BTPolcari

After encountering a brief power outage at work, college student Sara Donovan might be allowing her imagination to run wild. The main vault in the Carlton Museum holds the Fire and Ice Exhibit, a collection of rare gems, including the Star of Midnight, a 175-carat diamond. Although all the stones are accounted for, Sara suspects the Star of Midnight was stolen and replaced with a fake. While conducting her own investigation, what Sara uncovers is beyond even her wildest imagination: a coded message, papers with strange characters, and a mysterious set of numbers carved into an office wall. Despite dismissive historians and other experts, she is certain these clues point to a mysterious centuries-old legend. Unfortunately, her colorful history of usually being right, but always being wrong, means she must solve the mystery to prove her theory.…

BTPolcari

Against My Better Judgment is my debut novel and was released on September 16, 2020 by The Wild Rose Press. [GRAND PRIZE FINALIST, Honorable Mention in Crime/Mystery, and First Horizon Award Finalist, The 2021 Eric Hoffer Awards][2021 Heart Award Finalist for YA Romance - Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild] [ShoreIndie Contest Semifinalist] [2nd Place Heavenly Awards 2017][NBR Spotlighted Chapter] [A WP FEATURED STORY] Dangerously armed with a pregnant imagination & observation skills bordering on stalking, physically awkward college freshman Sara Donovan is convinced she's stumbled upon an international smuggling ring in Tuscaloosa. Before going to the police, she decides to gather evidence. Sara thought it was a good plan. Until things go wrong. READERS ARE SAYING:"I think it's hilarious! Fun characters and Funny storyline! Enjoyed it Very Much!""Thank you for writing such a funtastic book! I really enjoyed it! I'm finishing your book for the second time." "This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. Hysterical book the entire way through. Literally, LAUGH OUT LOUD funny!!!! GREAT book." "I can't believe this book has ended!! This was SUCH a great read and I so love all the fandom references in it!""The voice is funny and endearing and I'm praying she'll get out of this mess! Nicely done." "Great start...a lovely sense of humour. This is quite amusing...you have a light and fluent approach to storytelling, it really works." "I'm loving your writer's voice. Incredibly real and funny." "Funny, very entertaining. Well written." "Really like the character, she's so un-together, it's real!" "I laughed out loud. I love the humour and I really enjoy reading it. Each chapter is hilarious!" "Too funny... Never a dull moment with this one! Great ending! A delightful read." "Every chapter has made me laugh out loud. I can't read this in public! I bust out laughing so loud. Kept me entertained the entire way through."…

BTPolcari

Against My Better Judgment is my debut book and was released on September 16, 2020 by The Wild Rose Press. [2021 GRAND PRIZE FINALIST, Honorable Mention in Crime/Mystery, and First Horizon Award Finalist, The Eric Hoffer Awards][2021 Heart Award Finalist for YA Romance, Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild][2017 ShoreIndie Contest Semifinalist][Summer Awards 2017 Winner - Humor][2nd Place Heavenly Awards 2017 - ChickLit/General Fiction][NBR Spotlighted Chapter][A WP FEATURED STORY]SARA DONOVAN is a nineteen-year-old business major at the University of Alabama with observation skills bordering on stalking and a pregnant imagination ready for Lamaze class. Her passion, kaleidoscope world view and fertile imagination combine to produce an uncanny knack for being right-but wrong. For most people, things can't get much worse than outing a gun-packing hijacker who turns out to be-The Air Marshal. Unless you're Sara. For her, it gets much worse. SEE WHAT READERS ARE SAYING:"I think it's hilarious! Fun characters and Funny storyline! Enjoyed it Very Much!""Thank you for writing such a funtastic book! I really enjoyed it! I'm finishing your book for the second time." "This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. Hysterical book the entire way through. Literally, LAUGH OUT LOUD funny!!!! GREAT book." "I can't believe this book has ended!! This was SUCH a great read and I so love all the fandom references in it!""The voice is funny and endearing and I'm praying she'll get out of this mess! Nicely done." "Great start...a lovely sense of humour. This is quite amusing...you have a light and fluent approach to storytelling, it really works." "I'm loving your writer's voice. Incredibly real and funny." "I laughed out loud. I love the humour and I really enjoy reading it. Each chapter is hilarious!""Too funny... Great ending! A delightful read." "Every chapter has made me laugh out loud. I can't read this in public! I bust out laughing so loud."…

BTPolcari

Sara Donovan, a twenty-year-old college sophomore with quite the imagination, is home in Annapolis on winter break. With time on her hands, she decides to venture into the kitchen to try her hand at baking and make some holiday cookies. The recipe she selects from an old cookbook her mother bought at an estate sale is for millionaires' shortbread cookies. Little did Sara know that not only did disaster await her in the kitchen, but she would also stumble across something so spectacular it couldn't possibly be true. Could it?…

BTPolcari

Against My Better Judgment, which was released September 16, 2020 by The Wild Rose Press, has gone through quite a few changes over the years, ever since I first started writing and posting it to WattPad in 2013. I am blogging at www.btpolcari.com about my journey and also including some behind-the-scenes stuff about the story and other fun stories. It is said that for most people, the road to getting to published is long, arduous, frustrating, humbling, and more. Well, that is all true. But reading this story will also leave all those budding writers striving to get published with hope and the understanding that with PERSEVERANCE and the "never give up" attitude, you can get published, too. Because it happened to me!Plus, there are also some humorous posts.Enjoy!B.T.…

BTPolcari

Things were finally looking up for Percy Joyce. She had escaped the world of retail with a real job in the business world. Unfortunately, she had sent out so many résumés to corporate America she was fairly certain the US Forest Service and/or Greenpeace were going to be visiting her soon to discuss the havoc she wreaked on the biosphere and some poor unsuspecting forest. But the good news was, after deforesting half of Maine, she had landed a job as a junior mechanical engineer with The Flynn Group. She had a wonderful boss and mentor in Mr. Noble who took the time to keep her on a solid growth path in her profession and the company.But all that changed on April 1. With the Announcement. Shortly after her life and job became inexorably intertwined and quickly spiraled out of control. Eventually the Tower brought everything crashing down around her.Until ...AUTHOR'S NOTE - The story will be fleshed out more and the ending will be rewritten in the coming months. Stay tuned!…