Ambition can be deadly… A sizzling thriller set behind the scenes of a glamorous TV soap, from a Sunday Times bestselling author. Intrigued? Read on to discover the synopsis and an excerpt for Ruthless Women by Melanie Blake, which releases on April 1st 2021.
Falcon Bay is the UK’s favorite TV soap, beamed to millions three days a week from its beautiful location in the Channel Islands. But the show has a new owner, and ratings are falling. The cast and crew used to be ‘one big family,’ but now they’ve turned against each other in the battle to impress their new boss and survive the downturn.
Writer Farrah, lead actor Catherine, and producer Amanda are the driven, ambitious women who keep the show on the road. But Farrah is losing episodes to her less experienced male rival, Catherine is terrified of the public falling out of love with her, and Amanda’s evil husband Jake, vice president of the network, is plotting to get his wife kicked off the show.
Can these women team up to bring down their rivals? Only if they are prepared for a battle of the sexes—where they’ll need to be as ruthless as the men to come out on top…
Excerpted from Ruthless Women, by Melanie Blake. Entangled Publishing, 2021. Reprinted with permission.
The door swung open and all eyes were on Jake Monroe as he strode into the room, ignored the packed table and silently walked towards the storyboard, which was on the wall just by the entrance. He stood frozen, staring at the scant words written there. With his muscular legs clad in tight jeans and his broad shoulders encased in a black leather jacket, he looked much younger than his sixty years. Jake’s presence had always been formidable, but having recently been promoted to controller of drama by the network’s new owners, whom nobody else in the room had yet met, he’d acquired an air of even greater untouchability and arrogance. He was at the very top of the food chain and he made sure everyone knew it.
After what felt like hours but was actually less than two minutes, he half turned towards the others. ‘Is this it?’ he asked, pointing at the board and meeting every person’s eyes one by one, sending shivers down their backs as his gravelly voice echoed around the pin-droppingly quiet space.
The last face his gaze rested on was a mousey woman – hair in a bun, thick glasses and a figure that unkind people would say was dumpy. Her chair was directly under the air conditioner and she was feeling the chill. Or maybe it was the ice emanating from her boss. Whatever the reason, she pulled a beige wrap around her shoulders. The sight of its tassels jiggling infuriated Jake.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ he growled.
The woman’s face went pale as she shuffled in her seat, causing the tassels to jiggle even faster. ‘I… I was cold… so I—’
Before she could finish stuttering her reply, he closed in on her and was now right next to her chair.
‘Damn right you are,’ he snarled, then looked over at the rest of the table. ‘And you’re not the only one.’
Earlier that day, Jake had sent a ‘Drop everything – emergency meeting’ summons to all writers, producers and casting execs, ordering them to gather in Room 6, and signing it off with the word ‘pronto’. Three hours later, here he was, surveying what were supposedly the country’s finest creative minds. But all Jake could see were blank stares and a shivering mouse in cashmere. He glanced out at the angry sea. Waves were thrashing the shoreline boulders. A flash storm was approaching, both outside in the real world and right here in the world of make-believe. Someone was going to drown.
