Review: 5 stars  Selling Scarlett (stand alone) book 1.  Suspense, secrets, lies, villains, blackmail & conspiracy plus hot romance!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 27, 2013
Selling Scarlett is a stand-alone book 1 in the Love Inc. series.  Each book will have its own hero/heroine.  I recommend reading books in order as the characters from previous books will be re-appearing.This story has a lot of everything; intrigue, mystery, secrets, deceit, blackmail, conspiracy, villains, sex, and a brewing romance with lots of sexual tension!  The story takes off and with that I mean "off-the charts" off at around 25-30%. Prior to that we get to meet everyone while the background is laid out.  There is so much to take in that I have decided to do a detailed summary of the plot up till that point.  Book description hints to everything, but I will just go into more detail.Therefore this review will contain SPOILERS until 30% of story and it will be long:Hero: Hunter West/30years/son of US Senator/heir to a fortune/professional poker player-businessman/$$$$/blond hair/amber-green eyesHeroine: Elizabeth DeVille, Lizzy, Libby/23 years/daughter to a heir/PhD student/dark brown hair/blue eyes/virginStory is told in present tense, alternating between Libby's and Hunter's POV.Hunter has many qualities I enjoy in a hero.  He is the handsome, sexy, detached, jaded, elusive, suave, entitled mega-rich playboy/man-whore.  Future heir to a Bourbon fortune (West Bourbon), son of a U.S. Senator, he made his first fortune in investments while still in College.  He later became a professional poker player and started his own Hollywood blockbuster movie production company. His fame, sexual exploits, good looks and fortune has made him sought after by gossip magazines and woman alike.  But he prefers to pay for escorts.  And he has family secrets that he will do just about anything to protect:Elizabeth, Lizzy or Libby as Hunter prefers to call her also has a privileged background.  Daughter of the heir to a water bottle empire (DeVille Water) she was raised in opulence. But her mom's addictions took its toll on the family.  While Libby's mom was in and out of rehabs, her father started a new family on the side.  He finally left them when Libby started College.  Surviving on a small allowance that barely covers her mom's rehab bills Libby drives an old car and is staying rent free with her friend Suri Dalton (daughter of a Software millionaire).  Libby is finishing up her PhD in Ethics.  She is a little overweight and lacks confidence when it comes to men.  She has never had a boyfriend, still a virgin at 23 years old.  She is a wonderful person; so endearing, strong, smart, yet innocent.  She is vivacious, very insightful with a good sense of humor.Her other close friend is Cross Carlson, son of the California Governor, owner of his own hybrid biker design shop.  He is estranged from his family and resides/hides out in Libby's old run-down family home.  He will play an important part in this story!The BACKGROUND of Hunter and Libby takes us back six years.  Libby, age sixteen was driving near her home when her mom's old Porsche broke down right outside Hunter West's Napa Valley vineyard.  He was twenty-three at the time and busy entertaining an escort.  He suggested Libby spend the night in his guest house.  The following morning Libby encountered Hunter having sex by the pool and since then he has been her (porn) fantasy and secret crush.  She has kept detailed tabs:"...my insides have quivered every time I see him on Moneyline or read about his poker tournaments in a newspaper. It's even worse when the gossip blogs feature him toting a trophy date to this event or that..."The PROLOGUE takes place 2 months prior to the story opening (in chapter one).  We meet a very suave, jaded Hunter leaving Wynn Las Vegas after winning $5 Million a poker tournament. He is driving his Aston Martin in route to his Gulfstream to fly back to his Napa Valley vineyard.  But he is intercepted by his long-time friend Marchant, whose exclusive brothel/escort empire, Love Inc., Hunter had helped fund a decade earlier.  His friend begs him for a favor; Marchant's favorite porn star Priscilla Heat has agreed to star in an orgy with him providing Hunter stops by to say hi.  When Hunter arrives Priscilla tries to seduce him, he is both turned on and off by her and rebuffs her seduction attempts and instead goes to his private suite and spends the night with his favorite escort, Sarabelle.Priscilla did not take the rejection well and sends him a drink spiked with a rooffie.  The escort Sarabelle goes missing and Hunter is the last person to have seen her.  In addition, Priscilla starts blackmailing Hunter with his family secrets and he enters into a violent sexual relationship with her.  She becomes increasingly demanding, playing devious games while Hunter is trying to appease her to keep his secrets and determine what she knows and what part she might have played in the disappearance of Sarabelle."So I'm letting fear dictate the vile things I do with Priscilla. Letting fear keep me in this trap until Marchant and I figure it out..."CHAPTER 1 opens up at with Hunter hosting a party at his estate.  Libby is in attendance with her friends, Suri and Cross.  Poor Libby she feels out of place and has lost one contact so she can barely see.  We are privy to Libby's insightful observations about herself, Hunter and the other guests."I'm Elizabeth DeVille, super spy and resident poor girl, and watching him out of the corner of my eye will have to do. I nod at something my best friend Suri is saying to me, feeling like a s***ty friend because I'm not really listening."***"With the exception of Hunter West, who's been my own personal porn since that fateful night Mom's Porsche broke down, I don't find that many men attractive. Maybe I am a lesbian, but I don't think so."She wanders off into the mansion and overhears Hunter having sex with Priscilla.  She decides to masturbate and finds an empty room or so she thought. Hunter is there erratic, distracted and drunk, but when he realizes what she was about to do he offers his assistance.  