The Black & The White

by Evelin Weber

Meet Isabelle, a small town girl with big ambitions. Determined to repay her mother for putting her through college, she has bought a one-way ticket from Nowheresville to New York, leaving her boyfriend behind for a new life as a junior trader.

But the Wall Street Isabelle discovers is one of high finance and low morals: the only things black and white are the Amex cards and the wraps of cocaine; the men are the masters of the universe, and the women are expected to play along.

On a trip to Sin City for some corporate schmoozing, Isabelle finds herself in bed with the bank's biggest client, and he doesn't want what happens in Vegas to stay in Vegas. Then she discovers her boss is cheating the system as well as his wife - a move that could see them both swapping VIP clubs for a different set of bars ...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 2013

About the author

I was born and raised in the Philippines to a Filipina mother and a German Father before moving to a small town of 2,000 people in Upstate New York during my teens. The town was so small Chinatown was our house. Since then, I've also lived in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, London, and Madrid before moving back to New York City.

I attended Syracuse University in 1995 for four years, mingling mostly with the International student body, having been deprived of cultural diversity in upstate New York. I was involved in student organisations such as A.S.I.A (Asian Students in America) and was an integral part of P.S.O (Philippine Student Organisation). During the weekdays, you would find me in computer science labs learning HTML (yes, I know that is dating myself). Friday nights was spent between library stacks. Now, that may sound boring, but Friday night library pre-parties were quite fun.

After working for nearly ten years on Wall Street crunching numbers, analysing and problems-solving during my life as a banker,trader and broker (experiences from which I have drawn many inspirations for my book "The Black & The White"), I began to write as a catharsis whilst simultaneously igniting my entrepreneurial spirit.

But my life hasn't always been about numbers and spreadsheets. I find time to do TV shows, model, get my pilot's license, scoot around my vespa in New York, hug lions, pet rhinos, skydive in Namibia, yoga in Mexico, party in Ibiza, read infront of cozy fireplaces in Switzerland and watch sunsets in Bali..... all in the name of writing.

I currently live in New York but a good portion of my time is spent travelling and seeking experiences to enhance my passion for writing. I'm currently working on my next novel so don't forget to check back in soon.

Reviews

[SueBee★bring me an alpha!★]

FREE today on Amazon US (4/1/2013)

[buzy_reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main characters: Andrew, Stephen, Kim, Isabelle , and Carin.
Married men: Ben, Stephen, Andrew, Giovanni, Peter, Eric, Anson
Mistresses: Jessica, Carin, Kim

The event that took place in the beginning is the end result of Isabelle's life after moving to New York. What proceeded was the story of Isabelle and her beginning when she arrived in New York to start her new career. The story was about Isabelle's day to day activities that took place leading up to her threesome with Stephen.
This was Isabelle's journey adapting into the culture as a big city girl in New York. Isabelle was this sheltered naive girl who blossomed in New York under the guidance of Kim, Andrew, and Stephen. New York characters in this story were deceitful, cheating, drug using brokers who were worried about partying and social status.

I'm saddened by the negative comments about the husbands wives. While it's not uncommon for people to cheat, have flings, or have open arrangements I'm not comfortable with the comments being addressed about their wives. These men were spoiled and undeserving of the greedy lifestyle.

All the male characters were married. All the activities were with their mistresses instead of their wives. It's an unconventional story about the lifestyles of these stocker broker characters getting caught up in the glamorous life of money, drugs, and sex.
The story continued to drone on about the lifestyles of the mistresses and the married men who were traders in Wall Street.
I'm not surprised by Isabelle's actions I knew eventually she would succumb to the lifestyle it was too tempting. I would have been more shocked had she been able to refuse the temptation.
The story ended abruptly. I felt I missed something vital along the way. I felt douped. At times it was interesting and then it droned on with too much deception. The constant mentioning that these were married men risking their families lives for the thrill of drugs and sex was wearing on my nerves. I had hoped for better. The outcome was not worth the read.
Affairs with married men. Infidelity. Strip clubs. Drugs. Lies. Fraud. It was all too much.
New York jaded Isabelle.
The broker industry took a nice girl like Isabelle, ate her up, and then spit her out.
Wall Street was a cancer that ate at her soul.
If all you have is hope, sell. Advice given by Carin to Isabelle.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was different from any other types of romance novels out there in the sense that everything was freaking crazy. Normally, relationships that involve love triangles and millionaires involve either a CEO or a actor or famous person. This was not the case in this novel. It was a twisted, fucked up look into a world that many people don't ever see but hear about.

It was a lonely read though, that much I have to admit. At times I didn't think I was going to be able to finish it because of how lonely the main character was even though she was surrounded by a ton of people. She didn't know who she could turn to or who she could trust. I wanted to hold her hand and tell her that everything would be just fine if she kept on pushing through.

In the end I'm happy the way the novel turned out. It was poetic and perfect.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I chose to get this book but either way, I did and figured I would try it. To me this was like watching(reading) a bad accident..you don't want to watch (read) but you can't help but want to see what is really going to happen...UGH..I just felt so sorry for the whole thing. Interesting to read about the whole wall street trading thing and the comings/goings of people in that "world"...is it true or not, who really knows unless you live it. But it makes me think if this does go on, no wonder our world is as screwed up as it seems some times. Just very sad to see her want to improve her life and then watch it go downstream until she gets too close to the bottom and then finally decides to change things. Not something I would read again. Wasn't necessarily a bad book but just not what I guess I thought it was going to be.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just glad this was free. It was fair. Unlike other reviewers, I found several passages where the writing was stilted and awkward. It was "this happened. Then this happened. Then that." At times, I had to push myself to slog through to the end.

As some other reviewers noted, it was hard to understand we spent 98% of the book on her decline and ruin - then just a few pages on her redemption. It just wasn't real and was definitely a plotting concern.

Overall it was rather entertaining, outside these flaws. For that I give it a three.

[Seda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilariously fun and sexy! very easy to read as the situations moves fast and no unnecessary explanations which usually exhaust the readers. You start reading and you just flow to the end. I read in 2 days and it made me walk with my ipad in my hand as i si ply didnt wanna give a break to reading:) everything about this book is good!

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow, I am not sure how 600 pages you can describe the down fall of a girl and 10 pages for the change. I would of like to see some of the things she did to turn her life around in better detail. For the most part it was a good read.

[Charisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This I started reading when I got it as a free download. Wasn't on my favorites list but still a good read. Was a little too out there for me, with all the drugs and crazy affairs, maybe because I'm a small town girl. Regardless, would still recommend.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only real problem I had with this book is that it starts close to the end of the story then bam backtracks quickly and we get loads of story about her downfall, and maybe 2 chapters of her redemption. Wasn't overly impressed, even if it was written well.

[Jeanette Verster · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was refreshingly different to other books I've read recently. The only thing I think could have been done better was her turnaround towards the end... It happened too quickly
I could well imagine this actually happening in NY

[T.H.]

Amazon freebie 4/6

[Jackie Merino · Rating 1 out of 5]

took me forever to finish this book. I just was not that interested in the Wall Street theme.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I didn't get into the begining of the book,... but I"m glad I finished the book. Its a different romance style. I found myself cheering for Isabelle and I loved the ending. Good Read.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book...

[LeeAnn Borden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Same story line just kept repeating. Drive my crazy. Couldn't wait to be done.

[Matlene Kind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all that glitters is gold...

[Shawana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book, it kind of reminded me of an Ellis book. Though the ending felt abrupt to me, the message was clear.

[Lindsey]

Amazon freebie 4/4/13