I'm not going to lie. When I found out I won this on Librarything, I did a dance. Ruta's first book Between Shades of Gray (not the sex book) was absolutely incredible, and Out of the Easy is no different.
Our main character Josie is the daughter of a New Orleans prostitute and that has followed her around her entire life. At 17, she's done pretty well for herself. She's graduated high school and works at a bookstore in exchange for a place to live. But she wants out. She wants to escape the Quarter and start again. She has her eyes on a college education, which was rare for a blue collar woman of the time. But with every step she takes forward, the city seems to pull her back.
Like Between Shades of Gray, Ruta excels at describing Josie's world and her friends so that you feel you are there with her but the pages aren't clogged and slow with unnecessary explanations.
Out of The Easy grabs you from page one and keeps you entertained until the very end.