Gigolo is an entertaining romp,supposedly the story of Ben Foster,a care worker and part time masseur catapulted into the world of servicing rich and famous women for money. I say supposedly as while perhaps Mr Foster did once work as a Gigolo parts of the tale are highly unlikely, not least his lovely wife barely batting an eyelid as new cars and a whole new wardrobe of designer clothes appear,hubby fails to come home from work etc after a life of scraping by. The sex scenes are more titillating than pornographic with a variety of "interests" portrayed,seemingly with a variety of well-known public figures. Ben Foster works double shifts for the minimum wage at a care home for boys with learning disabilities. With a young wife and three children under the age of five, he is ground down by poverty and debt. The Committee”, women with titles and/or money, make him over, a la My Fair Lady. Ben goes along with it all, because the money is good, it’s fun and he does want his children to have advantages and education.

At one level, this is like the Kama Sutra and The Joy of Sex all rolled into one. Or, as Foster/Thurlow say, My Fair Lady in reverse: Ben is given a makeover by Vivienne - and a slew of gorgeous, rich, and amazingly raunchy women. They shower him with sex and money. Possibly even happiness. Going from a low-paid job looking after boys that really needed his attention, with his spare time devoted to massage. Ben Foster is married with 3 children and poor. His wife works in a laundry and Ben works with disabled boys. To help ends meet he does massages for extra money, not realizing that this job would take him inside the world of the rich that include celebrities etc. It all started when he met Vivienne whom gave him a new car and wardrobe and then he is soon referred and making a lot of money. This turns into massage, sex, and money. Soon Ben is addicted to life with money and possibly a debt free one. He leads his wife to believe it's "just massages." Time goes by and soon his wife finds out it's not just massages her husband is doing. He takes a few classes in yoga massage and he is turned from Ben Foster - nice guy, but ordinary guy, with unexciting job, and nice wife – into “Big Ben”, world-class stud, mingling (and more) with A-listers. This is a classic fairy-tale that happens to be real. It’s probably every man’s dream, at one time or another. One of his regular clients was a rich man, and Ben would see him once a week in his state. The guy wasn’t very friendly and looked down upon Ben, but one day there was a group of rich and powerful ladies visiting the client’s mother and they all took interest in the dark-haired, blue-eyed masseuse.

Married, and a father of three, Ben Foster was struggling to make ends meet, even after working two different jobs. He had inherited some money from his late grandmother and used it to go to school, and became a certified massage specialist, but it wasn’t easy getting clients. The narrative voice is a compelling one and Ben is a nice guy: self-deprecating, charming without being insincere, and all-round good guy (apart from the fact that he's 'cheating' on his wife, of course!) I must admit I’ve got a certain weird fascination with gigolo’s so when I’d seen this book was browsing for my next read, my curiosity was piqued. To get the inside scoop to the how’s and the why’s people get into the life of a paid sex worker intrigued me.

Personally I wasn't convinced that it's not at least partly a very entertaining piece of fiction but I don't really care and the "entertaining" bit is what I look for in a book and it was certainly that. Jim Perkins aka Ben Foster has spoken about his life as a gigolo. Picture: Neil Didsbury (Image: Archant) Married, and a father of three, Ben Foster was struggling to make ends meet, even after working two different jobs. He had inherited some money from his late grandmother and used it to go to school, and become a certified massage specialist, but it wasn’t easy getting clients.

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I enjoyed this book very much, it is exciting and bold. The only problem is, I got very attached to the story, so naturally, after I was finished, I still wanted more. The insight on what British ultra high net worth individuals do and how they behave is fascinating. His thoughts on the subject are illuminating. The parties, trips and sex go on for a time after he is hired to work in a high end spa. As is often the case, he begins to believe one of his friends and over extends himself, purchasing property and enrolling the kids in activities. Another old friend had warned that the higher you ascend, the further you fall. Just as the economy takes a dive, the bottom falls out. I saw that coming miles away. As a well paid gigolo, Ben’s bank account swells and he acquires a taste for the good life, while his wife, Kelly, is both suspicious that Ben provides more than just massage to his wealthy patrons and is being drawn into a world that will eventually destroy him. And she’s right.