want the swarm of cameras to document my every move. I inhale. Okay. You have to do it, Rose. Whatever it takes. I cringe and drop to my knees. In a dress. This is a job for a personal assistant, not a client.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI hear him click his pen as I scoop up the papers. I'm not wearing a low-cut top where I'll flash him. I don't have huge breasts to really ogle either. The most he can do is slap my ass and try to peek up my dress, the hem perilously rising on my thighs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I stand back up and smack the papers to the table, his lips curve upward.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScott Van Wright (asshole) 1-Rose Calloway (pathetic) 0.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI sit in the nearest chair while Scott stuffs the contracts in his briefcase.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy boyfriend urged me to bring his lawyer to the meeting, but I didn't want Scott to think that I couldn't handle the situation myself. I won't have a lawyer while the cameras follow me, and I'd rather take command now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNot that I'm doing a terrific job.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf I ordered Scott to do anything, he'd laugh at me. But I attended a few law courses before I graduated from Princeton. I know my rights.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Just so we have this clear, you work for me,\" I remind him. \"I hired you to produce the show.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That's cute. But after you signed that contract, you've officially become my employee. You're the equivalent of an actress, Rose.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNo. \"I can fire you. You can't fire me. That doesn't make me your employee, Scott. That makes me your boss.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI expect him to withdraw from this losing battle, but he shakes his head like I'm wrong. I know I'm right . . . Right? \"My production company has sole ownership over anything the Calloway sisters film on network television. If you fire me, you need just cause and you can't jump to another producer. I'm your only shot at having a reality show, Rose.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI remember that clause, but I never thought it would be an issue. I figured I'd be around Scott maybe twice during the whole filming process. But these were his first words when he walked into the conference room: \"We're going to be seeing a lot of each other.\" Lovely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy eyes grow hot. I have to concede on this one. He won. Somehow. I hate it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So, now that we have that clear,\" he says, sitting up and edging closer to me. His knees almost knock into mine. I go utterly rigid. \"There are a few details we need to go over in case you misread them in the contract.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't misread things.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well evidently you weren't using a portion of your brain or else you would have realized that you work for me now. And we wouldn't have wasted . . .\" He checks his watch. \". . . five minutes of my time.\" He flashes me a sardonic smile like I'm a little girl.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm not an idiot,\" I retort. \"I graduated at the top of my class with highest honors-\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't care about your fucking degree,\" he says sharply. \"You're in the real world now, Rose Calloway. No university is going to teach you how to navigate this industry.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDoubt surfaces. I don't know much about reality television, but I've been immersed in the media long enough to know it can help someone as much as it can destroy them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd I need that help.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI understand exactly why the network would take an interest in the daughters of Fizzle. My father's brand has beat Pepsi for the past two years in sales, and he's working to make Fizzle the soda of choice among southern states. We should be as anonymous as the face behind Coca-Cola, but ever since my family was thrust into the public eye, we've been under intense scrutiny, and it's all because of my younger sister's scandal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy brand should have exploded from all the media and press, but the name Calloway Couture has been linked with Lily's dirty secrets. And what once was a thriving fashion line in H\u0026amp;M has been destitute in boxes and boxes, piled in my New York office.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI need good exposure, the kind that will have women desiring a one-of-a-kind coat, a unique pair of boots, an affordable but chic handbag. And Scott Van Wright is offering me a primetime reality show that will tempt viewers to purchase my pieces.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo that's why I'm agreeing to this.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI want to save my dream.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScott says, \"There will be cameras in your living room and kitchen at all times, even after the three-person crew leaves. You'll only have privacy in your bedrooms and bathrooms.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I remember this.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Good.\" Scott clicks his pen. \"Then maybe you'll remember that each week, I expect to have interviews with the cast, which includes you, your three sisters-\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Not three,\" I say. \"Only Lily and Daisy agreed to the show.\" My eldest sister, Poppy, wouldn't sign the contract because she didn't want her daughter to be filmed. My little niece has already endured enough paparazzi since Lily's scandal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Fine, she would have been a boring addition anyway.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI glower.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm just being honest.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm used to blunt honesty,\" I tell him. \"I just find yours crass.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe eyes me in a new way, as though my words carried a plume of toxic pheromones. I don't understand. I am so mean. I am glaring like I want to rip off his penis, and yet, he's attracted. There is something seriously wrong with him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd maybe my boyfriend.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd really, any guy who'd like to be with me. I'm not even sure I want to be with me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As I was saying . . .\" His knee brushes mine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI roll backwards, and he only grins more. This is not a cat-and-mouse game like he believes. I am not a mouse. And he's not a cat. Or vice versa. I am the fucking shark, and he's a lame human in my ocean.