title: Toad
author: Hebert, Cambria
description: Aerie Boone is a toad.At least according to every news outlet and online hater imaginable.Accusations of lip-syncing.Rumors of being dropped by my label. Reports of celebrity feuds and rivalries.And then there’s my personal favorite… The pending annulment of a marriage I can’t even remember agreeing to.When you’re the sweetheart of country music, being a headline is a given. Living the headline is more of an uninvited surprise.I’m barely recognized for the massive success I’ve had. Now I’m famous because people love to hate me. I’m a public enemy, but no one knows my side of the story.I’m beginning to think it doesn’t even matter.I’m burned out, hurting, and everyone thinks I have warts. Ew. Becoming a shut-in is exactly what the doctor ordered. Too bad my label has other ideas.They send me a solution… In the form of a red-haired, green-eyed man who wears sarcasm like armor. I don’t want a stranger in my house.I don’t want Nate.All I want is to go back to a time when I wasn’t a toad.When I was country music’s princess.But going back is impossible.Moving forward will change everything.