Robin Mulcahey has always dreamed of being a big-time actress. As a college student, she took endless drama classes and finally snagged the lead of Maggie in Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Now, six years later, she’s one of the country’s hottest soap-opera stars. She’s just won a Daytime Emmy for her portrayal of South Riding’s bad girl, and now when it seemed life couldn’t get any more perfect, she’s wed Declan Blair, an up-and-coming Irish film actor.
So what’s the problem?
Robin Mulcahey is dead. She was killed in a devastating car wreck in 1996 while riding with her best friend, Amy Shiley. Amy, battered beyond recognition in the accident, was mistaken for Robin and has played the role of Robin Mulcahey ever since. But Amy’s never been able to forget the love she shared with Paul Mulcahey—Robin’s older brother.
If you had the chance to become someone else, would you take it?
Hello, Readers. I'm thrilled about my new hardcover, UNDERSTUDY, and I hope you will be, too. I had a great time writing about Amy, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks, who covets her best friend's life and family. When fate gives her a choice to actually live Robin's life, she discovers that living a lie can have consequences far worse than she can ever imagine. Even realizing Robin's dream of becoming an accomplished day-time soap star can't assuage the guilt she feels at living a life that doesn't belong to her. She is caught up in the ultimate masquerade, playing the role of a lifetime twenty-four-seven. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
From the Inside Flap
Robin Mulcahey has always dreamed of being a big-time actress. As a college student, she took endless drama classes and finally snagged the lead of Maggie in Tennessee Williams's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Now, six years later, she's one of the country's hottest soap-opera stars. She's just won a Day-time Emmy for her portrayal of "South Riding's" bad girl, and now, when it seemed life couldn't get any more perfect, she's wed Declan Blair, an up-and-coming Irish film actor.
So, what's the problem?
Robin Mulcahey is dead. She was killed in a devastating car wreck in 1996 while riding with her best friend, Amy Shiley. Amy, battered beyond recognition in the accident, was mistaken for Robin and has played the role of Robin Mulcahey ever since. But Amy's never been able to forget the love she shared with Paul Mulcahey--Robin's older brother. A love now forbidden...
My work has appeared in magazines such as Woman's World, The Star, Endless Vacation and The Washington Post. I'm the author of four acclaimed novels published by Tor/Forge Books. My latest novel, CHOCOLATE ON A STICK, a quirky book about an elderly Appalachian couple on the run from a nursing home in a red Corvette, released in trade paperback by Baycrest Books in September 2005, was a 2005 Kentucky Literary Award in Fiction Nominee. My first novel, "Border Crossings", a hardcover published by Forge Books in May of 1999, was a 2000 RITA Award nominee for Best Romantic Suspense and Best First Book, a nominee for the 2000 Virginia Literary Award in Fiction. It was also a 2000 finalist in the Golden Quill award and in the Aspen Gold Award and won 1st Place in the Volusia County 2000 Laurel Wreath Award. My work has appeared in various anthologies such as Kay Allenbaugh's Chocolate for a Woman's Heart, Chocolate for a Couples' Heart and Chicken Soup for Couples. I grew up in Pittsboro, Indiana, and graduated from high school in 1971 at Pittsboro High. Although I had dreams of becoming a novelist, I joined the United States Air Force to see the world and became a medical technician, serving assignments at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois and in Crete, Greece. It was in Crete that I met my Italian-American husband, Frank Bellacera, and my article about that meeting, 'Streaking for Love,' appeared in CHICKEN SOUP FOR COUPLES and CHOCOLATE FOR A WOMAN'S HEART. In 1985, after a chance meeting with Princess Di and Prince Charles at Andrews Air Force Base, I rediscovered my love affair with the written word. My first published story, "The Day Princess Di Spoke to Me," appeared in the military magazine, Family. From that time on, I never looked back. It took eleven years, but finally, with BORDER CROSSINGS, I realized my dream of becoming a published novelist. Now a resident of Northern Virginia, I've been married to Frank, a retired Air Force man, for thirty-seven years, and I'm the proud mother of two grown children, and grandmother to two gorgeous boys, Luke, 2, and Zealand, 17 months. As a military wife, I've had had the privilege of living in some wonderful places, including Hawaii, Greece, Colorado and North Carolina. In addition to my writing career, I've worked as a medical technician, a librarian, an executive secretary and a receptionist for a member of Congress on Capitol Hill. When I'm not writing, my most favorite thing to do in the world is spend time with my grandsons. If I can't do that--because they live 9 hours away--I like to make jewelry every afternoon while watching Dr. Phil, which I sell at Etsy.com and craft shows. If you want to check out my designs, you can do so at BeautifulEveningBead.etsy.com.
