A gritty New Adult drama about a young woman’s self-destructive quest to find purpose, self-worth, and love in a broken world.
My name is Elise Duchamp. I’m twenty-three years old and I’m known as the town whore.
No, not the kind who exchanges sexual favors for money. The other kind. The kind who gives it all away for free, whenever and however she likes. I am that girl. The one everyone whispers about and the one none of the girls seem to like, because all of their boyfriends either want to sleep with me or already have. Promiscuity is my thing—the kind that slowly, violently turns my insides black, but gives me something I need.
All things considered, I’m not completely reckless. I’m safe, and contrary to popular opinion, I do have a heart. I live in a world of careless choices, and with those choices come careless people. I cannot judge them, because I am one of them. I too bow down to the altar of the self-serving. I am not a good friend. I am not and never could be anyone’s girlfriend. I’m convinced any goodness in me shriveled up and died long ago.
But I am a replacement. That is something I know how to be, and this is a story of the lengths I’d go to in order to keep it that way.
*Contains sexually explicit content and mature subject matter, including language and elements of abuse.*
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AUTHOR BIO
Rachael Wade is the Amazon bestselling author of The Preservation Series, The Resistance Trilogy, and the upcoming sci-fi series, The Keepers Trilogy. When she’s not writing, she’s busy learning French, watching too many movies, and learning how to protect animals and the environment. Visit her at www.RachaelWade.com and www.LightsOnOutreach.com, or come chat with her on Twitter via @RachaelWade.
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4.75-5 Stars
“That’s all you are, you slut —a replacement. Sloppy seconds and an in-between quickie for every guy in this town who’s looking to fill a hole.”
Rachael Wade has outdone herself.. I’m a huge fan of her and her stories, but this was Rachael at her finest. Pardon me if this review doesn’t do the justice this story deserves. I haven’t read anything like this in a long time. This wasn’t easy to read. It’s a story about a woman’s journey to find her true identity. Her journey isn’t pretty: It’s painful, destructive, but oh so worth it.
“You’re still a little piece of heaven, baby,” he pants against my mouth, “even if your halo’s broken.”
Elise isn’t very easy to like. You have to know right now, Elise is self-destructive…very self-destructive. Her self-worth is pretty non-existent. The only time she feels anything is during sex. The high she gets when she looks at herself through the eyes of her lover is unlike anything. It’s because of this that she’s earned herself quite a reputation. But does she care? Of course, but it doesn’t stop her. She thinks she’s not worth loving, but things start to change when she meets Ryder.
He is singlehandedly the most sexy, gentle man I have ever laid hands on, and he is completely oblivious to who and what I am.
Ryder is unlike any man Elise has met. He challenges her from the very beginning. He’s smart, sexy, extremely sweet and oh so patient. I cannot begin to explain the impact Ryder has on Elise. Of course she doesn’t make it easy on him. She fights her feelings; her inner demons always battling. There were even times where her self-destructive behavior had me reeling. But through it all, Ryder remained steadfast and never gave up fighting for her. She needed a man like him to prove that she is worth more than she ever thought possible.
“I love you, Ryder. But I think…” My hands drop from his shoulders and fall to my sides. “I need to be my something.”
“Be your something?” His brows pinch and he studies my face.
“Before I can be yours.”
Before having the honor of Beta reading this for Ms. Wade, she did warn me that I might have issues with our heroine. So to be fair, I had to dive into this story with a clear and open mind, otherwise I don’t think I would’ve liked Elise as much as I did. I actually applaud Elise for her I don’t give a shit what people think about me attitude. She’s the first heroine I came across that I actually felt sympathetic to her destructive behavior. And I don’t know about you, but it was refreshing to read about a promiscuous heroine rather than a typical man-whore Hero. Elise does have a lot of redeemable qualities about her and I never gave up hope. You have to understand, to read an actual story in which the heroine actually doesn’t piss me off is a rarity. How Ms. Wade pulled this off is a fucking miracle. I am in utter awe of this story and I’m so proud of this author for stepping out of her comfort zone to write such a unique and beautifully raw story. Bravo!
Oh. Before I go, I need to make one little tiny plea: I would LOVE a spinoff story about Christian. He’s one of Elise’s conquests, but holy crap was he one sexy character. Just sayin’ :)
