LITMIR.BIZ

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      This book is dedicated to every person who recognizes that home is wherever you are loved.

      1

      Alicia Randall burst into her editor’s office. “I have my next story!”

      Nina Halleck, executive editor of Feminine Power magazine, looked up from her desk and laughed. “Please, come in.”

      Alicia smirked. “Sorry, Nina, but you’re not going to believe this. There’s a small town in Georgia that imported women for their men.”

      Nina squinted. “Mail order brides?”

      “More like bringing the entire catalog to town for the men to browse,” Alicia said dryly.

      Nina pursed her mouth. “Okay, that’s a spin on matchmaking. What’s the name of the town?”

      Alicia settled a hip on the edge of Nina’s desk, distantly registering the Manhattan skyline view. “The place is called Sweetness. Isn’t that great? I can’t make this stuff up.”

      “Was there a shortage of women in this Sweetness?”

      “Apparently, it was an abandoned mountain town that was being rebuilt, and there were no women. So a year ago the town leaders—all men—took out an ad in a newspaper in the town of Broadway, Michigan for—” she looked at her notes “—single women with a pioneering spirit, offering free room and board, and lots of single, Southern men.”

      “Why Broadway, Michigan?”

      “From what I can gather, Broadway was hit particularly hard by the downturn in the economy. I guess they thought women there would be desperate to relocate.”

      “Did anyone respond?”

      “Yes…a large group of women went down, a hundred or so.”

      “And?”

      “And—” Alicia leaned forward. “I want to go down there and see what’s going on. It could be my next topic for the Undercover Feminist column.”

      Nina set down her pen. “Do you think they’re doing something illegal?”

      “Not necessarily. But doesn’t it assault your sensibilities to think of a group of Neanderthals advertising for women to come and service them?”

      “Do the Neanderthals have a name?”

      Alicia checked her notes again. “Armstrong— Marcus, Kendall and Porter Armstrong—brothers. Apparently they grew up in Sweetness. About ten years ago, an F-5 tornado blew the town off the map.”

      Nina grimaced. “Loss of life?”

      “None. It was called the Sweetness Miracle.”

      “I think I remember when that happened. I was writing copy for TV news.” Nina glanced upward, as if she were searching her memory banks. “No one was killed, but every building and home was destroyed…and maybe a water tower survived? Something like that.”

      “Sounds right.”

      “Hmm. So these Armstrong brothers are restoring their hometown?”

      “According to the town website, they have a federal grant to rebuild based on a green initiative—recycling, alternative energy, tree-hugger stuff.”

      “Sounds…wholesome.”

      “It’s a great cover,” Alicia agreed. “Especially if they’re starting their own commune.”

      “So what do you have in mind for a story?”

      “I want to do an exposé of this chauvinistic matchmaking experiment of theirs.”

      “By going undercover? As what?”

      “What else? A woman with a pioneering spirit looking for a single, Southern man.”

      Nina released a laugh. “You, on a manhunt? Alicia, when was the last time you even had a boyfriend?”

      Alicia narrowed her eyes. “I wrote an entire feature on why that B-word should be stricken from every woman’s vocabulary.”

      “I remember,” Nina said. “Sorry—old habits die hard. Besides, when I called Henry my manfriend, he said it made him feel like a butler.” She tilted her head. “But you digress…what administration was in power when you last had a man in your life?”

      Alicia frowned. “I don’t need a man in my life, and I don’t want a man in my life.”

      “My point exactly—so how do you propose to pass yourself off as a woman on the prowl?”

      “I took acting classes in college,” Alicia said with a shrug. “Besides, anything for a good story, right?”

      “If there is a story. The Armstrong brothers didn’t exactly coerce those women into moving there, did they?”

      “Not that I can tell.”

      “So…it’s a free country. Maybe they have the right idea, bringing men and women together to build a community from scratch.”

      It was Nina’s job to play the devil’s advocate, Alicia conceded. “Tell you what—I have a few weeks

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