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The man Eliza meets during her shift at the grocery store is irresistible, and their erotic encounters soon assuage memories of her divorce and leave her wanting more. Vince is a catch, but he may have some secrets. For one thing, he's cagey about divulging personal information… and professional information… well, any information really. But he is seductive and magnetic, and Eliza is hooked, even as he offers her a mysterious job for five times her current checkout clerk salary. Still, Eliza knows secrets are a rocky foundation for a relationship, particularly for a woman who isn’t exactly sharing the full story of her own past. But Vince has fallen hard for Eliza, and she finds few things are as seductive as being adored, particularly by a wealthy and enigmatic lover. So, they climb in deeper in an affair that seems to darken, like a tunnel, the further they go.
The story of Eliza and Vince is surprising and unexpected, much like the lovers it chronicles. Just when its genre finally seems identifiable (“Oh, okay, it's soft-core porn with a gangster backdrop and a beer chaser”), it bobs and weaves again, like a mysterious romantic partner revealing yet another hidden layer in an already complex personality profile. As secrets are revealed and narrative gears shift, the book's unique style showcases the explosive path of Eliza and Vince through colorful characters and a shocking climax. Like the duo themselves, the story is at times too hot to handle yet never loses its detached cool. If there's wisdom to gain, perhaps it's what lovers and readers already know: that no relationship or book runs exactly as expected. Love affairs don’t play according to scripts. Life crosses boundaries, and books about life are sure to do the same.