My Bare Lady by Piper Sheldon

My Bare Lady, a funny and heartwarming romantic comedy standalone from Piper Sheldon and Smartypants Romance is available now!

Suzie Samuels is the only thing standing between Clifford and his life’s work. All he has to do is change everything about her. Perception creates reality and Clifford Rutledge needs the irascible stripper to prove it.

Suzie Samuels is set to prove once and for all she’s more than Short Fuse Suze, stripper for the Black Demons and renowned motorcycle arsonist. If all it takes is hard work, then Suzie knows how to work it hard.

But Suzie’s scandalous spirit tests Clifford's resolve. And Clifford’s buttoned-up bullying is driving Suzie bonkers.

Can Clifford move past their differences long enough to pull off the impossible task of changing the bare lady into a fair lady?

More importantly, as perceptions shift and priorities change, will he want to?

'My Bare Lady' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Scorned Women's Society series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Review

Rating: 3.5*

A modern take on My Fair Lady. 

Clifford is  lecturer and an engineer. He manages to find himself in the world of an MC when they try to bribe him to pass a building inspection despite it being very unsafe. Whilst there he runs into Suzie who wants more than being just a stripper from life. Something about her calls to him. A bit of negotiation ends up with Suzie being part of his social experiment that will demonstrate that with the right teaching you are not bound by your social upbringing. 

I have to say that I found Clifford condescending and a lot snobby to start with - almost implying that you had to be well educated, dressed and spoken to make a life for yourself and to be taken seriously. But he is passionate about everyone having the same life chances  and has difficulty expressing himself properly. He sees his experiment as protecting Suzie from harm but he goes about it all wrong, getting under her skin. Equally as you get to know him better, you realise that a lot of his behaviours are rooted in his past, particularly his obsession with remaining in control at all times,

Suzie is a strong and confident woman who is adaptable. She finds herself fitting into any social situation and being able to be Clifford's cheer squad by explaining his passion in a way that relates to everyone else. She is smarter than she gives herself credit for. Her choices have not always been smart and she is in a situation with the MC that is impossible to get out of. 

I liked the connection to the other series in the Smartypants world and there are certainly some interesting characters that I can't wait to find out more about. This was fun, sexy, and a little dark.

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Excerpt

I was transfixed. It wasn’t just the way she mastered the room. It wasn’t just how her choreography perfectly correlated with the entrancing music. It wasn’t just her sex appeal. It was that unwavering gaze and focus on her task. To the rest of the room, staring blatantly at her admirable—ahem—assets, she was an object, but I recognized the barely controlled passion roiling under her skin. What would it be like to be that strong? Not just physically, but strong in a way that allowed her to bare her soul to a group of greedy strangers. My passions were locked away safely inside me and yet she put it all out there. Such bravery and passion. In certain moments, I swear she looked right at me—quick stolen glances that shot a bolt of adrenaline down my spine. Perhaps this was a skill she learned to earn more tips, as the money was out in droves now, peppered over the stage and her sweating skin. But I swore she saw me. Saw through me. To the things I didn’t want seen. I stepped back further into the darkness knowing my concerns were irrational but unable to tear my eyes off hers. I was stronger than this. I was thoughtful, pragmatic, and not a victim of animalistic natures and poetic fantasies. Though she occasionally snapped the thin strips of material that made up her outfit in a playful tease she never took any clothes off. She didn’t need to. She’d managed to capture the attention of every person in that room with her movements alone. My body reacted despite my rationale; heart pounding, skin aflame. I needed to leave. I wouldn’t be like the rest of these people. The song crescendoed and in a show of strength, she launched herself back to the top of the pole once again. A small gasp escaped from me but the music drowned out all noise. She performed a trick that made her appear to fall down the entire length of the pole, tumbling over and sideways, limb over limb, only to catch herself at the bottom using only her thighs. She hung upside down, panting, dark hair sprawled out around her and her gaze set on me. Her eyes were a brilliant emerald, unlike any color I’d ever seen. They were luminescent in the stage lighting. Even across the hazy bar, they were transcendent. Glowing. Fixated on me. Nobody else. I swallowed but it wasn’t easy. The song ended and the lights went out. The crowd went wild. Several moments passed before I gained control of my faculties again. With that control came the shame of watching her. The understanding that just seeing her perform was enough to make me forget who I was. That couldn’t happen. I got out of there as fast as I could. The entire drive back to Knoxville my chest heaved at an alarming rate; my body remained a mass of tension. Her hypnotic gaze flashed repeatedly in my vision no matter how often I tried to shake it loose. Thankfully, I’d never see her again. About Piper Sheldon Piper Sheldon writes Contemporary Romance and Magical Realism books that hope to be New York Times bestsellers when they grow up. For now, she works as a technical writer during the day and writes about love the rest of the time. Of course she also makes room for her husband, toddler, and two needy dogs at home in the Desert Southwest.

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