So last week we reviewed the wonderful Diary of a Mad Fat Girl. This week's ebook slot is dedicated to Phone Kitten by Marika Christian. When I first heard of this book I was intrigued; a phone-sex worker turned sleuth? Sounds like the perfect mix. And with a lot of Kindle titles out there at a very low price, including this one, there was no reason not to give this a chance.Emily is an aspiring writer - introverted and a little overweight, she dreams of being the hot, savvy columnist like her best friend Dani. But when Dani steals a piece of Emily's writing for her upcoming column - a piece that Emily was going to show to her boss in her plight to gain her ideal job. Sadly, Dani successfully frames her for plagiarism, leaving Emily mad - and worse, fired.
In need of fast cash, Emily takes a job as a phone sex worker. Blessed with a lovely voice, Emily signs up alongside an office full of other girls to entertain men, sometimes regular guys looking for a quick fantasy fix, others fetishists who require Emily to put on a little more of an act. But despite the fact that Emily wouldn't dare indulge in such dirty talk in real-life, she finds her new job perfectly fine. When Emily is Peyton, her brand-new phone sex persona, she's feisty and super sexy - Peyton would be daring and adventurous, unlike the real-life Emily.
However, when she starts talking to a man who's rather important in her small town, Emily - or Peyton - starts to become his best friend. He starts to let Peyton in on everything about his life, but it doesn't matter, right? Because after all, Peyton's just an act.
At least that's what Emily thinks...
Whilst on a date with her new boyfriend, a hot cop, Emily runs into Peyton's guy, and he knows the truth. But when he's found dead just a matter of hours later, Emily knows something's not right...
Cue Emily's new investigative role. Which would be made a lot easier if she just told her cop boyfriend. But telling the truth would mean outing herself as a phone sex worker, and what guy would be happy with that?
There's only one option - Emily has to solve the mystery herself, before anyone else gets hurt...
Okay, I'll be honest here - when I first downloaded Phone Kitten, I didn't know what to expect. I loved the synopsis straight away and I had to try it, but I really didn't think it would be as good as it was! Marika is an excellent writer and I simply loved Emily - especially when she'd ask herself 'what would Peyton do?' The mystery was fast-paced and worked so well. I also loved Emily's gay best friend Dennis, who is in no way an overused stereotype but instead a down-to-earth guy who Emily can rely on (and reveal all to!)
This is fabulous book, even though it's not that long. I read it in a night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's actually Marika's debut and I'm so glad I came across it - I'm just hoping she writes more!
Rating: 5/5
