Help A Bitch Out

HaBO: Recent Book with Asshole Not-The-Hero

This HaBO comes from Nicole. Y'all will really enjoy this one, I think! 

Biznitches! I need lots of help, only some of which can be found on this web site. I am super embarrassed to be looking for this book, because it is not even that old (it came out no earlier than 2013). It's the first book in a series. I'm thinking it came out in 2014, because the second book hadn't been published when I was reading in on 2 February of this year (how's that for specific). Unfortunately, I have way too many books on my Kindle and I tend to buy my books from many different vendors, so although I initially assumed that I'd bought it from Amazon, I'm not positive.

The plot:
The female protagonist is I THINK in college or possibly grad school. Whatever, she's broke as shit. She shares an apartment with a roommate/close friend, who is going somewhere I think with a boyfriend (possibly for summer). The female protagonist has a rich boyfriend who has either been unfaithful to her or expressed an interest in doing so. She has let him dominate and hurt her in bed in the past, but isn't naturally a submissive or into pain. She doesn't enjoy it, and can't imagine that she every will, but doesn't want to rock the boat when he says that he wants her to embrace her submissive side.

So Awful Rich Boyfriend hires some guy to train her in being dominated and physically hurt during sex for a month, because why not. Of course, this dude is super gorgeous and hikinks ensue (that was a typo, but I'm leaving it). I think that they're not supposed to have p in the v sex, although they do, within a satisfyingly short amount of time of meeting each other (because, seriously: eff Awful Rich Boyfriend). And although she's a perfectly healthy size, the guy is supposed to cook low calorie meals so that she will lose weight while he's training her. It stuck with me that he admits to eating fewer calories than he should, in order to maintain the sexy V that leads down to his groinal wonderland. He does sexythings as a career (even though I think he was way too young when he started and there's a gross element of coercion to a relationship that he has with another female protagonist) and must always look hot.

Other things that I recall:

I think that she talks with a friend or loved one on the phone. Maybe she misses a major holiday or somebody's birthday? She's not honest about where she is or what she's doing (duh). She goes to a spa and gets her hair and ladyparts taken care of? Highlights may have happened (on the head hair, not elsewhere). There may be a part where the protagonists are not talking or are communicating solely by notes and angry/weighty stars? Towards the end of the book she realizes that she loves Hot Dude and decides to escape ARB. Hot dude decides to help. He gives her a lot of cash and tells her not to take her cell phone (or maybe gives her an untraceable phone)? This plan means that they may not be in contact for a while.

I think the pain part is real, but maybe my brain just heaped on more reasons for me to hate ARB, as if there weren't already enough. I read a lot of books, so it's possible that I've conflated everything I read in February into one cluster of a book, but if this sounds even slightly familiar to you, please help! 

ARB sounds like a character I'd like to reach through the text and smack into next week. Yeesh. Do you recognize this book?

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  1. I haven’t read it but I’m like 99.9% certain that I read the review on Dear Author. Ima tweet Jane for you

  2. DL Sliter says:

    I don’t know it, sorry.  I just wanted to comment that “hikinks” is the BEST typo ever.

  3. DonnaMarie says:

    And you’re looking for this because….? I mean, if you’re collecting copies to run through the disposal, fine, but if I’ve got this right: he hurts her during sex, and not in a good way; she doesn’t like being hurt, but won’t hand him his asshat and show him the door; she’s okay with him getting her a masochism trainer, because that’s a learned behavior; and also, LOW CALORIE MEALS!! That’s taking the S/M a little too far.  And you want to reread this?

    Also, thank you. Hikinks has replaced hangry as my all time favorite typo.

  4. Jaimie says:

    I’m quite certain Jane discussed this in a podcast. I too bought it, but I cannot recall the title or author. I’m checking my kindle library to see if I could find it.

  5. laj says:

    It’s a Katie McGarrey NA book….I believe it may be Dare to You.

    DA reviewed it awhile back to mixed comments.

  6. laj says:

    Or…..it could be True by Erin McCarthy.

  7. Nicole says:

    Thanks for the suggestions, but it’s not True or Dare You To. If I remember correctly, this book was the author’s first, because I wanted to see what else she’d written and there wasn’t anything.

  8. Breanna says:

    Respectuflly, Laj, this book does not sound anything like Dare To You and I haven’t read “True” but based on the book description, they don’t sound too similar either. Not sure why you guessed those.

    Is it possibly “Denial” by Ember Chase? Goodreads says it was published at the end of 2013.  The provided description is one of those vaguely annoying first person POV things but reviews say that Maya has a boyfriend named Luke and hes a real jag-off but then this dude named Isaac (who is “broken”) and her are locked up in an apartment for 30 days? Ends on a cliffhanger, part of a three book series?  I did not read this book I have just been doing some hardcore googling – I’ll continue if its not the right one.

  9. Nicole says:

    Breanna, Denial isn’t the book, either, but it’s close in tone to the book that I’m thinking of.

  10. Nicole says:

    Thanks for looking btw, everybody. I’m googling, too, but the only terms that feel relevant to this search turn up other (and really strange) books.

  11. laj says:

    @Breanna: What’s the big deal! So I was wrong, those NA’s sound all the same to me. It was just a guess….Respectively….Sheesh!

  12. Breanna says:

    Nicole: I think I just lost my mind a little bit. Googling kept bringing me back to Denial. I skimmed a copy of it and I’m convinced it either is the book or someone plagiarized because the details are way too similar.

    Maya is a college student living with Piper, her BFF since 5th grade or age 5.  Piper’s parents are important community members.  Piper hates the boyfriend.  Boyfriend is rich and has been cheating on maya.  Maya Told her friend she was going on exotic month long vacay with bf but is actually going to stay with Isaac for 30 days because she needs to be trained. Piper is also going to go on vacation during this time. Maya has some bad memory issues and something about her mom.

    So maya goes and stays with Isaac who trains ladies sexually for a living.  Has been doing it maybe since he was 18.  Dad have him to some when he was 14 – glory is her name? Went to culinary school and cooks all this food with maya. Brinner was mentioned a lot. Brother turns 16 while she is with Isaac but she apparently wasn’t supposed to contact anyone per the boyfriend’s instructions.

    Near end of book maya is given a burner phone by Isaac and only uses cash (no electronic transactions because the bf has been tracking her (also via phone)) – also goes and gets waxed & a haircut at the salon.  Book ends with them having sex and then someone knocking on the door and Isaac says “I put a shoebox in your car and it has $40k in cash in there and some sappy love letters.”

    What I couldn’t find was hot dude saying he ate less calories to get the v (but the v was mentioned) or any examples of written correspondence.

    So that’s my argument, in a nutshell. Is any of that similar to the book you are thinking of?

    (Feeling totally bananas for doing that but it was a welcome distraction!)

     

  13. Nicole says:

    Breanna, maybe the book that I bought and read plagiarized Denial and was then removed from Amazon?  I definitely never bought Denial, but a lot of the details that you provided sound similar. Hmmm. Thanks.

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