June - Book Review

By Audrey Carlan

Synopsis

Politics, phallic statues, and pretty women.

Literally everywhere you look, you see an old man and a gold-digging, cling-on wrapped around their wrinkly arms.

Looks as though my hot streak ended when Warren Shipley, one of the nation’s wealthiest men, hired me to play arm-candy to save face with the other one percenters he did business with. At least that’s what I thought when I arrived in Washington, DC, until I was met by old man Shipley’s debonair and insanely handsome son. The Senator from California, Aaron Shipley. Youngest senator in the history of politics, single, beyond rich, and the face of every political magazine around the US. Women everywhere wanted a taste of that power.

Me, I’d always thought politics were boring…boy was I wrong. Democracy had never been more exciting.

Review

I’m loving the Calendar Girl series and am enjoying following Mia through her 12 month journey as a high-end escort, using the money to pay off the loan shark that beat her father into a coma. JUNE starts off with a paranormal feel to it when Mia first meets Aaron, the son of her client, Warren. There’s a literal spark, an electrical pull they feel at the beginning which I thought could be an interesting part of the story and unique to the series, but not only did that spark go nowhere, Mia’s encounters with Aaron take a completely different and disturbing turn, one I was not expecting to see. Reading the synopsis, you get the impression that JUNE is going to be very political, but to be honest, I don’t think there were any politics involved at all, it’s just rich men making deals. Wait, maybe that is political. Mia’s job is to be nothing more than arm candy to make Warren Shipley look like he belongs in the group he’s trying to work to his advantage.

Towards the end of the previous books, Mia tends to reflect back on her client and the life lesson she learned during the month. There was a lot more reflection in this book given that we are now halfway through her 12 month journey and she’s still trying to figure out who she is and what she’ll do when the year is over. Wes comes back into the picture right at the beginning and the situation is still a little tense between the pair. I wish that Mia would have stood up for herself a little more against Wes. There’s a big difference between what Mia is possibly doing in private and what Wes is doing in public, parading around with another woman with the pair appearing on the cover of magazines. But hey, that’s just my opinion. She also reconnects with Mason, Rachel and Tai, and Mia learnt that not only are they her friends, they are her family and they’ll be there for her whenever she needs them. For me, reconnecting with her friends and being shown she was truly loved was the best part of this story.