Review & Giveaway! Diamond Girl by Andrea Smith

Title: Diamond Girl
Author: Andrea Smith
Release Date: April 16th 2013
Publisher: Meatball Taster Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance with and edge
Rating: 5 Hoots
Reviewer: Karia
Buy From: Amazon

Sum It Up! I loved her journey!

Summary:

The fall of 2011 finds thirty-five year old Samantha Dennison sending her only child off to college and generally feeling F-R-U-M-P-Y. Her loveless marriage to 'the mannequin' has become intolerable; her daughter and best friend have both advised 'Sammie' to get a life of her own. Her husband has his own agenda which does not include her.


Sammie finally heeds their advice and starts with a Kickboxing/Pilates class; ultimately, learning to pole dance. From there, she is well on her way to finally carving out a secret life and identity all of her own. The thrill of the dance and sexuality she discovers within herself is a potent mixture. She gets a part-time job as a dancer in an Indianapolis Gentleman's Club called Jewels. She becomes the dancer known as 'Diamond' and very quickly catches the attention of a 'bad-boy' biker named 'Slate.'


Slate is the ultimate 'alpha' male; however there is a problem: he simply wants it to be about exclusive sex; Sammie wants and needs more from Slate. Sammie is certain that she has embarked on a dangerous, cougar-type relationship with the twenty-something biker and 'prospect' member of the notorious Outlaw Motorcycle Club. She soon finds out that she is totally out of her league with Slate and the dangerous people he associates with in Indianapolis during the summer of 2012. Something big is brewing in Indy; it ain't about race cars either.


'Diamond Girl' will keep the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end; this book has it all: passion, erotica, romance, danger and possibly more . . . much more. (Goodreads)

Review:

“Life goes on. Maybe there won't be marriage... maybe there won't be sex... but, by God, there'll be dancing.!” My fave quote from My Best Friend’s Wedding

On Goodreads, I have quite few friends and many read the same books I do.  True, I read a variety of genres,so I take some of the recommendations from others with caution.  One theme I really don’t do is drug use/abuse.  The other would be cheating. Many of my fellow GR friends did not like the thought that this may be a cheating book.  And still…I read the summary and was drawn to Sammie.  I personally took up pole dancing at 39 years of age…and I rock it!  So, I knew I had to read this story.

Sammie is great.  I loved her right from the beginning.  She wasn’t out looking for anyone or anything…she was complacent just existing in the world servicing her family’s needs.  But when her husband, with whom she has not been intimate with for two years (and she was trying to entice him!), brings home his personal assistant on what was to be their “date night”, Sammie has simply had enough.  She spends the next several months working on Sammie.  She works out, takes time to get her hair done, lunches with her BFF…she finds some small pieces of herself.  I loved her journey!

The leap of mindset came when her personal trainer suggested she start dancing at a Gentleman’s Club.  That was huge for me.  When I took up pole dancing, the first thing my mother asked was, “Are you going to dance for men?”  Uggg, seriously?  I am happily married and monogamous to the same man and have been for twenty years and I have a great job! No…I have never danced for men, even when I went to pole camp and the other 89 women got up and danced on the stage…I dance for me and when other dancers enjoy it…awesome!  . Both Sammie and I love the steep learning curve of a new move, the camaraderie of the other dancers and the performing. 

Sammie certainly enjoyed the rush of the performance…which led her to Jewel. As Sammie started dancing,she became someone that enjoyed life, met and made friends, talked with strangers and challenged herself to choreograph and accessorize new dances. Pole dancing is  95%for the dancer herself,4% about performing for the other dancers, and 1%audience driven. And for Sammie that was true…until she met Slate.

Slate was amazing…tough, sexy, rough and yet as Sammie pointed out something more.  The words he choose, how he spoke, his gentleness mixed with raw energy…everything that was Slate called to Sammie. The connection may have been instant, but the loving was not!  Fear not all my GR and review readers…this is not a cheating story.  Sammie worked hard to save her marriage of 19 years, but when a man hits you…IT IS OVER!  Get out, get on and get over it.  While the paperwork took a lot longer, Sammie was done with her sham of a marriage. 

I was so happy when Sammie stopped holding back parts of herself. She told Slate what she needed and how she felt, even when he didn’t want to hear it.  Sammie told her parent’s and her daughter the truth and she put herself out there for the world to see and judge…because she had stopped caring about their verdict! 

Live out loud…be bold…try one thing new every day that scares you!  If you get anything from this story…don’t settle…it is never too late for your happily ever after to start!  Enjoy!

 

                                                      GIVEAWAY!!!!

Want to win a copy of this book? 10 copies are up for grabs from Amazon!

Email Lenoreandbrandi@nocturnereads.com to enter! Ends 5/5