Selling Scarlet by Ella James

Cover: 

The cover is beautiful and probably one of the reasons I requested an ARC.  I will have no gifs because I am completely serious in this review and feel as if the book wasn't good enough for my time.

Quotes:

“I'd gotten my first glimpse of Elizabeth DeVille. She'd had her hair in a pony-tail that stuck up off the side of her head, and she'd been wearing short red shorts and a light blue tank top with a whale on it. “You like whales?” I'd asked her when I finished with the car. Her face had gone all soft and pretty, making me feel more like one-hundred-and-three than the twenty-three I was, and she'd shrugged. “Yeah, but not a lot more than any other animal. I just like saving things.” 
― Ella James, Selling Scarlett

“I can see the exact moment he realizes what I've been doing. His torso stiffens as his hands, pressed against the mattress, curl into big fists. He makes a low, approving sound and speaks in a voice that sounds like molten lava. "That’s so sexy.” 
― Ella James, Selling Scarlett

Rating: 1 star

Plot: I really wanted to like this book and I really tried to but I couldn't. I'll put up the synopsis. 

Elizabeth DeVille doesn't belong at a party like this - one where the gowns cost more than her Camry and cigars run higher than her grad school utility bills. Dragged out of seclusion by her best friend Suri, Elizabeth is merely playing dress-up, rubbing elbows with a crowd that banished her troubled family years ago.

Hunter West is tired. Tired of parties, tired of pretending, and tired of trying to right a wrong that haunts him every day. Bourbon heir and professional poker player by day, by night Hunter is gambling with his life in a high-stakes game of crime and blackmail. 

When Elizabeth stumbles into Hunter's den of vices, she's a light in the darkness, a flame in the void. And, just like everything he touches, Hunter mars her in a record time. To rectify the damage done, Elizabeth needs money she doesn't have, and she's come up with a foolproof way to get it.

Follow Elizabeth - code-named Scarlett - to the lush Nevada brothel where she'll auction her virginity and risk the only thing that's not for sale: her heart. The highest bidder is a familiar face, with wicked hands and the devil's mouth. And a secret so dark that it could cost her life.

So completely disregard that because it isnt really what the book is about...well it is but it makes no sense, is disturbing, and is boring. The plotlines were confusing and some completely unnecessary. We meet random characters who never had anything to do with much and could've just been left out. The insta love was terrible and the love interest disturbing. He is scary and unbalanced and so is the MC. They have back stories we never learn about both have severe mommy issues which never get solved. The whole time I was reading I kept getting bored and paid more attention to finding spelling errors. We also NEVER see anything. Its sooo much telling and NO showing. This story had me severely disappointed because it could have been so good but the was it was executed and written flopped. The author brings up so many controversial issues and never goes anywhere with it. Uhhh, okay. Honestly I kinda skimmed most of the book as soon as I found out a college student decided the smartest thing to do to get money was to sell her virginity. Is that even legal? We are talking about the United States in Las Vegas. The have brothels, prostitution, and some other severely illegal things going on. And no cops are snooping around and even interview some of the prostitutes that live in a R rated playboy mansion. No one is suspicious? No goes hmm this seems wrong or off?? Completely  lacking realistic scenes. Terrible read and as mentioned before highly disturbing.

Characters: The MC "Libby" whose real name is Elizabeth is poor even though she has her own bottled water company? Uhhh to be heiress of bottled water in an adult book? Okay, I guess. So apparently she was fat and then lost weight? I'm not sure. Honestly I can't even tell you anything about her because we learn nothing about her except maybe she is a creepy stalker and has twisted logic. Her decisions are all over the place and so are her emotions. I can't understand why she wants Hunter because that guy is a sicko. Hunter is whipped in the book has random sex with people, and has mommy issues because that's apparently why he is having sex with this porn star. His logic seriously makes no sense.  

Someone on good reads put this up saying this is what she understood and honestly I have to agree.

1. Hunter got framed for something and was having nasty sex with the woman who framed him.
2. Elizabeth has a fight with her friend and he runs off and gets into an 'accident', but his parents don't want to pay for his care so she comes up with the idea of selling her v-card to pay for it.
3. While Elizabeth is 'training' at the brothel, Hunter continues to have the nasty sex with the woman while investigating what's going on.
4. Hunter buys Elizabeth's v-card for $10 million (*rolls eyes*), but doesn't cash it in right away (*facepalm*).
5. After he does cash it in Elizabeth is captured and held hostage.

And she is right. I had no clue whatsoever what was happening who was blackmailing who and why. It all was just a pile of unexplained crap. 

We meet her best friend Cross who I liked probably because he was in a coma the while book and didn't speak.  We also meet her other best friend Sari? Sara? something with an S who apparently has money but doesn't use it because Libby says she wants to sell her V-card. WTF. Who wants to do that. She says she is sick of being a virgin. But at the end of the book when she is taken hostage the one dude says how much she will sell for and is making it out to be a lot because she's hot. But at the beginning she says she is fat or was fat...Look, heavy curvy women are beautiful but if she is so sexy wouldn't she have men up her but left and right? No? I just don't get the authors logic. At all. 

I also wish i knew this was erotica because it was mentioned no where but even still it wasn't all to bad except for the nasty sex scenes. No way were they even hot. They actually turned my stomach and I skipped them when I saw that that's what we were on. 

Writing/Syntax: Terribly annoying, so many mistakes. Made no sense. There were whole paragraphs that I wondered why they were even in there because they had nothing to do with anything.

Romance: Sucked. I already explained it up top so I'm just going to go with, nauseating.

Ending: It was stupid and relieving because at least it ended. I hated this whole book and the best part was the acknowledgement page. 

If you still want to read this after this review then I strongly recommend it for  18+. But I wouldn't waste my time. 

Arc provided in exchange for an honest review.

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~Cat