Blog Tour: Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway for Working Girl by A.E. Woodward

This book everything I was expecting but so much more.  On every level. 

Working Girl by A. E. Woodward 

Publication Date: September 22, 2014 

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

 

Synopsis

Life As I Know It: Booze Drugs Gambling Easy Women Such was my life in fabulous Las Vegas. But what do you expect when you’re the daughter of a prostitute. This is not the life I want for myself, and I have a plan. Life As I Want It: Go to college. Get my degree. Get as far from Vegas as possible. But life has other plans. Plans that include him. Life isn’t always sunshine and roses and even the best laid plans change. This is my story. The story of a girl who thought she had it all figured out until life threw her a curve ball. My name is Presley and I refuse to be just another Working Girl.

Excerpt

“Chrissy!” I whine. She laughs and lies down next to me. “Stop thinking, Pres. Live. Let him  in. You deserve to have someone else on the inside. You have way too much  beauty locked up in there to not share it. Whether or not you want to believe this,  you have so much to offer someone if you would just take the chance and let  someone else in. Trust me, I know what is behind those carefully constructed  walls, and it’s amazing.” If it were possible to look more like a goldfish I’d be stunned. Living this life  has made Chrissy hard-faced, and although she is forever telling me she loves  me, and that I’m worth more than I believed, I’ve never heard her speak with  such conviction before. The problem with keeping yourself locked up tight and  spending most of your time alone is that the thoughts and opinions you have  about yourself fester. They fester and grow and seep into every aspect of your  being, until one day, you wonder how it is that you even managed to get one true  friend. Even then, I managed to convince myself that had we not been born into  the same life, that there’s no way Chrissy would have wasted her time on me.  She thinks so, but up until now I haven’t been so sure. We’re just so different.  She exudes confidence, whereas I shy away from life. She walks into a room and  commands attention; I am more than happy to sneak in via the fire exit, just to  make sure no eyes are on me. Chrissy’s eyes shimmer with tears and I know that she not only means what  she is saying, but that it means something to her that I believe her. This beautiful  broken soul has believed in me for so long that I owe it to her, and to myself, to  allow her words to take hold of me. I reach for her hand, unable to form words  eloquent enough to tell her how much she has done for me, how much she has  given me. I look into her eyes and I try, with everything I am, to convey what I  feel burning in my chest. I am enough. A moment passes between us; a moment too special to mar with anything  but silence. When Chrissy sniffs and shifts in her seat, I know she’s ready to  move on. And I know just how. “He’s asked me out for coffee tomorrow,” I say quietly. “What should I do?” “Meet him. Meet him tomorrow, and every day after that.” “But . . .” I start to argue. Getting involved with Emerson is dangerous for  both of us. Someone is bound to get hurt. Chrissy reaches out and softly places her hand over my mouth preventing  me from talking anymore. With her free hand she snakes underneath my pillow  and grabs my cell phone before handing it over to me. “Stop thinking, and just  say yes.”

Review

★★★★ stars

I'm trying to figure out how to write a review for this book.  It was a gritty read, with very little glamorization of the world Presley lived in, but still had a sweet romantic aspect to it.  If you're wondering what I mean, think on the lines of "Pretty Woman" but different, harsher.

I really liked Presley.  She had goals and dreams, and was making them come true.  I also liked how she and her best friend Chrissy loved and supported each other, even doing things that went against the grain of their soul to keep each other safe.  I was a little miffed at how she kept rebuffing Emerson, but understood her reasons for doing so.  When you live in ugliness and are told you are ugly you begin to think you don't deserve beautiful or nice, when you do.Speaking of Emerson, he was/is so dreamy.  I loved how he used poems to convey his thoughts to Presley and I love how determined he was to get to know her. 

I'll be honest with you, some parts of this book were really hard to read because of how dark and graphic they were.  They weren't raunchy, they were just hard.  These parts broke my heart and made me cry.  I don't think I laughed at all while reading this book.  It's not all seriousness, but I guess I took the book seriously. There was a twist in this book that completely rocked me.  As in, it totally messed with my mind.  There was quite a bit of that but it was a doozy!

This is my first A.E. Woodward book.  I have her other books on my reading lists. I'm looking forward to seeing if her other books will still be on my mind long after I've finished them.  I also can't wait to see if they are dark but still full of hope. 

* A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for them in any manner.*

About A. E. Woodward

A.E. lives in Vacationland with her husband and two children. Between her real job and writing she finds little time to enjoy life's finer things. However in the free time she does manage to steal, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, and reading. A.E. is the author of Kismet and A Series of Imperfections: Imperfectly Perfect, Imperfectly Real, and Imperfectly Bad. Working Girl is her fifth book.

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