Book Chat’s rating: ∗∗∗/5
I began reading this book at the deep end. The book covers tell you nothing about the book. No, I didn’t not catch the sexual innuendos from the cover design of plain blue/red with just a small opening… what does it supposedly represent? A vagina? Well, there’re a lot of cunts and vaginas mentioned in the book.
Judith Rasleigh is a receptionist at an art dealer shop, where her incorrigible boss would send her out to see clients with the expectation that she sleeps with the client to get the deal for the shop. On the side, she’s also a hostess of a club which offer no-sex dates with wealthy clients. It was obvious that she was pretty, and have some brain. When Judith found out her boss at the art store is selling a fake, she’s trying to set things right for the store, but was fired on the spot. This angered her and she set out to travel with James, a client at the hostess club, and her friend-colleague Leanna. A drug accident occurred leaving James death in the hotel and launched Judith into a new world of money, where she began her adventure to gain more cash through wealthy men and scams as well as satisfying her own needs.
I have mix feelings about this book. I didn’t realize it was a part of a trilogy until the very end, and wonder if I feel like reading more about Judith and her adventures in the sophisticated world of art dealers and the mafioso. I shouldn’t be, but was, surprised that it was created in response to Fifty Shades of Grey. I never bought into the cult of E.L. James, so unless there are more to the story, I don’t think I ever will read the sequel (or Fifty Shade). But as it turned out, the book wasn’t so bad, I found it even more incredulous of all the negative reviews. Perhaps a misunderstanding of the book’s genre? Perhaps double standard? When men expressed their desires, they’re considered as powerful attraction, yet when women expressed their insatiable needs, it’s often frowned upon?
I do admire Judith for her uninhibited sexuality and her boldness to admit it. I do enjoy her image as a femme fatale, but I can’t help feeling it was a little cheaply done. Mainly because her transition from a meek receptionist into an indifferent killer was quite unbelievable for me. One day she was begging for her job at the art shop, the next day she’s having sex with an obese man and then progress to killing without any emotion attached to her action. By the end of the story, almost a year has passed but it seems like she was moving rather quickly from places to places so the changes in her character seem abrupt. The writing is not by any mean impressive. I wish it was a bit more about arts, and showing off more of her knowledge about arts and cultures. I love it when the author has knowledge of arts, and it seems that L.S. Hilton do, but her talent was reserved to write about repetitive sex scenes. For an erotica, I found the sex not… inventive enough. None of the sexes was as shocking as when Lizzy asked Mr. Darcy to have sex after a run race in Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Photo Credit: Thetravellingbibliophile.com
Published 10-Mar-2016
Publisher Zaffre Publishing, G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Media type Print (hardback, paperback), e-book, audiobook
Pages 352 pages (UK edition)
