Lee Murray author, editor
A Dash of Reality
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Romance, running and reality TV combine in this hilarious romantic comedy novel from award-winning writer Lee Murray.
With her career on the skids, Mel Short has hatched a plan to be the next big thing, landing a spot on the hit TV show Running Feat. And all she has to do is run a teeny tiny marathon. Except, even with a training plan, a nutritional plan and her boyfriend Jack's support, running a marathon is way harder than it looks, and when the paparazzi photograph her in flagrante with her steamy reality show co-star, Rico Black, things start to get complicated...
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A really fresh sense of an unashamedly New Zealand voice. A real treat. Ten out of ten. — Amazon customer
Have you ever picked up a book and have not wanted to put it down until the very last page ? Not just because it is an awesome read but because you can picture yourself in the book , travel with the character ? I'm not normally the type of person who feels they travel through to the places the characters been but as A Dash of Reality was sent not only in New Zealand but the main gist of the story in Tauranga , where I live. The book itself was almost an interactive novel as I imagined myself in the different parts of Tauranga- running along The Strand , looking out over the Tauranga Harbour and Papamoa Hills , going with Caro to Riding with the Disabled. I found the experience of reading A Dash of Reality amazing :) A Dash of Reality takes us into the life of Melanie Short , she has been the poster girl for Sportzgirl - the last seven years . Now with the recession hitting and sales down , it seems that her job is in tatters and Melanie finds herself fired. Worried about how she is going to survive, Melanie whilst flipping channels and being a couch potato comes across a TV show and a magazine article about Obesity and Fitness. With an idea to save not only her job but to boost Sportzgirl's ratings, Melanie implements a fitness reality show with the main sport - Running. Along with half-a-dozen other New Zealand contestants, Melanie finds herself as one of the contestants on the show but unfortunately for Melanie her and exercise does not mix. Armed with Olaf the trainer , Melanie must now spend the next few months training in order to win the show and hopefully boost her career. What will happen though, when it seems that Melanie in order to go places has to pretend to date co-star Rico , will her relationship with Jack hit the rocks ? A Dash of Reality is a novel that describes the lengths that one girl would go to , to save her career and boost her own ratings, even if it means that one must sacrifice the one thing they love the most. Will Melanie sacrifice Love for her Career or will she discover that sometimes having both in moderate helpings is the way to go ?
— The Phantom Paragrapher
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