THE OFFICER by Michael E. Bistrica
THE OFFICER by MICHAEL E. BISTRICA
Leap into a unique and captivating romance between up-and-coming Hollywood star Lara Rose as she meets her escort the unassuming and mistakenly assigned army Captain Edward Madin. As Lara entertains troops during the Thanksgiving holiday, his constant presence and dedication to his job catches Lara’s interest. After her departure, this attraction leads to letter writing, then a secret rendezvous which blossoms into romance, but can it last?
LARA ROSE, 27, a beautiful blonde, upcoming pop singer, career has stalled after a contentious breakup with her Hollywood boyfriend and a poor review from her latest movie role. Her manager arranges for her to take part in a U.S. Army troop tour to regain the public’s faith. There she meets a single 29-year-old Army captain named EDWARD MADIN, who was mistakenly assigned as her escort.
The two spend almost two weeks together touring several east coast Army bases. The captain uneasy around single women his own age maintains a strait-laced professional attitude towards LARA and her assistant. Though the three start off rocky, the tour goes very favorably for LARA and by its end she develops a liking for the young captain.
Sam, her manager, happy with the results of the tour tricks LARA into writing EDWARD at his new duty station to continue to develop her image. Through their letter writing LARA and EDWARD develop a closeness that surprises them, and LARA believes she wants to cultivate a romantic relationship. EDWARD assumes she is just being nice because of his help during her tour. Sam develops a plan to welcome EDWARD home with all the public attention Sam can arrange; LARA willingly agrees.
When EDWARD’s return is delayed and his point of arrival changed, Sam unwillingly cancels welcome home plans while LARA keeps the details of EDWARD’s new schedule to herself. She then devises a scheme to snatch EDWARD for herself. She takes him on a secluded get-a-way hoping something between them can blossom. At the end of their tryst LARA confesses that she has feelings for him and wants to continue seeing him. EDWARD attempts to convince her that their lives are worlds apart and they have no chance for a meaningful relationship. LARA asks him to look her in the eyes and repeat ‘THAT’ if that is what he truly believes. Torn between reality and his newfound feelings EDWARD’s heart wins out and he acquiesces to LARA’s heartfelt request.
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Author Bio:
Michael E Bistrica was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio, the youngest of four children, graduated from Ursuline High School (’75) and then attended Youngstown State University where he earned a Bachelor of Engineering degree in mechanical engineering (’79). He was commissioned in the regular army as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, served in various staff and command positions in the United States and overseas, and was an ROTC instructor before being deployed to the middle east for Desert Storm. He earned his master’s in technology management while serving with the U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Georgia. He retired from the US Army in 1996 as a Major.
After the army, Bistrica worked as a project manager for an engineering firm assisting in the design of mechanical systems for high end hotels, such as Ritz-Carlton. He then became the project manager for a general contractor in assisting in the construction of the $240 million Georgia World Congress Phase IV Expansion; completed in 2003. He later managed several multimillion-dollar projects in the state of Georgia.
He has been married to his wife Karen for over 34 years, and they have one daughter, a
granddaughter, a great-grandson, and another great grandchild on the way. In his community, he aids in the construction of several Habitat for Humanity houses. In his spare time, Bistrica enjoys reading, astronomy, woodworking, board and computer wargaming.
FROM THE AUTHOR
I like to call this an accidental book. The only things I wrote and that were published were my undergraduate thesis and two short articles when in the military. I never had any serious intention of authoring a book much less a love story. I have written many official documents and business documents but never a book. I began drafting this book the summer of 2021 having retired in 2020 from my last civilian job.
On the first day I started writing and before I knew it, I wrote between 10,000 to 12,000 words and discovered I enjoyed creating and developing the characters. At one point I was going to delete what I had done and move on. Then for some unknown reason I decided that since I had put such effort into it, I would draft a complete book.
It took over a year to complete because of a busy life with my family. After spending two months doing self-edit, I decided to file a copyright to protect my work. That is where Dorrance Publishing discovered my manuscript and requested a copy. As I had no intention of trying to get it published, I tried to put them off, but they eventually convinced me to send the manuscript. It took about nine months working closely with the publisher for THE OFFICER to be published in August of 2023.