'Mulligan' by Olivia Black

About Mulligan:

Julia Grove was a success in her career. She had a plan, and she executed it brilliantly. But Julie suddenly falls ill and questions the true meaning of success. Was giving up the love of her life and watching the downfall of her best friend worth the success? Join Julia in her epic adventure with country music superstar Jake McGrew as she learns what’s truly important in life, love, and success.

Read an excerpt:

"Jake?" I asked as he came within the range of my voice. "Jake McGrew, is that you?" I repeated to the potential doppelganger. He turned around. My jaw dropped.

"Julia?" he said as he squinted at me. "Holy crap! It sure is a small world, isn't it? How are you?" he asked.

He looked as if he hadn't aged a single day, but I wasn't really surprised. I had noticed before that men were qite fortunate in that respect. Once a man hits about 30, his looks seem to instantaneously freeze for decades. He won't age, he doesn't change much, and other than a few inconspicuous and easily hidden grey hairs and abdominal poundage, you would swear he appeared exactly the same as he did ten or more years ago. Mother Nature, with her cruel sense of humor, has determined that a man should "hit the wall" at about 50-55; but the fairer sex loses her battle early in her forties. At that moment, I felt it sucked to be me. I looked every single day of my age.

I shok my head in wonder. "Wow, this is weird, Jake. Weirder than you could ever imagine. Well, obviously, I'm not so great. After all, I'm here, in this awful place, as you can plainly see. Not many normal people come to a place like this to hang out or to have coffee, you know what I mean?" I smiled. Jake didn't. I quickly shook it off. "But all of the sudden, I'm feeling better. I was about to head out.," I told him as I gazed towards the two sliding-glass doors leading out of this unpleasant place.

There was one very significant problem with this conversation - it should never have happened. I had heard through my ex-husband, who wasn't always the most reliable source for anything even mildly true, which happened to be the primary reason he was now my ex - that Jake died about two years ago. Something about an airplane crash. It was even posted on Facebook. Since it was s small plane, there weren't many details. I was devastated. Jake had no family left, and I didn't know how to get in touch with the few friends he had. Plus, Jake lived in Alabama the last time we spoke. What was he doing here in Virginia? This chance meeting made no sense at all. But why would Kyle make something like that up? Pranksters do that to celebrities all the time, but Kyle wasn't much of a prankster. I remember reading Morgan Freeman was dead, but that too was all a hoax. Maybe this was just all some kind of weird misunderstanding.

Available on Amazon

Olivia Black was born in Hollywood, Florida, to a military family. She grew up in Okinawa, London, and Alaska, then returned to Florida in the 1990s. Her first book, "Falling Forward," published in 2013, is a story about finding yourself. Olivia writes with her husband, Kalani, an aspiring songwriter. Olivia's follow-up books include "The Program" and "Mulligan." She is also rewriting The Return of Knecht Ruprecht.