RATING: ⭐⭐⭐
SPICE: 🔥🔥
I wanted to love this book. The premise was perfection: Lark, a woman in a STEM industry poised for her big break, falls from grace and from her job. When her best friend suggested she breaks into sex work, she finds herself sending dirty texts for cash. At the same time, her other best friend Toby is newly single, and having crushed on him for so long, this is the opportunity she is looking for to move to the next level, but should she come clean with her current profession?
Like I said, it sounds like a promising story, but I just thought this book was ok. The pace was slow, and I could not find any of the characters relatable. Lark's character development felt incomplete and eventually rushed. Am I wrong for expecting this book to be spicier given Lark's new venture?
** I am voluntarily reviewing an advance copy of this book. Thank you to Amber Roberts, Alcove Press, and NetGalley for providing an ARC. **
ABOUT THE BOOK
As the only woman programmer at her firm, Lark is thrilled to land an account for a huge client. But her dream job quickly becomes a nightmare when she accidentally projects a scandalous (and completely unsolicited) picture from her phone onto the screen during a presentation. Before she can recover, her coworkers jump in to steal the account, leaving Lark jobless and broke.
When a friend suggests text message-based sex work as a stopgap between jobs, Lark is dubious. She's all about sex positivity, but carrying out sexual fantasies—even digitally and anonymously—with complete strangers is daunting. How will she explain how she’s earning a living—especially to Toby, her good friend and longtime hopeless crush?
Still, she needs the money, and after a few (embarrassing and hilarious) she actually starts to like sexting—especially with one particularly charming and nerdy client who keeps popping up in her DMs. But as Lark and Toby grow closer, she finds herself with a decision to make: tell Toby she’s a sex worker—and try to forget the anonymous client who has her struggling to separate work from real feelings—or keep the secrets that are piling up in her inbox.
Sure to appeal to readers of Helen Hoang and Jen DeLuca, Amber Roberts’s Text Appeal celebrates women in STEM, friends becoming lovers, and finding lasting love in the digital age.
MEET AMBER ROBERTS
Amber Roberts writes contemporary romance about unabashedly nerdy characters in ridiculous situations. She lives with her husband, two children, and formerly feral cats in the Vermont woods, where eating maple creemees is a year-round activity. She spends her time copywriting, forgetting to water her plants, and awkwardly replying “you too” at inappropriate moments.
