Selling Scarlett by Ella James

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.

Review 

 

Elizabeth Deville was a heiress, now she finds herself taking care of her Mom who she placed in rehab and is almost broke.  She does have two closest friends otherwise she feels like an outsider. One night after an argument her close friend, Cross, took off on his motorcycle and had a serious accident.  After a few weeks of treatment at a specialized facility, Cross's parents are no longer willing to continue to pay for his specialized treatments.  Elizabeth feels responsible and during a court hearing she offers to pay for the specialized treatment.  She doesn't have the money so she decides to auction off the one thing she has that others may want.... her virginity.  

Hunter, a poker player, an investor and a heir to his family's Bourbon business has found himself in the middle of a missing persons case.  He was the last one with her before she had gone missing.  Hunter is also being blackmailed by a porn actress, Priscilla, to keep his past hidden.

This book was intense.  I could not read it fast enough.  Elizabeth (Libby) doesn't fit in with her friends social class.  She's no longer a heir to her family's business because her father sold it.  We are first introduced to a very insecure Elizabeth.
"I'm still a fat girl. Not a lot fat.  Just regular, eats-too-much-good-food fat.  The kind of fat that curls the waist of my jeans down and creates an unattractive line of back fat between my pants and my top, just over the butt, when I sit crossed-legged, hunched over one of my textbook."
Elizabeth was attending a party at Hunter's home.  At the party she found herself in Hunter's room and they had a brief encounter. Elizabeth had a crush on Hunter since she was a teenager.  After she leave's Hunter's room, she runs into Cross.  They have a few words, Cross takes off and the accident occurs.
As the story progresses and Elizabeth decides to auction off her virginity, she losses weight and begins to tone up.  She arrives as a "virgin at a brothel" in better shape but still insecure because she's a virgin.  I couldn't have been happier with who won the auction.
"I've sold my virginity.  I can't believe anyone paid $10 million for my hymen."
After the auction the story takes a couple of twists and turns, intense page turners. Ella James hit the mark!  5 intense, sexy and intriguing stars.

Purchase on Amazon Selling Scarlett (A Love Inc. Novel)