Review: My Bare Lady by Piper Sheldon

My Bare Lady by Piper Sheldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC in exchanged for an honest review.

This story follows Suzie, a quick tempered exotic dancer who works for the Black Demons. The Black Demons is one of two warring motorcycle gangs in Green Valley. Suzie dances at their bar after a run in with the Iron Wraiths leader. The Demons took her in and put her under their "protection". She doesn't want to live out the rest of her life as a stripper, but to become a dancer and support herself and her alcoholic father without taking off her clothes she has to get the local building inspector to sign off on the new plans for the club. Clifford Rutledge is a local professor at the University of Tennessee and the only Professional Engineer who can sign off on the designs for the club. Driven by integrity and a deep moral code, he refuses to sign off on the sketchy plans. The club's owner Occum is determined to get Clifford to sign whether by bribe or with Suzie's womanly ways. They strike up a deal, Suzie comes with Clifford for several months to help him with his research and he'll consider signing off on the plans. Clifford is working on research to prove that people can achieve their potential regardless of where they come from and what their circumstances are. He's not good at communicating what he's trying to do so he and Suzie butt heads all the time on the outcome of his experiment.

I loved the message of this book. You aren't your circumstances and you can be whatever you want to be regardless of where you are from, who you parents are, and you always have a choice if you want one. While that may be easier to read in a book than to put into practice because let's face it not everyone's circumstances are that easy, Suzie's weren't that is for sure. I really loved that Suzie developed a friend network that supported her and her choices no matter what they were. They didn't want to see her get hurt, but they wanted her choices to be her own.

That being said, Suzie and Clifford aka "Ford" didn't quite click for me. He was really awkward and she was a spitfire. He is always holding back so as not to lose control of his emotions. It is hard to believe that a hot, swoony relationship develops between the two of them because he is so closed off and she is so out of the realm of what he finds acceptable and proper. Turns out they both have more in common than you'd think, and Suzie's free spirit calls to Ford's buttoned up persona that he's built to hide his past. They work but I found the chemistry between them to be a bit lacking.

Overall I thought the story was funny, and I loved the Scorned Women Society and I can't wait to meet them in more detail as the series progresses. I'm looking forward to hearing their backstories and getting to know them and see them each get their happily ever afters. I love seeing a group of women come together to support each other. We need more of that in books and real life.

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