Weekly Online Read: Based on a True Story by Brenda Janowitz

Seems like a prequel to 'Jack with a Twist'..

Here am reading chapter 1 and wondering when will I get to finish this story..  wish it were an online read !!

I'd thought that at the end of Scot, she had to reveal the truth about Jack. No? This is going to kill me now. And of course, my copy of Scot is sitting somewhere in one of forty boxes in my office closet. That whole moving thing sure puts a damper on one's ability to look stuff like this up.

The thing I loved about this chapter was how you could tell, even in the short messages, that Jack totally knows her game and loves her anyway. 

I do think she needs to let go and be okay with who she is and her life. Then again, I don't have a famous ex married to a famous actress... 

Thank you! I was going crazy there for a second.

Hubby can't understand why I won't get rid of books, well, this is the reason. I think once I get back from RWA, project of primo importance will be getting my books unpacked. 

I absolutely loved Scot on the Rocks. It was the best weekend of reading I've spent in a long, long time. Funny how life brings you inspriation...Can't wait to read Jack with a Twist!

Hey everyone! Thanks for all of the comments! For those of you
who were a bit confused, this short story takes place in the weeks between
where SCOT ON THE ROCKS leaves off and where JACK WITH A TWIST begins.

But you don't have to have read either one to get in on the fun with BASED
ON A TRUE STORY! The set up is this: Brooke Miller, Manhattan attorney, has
plans to go to dinner with her ex-boyfriend and his new wife. Wouldn't be
that big of a deal, but her ex is married to a movie star, so all of Brooke's
insecurities begin to show (thus her impromptu visit to the hair salon to get
gorgeous!).

Brooke attended her ex's wedding, but it was a bit complicated. When she
RSVP'd, she was dating a gorgeous Scotsman (who, of course, she bragged to her
ex about-- c'mon, wouldn't you?!). The gorgeous Scotsman broke up with
her right before the wedding, but Brooke was too embarrassed to admit this to
her ex. Instead, she forced her friend Jack to come with her to the wedding
and pretend to be the Scotsman so that she could keep her dignity ever so
slightly intact. Jack went with her to the
wedding and he and Brooke ended up falling in love. Now they are engaged and everything’s perfect
in Brooke’s world.

All's well that ends well, right? Well, maybe not. Keep reading....

And if you'd like a free JACK WITH A TWIST bookmark, just shoot me an email at brenda@brendajanowitz.com and I'll mail one to you!

xoxo
brenda

I read Scot on the rocks and really enjoyed it. I was so glad to see that Brenda was writing a follow up. Now to find time to read Jack. Personally, I think Jack is a great hero!

Hey Papaya-- glad I could help!  It's so funny what you say about serials:  I've had a few very anxious fans who told me that they couldn't wait to find out the ending of BASED ON A TRUE STORY!!!  But, I promise, it will be a really fun weekly read.

JV-- I'm like you: no self control!  I just gobble up books.  So, I'm so excited that you'll be gobbling up mine!  I can't wait to hear what you think!

And Dream-- thanks for the SCOT love!  I'm so glad you liked it and I hope you enjoy BASED ON A TRUE STORY!

By the way, I'll be doing a virtual reading from JACK tonight on VZones.com.  Come and get a free trial membership and cyber-chat with me!  It's at 9pm eastern.

hmmm, this is interesting...  guess I'll read on nex week to see what happens... I don't usually read these kinds of stories.

Oh Pul-leeze!  She's indignant that someone is showcasing her incredibly exasperating behavior?  Is she going to get a clue to how her one-up-manship is so NOT cute?

Thanks for the explanation Brenda.  I went back and reread both chapters and it makes alot more sense now.  Only question I have is why in the h-e-double hockey sticks would she want to go to her ex's wedding? Or dinner w/him and his wife for that matter? 

Thanks dream for explaining.  Now that I understand a little more hopefully I can enjoy the story.

Brooke is so superficial.  I don't understand how jack could be crazy in love with her, unless he's the same way. 

...as insecure and somewhat lacking in maturity.  Sounds like she's short with a weight problem (been there, done that, live in the tee shirt -- thanks), so I can see how an insecure, short, somewhat overweight woman whose ex-boyfriend dumps her and then gets engaged to a gorgeous actress and whose current fiance dumps her the night before the wedding might feel compelled to prove something to her ex.  It's a bit immature, but I understand the compulsion. 

