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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Blog Tour: Scars and Stilettos by Harmony Dust

DISCLOSURE: I received a free copy of this book for review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for my review, and my review was not influenced by my receiving the book for free.

I can't speak for anyone else, but there have been plenty of times I wondered why anyone would choose to become a stripper or worse. I felt that Scars and Stilettos - The Transformation of an Exotic Dancer by Harmony Dust was the perfect book to give me the answers to some of my questions.

I'll share my thoughts with you in a moment. First, here's the official summary.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Fear of being abandoned keeps nineteen-year-old Harmony Dust trapped in an abusive and cruel relationship. She thinks she has hit bottom-tens of thousands of dollars in debt, struggling to get by, and so controlled by her boyfriend that she doesn't protest when he begins openly sleeping around. Things can't get worse . . . until someone tells her how much money she can make as an exotic dancer. For the next three years, Harmony lives a double life as Monique, a dancer in a fully-nude strip club.

Scars and Stilettos is Harmony's stark, honest, and ultimately hopeful story of how God found her in that dark, noisy place and led her out. She has since married, completed an MA in social welfare, and now leads Treasures, an organization helping women in the sex trade discover their true worth.

"Harmony wrote her story so that you and your friends may get help out of whatever dark tunnel you find yourself in. . . . once you start this book, you will not be able to put it down and you will want to get a copy for every person you know." -Holly Wagner, from the preface

MY REVIEW:
Although Harmony did not give graphic details regarding every area of her life, there was plenty of honest narrative for me to find it hard to read some parts of the book.

I found it hard to comprehend how people could/can treat a child in such a way, how time after time circumstances placed Harmony in situations that resulted in her being exploited, how no one cared enough about Harmony to tell her what she desperately wanted to hear: that she had value as a human being and was too good for that life.

Although difficult for me to read at times, I am glad I did read Scars and Stilettos. It gave me a chance to look behind the facade of sex and glamour to see the hurts that propelled Harmony down such a destructive road. Her story has widened my horizons and given me a greater compassion for girls who are still in her position.

I am thrilled that Harmony has chosen to use her new life to reach out to those who are still where she once was, and I pray that her ministry is used of God to transform the lives of many to whom no one else would be willing to witness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Harmony Dust is founder of Treasures, a nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles that reaches out to women in the sex industry to show them they are loved, valued, and purposed. Find out more about Treasures, Harmony, and her book at www.IAmATreasure.com or http://www.ScarsandStilettos.com. Check out Harmony's Press Page for magazine articles and videos about her work with women in the sex-trade industry.

LEARN MORE:
Visit the LitFuse blog tour to find out what other bloggers have to say.

CONTEST
!
Kregel Publishers is graciously donating a $50 Amazon.com gift card for the Litfuse Blog Tour Contest! Woo-hoo (thanks Kregel!) All you have to do to enter is either tweet (see TWEET THIS below) or share the book on Facebook using this link: http://www.litfusegroup.com/Blog-Tours/scars-and-stilettos-blog-tour.html

TWEET THIS:
(and be sure to use the hashtag #HarmonyDust to be entered into Amazon.com gift certificate drawing)
Scars and Stilettos-story of ex-stripper #HarmonyDust & her work now to reach out to those still in the sex industry. http://ow.ly/1WrGD

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