America's Sweetheart

By Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

“All the way from Hollywood, USA, please give a warm welcome to Kathy Donovan, America’s Sweetheart.”

Having reached the height of her television and singing popularity, Kathy Donovan, known as America’s Sweetheart, finds herself at age forty with a fading career. Her wholesome image, cultivated for over twenty years, fell out of style in the early 1960s. Coupled with the recent death of her husband, an American correspondent covering a story in South Vietnam, she is confronted by an emotional crossroads with no clear direction to turn.

Though reluctant at first, Kathy’s Hollywood manager has convinced her to perform two shows for American servicemen stationed in Saigon. Upon her arrival, she meets Craig, a handsome young American serviceman, whom she instantly becomes infatuated with. Consumed by a yearning to be loved and desired, their brief affair is complicated by murder, tragic death, and the assassination of the American President. With her desperate escape from Saigon, she is forced to leave behind the young man who fell in love with America’s Sweetheart.

PUBLISHER NOTE: Historical Romance. Inspirational Romance. May to December Romance. Cougar Romance. 16,200 words. M/F. All characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luminosity Publishing LLP
• Release date: Jan 19, 2024
• ISBN: 9798215157879

Jeffery Martin Botzenhart

I was born on November 9, 1967 in Warren, Ohio and grew up in a country trailer park in Southington Ohio with my two brothers and parents.I currently live in Girard, Ohio with my wife and sons. After graduating from Chalker High School in 1986, I went on to attend Kent State University.Originally, I sought to pursue a degree in education, but changed degrees after a few years in school. After working my way through college for eight years, I graduated in 1994 with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations.Aside from writing, I also draw and paint. My other passion is soccer. I have proudly been a coach of a soccer team for autistic and special needs players.

Book preview

AMERICA’S SWEETHEART

Whispers of Vietnam – Book Three

JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

All the way from Hollywood, USA, please give a warm welcome to Kathy Donovan, America’s Sweetheart.

Having reached the height of her television and singing popularity, Kathy Donovan, known as America’s Sweetheart, finds herself at age forty with a fading career. Her wholesome image, cultivated for over twenty years, fell out of style in the early 1960s. Coupled with the recent death of her husband, an American correspondent covering a story in South Vietnam, she is confronted by an emotional crossroads with no clear direction to turn.

Though reluctant at first, Kathy’s Hollywood manager has convinced her to perform two shows for American servicemen stationed in Saigon. Upon her arrival, she meets Craig, a handsome young American serviceman, whom she instantly becomes infatuated with. Consumed by a yearning to be loved and desired, their brief affair is complicated by murder, tragic death, and the assassination of the American President. With her desperate escape from Saigon, she is forced to leave behind the young man who fell in love with America’s Sweetheart.

PUBLISHER NOTE: Historical Romance. Inspirational Romance. May to December Romance. Cougar Romance. 16,200 words. M/F. All characters depicted in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older.

AMERICA’S SWEETHEART

Whispers of Vietnam – Book Three

JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

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LUMINOSITY PUBLISHING LLP

AMERICA’S SWEETHEART

Whispers of Vietnam – Book Three

Copyright © JANUARY 2024 JEFFERY MARTIN BOTZENHART

Cover Art by Poppy Designs

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this literary work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To all the men and women who served during the Vietnam War. You served with honor and your sacrifices are not forgotten.

CHAPTER ONE

Thursday, November 21, 1963

I can’t believe we’re actually flying to South Vietnam, Kathy said as she looked out the window beside her seat on the plane. Why did I let you talk me into this?

Listen, doll, Jack Walley, her manager responded. This was all I could get you booked before the holidays. No one else responded and nothing came across my desk.

Not even for the Christmas special I wanted to do?

Not even that. None of the television networks responded to the offer.

I guess that’s what being a forty-year-old actress in Hollywood has earned me after all these years, she mumbled, wallowing in self-pity.

You’ll always be America’s Sweetheart, he assured her. But times are different. Since your television show ended three years ago, the entertainment industry has gone through changes. Your records don’t sell as well as they used to. Your cookbooks aren’t flying off the shelves, and the movie parts you keep hoping for just haven’t happened. It’s nothing you did wrong. Fans will always appreciate the wholesome image you’ve nurtured all these years. Viewers, listeners, and readers want something new. Unless you decide suddenly to reinvent yourself, moving away from that wholesome image, I don’t know what else to say.

Neither do I, Kathy agreed. I can’t be someone I’m not.

I wouldn’t want you to, and neither would your true fans. It sure was an honor a few weeks ago when you got to perform for the president and first lady, Jack reminded her.

The Kennedys were a lovely audience, as was the Canadian prime minister. I suppose that was my last hurrah.

I don’t think so, he disagreed. Someday the Hollywood elite will remember you. You’ll always be a star.

A faded one, you mean.

Kathy, you still bring joy to so many. Just look at the faces of the kids when you visit them at the children’s hospital. You bring them such hope just by sitting there and reading to them, talking and singing. Maybe you should focus more on your charitable efforts for a while until things pick up.

Do you really think they will?

The thoughtful expression on his wrinkled face revealed slight doubt.

Maybe... you also could use some time to grieve over the loss of your husband. Jack approached a subject still somewhat painful to her.

Kathy thought back to the last time she and her husband, Robert, were together. Being a reporter for an international news agency, he was never home for more than a week at a time and would be gone for at least a month if the story was hot. She recalled their argument of her wanting him to stay and her fears for his safety. He shrugged both off, which was not unexpected. Both of their careers had pulled the seams of their relationship apart. After a certain point, she realized it was hopeless to try to mend what remained of their