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd my boyfriend, he's the same species as me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Continue,\" I snap.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'll be interviewing you, your two sisters, Lily's boyfriend and his brother.\" 6 people + 6 months + 3 cameramen + 1 reality show = infinite drama. I've done the math.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScott will be conducting the interviews though . . . I internally gag. \"You're forgetting my boyfriend,\" I say. \"He's a part of the show too.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh right.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Don't act like you forgot, Scott. You just said you were practicing honesty, and now, well, you're a bit of a liar.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe ignores my slight. \"Every episode will be aired one week after we've filmed. The premiere will be in February, but we're filming ASAP. Like I mentioned over the phone, we're trying to make this show as real-time as possible. It's been six months since it was publicized that your sister is a sex addict. We need to capitalize off that buzz as quickly as we can.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You and every other person with a camera,\" I say. There's always at least two chubby males stationed outside my gated house with lenses pointed at us. Lily jokes that they're probably hanging around waiting for her to give them blow jobs. I would be more amused if I didn't see the mail that perverts send her, most accompanied with pictures of their hairy genitals-it's a sick fan club. I sift through her letters before I hand them to her now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"And lastly,\" Scott says, \"you have no control over how you're edited. That's my call.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have about as much power over the reality show as I do paparazzi's snap-quick photos.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI can try to act like a non-bitchy, non-argumentative angel on film, and Lily can try to be a virginal saint. But at the end of the day, the cameras will catch us. Flaws and all. And there's no forcing something different. That was the stipulation that all my friends and sisters agreed to.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo do the show, we're not pretending to be someone else.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd I would never ask that of them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe're rolling the dice on this one. People may hate us. They already call Lily a whore on gossip blogs. But in the small chance that people grow to love us-my company may be saved. I just need good publicity so that a retailer has a reason to stock my clothing line again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd maybe Fizzle won't be so bruised by Lily's impropriety too. Maybe my father's soda company will rise in stocks rather than fall.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat's the hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Are you okay with this?\" Scott questions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I don't know why you ask. I signed the contract. I have to be okay with it or else you'll take me to court.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe lets out a short laugh and scans my body for the third time. \"I can't imagine your boyfriend knows what to do with you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Because you've never met him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I've spoken to him. He sounds malleable.\" He taps his pen. \"If I told him to drop on his knees and suck my cock, I think he would.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy nostrils flare. I am fuming. \"You think that.\" I stand. \"And when he stabs you in the fucking front, I'll be the one smiling by his side.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eScott grins at this. \"Challenge accepted.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStupid intellectual pricks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFunny thing is, I'm dating one.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo while I'm stuck in this moronic cock fight, I know I'm partially to blame.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI knew I should have lowered my standards-dated a guy who rides around on his skateboard with his shirt inside out. I grimace. Just kidding. I'll take my suit-and-tie boyfriend. I'll take the high IQ and the rapid-fire banter. I just hope Scott's eagerness to unsettle him won't disrupt the reality show.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut if I know anything, it's this:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy boyfriend loves winning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd he hates to lose even more.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTwo\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRose Calloway\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI juggle a box of old invoices and a bag of salads and chicken primavera that's hooked on my arm, searching for my keys in my clutch. My phone occupies one palm, and I struggle to maintain perfect balance on my wraparound porch, teetering in a pair of four-inch booties.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI live in a college town: Princeton, New Jersey. And my gated colonial house has acres of sprawling green lands, black shutters and winter flowers. But right now, I can't take pleasure in the serene atmosphere.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA lens gleams to my left, filming. The camera guy is roughly around my age, wiry and lanky. In two days, Ben has talked as much as his other two cohorts, which is not much at all. They just shoot.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis sole presence distracts my juggling act.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd red sauce leaks from the white plastic bag, missing my pea coat and dribbling on my romper. I flail in distress, trying to maintain a morsel of grace, but my box of invoices starts to tilt off me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd then, all of a sudden, the cardboard is plucked right from my arms, and I am left in an awkward, hunched-over position, avoiding the trickling plastic bag like it's the source of the bubonic plague.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI glance over my shoulder and meet Connor's eyes. And I trace his features quickly: his thick, wavy brown hair, his fair skin and pink lips, striking blue eyes and a conceited smile that somehow never gets him in trouble. He wears confidence like his most expensive suit, with style and dignity and so much charm. I immediately want to combat him, to match him smile for smile, grin for grin, word for word. But right now, that conceited look does not lessen my misery.","brand":"Berkley","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302046519525,"sku":"NP9780593639627","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593639627.jpg?v=1767730791","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/kiss-the-sky-isbn-9780593639627","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}