** spoiler alert ** 
 I dont even really want to rate this, since it was a short story prequel to introduce Pretty Girls. I WILL say that I have already read Pretty Girls and maybe that's why this story didn't really grab me. 
 I often find Slaughter's short stories just don't ring the bell for me. Her writing style doesn't lend to short. I do prefer the longer novels. And, as usual, not liking this story much doesn't affect my desire to read everything she's going to publish from now to eternity. You win some, you lose some. This one wasn't a winner and having read Pretty Girls already, I'm glad I didn't know this much about Julia. I got what I needed from the novel itself.