Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
In this Pretty Woman-esque novel, a middle-aged mom decides to have a little fun and get a little extra money by becoming an escort.
Because of her age, she brands and sells herself as "the wife you want to come home to", using the fake name Julia. Everything goes well, and she enjoys the work, but she's decided to get out of the escort business. But when she meets her last client, she falls in love with him. The issue? Like most of her other clients, this man is also married. But he's married to a woman Julia was close friends with over twenty years ago when the two met on a school trip to France.
The chapters of this book alternate between modern-day Toronto and 1995 France, when Julia was on the trip with Zoe, her client's wife.
Synopsis
Meet Julia, a confident and empowered middle-aged single mother gracefully balancing her professional life as the sought-after escort, "Just Julia", a nod to Pretty Woman. She enjoys the lucrative work; however, faced with the shifting sands of parenthood, she has decided to exit her "under the covers" business and turn to a full-time teaching career, stepping away from the escort business for good.
On her final day, Julia finds herself more than enjoying the company of her last client--a handsome man named Alex, who she soon recognizes as the husband of a friend with whom she had spent a turbulent summer au pairing in the South of France 25 years earlier. They have long since lost touch, but memories from that time still haunt Julia and she still stalks her old friend on social media. Julia is bewildered as she realizes that she has undeniably strong feelings for a man for the first time in her life. Can love at first sight really be true?
As Julia falls deeper in love (and lust) with Alex, she can't help but dream that maybe--just maybe--he will reciprocate her feelings. When Alex asks (and pays) for Julia her and her daughter to go to France, where he'll be vacationing with his family, including his wife, Julia can't say no, no matter how risky it is for everyone. Mostly, Julia wonders if and how it's possible she can get Alex to leave his marriage for her.
Alternating between past and present day, Julia reflects on her escorting experiences and explores the seven reasons why many men are reluctant to leave their marriages and choose to pay for intimacy instead. Will Julia be the exception?