Annabelle Kapner is a producer for New Day USA, a morning
news show. She provides the show with a segment titled
American Ideals. They are basically feel good human
interest stories. Her latest story to air is about
Cosmetics Relief and how the money is being used to
improve the lives of women and children in Fardistan, a
part of the former Soviet Union. She receives mostly
praise for the heart-warming story, but she keeps
receiving mysterious phone calls that are sinister in
nature. When Annie is told to do a follow-up on the
Cosmetics Relief story, she jumps at the chance even if
her motive is visiting her new boyfriend, Mark Thurber, in
Washington, D.C. Little does Annie realize that what she
is about to uncover leads her straight to a jail cell.
How will she prove her innocence from behind bars?
Mark Thurber is the senior White House aide, the
speechwriter for the Vice President, and he is considered
one of the most eligible bachelors. He meets Annie on
the set of New Day USA when he gives an interview. When
Annie comes to D.C., he is thrilled to see her again. He
decides to help her with a little background check into
the head of the Cosmetics Relief organization. By the
time he digs deep enough, Annie is already being taken
into custody for violation of the Espionage Act. Mark is
asked to lay low for a while to keep the media from
dissecting his relationship with Annie and to keep the
publicity away from the White House. Soon the scandal
becomes known as Glossgate, and Mark has a decision to
make. He must decide if it is more important to keep his
job or to help Annie and find out the truth behind
Glossgate. Which will he decide?
Jennifer Oko has created a spectacular story where a
journalist goes to jail for trying to report the truth.
The plot revolves around the power struggle to remain the
top television station. The story is told from an
insider's view and there are a lot of interesting details
about the news process. The story has some strong and
interesting secondary characters. A few of them are Faith
Heide, the shopping addicted co-host of New Day USA;
Galina, an inmate and Annabelle supporter; and Karen,
Annie's best friend who works for the NIH. A reporter's
job is to find the truth behind the story - not only the
truth that is being presented, but also the one that is
being GLOSSed over. GLOSS is a great example of a media
hungry world latching onto the newest scandal to improve
their ratings.
It's a New Day USA!
And possibly a whole new world.
It was a harmless human interest story for breakfast
television—who would've thought it would land her in jail?
New York producer Annabelle Kapner's report on a beauty-
industry job-creation plan for refugee women in the Middle
East earned her kudos from the viewers, her bosses, even
the network suits. But several threatening phone calls and
tight-lipped, edgy executives suggest the cosmetics program
is covering up more than just uneven skin.
All this intrigue is seriously hampering Annabelle's
fledgling romance with sexy speechwriter Mark Thurber. Mark
is handsome, funny and Washington's Most Eligible Bachelor
(the people at People said so). Being with him makes her
gossip-column material overnight.
Annabelle is just getting used to A-list treatment at
Manhattan's hottest nightspots when a fit of journalistic
idealism—and a daring Watergate-style raid—earns her a cozy
spot on cell block six.
The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the celebrity
prisoner trumps both. Annabelle starts a jailhouse crusade
to expose the corruption she's uncovered, and the media are
eating it up. The paparazzi, the pundits and every morning
show in America all want a piece of her. But it'll take
more than a few thousand "Free Annabelle" T-shirts to clear
her name and win back her Beltway beau. Especially when she
discovers just how high up the scandal reaches—and how far
the players will go to keep their secret . . .