Wow! Take two beautiful young girls - total opposites - one born with a silver spoon in her mouth and the other `trailer park trash' and make them roommates at the posh William and Mary college with instant `bonding'. You will simply fall in love with the girls and with this very lush, vivid, and sometimes humorous and also heartbreaking story of Robin Mulcahey and Amy Shiley. You'll simply run the gamut of emotions here.
They were total opposites in most respects - but inseparable best friends until the auto accident that totally disfigured one and killed the other. Amy had come to think of Robin's mom as her own, having only a comatose mother as her only living relative, so when Robin's parents identified Amy as Robin, and with a tube down her throat and unable to move or stay conscious long enough to correct them, Amy decided then and there to take over Robin's life. Since she had lost her best friend, she just couldn't bear to lose her adopted family as well.
People who read this will make their own determination as to Amy's decision - if they had the chance to assume a new life - would they take it? The choice was a moral dilemma that Amy took, but Amy would discover that living another's life could cost her more heartbreak than she could have ever imagined. This was an absolutely sensational story and plot, a fast- paced, vivid and exciting read that I most heartily recommend! Put this is on your buy list and keeper shelf! Lush, vivid, emotional - solid gold!
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At a crossroads, Amy Shiley makes a life altering decision that resounds with profound ethical dilemmas. Unable to speak while lying in her hospital bed, Amy overhears news of the death of her best friend Robin Mulcahey. Amy had been driving the car when slick roads and too much alcohol resulted in a tragic accident. Because both women were severely facially damaged but shared a similar body build, and had exchanged personal items before getting in the car, a case of misidentification results in an extraordinary opportunity. Realizing that no one will mourn her, Amy assumes her best friend's life.
It seems the perfect solution for a woman with no family. She continues the role of beloved daughter, filling the gap for Robin's family and sparing them tremendous grief. Although Amy is in love with Robin's brother Paul, it is not until a year and a half later that she learns she gave up his love with the identity switch. Further, the ideal impression she had of Robin's family does not bear up under reality. Amy's identity switch brings professional success, when she becomes a well-known soap opera star and marries a fellow actor. But as things come unraveled, she soon feels as though she is trapped in her own personal soap opera.
Author Carole Bellacera pens an exhilarating romantic suspense with UNDERSTUDY. Switched identities may be a long favored plot device, but Bellacera finds a way to add her own exciting flair, resulting in tale that readers will find impossible to put down. Although Robin and Amy are complete opposites, Amy's transformation is incredibly believable. Further, the secrets of Robin's life become driving motivation for Amy to confront the truth of the past as well as her own personal truths. Secondary characterizations are likewise memorable, especially Bellacera's thoughtful and insightful handling of Amy's husband's complicated feelings toward her and his past. A novel rich with psychological insight, UNDERSTUDY comes very highly recommended.
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as a college student myself, this book was able to create a strong sense of reality. i don't want to sound cliche, but i couldn't put this book down! if you are a diehard fan of the "lifetime movie network" this is the book for you!!! the vivid words and details create such an imaginative dreamery that i feel confident in saying i'd attempt to direct a movie out of it!!!
this is a brilliant mix of suspense and romance while the pages turn you through roads of philosophical wonder and psychological prowess!
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