Blurb:
“I'm dying to be beautiful.”
My story isn't unique. You've heard it before. I'm just a girl who doesn't eat as much as she should. See, I have goals, big ones, and nobody is going to stop me, not even a boy named Emmett. He has good intentions and he's hot as hell, but he doesn't understand what it's like to want something so bad that you'll do anything for it. I'm going to become a model, even if it kills me. Dream big or go home, that's what they always say, right?
Paint Me Beautiful, a New Adult/Contemporary Romance Novel Recommended for Ages 18 and Up.
My Review
This is another great, wonderful, amazing book by C.M. Stunich. I cannot even imagine living every day in the mind of someone like Claire Simone. She constantly repeats her mantra, "Skinny is beautiful. Skinny is pretty. Skinny is perfect." She hides food in water bottles, throws food away, or throws up what she eats later, all in the name of beauty - and to hide it from her family. She knows it's unsafe, but in her mind it is working hard to meet her goals.
I cannot wait to read the next book, due out later this month (yay!) to see what happens. The ending of this book left me completely heart broken and in tears - you have been warned.
Even though this book is recommended for ages 18 and up, I would recommend that this book be given to anyone that you think may be suffering with an eating disorder. Reading the book from Claire's point of view may help them to get to a place they need to be to ask for help.
Resources for those who need/want help
National Alliance on Mental Illness | Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders | S.A.F.E. Alternatives
If you are considering suicide, please talk to someone about it!
"If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?"
~ RuPaul Charles
Excerpt
“Emmett,” I moan as he gives into temptation and seeks my lips again. We both keep our eyes open and half-lidded, watching, looking, absorbing. Ah, Emmett Sinclair with the ardent eyes and the red-hot lips, roasting, scalding, scorching me, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. I am lost to him in that dark bedroom, buried beneath his passion and his conviction that he will save me, whatever the cost. I'm willing to die for my dreams. Well, so is he. Emmett Sinclair wants to rescue me from myself, and he'll stop at nothing to make sure that he does.
I touch his wet hair; he touches mine. We exchange wordless words with nipping lips and touch and feel and caress. Emmett sees places on me that nobody else gets to see, touches parts of me that I find putrid, and he looks happy about it, thrilled. His hard body doesn't lie as it slips in and out of me, and the expression on his face tells me that whatever it is that I see wrong in myself, he doesn't see it.
I am broken in my own eyes.
I am sick in my family's.
I am not good enough in the fashion world's.
In Emmett's, I am whole.
I kiss him again and this time, I don't let him go until I fall into pleasure; I don't even let him breathe. I keep my arm wrapped around his neck and I absorb all of the good in him, pray that it rubs off on me, that once this fast is over, once I've got this contract, that I'll be happy, relaxed, pleased to just be, to just exist.
I come in Emmett's arms and then lie quiet and panting while he finds his, just enjoying the feeling of him inside of me. When he finally collapses next to me, he pulls me against him and cradles my head under his chin. Neither of us speaks for a long, long while.
***This is one of the intimate scenes in the book, and the others are pretty similar. They are not too graphic, but I would recommend reading the book yourself before deciding if you want your daughter to read it.***
About the Author
C.M. Stunich was raised under a cover of fog in the area known simply as Eureka, CA. A mysterious place, this strange, arboreal land nursed Caitlin's (yes, that's her name!) desire to write strange fiction novels about wicked monsters, magical trains, and Nemean Lions (Google it!). She currently enjoys drag queens, having too many cats, and tribal bellydance.
Always a fan of the indie scene and 'sticking it to the man,' Ms. Stunich decided to take the road less traveled and forgo the traditional publishing route. You can be assured though that she received several rejections as to ensure her proper place in the world of writers before taking up a friend's offer to start a publishing company. Sarian Royal was born, and Ms. Stunich's books slowly transformed from mere baking chocolate to full blown tortes with hand sculpted fondant flowers.
C.M. is a writer obsessed with delivering the very best and scours her mind on a regular basis to select the most unusual stories for the outside world.
Ms. Stunich can be reached via e-mail or by post and loves to hear from her readers. Ms. Stunich also wrote this biography and has no idea why she decided to refer to herself in the third person.
Happy reading and carpe diem!
Stalk C.M.
Buy Paint Me Beautiful on Amazon!
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