title: Celebrities in Disgrace: A Novella and Stories
author:  Elizabeth Searle 
description: A short story collection can be strangely uneven, as if several authors had contributed instead of one. Such is the case with Searle's (A Four-Sided Bed) slim second collection, composed of a novella and four stories. In the title novella, the infamous Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding scandal is reheated and served up. Celebrity-obsessed teenager Daniel Sanders is stalking smalltime actress Kathryn Byrne, who desperately yearns to be cast as Kerrigan in the TV movie chronicling the skating divas' tabloid past. While Searle's descriptions ("He stapled his face over hers"; "Then the ice, the whole rink tilted, dumping her") are sharp and clear, the rambling narrative is in need of some thoughtful pruning, and what clever social commentary she makes is upstaged by awkward pacing. The two stories that avoid the celebrity satire theme are the collection's true starring vehicles. "What It's Worth" is well developed and straightforward, and features likable single student Brigid, who wields sex like a weapon to fend off her loneliness and insecurities. The last tale, "Celebration," is a moving slice of life. Eager to have a baby, spouses Sarah (young) and Paul (older) reluctantly celebrate Paul's 52nd birthday, a reminder that yet another infertile year has passed. Their circumstances are tempered by skillfully applied humor (Sarah envisions their life as a series of tabloid headlines), creating a warm authenticity underscoring Searle's talent, yet undermining the stories that preceded. (June) Forecast: This will mostly attract small-press loyalists, though a campy, tabloid-style cover and the paperback price tag might capture the attention of browsers. <br />Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used
  fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or
  dead--is entirely coincidental.
   
  Tempting Target copyright @ 2015 by Carmen Faye. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
  any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or
  reviews.
   
  
   
  CHAPTER ONE
   
  “Did you want to use that or were you just checking it out for size?”
   
  Emmy Roth had never been so embarrassed in all of her life. She had been practically drooling over the most attractive man
  she’d ever seen—in or out of a United States Navy uniform—since their eyes had caught soon after she got off the plane. One
  day she’d be able to walk over to a man like that, crook her finger, and have him follow her to the nearest flat surface…bu