Calendar Girl by Audrey Carlan
In a TV feature on her, when Audrey Carlan mentioned that E.L. James was her inspiration for the Calendar Girl series I was intrigued. I did a search and liked the concept of the series. Twelve books in the series for the twelve months in a year. The protagonist’s father is critically ill, and to save him (and herself) from loan sharks, Mia Saunders decides to become a high-end escort. She has to be with her client for three weeks, dressing and primping and acting out the way he wants her to, and sex is not part of the contract. But of course, all the men are drop dead gorgeous in their own ways and even though she is paid extra for sexual favors, money is not the reason Mia has sex with her clients.
So far so good. I liked the first half of the first book Calendar Girl January. I like the way Mia responds to a good looking man, and wants to have sex. That is empowering – to want sex with no emotions attached. But the razor thin story line, repetitive sexual moves and not much in the way of character development made the book a dreary read thereafter.
If E.L. James is her inspiration then Audrey Carlan might want to re-read the books first for the sex. To really fit into the mommy porn genre, the books in the series should have more than one kind of sexual act in them!! Second, Fifty Shades make for an interesting read because beyond the sex, there is a plot, steady character development and an emotional arc that engages the reader.
I am not an active purveyor of mommy porn or the romantic genre books, but they do act as palate cleansers between the heavy reading I do. I would however give Calendar Girl a pass, and stick to the conventional Harlequin and Mills and Boon that are far more satisfying!!
Ofcourse I may be proven wrong, and Calendar Girl will go on to become a bigger hit than Fifty Shades!! I will take back my words then, but in the meantime I do hope that the FB ads on my wall for the series will stop!!
About Preeti Singh
the good book corner 