It doesn't make it the smart thing to do. but, take it from someone whose first boss used to call her "Shortstop" and suggest she sue the city for building the sidewalks so close to her butt, sometimes you have to really reach for your inner maturity and love of self not to want to "prove" how <fill in blank:  worthy, desirable, lovable> you are by doing something dumb.

I think her heart is in the right place.  It's her fragile ego that's encouraging her to act like a twit.  And God bless Jack for loving her anyway.  Actually, he should have told her "no" on the repeat of her little scheme, at least, and told her to come clean to the ex now that they have a relationship.  He was enabling her in her lack of self-confidence, instead of helping her, imho.

I have to agree with what both of you said about Brooke and Jack.  It sounds like she has a lot of maturing to do, and is very unsure of herself.  Jack should have just told her to "fess up" instead of continuing to play a Scot.

I also have a feeling that Trip already knows the whole truth about Jack, and the other shoe will drop soon.

I can't wait to read the next chapter!

I still think she is very superficial.   I sure wouldn't hire her if I needed a lawyer!

I agree with you, Fake Frenchie, that I can't ever see myself getting into as big a quagmire as Brooke has created for herself.  If I'm being honest, though, I will admit to going to a party in my youth with a guy who was the most arrogant, self-absorbed jerk but who was also quite handsome (still don't know why he was so keen on dating me, but for some reason he was) just to remind my ex of what he was missing.  If not for the jealousy factor, I wouldn't have spent 10 minutes in this guy's company.  My motivation was a combination of broken heart and insecurity with a healthy dose of immaturity thrown in there. 

So, while Brooke has taken it to an extreme, I can kind of see how she got there without thinking she's too superficial.  She had been dumped twice, after all, and the ex was marrying a movie star.  Not only was she suffering two recent heartbreaks, but she felt she HAD to attend the wedding to prove she was over ex #1.  Having talked up her new beau and then having been dumped by him, too, I think she felt desperate and didn't want to be seen as the poor ex-girlfriend who was now dumped by the new "great guy".  A dumb move, of course.   

But, then, that's the beauty of fiction.  Often, everything is exaggerated beyond what we mere mortals typically experience, from the heat of the romance to the bonehead moves the characters make before they realize the error of their ways, which may be why we can safely relate to it knowing we'd never do anything THAT dumb.

However, unless she's ready for heartache #3, she'd better realize the value of her current relationship and 'fess up.

Since I don't care for these type of stories,  don't like the heroine -- she's way too superficial for me, I won't be commenting.

I am reading it.

I don't know anyone who's having a major motion pictue made on their past live by an ex but I can think of a couple of girls at work who have some of the same superficialty and concerns about 'unimportant things' that this heroine does. They provide great entertainment for the rest of us and bottom line, when it comes down to the clinch they're there. They rise to the occasion and I have great faith that Brooke would too. That's the real reason people care about her and what happens next.

Pat

Maybe I'm just too old, but I can't get into this story... 

I must have suddenly become clairvoyant because I can clearly see where this is headed. 

This story is driving me nuts!  It reminds me of watching Three's Company where Jack would get himself into something and instead of fixing it would keep covering it up until the end of the show.  UGH!

is eating popcorn with a margarita chaser.  Yuck!

I'm still thinking that Douglas, her ex-fiance, will show up and add to her chagrin.  Either that, or Trip already knows her story.  After all, Ava did say there would be lots of laughs and some tears (Brooke's?).

I hear you, papaya, but aren't lawyers all about appearances and making people believe things are a certain way, when in reality they may be very different?  Aren't they about making you believe an individual is completely innocent (or completely guilty, depending upon which side they're on), no matter what the truth is?  So, those very qualities of subterfuge you don't like about her may make her a good lawyer.  To be good, they have to not only know the law but, at least on occasion, to be masters of deception, too.

On the other hand, I'd like to think that an attorney representing me had everything under firm control, including her own life.  I'd hate to entrust my fate to someone whose personal life was spiraling out of control.  But I doubt too many real lawyers have egos as fragile as Brooke's.

Well... this story is just too weird for me... I've kept reading hoping she would wake up and get real, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.  I sure hope there are not a lot of people out in this world that are like Brooke or we are in deeper trouble than I thought we were.