It's a New Day USA! And possibly a whole new world.

It was a harmless human interest story for breakfast television—who would've thought it would land her in jail? New York producer Annabelle Kapner's report on a beauty-industry job-creation plan for refugee women in the Middle East earns her kudos from the viewers, her bosses, even the network suits. But several threatening phone calls and tight-lipped, edgy executives suggest the cosmetics program is covering up more than just uneven skin.

All this intrigue is seriously hampering Annabelle's fledgling romance with sexy speechwriter Mark Thurber. Mark is handsome, funny and Washington's Most Eligible Bachelor (the people at People said so). Being with him makes her gossip-column material overnight. Annabelle is just getting used to A-list treatment at Manhattan's hottest nightspots when a fit of journalistic idealism—and a daring Watergate-style raid—earns her a cozy spot on cell block six.

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but the celebrity prisoner trumps both. Annabelle starts a jailhouse crusade to expose the corruption she's uncovered, and the media are eating it up. The paparazzi, the pundits and every morning show in America all want a piece of her. But it'll take more than a few thousand "Free Annabelle" T-shirts to clear her name and will back her Beltway beau. Especially when she discovers just how high up the scandal reaches—and how far the players will go to keep their secret....