Emma McGeown came out of nowhere last year and bowled me over with her debut Aurora. I absolutely never read blurbs, so I was slightly surprised by the "sugaring" storyline. What could have been a throwaway fluff book actually has a lot of depth and angst. Learning about Ciara's backstory was heartbreaking and explains why she has unapologetically made the career choices that may seem questionable. It feels like an age gap romance, although Charlie is only a couple of years older than Ciara, because Charlie is farther along in her career. I enjoy a rich/poor storyline, and this is handled very appropriately.

Emma McGeown is officially on my list of do-not-miss authors.

I've never read a book like this but I very much enjoyed it. I do think that Charlie and Ciara should have spent a bit more than 3 weeks together but besides that I loved it.

I received an arc through netgalley.

i loved and hated this book, i honestly enjoyed the experience even tho there's nothing special or original and i've read this storyline a lot. I started around 11:30 PM and did not think i was going to enjoy it to the point of staying up until 3:40 AM. I must say tho I did not like the main characters. thought both were jerks, Ciara was hypocrite and Charlie was sometimes annoying,

Thanks to Netgalley and Boldstroke Books for a copy of this book.

Ciara Reilly is done with love, instead she's turned to being a sugar girl, one of the best in Dublin, the money helps keep her family out of debt and the casual dating suits her.

Things change when she meets the gorgeous Charlie Keller. Will she choose a chance of a real relationship over her career?

This book was instantly intriguing, I read it in one day. It was surprisingly emotional. Both characters are well fleshed out and have great, diverse family backgrounds. A very enjoyable read.

Summary:
Ciara is a woman in her late 20s who works at a local coffee joint to make a living and shares a one-bedroom apartment with her best friend. Aisling, on the other hand, is a Sugar Girl on an app that connects Sugar Daddies and Sugar girls. The two differing personalities are the SAME person.

Ciara, aka Aisling, becomes one of Dublin’s most successful Sugar Girls and is ranked as a “Platinum” member. She enjoys “sugaring” and has no plans to end this line of work because it pays for her father’s in-home care. Then, she meets the very beautiful and very intriguing Charlie. The two hit it off instantly, but… Charlie has no idea what Ciara does to earn an income.

Ciara is faced with a difficult situation - give up her Sugar Girl income to be with Charlie or break things off before it gets too serious. Little does Ciara know, Charlie has been keeping something from her as well.


Review:
I will start off by saying that I never opt for a romance novel of any kind. However, when I read Sugar Girl’s description, I knew I couldn’t resist!

Almost the entire novel is written from Ciara’s perspective, except for one chapter towards the end from Charlie’s point-of-view. I completely resonated with Ciara from the start and it made reading Sugar Girl even more enjoyable for me. I will say that I feel Ciara was a bit dramatic at times which can be a turn-off in a character, but it definitely didn’t keep me from wanting to finish.

One reason I typically don’t go for romance is because they can often be a bit cheesy. Sugar Girl was NOT. I could imagine the entire book as if it were happening in front of me and I didn’t feel any sort of secondhand embarrassment, which was incredibly refreshing.

I started reading around 7pm on a Friday night and read for a few hours. Then, picked it up again Saturday afternoon and finished it rather quickly. Some paragraphs were a little bit more wordy than I'd prefer but I was never bored while reading. And that is very important - life is too short to read a book that you don't fully enjoy!

I received a digital copy of Sugar Girl in exchange for an honest review (thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books). All of the above thoughts and opinions are my own!

If I saw Sugar Girl on a shelf at my bookstore, I would definitely purchase it myself.