"You're a woman who is comfortable in her own sexuality. That necessarily means you must be labeled, categorized and filed away for everyone's safety."

Rebecca "Bex" Foxworth likes that description of herself. It makes her sound strong, dangerous, and powerful—like she's standing against some grand injustice by using her body as she sees fit. That's how her friend Claire Howard sees her and if Claire has taught her anything, it's that labels are defined by the people who wear them, and not the other way around.

But SLUT is more than a label to Bex: it's her armor. It protects her from ever having to share her true self. The loop in her head tells her she's innately flawed and wholly unworthy. Why else would her parents insist she go under the knife for a new nose, a new body, and plastic perfection?

That's something Thornton Henry Edgeleaf would never understand. Thornton is perfect, in every way—handsome, worldly, passionate—with just one unforgivable flaw: he's utterly sincere. It makes Bex want to run screaming, back into the familiar, indifferent arms of men who won't fail to dismiss and mistreat her. But nothing's as easy as it used to be...