Breaking News by WriteOnTime

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5424559/1/Breaking_News

Official Description: Two network news anchors. One desk. In a race to get the story, love might become the headline – if they don’t kill each other first. AU/AH Canon Couples, smart people, particle physics, and tap dancing.

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AngryBadgerGirl says: When Fic Is Too Good, Or, Why WriteOnTime’s Breaking News Is the Fic You Should Read and Aspire to Write Yourself


by AngryBadgerGirl


Ask anyone in the fandom what they think makes a good fanfiction story and you’ll probably get a varied, yet consistent, group of answers like ‘lemons,’ ‘angst,’ ‘romance,’ or my personal favorite ‘smut that makes me want to change my panties.’


The funny thing (not funny ha-ha, but funny in an odd way,) about Breaking News is that it doesn’t fit any of those groups. Yet, it’s fantastic. We’re seven chapters in and…no lemons. Romance? Well, kinda. There’s a bit of deliciously undeniable chemistry between Edward and Bella, but so far, neither has made so much as a flirtatious gesture toward the other. And we’ve seen only a pinch of angst.


So why am I raving about this?


Because it’s written so well.


From the start, the reader is simply immersed in the world of broadcast journalism. I’m not talking the ‘yeah, she obviously uses Wiki’ kind of detail to her description of the context of her story. I’m talking ‘I think Nina sleeps with Matt Lauer on a regular basis—how the fuck does she know all this shit?’


It’s the type of universe that’s so intricately woven for your enjoyment that you feel like you’ve stepped into this crazy existence and that it’s 100% the real deal. No fudging of facts, no flying by the seat of her pants. This woman has a depth of knowledge about this subject that no fanfiction writer could possibly devote their time to researching.


I sure as fuck wouldn’t do it. I got RobPr0n to ogle, bitches. It’s not gonna ogle itself while I do research for six months.


The story begins with Bella being offered a dream job as the anchorwoman for a national network news program. It’s the offer of a lifetime: the culmination of all the blood, sweat and tears she’s poured into being the very best reporter she can be. And this brings me to my next point.


Her Bella could kick your ass.


She’s smart, she’s bold…she’s spent the better part of the last five years surrounded by men who didn’t especially want her around and didn’t really disguise that fact. They gave her shit. She dealt with them, not always with anger, but with a finesse and savvy that most grown-ups can’t really grasp. The woman has brass balls but will only crush yours if she absolutely has to.


Just when she thinks she’s seen it all when it comes to the male colleagues in her field, along comes…you guessed it. Edward ‘Pulitzer Prize’ Cullen—her co-anchor. Seeing him for the first time and not realizing that he is, in fact, the Edward Cullen, Bella is overheard referring to him as an underwear model. Overheard by who else? Edward himself. Things start off on the wrong foot, I’ll put it that way.


Yet these two have an insane chemistry right out of the gate. Don’t believe me? Read this. It’s a battle of wills, the ultimate grudge match between man and woman.


Over a dinner roll.

The waiter disappeared, only to be promptly replaced by another server with a large breadbasket and a set of tongs. He deposited an artisanal roll onto each of the bread plates, and set a small dish of herbed butter in the middle of the table. Edward immediately reached for the roll on my bread plate and began delicately tearing a hole into the side of it, into which he slid a bit of the butter. The sight of his long fingers tearing into the roll, inching past the crust and through to the soft center, momentarily distracted me from the fact that he’d commandeered what was rightfully mine, but I made a quick recovery.

“That was my roll,” I informed him.

He looked up from his task. “Oh? And based on precisely what evidence are you claiming sole proprietorship of the bread?”

“Based on the fact that it was put on my bread plate. You have your own perfectly-untouched roll on your own bread plate, and now I have none.”

“Here, then. Take the other one,” he said, reaching across his place setting to hand me his bread plate.

“I’d really have preferred to have the one meant for me, actually,” I bickered, slightly startled that I felt the need to make an issue out of this. It was a territorial thing for me now, even though some part of me fully realized that this was possibly the most inane argument I’d ever initiated.

“How do you know this one isn’t yours? I don’t see that they’re marked in any way,” Edward laughed.

“I know it was mine because it was sitting on my bread plate. My bread plate, which you are now using.”

“Maybe this one is really your bread plate. It’s how they set tables in, ah, Morocco?” He pressed his lips together in an attempt to seriously sell his spin on the matter.

“They place bread plates meant for a person at the opposite end of the table in Morocco? Really, Edward? “

“Yes. Or possibly it’s Mauritania. That’s how they encourage fraternization during meals. You can’t be all stiff and awkward with each other when you’re reaching across bodies to get to your bread.”

“You are seriously deranged,” I said, shaking my head. “And I suppose I have no choice but to take your bread now, because you’ve totally defiled my roll.” I broke a piece of the not-my-roll from the end and stuck it in my mouth, largely in an attempt to shut myself up. There was something about Edward Cullen which created a bizarre need in me to argue.

Peter cleared his throat, startling both Edward and myself. To be brutally honest, I’d totally forgotten he was there, but his roll was not a bone of contention.

Yeah. Peter’s their boss. Two grown adults, both respected professionals in their careers, fighting like five year olds in front of their boss. But this one line says it all:

There was something about Edward Cullen which created a bizarre need in me to argue.

Sing it, sister. I don’t care what story you read, if it’s got a SmugKnowItAllward in it, he better be getting on Bella’s last nerve. While simultaneously making her unbearably horny.


And that’s what I love about the romance in Breaking News. It’s very much a ‘slow-build’ where you can see the two of them fighting not just each other, but themselves internally, to resist the pull they feel for each other. That right there is the biscuit. Or the dinner roll.


Last but not least, there’s an action storyline that runs throughout that is totally original and keeps the story moving at a nice clip. Bella’s best friend Alice has been confined to a psychiatric hospital with no explanation offered to Bella by her friend’s family. Desperate to figure out how to help
, she reluctantly allows Edward to be her ‘partner’ in finding out Alice’s real ‘story.’


There you have it. A story with nothing you’d normally expect but everything you’d want. Intelligent, funny, with an engaging plot.


So what if she sleeps with Matt Lauer to write it? Don’t judge.

MF’er says: Just like ABG, from the moment I jumped in, I kept thinking to myself ‘wow, WriteOnTime must work in journalism’ — the level of detail and the knowledge used astonished me, but now I’m sitting here giggling going ‘ohhh, I guess I should thank Matt Lauer’. 

Whatever her source, it’s intriguing.  It sucks you in to the story that she’s weaved and makes you anxious for more.  

Bella is strong, but you can tell that though she can fight her own battles, she doesn’t have the best self esteem out there, but that’s okay because she doesn’t let it show.  She’s been working the news for years and the people with whom she works all have a great respect for her because she’s earned it.

She’s being offered the opportunity of her lifetime and she wants to dive in — head first — of course there would have to be a bump in the road, right?  

Her new co-anchor is cocky and frustrating and underwear modelesque, but he keeps her on her toes, and he shows the sweeter side when she least expects it.  

There is nothing about this fic not to enjoy, the writing is fantastic, the details are exciting and the characters will suck you in and have you laughing when they fight over rolls or swooning when Anchorward calls her ‘sweetheart’.

Kassiah says: What can I add to these two awesome reviews? I love WriteOnTime’s writing style. I love that she’s funny and hot and makes me want to read more. I also love that she is an amazing cook who makes her own nutella. Breaking News is an awesome story, and I love it.