Afterwards he storms off and ends up in the claws of Priscilla.  Libby stumbles upon them in a somewhat compromising situation with Hunter half-strangling Priscilla in foreplay.Back at the party Libby has a quarrel with Cross over Hunter.  He is jealous and storms out, jumps on his motorcycle and takes off.  Only for Libby to come across Cross by the side of the road with a severe head injuring that has put in him in a coma.In the weeks following the party/accident Libby is busy with tending to Cross, school and her mom.  Hunter's life is spinning out of control with blackmail and the investigation into Sarabelle's disappearance.  He is being following by who knows who.  He is having Priscilla and several other suspects followed and he is watching over Libby who is being followed by Priscilla who has also infiltrated the police.Hunter and Libby have a few more encounters some hot, some sweet which only confuse Libby further.  She is not aware of the kidnapping nor the blackmail.  She thinks Hunter is dating Priscilla.  I won't get into Hunter's thoughts and feeling regarding Libby, I`ll let you read and enjoy that part yourself.Meanwhile Cross is recovering splendidly until his family decides to pull the plug on his expensive N-therapy rehab to send him to a county run rehab.  He suffers a stroke in transit and when Libby visits she is devastated to discover the facility has already given up on him.  Cross is not going to make it unless he can get better care and N-therapy.She pleads with Cross' mother to no avail.  They are not willing to pay the $4,000+ per day in medical fees.  Libby calls her father asking for a loan from her trust, and he hangs up on her.  She shows up in court for a hearing regarding Cross and her attorney interrupts the proceedings and Libby is given permission to pay for Cross' care.  Under the light of the news cameras Cross' family have no choice but to agree.  But Libby still needs to figure out how to get the money.  She is at her wits end.  She loves her friend and she feels partly responsible since they had a fight right before he drove off.  She considers selling a kidney and then she has an idea.  In the state of Nevada prostitution is legalized so Elizabeth decides to sell her virginity.  She makes arrangement with an Auctioneer to have her V-card auctioned off under the name "Selling Scarlett".  No one is to know it's Elizabeth Deville.Next she bids her family and friends goodbye feeding them a story about a trip. She stops by her professor's office prepared to take a semester off, but proposes that she be allowed to do her final thesis about her experience.  Her professor signs off on it, but with reservations.  The only person she tells is her friend Suri, who is devastated, offering to try to help pay some of the Cross' medical bills.  But Libby is driven by more than love, friendship and guilt:"A good twenty percent of this idea's allure is in my eagerness to get rid of my V-card so I can stop saving it for Hunter. I need to be freed of that idea. Freed of my crush. I hope that after spending some time at Love Inc., I never blush in the middle of a sexual encounter ever again. No Hunter West or anybody else will be able to knock me off my feet, and I like that idea."The next day Libby arrives in Las Vegas to spend a couple of weeks preparing for the auction.  And so the story continues or rather unravels from here....Strap on your seatbelt!!!At his point Hunter is anything but the suave pokerfaced professional poker player we met in the prologue.  He is getting more and more frantic; sleepless nights, too much alcohol, stress, Priscilla's mind games, manipulation and blackmail.  He doesn't know who he can trust.  He reminds me of a person running the wrong way up an escalator.  The walls are closing in.  Libby is in danger and so is Cross, but most of all Hunter:There's a common perception, partially true, that rich people are above the law. It's true for a lot of us, but I have a feeling my notoriety could work against me. I'm the kind of guy prosecutors like to stick a case to. And I've got a dirty past."Hunter and Libby have this attraction, so much sexual tension...  But their timing is so off, it's like they are in parallel worlds.  You may get the urge to scream at your Kindle.  Will Libby's V-card remain intact until the auction?  Will Hunter even hear about the auction in time?I might have wished that the timeline be listed somehow to help put everything in perspective in the beginning.  The story is so intense and starts off with a bang.  I had to go over everything a few times, hence my detailed review.  My other gripe was minor and is best ignored, but the story made it sound as if one could drive from Napa to LA in a couple of hours.Selling Scarlett is a whirlwind romance and a dangerous game of cat and mouse; secrets, deceit, cover-up and blackmail.  I had a few theories; some secrets I figured out and others took me by surprise.  There is a conspiracy that runs deep and high with villains, some visible others not, plotting, framing and stirring willing to do anything necessary to achieve their objective.  Therein lays the danger:"Powerful players produce powerful results."Excellent storytelling courtesy Ella James with many well developed characters, in particular Hunter and Libby who were so well captured in their POV's. It is such a treat to read a story where the heroine is strong!The suspense will keep you at the edge of your seat, frantically reading.  But it's the brewing romance and the sexual tension between Hunter and Libby that make the story!***Hero rating: 5 starsHeroine rating: 5 starsSex scenes rating: 5 starsSex scenes frequency: 4 starsStoryline concept rating: 5 starsStoryline execution rating: 4 starsStorytelling skills rating: 5 starsStory ending rating: 5 starsBook editing rating (5 = no edits spotted): 4.5 stars************************************************Overall rating: 5 starsWould I recommend this book: Yes.Would I re-read this book: Yes.Would I read future books by this author: Yes.