Can You Keep

A Secret (part 2)...

From the desk of Emily Akuze
Syracuse, New York

Dear You,

If you’re here, it means you've heard about The Curious Whore.

Maybe someone sent you a line.

Maybe you saw the title and felt a strange little tug in your chest.

Or maybe you just wanted to know what kind of woman writes something like that.

Either way—welcome.

The Curious Whore is a little story I wrote a while ago.

It’s short. It’s sharp. It’s complicated.

It's also about sex.

It’s about a woman who becomes a different version of herself for every man she meets—each night, a new role, a new fantasy. She’s good at it. Too good. Until one evening, something unexpected happens.

It’s a story about performance and desire.

But more than that, it’s a story about control, and intimacy, and what it means to be loved when you’re not even sure who you are.

When I first released it, I didn’t think it would matter much. I mostly wrote it for myself, and who I was at the time.

But it kind of caught fire.

People passed it around and started talking.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Praise for The Curious Whore

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “It made me want to start a secret life.”

—Anonymous Goodreads review (and possibly my ex)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “If Anaïs Nin and Ottessa Moshfegh had a very dangerous baby.”—@hotbibliowitch

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I didn’t think it would make me cry. Then I didn’t think I’d cry

again 15 minutes later.”—T. Delaney, nurse, mother, secret romantic

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ “The most erotic story I’ve ever read that never once described anyone’s genitals.” —Duncan, 44, awkwardly reading it on the train

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I told my therapist I was reading it. He asked for the link.”—Sofia L., ex-Catholic, current mess

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I read it in one sitting, then immediately texted someone I shouldn’t have.”—A reader in Boston

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Not sure if I should frame it or delete my browser history.”—Reddit user u/LowKeyPossessed

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “The pacing of a thriller, the heart of a love story, the soul of a confession.”—@bookburningbeauty

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “There is one sentence in this story that broke something open in me. I won’t tell you which one.”—@quietchaoswords

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This is the kind of thing I would hide under my mattress.”—Me, if I were you

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I keep buying these stories like they’re vitamins. But for my bad decisions.”

— Angela B., email subscriber

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Claudette is the reason I broke up with my therapist and started journaling with a knife.”— @smutandpsychology

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “This is not erotica. This is a heist. And I am the willing victim.” — Devon S., Instagram DM

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “The Curious Whore gave me more clarity about men than six years of dating and two group chats.”— Julia T., book club review

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I wish I could unread it just to feel that first holy sh*t again.”— @whorecorefanclub

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I didn’t expect to feel seen. And then Claudette made me feel exposed.”— Alison D., 43, Minneapolis

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Like if Dorothy Parker wrote fanfic for Killing Eve.”— Postmodern Pulp Weekly

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Sharp enough to leave a paper cut on your soul.”— The Indie Erotica Authority

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “If you don’t fall in love with Claudette Jones, you’re either dead inside or owe her money.”— Modern Vice Magazine

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Emily Akuze writes with the kind of precision that should be licensed — or banned.”— The Lit & Lust Dispatch

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I just want Claudette to step on me in those stupid pink cheesecake shop heels.”— commenter, Reddit

It wasn’t available in stores. It wasn’t advertised. And still, women everywhere started reading it.

They wrote me emails that felt like diary entries.

They told me they felt seen.

Some said they had to put it down halfway through and walk around the room.

But then… I pulled it.

Why?

Because I changed.

And even though I still write the series, I didn’t want to just write about love in the shadows anymore.

I wanted to write about love in the light, too.

The soft kind. The awkward kind. The first kind. The last kind.

Love that’s brave. Love that’s funny. Love that’s small and daily and worth paying attention to.

So I started something new: a little daily experiment, called How to Write a Love Letter.

Each morning, I write one tiny little story about love, then I email it to my readers.

Different every day. Always real in some way.

Will take you about 3 minutes to read.

And it’s free.

(and it might just change how you feel about your day, and your life, and everything)

I'd love it if you joined in.

So here’s what I'm doing...

If you sign up now for my little daily love letter, I’ll send you the original copy of The Curious Whore for you to read and keep.

Think of it as an ethical bribe if you like.

Remember, it’s no longer for sale anymore. It’s not on Amazon. It’s not in stores.

The only place you can get it is right here.

So if you want it—and you like the idea of trying also getting a free little daily love story delivered free to your email—sign up below.

And tomorrow, a brand new little love story will be waiting for you in your inbox.

But first I'll send you the bitch that started all the trouble in the first place.

With love,

Emily Akuze