After talking her editor into letting her work on a possible cover story (her big break she hopes) Emma goes undercover to learn how so many of the beautiful women who seem to merely exist simply to make the rest of us insecure, manage to survive in the land of make believe.
As Emma discovers, there seem to be working girls everywhere, from the local Starbucks to Robertson Blvd., to her very own yoga class; there some man's idea of perfection living high on the hog at his expense, many of whom already have wives and families to support. But instead of being paid by the hour, these "temporary girlfriends" are given cars, expensive handbags or simply have their rent paid for them. Making it only slightly less illegal than a cash/service arrangement.
If it weren't for Anna David's cutting wit and insightful eye for complicated relationships, this could be a paint-by-numbers story about Hollywood's high end call girls, but Anna draws us in with a twisted relationship between two very different women who, for a while, find common ground.
The relationship between Emma and her cover story subject, Jessica, while perverse and one-sided, is not without a valuable lesson. While Jessica manipulates and seduces Emma using the very same techniques she uses on her clients, we see Emma lose herself to the charms of this "professional," including some dangerous flirting with coke and alcohol abuse which temporarily causes Emma to essentially jettison everyone who cares about her from her life, because as she discovers: "being bad, feels so good."
But rest assured, Emma finds her way back, albeit with some funny and surprising twists and turns. Easily the best part of this story is the richness of Emma and Jessica's subject turned frenemy courtship. Anna shows us that sometimes to you have to lose yourself completely, before you can find out who you really are.
Writers note: I also highly recommend Anna's previous novel Party Girl which deals in harrowing detail one woman's struggle to overcome serious addictions. Anna has written for multiple publications, is a professional member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists, was a host of "SexFiles" on the Sirius/Maxim channel. For more, check out her website, AnnaDavid.com
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