February (Calendar Girl #2)
by Audrey Carlan
Blurb:
A muse. Me. The motorcycle riding, ass-kicking, concert t-shirt wearing chick from Las Vegas, is a world-renowned French artist’s muse. For a month.I had no idea when I took the escort job with Exquisite Escorts I would be standing naked in front of a blank canvas in a Seattle warehouse.
“Love on Canvas” he calls his exhibit, a combination of photographic stills and paint entwined to create the most awe-inspiring pieces the world will ever see. Except every last one of them features me and a moment in time where I was vulnerable.
Alec Dubois played on those vulnerabilities, teaching me lessons about love and life that would stay with me through the rest of my days.
***
Mia Saunders continues her mission to bail out her comatose father whose life is on the line to a dangerous loan-shark who happens to be Mia’s ex-boyfriend. For this journey, she serves as a high-priced escort to French artist named Alec Dubois in Seattle, Washington.Each installment in the Calendar Girl Serial will release every month throughout 2015. The stories will feature Mia, told from her perspective as she continues her journey as an escort to twelve clients in twelve different locations.
Warning: This book is designed for audiences 18+ due to language and graphic sexual content.
My Review:
I have to admit that I was a bit hesitant when starting February, with how things ended in the first book I wasn’t sure if I would/ could enjoy this one, where Mia meets her second client. And I have to admit I am not always a fan of the artsy types. I am glad to say that I really did enjoy this book. It’s a great sequel and a wonderful story. Mia learns and changes so much in this book and I think she comes out a better and happier person. Alec is her client in this book and I ended up really liking him, although he could be a bit of a workaholic at times, but I can relate to that.
Mia is to be Alec his muse for a month. This is very different from the paint and artist romance stories I read so far. Yes it’s sexy and hot, but also hard work and standing still for long times. It was interesting to read about the way Alec made his art and thanks to all the descriptions I could visualize the painting pretty well. Beside that there is a lot of hot sex scenes as well, but there’s also so much story surrounding it. I think the author manages to create a great balance between the sex and the story.
Alec was a great person and I think he came at the right time into Mia’s life and really was able to help her and see things in a different light. He learns her how to love and about the different types of love. He learns her how to love herself and see her own beauty. It was quite a powerful book and I liked seeing the change in Mia. Alec was a great person, nice and friendly, but also a bit pushy and a workaholic at times. I liked how serious he was about his art and how he worked hard on it. And while I felt like we got a feel for his character, I think it was more about Mia and how Alec was able to help her and how she could help him with his art.
These two are great together and they care about each other a lot, but their relationship is very different from Wes and Mia and I was happy with that. Alec is a Frenchman and there is some French sprinkled throughout the book, but it was done well and I never felt like I didn’t understand anything as Mia was always quick to ask what he said when he was using a new word or sentence. The ending of this one tugged on my emotions just like with the first book, but also in a different way. It’s just sad to see her month end with these guys after what she has been through. Even though it’s for the best that she goes on with this, that goodbye is still hard.
Mia struggles with some things about herself, her past and her job in this book. I felt like she underwent a change in this book and came out stronger. She shows vulnerability, but also strength. And it was great to see her become more at ease in her body and with what she does. There is this scene towards the end of the book that she struggles with her job, but I think that’s more because of how she viewed something than that the men really did something wrong. There’s also a fun scene involving her little sister and I get the feeling I learned more about Mia in this book.
To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit hesitant at first, but that went away as soon as I started reading. Alec and Mia their relationship is very different than her relationship with Wes and I was glad for that. I think Mia learns some really valuable things in this month and Alec teaches her how to love herself and more. It’s hot and sexy, but there’s also depth, issues they work through. And it’s fun to see how Mia deals with the new situation of being a muse in this book. The ending tugged at my emotions again as the goodbye part is hard. It’s very different than the first book, but just as good and I can’t wait to read the next one!
Links:
– Goodreads
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo
Wonderful review Lola. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Just remember…trust the journey.
I will! I can’t wait to see how the rest of the series plays out and where Mia will end up. Thanks for stopping by!
Lola recently posted…Review: February by Audrey Carlan
I haven’t read many books where a character is an artist so I can’t think of one right now. But the fact that this has an ass kicking chick from Las Vegas, sounds fun to me.
Mary Kirkland recently posted…My Favorite Photo of the Week
Mia is a great main character! I really like following her journey.
I love when characters are artists – or musicians! It must be weird for readers to get used to a new client every month, but glad you liked the first two!
Let’s Get Beyond Tolerance recently posted…Film Review: The Danish Girl
Yes I am wonderign how that will play out with her having a new client every month, but so far I am enjoying it, I have read March and April as well so far. And she doens’t forget her previous clients and they make an appearance in later books.
Hold on … she’s an escort and each month is her with a different client? Sign me up! What an interesting idea. I’m not a fan of serials, but this sounds so different and done in a cool way.
Christy LoveOfBooks recently posted…The Mistake by Elle Kennedy
I agree it’s such a fun concept and so far it really works out. Every month is such a different experience, but it’s also part of one long journey for Mia. It’s very well written.
I like how you describe her growing personally through this experience and that the indvidual, Alec, is drawn well and they have a connection just like she had with Wes. It will be interesting to see how each experience changes her and grows her.
Sophia Rose recently posted…#TGPUL with Melanie Stanford – Sway
I have read the first 4 books so far and every month changes her a bit and she grows and learn new things and helps her clients as well. It’s very powerfull to see the impact they have on her life and she has on their. She has a connection with all her clients so far, all different types of connections though, if that makes sense? Her relationship with each of them feels different.