Review: January by Audrey Carlan

January (Calendar Girl #1)
by Audrey Carlan

Blurb:
It’s really simple. I needed money. A lot of money. One million dollars to be exact. The amount didn’t matter. All that mattered is that at the end of that price tag held my father’s life.

No money. No life.

The time limit was one year. On January 1st I had to pay up or my Father was going to be killed.

When you’re faced with an ultimatum like this, you do whatever you have to do.

And that’s exactly what I did.

The job…Exquisite Escorts. My role, serve as high priced arm candy to anyone that can afford the $100,000 price tag for a month of my company. Sex is optional (for me) and a 20% increase on the price.

***
Mia Saunders just barely escaped a paltry life back home in Las Vegas until she gets the call that her Father has been beaten to within an inch of his life for not paying his gambling debt. Problem is, the lone shark is her lousy, ruthless ex-boyfriend. Another guy in a long line of men she’d fallen head over heels for. Not anymore.

Mia’s mission is simple. Serve as a high-priced escort for her Aunt’s company and pay monthly against her Father’s bad debt. A month with a rich man who she doesn’t have to sleep with if she doesn’t want to? Easy money. At least that’s the way it was supposed to go.

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 saw the Calendar Girl books on another blogger her site and the concept sounded very interesting and unique. I mentioned the books sounded fun and she lend me the first book to read. I am really happy this series caught my eye as I really enjoyed this first book. The book isn’t a full length novel, but it’s the right length for the story. It didn’t feed rushed, the pace is done well and moved steadily along.

Mia needs money, a lot of money, her father got into a big debt and the guys who he owns the debt to threaten to kill him if he doesn’t pay them the money. So Mia goes into the escort business to get enough money to pay off her father’s debt. While at first she seems a bit hesitant, she eventually get’s into it and I am really curious how this will play out in the next books as she will meet a different client each month and how her relationships with them will be. The story kept my attention and moved along nicely.

I liked Mia as a main character, her love for her family is obvious and she’s wiling to do whatever it takes to help her dad even though he never really was there for her. I did think she changed a bit too fast, she went from being hesitant about the whole escort thing and then days later she seemed fully on-board. I would’ve liked a more gradual change, but seeing as it’s a shorter book I can see why that had to happen a bit more quickly. I also liked how she tried to protect her heart, but still decided to have fun and enjoy the experience.

The guy who hires her seems like the stereotypical rich guy at first, but from their first meeting it was obvious there was so much more to him. I really liked how Wes had some real personality and I felt like we learned a lot about him, maybe even more than about Mia. He reveals a lot about himself towards Mia, especially towards the end and I really liked him. I also liked that he didn’t hesitate to talk about his feeling or show Mia how much she meant to him. It’s nice that he wasn’t afraid to show his vulnerable side and I loved the gesture at the end of the book.

Mia and Wes make for a great couple, they start out with lust at first sight, but it slowly moves into something more. I really liked seeing them develop a real connection even though they both fought against it. There is a lot of hot sex in this book, but there’s also enough talking and them getting to know each other. I thought it was a nice mix and the sex scenes were well written. The ending though was heartbreaking. I know why Mia made the decision she did, but I just felt so sad for these two.

To summarize: I really enjoyed January and am looking forward to continuing this series. Mia need to pay her father’s debt and decides to become an escort. her first client is a rich guy, but quickly turns out to be so much more than she expected. I liked both Mia and Wes and they made for a great couple. Besides a lot of hot sex scenes, there was also time for them to get to know each other and I felt like they had a real connection. The ending was heartbreaking, but I did understand Mia her decision. All in all this was a great start of this series and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

Links:
– Goodreads
– Amazon
– B&N
– Kobo

Have you ever read a book about an escort?