About the Book

Gia is a woman who is governed by routine. Things are ordered, structured, and they make sense if only to her. Gia is also desperate. There are bills she can’t pay, jobs that won’t call her back, and a big blank space when she thinks of who she is and what she wants to become. She doesn’t seem the type to sign up for a sugar baby arrangement, but she has done plenty of mental calculus and weighed pros and cons of the situation. Being in dire straits will make you consider things you never would under better circumstances. It wasn’t the best plan, perhaps, but how could she know just how terribly it would all go?

Nathan seems like an ordinary guy, just the kind of older man one might expect to find seeking a companion on a sugar baby website. He was genuine, Gia thought, real in a way that the other men dousing her compliments online were not. He wanted a pet and she wanted security. She thought she was just providing a service but she would become a prisoner instead.

My Thoughts

What a time this book was. I loved the deceptive cover, soft and delicate and nothing like the story to come. Mia Ballard has crafted such an artful piece of feminine rage with lots of sharp teeth. The writing is very crisp and precise, much like Gia herself, who exists in day to day in a series of OCD rituals. The beginning is a slow start that paints a pretty vivid picture of who Gia is. Life has already taken a few bites out of her but there is still hope that she’ll pull it all back together. She just needs to get her finances in order, and being a sugar baby just seemed like the logical way to get a lot of money fast.

This book sunk its claws into me in so many ways. It is dark and deeply upsetting. Watching Gia be stripped of her humanity is hard to bear. Her voice, her time, her desires, her choices – all taken away with ease. It’s a bit hard to stomach and yet her fire doesn’t go out, not really. She makes herself sharper, remaking herself from the remains of who she once was. If you’ve ever wondered if you’ve got that dog in you, you do. Maybe not like this, but it’s there.

My Thanks to Galaxy Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy