BOOK REVIEW: Hate You (Rebel Ink #1) by Tracy Lorraine

 

4.25 Stars

Unbeknownst to his upper-class family, Zack Abbot owns Rebel Ink, a chain of tattoo studies in the UK and US.  While he’s out of town, his staff at his home shop in London hires a new receptionist, and she’s everything he doesn’t think he wants or needs.

“You’re everything I hate in a woman. Everything I’ve tried to leave behind. Yet you’re here. Tempting me. Driving me crazy.”

An art grad student, Tabatha Anderson wants to escape her parent’s elite and snobbish life. But Zack’s too blinded by his distain for what he thinks she represents to get to know her…well until he starts to get to know her in other ways.

It’s not short on steam, which is plus. And the pair definitely have chemistry. It’s a love-hate romance so their interactions are both heated and combative.  

“Everything’s fair in love and war, Kitten.”

Told via their alternating first person POV, Zack struggles with emotional attachment and social class hang-ups and takes it out on Tabitha. And while she doesn’t take his crap, especially in the beginning, I would have liked to see her push back more as things progressed and it continued. There’s alpha and then there’s anger management issues and Zack had both. Though he does thankfully grow as a character and begins to open his eyes. I was kinda surprised when they were both stated to be 27 since their issues of finding their identity and accepting themselves seemed more representative of 18–24-year-olds rather than late 20s.

Never the less, I did like both characters as well as the supporting ones too. I’m interested in reading about the other guys in the shop who were all sweeties to Tabby. I hope the series continues some unresolved plot points with Tabatha’s life (i.e. her parents) that seemed like it got brushed over in the epilogue.  One last note, I also gotta say, Zack’s mom was a saint when it comes to his family.

Finally, major points on the realistic cover art! I loathe these cartoon covers that have taken over the adult romance market (like don’t even get me started) so it was refreshing to see a real person/model who reflects the character.

Safety Recap:

Safe. No cheating. No sex scenes between OP.  OM/OW drama: Minor—h goes on a few dates with a friend of the H’s (though unbeknownst to her). Nothing happens between them. They ultimately end up friends. H takes a “date” to an event. They are actually long-time platonic friends (her deceased brother was a friend of his) and while the first time “OW” meets the h she implies they slept together in jest, once she knows H is into the h, she actually encourages him to pursue h/give her a chance. Past history: h is not a virgin; H was not into commitment before the h/no prior serious relationship, just casual, but didn’t come off as a big manwhore either. No rape or sexual abuse. HEA.

 GOODREADS

*E-book purchased from Amazon.. All reviews written by Book-Bosomed Book Blog are honest opinions.

BOOK REVIEW: Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston

 

4 Stars

Camille Baybliss wants out of her marriage. But to be free of her controlling husband she has to find evidence of his bad deeds.

Aubrey Price wants justice for her parents who were killed in a car accident ten years prior.  The man convicted insists he’s innocent and believes there’s evidence to prove it.

Camille and Aubrey’s paths cross as their opposite worlds begin to come together, intensifying after Camille’s husband, Ben, is found murdered.  

But are they allies or alibis?

This book pulled me in right from the start. I didn’t have any problem getting into it, and it had an engaging premise.

As far as the characters went, I liked Aubrey, Deacon, and Hank (Ben’s law partner).  While Aubrey and Camille are presented as the focus of the story, Hank is really the one who serves in a type of detective role for this mystery. I can’t honestly say though that I understood what he saw in Camille. She just came across as naïve and privileged. Nice but lacking substance. She’s essentially a doormat heroine who seemed like she stuck her head in the sand most of her life.

I wish Ben would have been better developed. For the most part, I believe the intention was for him to be a jerk, which he was. But then some of the flashback scenes made him a little more sympathetic and I had to wonder if he and Camille had just communicated better….well then part of the mystery wouldn’t exist. (The fact that she walks out when he finally seems to be giving her answers made her particularly frustrating.)

On that note, there are some cliched tropes sprinkled throughout the novel. It’s annoying when characters know there’s a threat, yet they are too trusting/not suspicious when they should naturally be on guard.

The story isn’t super twisty.  While the end did come full circle to the title and had a good closing line, it also felt a little abrupt and wrapped up quickly.

The romance reader in me would have like to have seen Aubrey and Deacon’s relationship more fleshed out. (You can take that literally too.) They had good chemistry and a little steam to the novel might have helped make up for the somewhat anticlimactic reveals on the mystery end.

The non-linear story is told via Camille, Aubrey, Hank, and Ben’s first-person point of view alternating from the past and the present, both before and after the murder.

GOODREADS

*Title borrowed from the library’s e-loan app. All reviews written by Book-Bosomed Book Blog are honest opinions.