Thursday, August 23, 2012

TLS Fics Of The Week 8/20 - 8/26/2012: The Fab Five Features are up!



The American President by Rushed
As the President of the United States, Edward Cullen finds it difficult to meet women. So his brother secretly employs the services of an escort agency to help fulfill certain presidential needs. Rated: Fiction M

Review by: ysar

It’s not often that I’m hooked on a fic in the first chapter.  Normally, I’m just intrigued enough by a summary or style of writing that I hang in for a few chapters until I’m in deep enough to know whether I want to stick around, but this story had me from the get-go.  First, there’s Presidentward.  I mean, who doesn’t want that?  And then there’s a summary that promises “the services of an escort agency to help fulfill certain presidential needs.”  Is it just me, or does that smell like citrus?  But all of that in no way prepared me for the first chapter. 

Told almost entirely from Bella’s point of view, we first meet her as a single mom, rushing her young daughter, Heidi, off to school on a very special day – the President will be visiting not just their little town, but her daughter’s class.  Cue the awesome drama! 

"Belle?" He whispered, looking at me in surprise. He turned his attention to the little girl standing between us. The blood seemed to leave his face as his eyes met mine, searching for answers.

So what happens when a little girl who doesn’t know her father meets a man who in two seconds figures out he has a daughter?  Why, we get a lemony trip down memory lane!  Ex-President (yes, little Heidi got that detail wrong) Edward Cullen was a lonely widower facing the scrutiny of his constituents if he dated, and our lovely Bella was *gasp* an escort when he was counting on a second term.  Birds + bees = lemons, lemons, and more lemons…

"Edward, the last time you invaded a country did you wait for an invitation?"
His brow furrowed for a moment before he seemed to catch on, his eyes going straight for my breasts.

"Well, as a matter of fac….."

"No need to get into politics now, just take my bra off. That is, if you want."

"Oh, I want," he replied, licking his lips and looking up into my face.

… and of course, a surprise pregnancy.  And that makes The American President one of the few stories in which Bella’s running and Edward’s ignorance of it all make absolutely perfect sense.   It wasn’t miscommunication, it wasn’t  judgemental family members, and it wasn’t unfounded panic.  It was just fault of who they both were and where they stood in the world.

I had no choice. I had to give up the man I loved so that I could raise his baby. And maybe one day when his term as president was finished, and if he ever found it within his heart to forgive me we could at least…..

We could at least what? Be together again. I wouldn't think that likely.
How could he ever forgive me for what I was about to do? I was going to leave, and I wasn't going to tell him. The best I could hope for was that one day he would want to play some part in his child's life.

Sixty not-too-long chapters in, and we’re finally getting to the good stuff – well, minus all those lovely lemons during Bella’s days as an escort.  Edward knows the truth, and Bella’s trying to make the right decisions so they can both move forward.  Of course, we want them to figure it out immediately, but that would take all the fun out of it.  Instead, rushed is walking us all through it at the same steady pace as the rest of the story, with realistic emotions and believable reactions from the characters all along the way.  She's taken a fanfic cliche and an improbable situation and spun it into a story that I can't wait to play out.


The Cellar by Iambeagle
Boy meets Girl. Girl's friend throws up on Boy's shoes. A story about wannabe hipsters, awkward moments, and soul mates. Rated: Fiction M


The Search by Amber1983
When Bella Swan flees to London to escape her painful and humiliating past her new life is knocked off its axis by her charismatic and ambitious boss, Edward Cullen. Can Ed unravel Bella's secrets and get what he wants without revealing his own demons...and his heart? Rated: Fiction M


The Veil by Belladonna Cullen
You always have the choice between life and death... until you don't. There is poetry at the beginning and end of our journey, but it's what you make of the interim that counts. BxE Rated: Fiction M


Holding On and Letting Go by Jenny0719
Masen Valley, SC. Population: 10,789. It was a tiny dot on a map; an escape of sorts for Bella Swan. But when circumstances bring a certain member of Masen Valley's founding family back to town, she finds that the past isn't as easy to leave behind as she thought it would be. Or let go. Rated: Fiction M

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