Blog Tour: Stripped

For about a year, I waitressed at a restaurant next door to a strip club. The girls would come in after their shifts, enjoy some cocktails and dinner, and always tipped well. They were hard working and determined to make the money they could in a job that had a definite time clock attached. I realized that my preconceived notions about what kind of women stripped for a living were wrong.

Abby Gillis is another example of someone you might not expect to be a stripper. She's a college graduate, has two younger sisters and a younger brother whom she supports, and she's the daughter of a drug addicted mother. She strips because it pays well. She also has a day job that she took for the insurance it provides. At only twenty-four, she is mature beyond her years and nothing if not pragmatic.

But then one day, she meets Chris Reneau. Or Dr. Chris Reneau, as the case may be. He's every bit as pragmatic as she is, obsessively so, in fact. He has a lock around his heart and has thrown away the key. There is something about Abby, though, that takes a set of pliers to that lock. Before he realizes it, he's falling for her. Abby, ever in protective mode, resists. She has her brother and sisters to look after. She doesn't have time for romance.

This is a fun book with a good amount of romance, including a few scenes of hot headboard rockin'. While not terribly explicit, those scenes are steamy enough for those of you who like a little erotica mixed in with your book reading. Abby is lovely, if not occasionally frustrating. Fortunately, Chris has a friend who is a psychiatrist, and that character helps give us insight into why Abby (and Chris, for that matter) behaves as she does.

If nothing else, you will read this and find yourself sympathizing with strippers. Sometimes they really do have a heart of gold.

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YA Bound Book Tours is organizing a Book Tour for: Stripped by Brenda Rothert. This tour will run from October 7th to October 12th.  See the full blog tour schedule here.

Stripped

by Brenda Rothert

Release Date: 05/27/13

New Adult Contemporary Romance

262 pages

Summary from  

Abby Gillis is used to being called a promiscuous, uneducated whore. It’s all in a day’s work when you’re a stripper. Since her job allows her to support her siblings, 24-year-old Abby takes it all off in stride. She’s never had trouble keeping men at arm’s length – until she meets ER physician Chris Reneau, who is sexy, sweet and interested in more than what’s beneath her clothes. As their relationship unfolds, Abby becomes increasingly aware of the desire building in her for the first time, and of her yearning to be wanted by the one man who truly sees all of her.

Commitment-averse Chris finds himself in uncharted territory. He wants Abby, that’s clear, but he can’t accept not having all of her. As the distance between them erodes, he tries to convince Abby to give up stripping for a chance at something real.

As the two of them get closer, Abby realizes that truly baring it all has nothing to do with her body. Chris makes her feel more exposed than she ever has, and she has to grapple with what’s left when her notions about herself and those around her are stripped away, leaving only the naked truth.

Available from:

About the Author

Brenda Rothert lives in Central Illinois with her husband and three sons. She was a daily print journalist for nine years, during which time she enjoyed writing a wide range of stories.

These days Brenda writes New Adult Romance in the Contemporary and Dystopian genres.

Where to find Brenda: