Working Girl by A. E. Woodward
Publication Date: September 22, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Publication Date: September 22, 2014
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Life As I Know It:
Booze
Drugs
Gambling
Easy Women
Such was my life in fabulous Las Vegas. But what do you expect when you’re the daughter of a prostitute. This is not the life I want for myself, and I have a plan.
Life As I Want It:
Go to college.
Get my degree.
Get as far from Vegas as possible.
But life has other plans. Plans that include him. Life isn’t always sunshine and roses and even the best laid plans change.
This is my story. The story of a girl who thought she had it all figured out until life threw her a curve ball. My name is Presley and I refuse to be just another Working Girl.
The telltale crackle of the old vinyl record fills the air as Elvis’s deep smooth
and sensual voice dances in my brain. The song is contagious and I find myself
humming along as I walk down the hallway to her room to find her already
perched at the seat in front of her vanity.
I stand there, unbeknownst to her, watching as she readies herself. She’s
wearing her silk dressing gown and for a moment I pretend that she’s not a
prostitute. She looks like an average middle-aged woman; her brown eyes and
hair a mirror image of mine. But then her robe falls open, revealing her lacy bra
and bringing me back to reality. That bra will attract more than one Joe tonight.
Countless hours of my life have been spent watching her. Hell, there was
even a time where I adored her. I love my Momma, I do, but I can’t understand
how she could have allowed me to grow up with all this surrounding my
innocence. It doesn’t seem fair, and I can’t help but hate her a little bit for it.
There is no handbook to guide the daughter of a hooker, but it didn’t keep
me from trying to figure out my messed up mind. In desperation, I had even
Googled “How to cope with your mother being a prostitute” before. It ended up
being a bunch of psychobabble bullshit, leaving me with nothing but my own
thoughts.
As I continue to watch her I feel sadness. There’s so much I’m missing out
on. I’m no fool and I know that. I’ve read enough books to know that children
aren’t supposed to worry about their moms like I do. Day after day I worry if it’s
going to be her last; if this will be the day that she attracts the wrong Joe and he
takes her from me; that this might be the day she actually drinks herself to death.
All things a girl my age shouldn’t have to think about when it comes to their
momma.
After a few quiet minutes her familiar eyes meet mine in the mirror and I
force a smile, trying to hide my sadness.
“Presley, baby girl,” she coos. “Come help me.” Moving on just like nothing
happened, but I know she knows. She’s no idiot. She’d ended her night blacked
out drunk, even so she knows she didn’t just miraculously wake up in her bed,
perfectly cleaned and tucked in.
I go to her, and she hands me her favorite pearl necklace. She lifts her long
brown hair off the back of her neck before turning and smiling at me. “Did I ever
tell you about that necklace?”
I nod, but she ignores the fact that I’ve heard the story a million times and
starts telling it anyways while I fasten it around her neck, her fingertips running
along the smooth pearls. “This necklace was your great-great grandmother’s—”
“Who came over to America from Spain.” With a roll of my eyes, I finish the
sentence for her. I know the story. At this point, I could probably tell it better than
her. The story is one I've heard a million times over. The rich Spanish monarch
who cast out his daughter for daring to fall in love with the wrong man. The story
of how the two of them fled in the dead of night and snuck aboard a merchant
ship headed for American shores to ensure they remained together, for better or
worse, was one that would have been romantic . . . had it not ended in him dying
of scurvy while they made their journey. Even if some semblance of sweetness
could be recovered from the fact that she found herself pregnant with his child,
thus enabling her to carry a piece of her one true love throughout her life, it would
be dashed by the fact that her great-granddaughter chose to recount the story
time and time again, all the while wearing her prized pearls, stolen as a means of
currency but something she could never bear to part with, and readying herself
for a night of selling herself to the highest bidder. Great-great Grandmother
would be so proud.
Right.
Working Girl was by far one of the best books I have read this year. I would give it a 5 stars! It's not your typical sappy love story but it has so much more depth. You will get so much angst,devastation,mystery and love and you will feel so much sorrow for Presley. I wasn't completely convinced that I would like this book by reading the blurb and well the name but damn I was so wrong. I have been a fan of A.E. Woodard for a while and will continue to follow her journey as a writer. I feel she is very passionate when she writes story and this one is probably my favorite book she has written. The story is told mainly in Presley's POV but you do get snippets of Emerson and boy oh boy are y'all gonna love him.. he will skip to the top of your charts of favorite book boyfriend. This story throws a twist that I never seen coming.
Presley doesn't lead the normal typical college girl life. She has a murky poor life and she lives not only in poverty but her mother is whore--yes like a real life whore she gets paid to have sex-- so they are living in the housing unit that is supplied to the whores and there family. She promises herself that she will never be like her mother that is why she is pushing through college and working at the front desk and managing the books. She also has to protect her mother so she can't just leave her behind..but one day she will make something of her life.
Who would be taking care of her if I wasn't around? No one. She would have been thrown out on her ass a long time ago. But if I'm admitting her luck, aren't I also agreeing that I deserve this life to a certain extent? I dunno. It's all so confusing. Day in, day out, you'd think the older I get the more I'd be able to understand, but I swear each day just muddies the water more. It's like I'm destined to remain in limbo; torn between what I've been given, and what I want.-- PRESLEY
When Emerson and Presley meet it will change Presley's life forever. Emerson has his own past demons to battle but he will confide in Presley because it just feels right. He doesn't know of Presley's living situation and is somewhat afraid of what he will find out since she is hiding something. When all her secrets are revealed and tragedy will strike will Emerson be there to pick up the broken pieces of Presley? Can he truly understand the life she leads? When they think life is great there will be a huge twist that will throw everything off balance again.... will they be strong enough to make it through it can Emerson make Presley see that her past doesn't define her?
"I can see it in your eyes, Presley. Your demons control you, pulling you down into the abyss where you have to pretend. But when you're with me, you're safe. Be who you are, Presley, because that person.... she's someone worth fighting for. And as long as you keep fighting, so will I."-- EMERSON
Go get this book now! You don't wanna pass up a great heartfelt story. Thanks A.E. Woodward for another great story!
A.E. lives in Vacationland with her husband and two children. Between her real job and writing she finds little time to enjoy life's finer things. However in the free time she does manage to steal, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, and reading. A.E. is the author of Kismet and A Series of Imperfections: Imperfectly Perfect, Imperfectly Real, and Imperfectly Bad. Working Girl is her fifth book.
