GRR Reviews Realism: Sugar and Spice, Ink by Evan Grace

Mona is a single mom with lavender hair and tattoos. No surprise, as she and her two sisters run their own tattoo shop known for intricate ink designs. She was surprised to find a summons from the pre-school... it seems that her daughter Iris, had kissed a boy, Max. Or was it vice versa? At school, she met Max's father, Joaquin, who's rich and handsome... But she had experience with rich and handsome guys... who are entitled jerks. After all, that's how she got Iris. But after a while, it's clear that Joaquin is nothing like her ex, and perhaps, they can come to an agreement... some NSA sex. But when Mona's ex (who's married with children and more on the way) wanted to reconnect with Iris, what should Mona do? And what can Joaquin do to help?

Okay, sex is hot, and the two certainly have chemistry and are good with each other AND each other's kids. In fact, they make a great couple. But the darkest hour was the "sensitive ears, fragile ego" trope where she ran away before hearing everything. And even the "evil ex" turned out to be pretty pathetic, despite making Iris very upset.  4/5

NOTE: If you want a single parents dating with a lighter mood, I recommend The Parent Pact by Laurie Kellogg.

GRR Reviews One Percent of You by Michelle Gross

Hadley thought she had a perfect family, with Lucy and another on the way. Until she was betrayed. Determined to make her own way, she was surprised at someone moved into the house next to her apartment. But he's big, gruff, tattooed, and judgemental. She can see his disdain for an "obvious" single mom (probably on dole and food stamps). It didn't help when Lucy kept calling him "demon guy" (well, his tattoos are of demons and skulls...)  His name is Elijah, and after a while, he wanted to be friends. And even Lucy warmed to him. But can he be more?

Nice, good job mixing "opposites attract" and "first impressions are wrong" tropes. Using kid as the straight man (or woman, in this case) is expected, but still a nice touch. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Strictly Professional by Kathryn Nolan

Roxy is a beautiful tattooed goddess badass...except when it comes to business. Her tattoo parlor is failing, as the area is gentrifying. So when a proper Brit wandered through her doors, drunk and broken-hearted, she was surprised, but not shocked. And he's VERY charming. His name is Edward, and he's a hotelier who was expected to marry someone his family approves to inherit the hotel he had been managing most of his adult life. Except the last "approved" woman betrayed him already (which caused him to be drunk and ended up at Roxy's). And Edward has some dark desires he can never share with a "proper" woman... but with Roxy... Oh, yes.  Roxy was going for MBA hoping to fix her business, and one of the projects was being mentored by a businessman. Who'd knew that her mentor would end up being Edward?

Ooo-la-la. This opposites attract story does indeed have explosive chemistry. The end solution was slight bit of deus ex machina. Who'd knew family can be so... ****tards?   4.5/5

GRR Reviews Pricked by Winter Renshaw

Brighton is a rich girl who grew up in a gilded cage. Having found her grandparents dead one morning made her parents overly protective. But she's had enough... she's not going to medical school like they wanted. On her 22nd birthday, she went to get a tattoo... and met the owner, Madden, who has his own scars... His father is a murderer, and his twin brother was shot dead. He grew up and opened a tattoo parlor, and even changed his name legally. But he can't seem to outrun his past. Having his ex Veronica "Ronnie" just up and ran off three years ago didn't help him at all. Meeting Brighton was... unexpected. And they have chemistry between them... but both are convinced it's not feelings... It's just... indications that they can be very good in bed. But they are very very different indeed. But can they love each other despite objections?

Okay, there is a plot twist later that's brilliant, if a bit out of the blue, but the evil ex Ronnie coming back just to mess with him? LAME setup for the darkest hour! Still, the rest of the book is pretty good.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.

GRR Reviews Men of Inked (3-book collection) by Chelle Bliss

NOTE: This is a 3-book collection, it'll be rated separately, and there's an overall rating.

Throttle Me -- Suzy had mapped out her life: work hard, get her own career established, find a stable man, get married, live happily ever after. Unfortunately, her plan got derailed when "City", a tattooed Harley rider who works in a tattoo shop, came into her life, by rescuing her one night. They had chemistry together, but City had his heart broken at college and is now a rake and a commitment-phobe. But their relationship had both of them question everything they thought they knew about what they wanted... and City is keeping a secret...

Not bad, different worlds novel is pretty obvious, and scars are pretty trope, but there's some good polish on it and multiple layers of tropes, like biker, Italian, and even a bit of disguise. 4/5

Hook me -- Michael Gallo is the MMA fighter who enjoys the physical domination of his opponent, but a fight ended up with him in the ER, and met Dr. Mia Greco. Mia is having nightmares about all the people she can't save in the ER, and she prefers running the neighborhood free clinic. Michael, who's actually quite smart, wanted to woo Mia, and they have chemistry together, but Mia can't reconcile the fighter who damages people with the caring and sensitive man Michael seems to be...

I honestly don't feel the conflict other than she can't see past his gruff tattoed exterior. 3/5

Resist me -- Isabelle "Izzie" Gallo is the baby of the family, and even though she trash-talks just like her brothers, in secret she loves a man who can dominate her, which can be difficult when no one dare get close with so many brothers around. She got one great night with an undercover cop handler James, who was alpha enough for her... But she figured it's one-night, and she snuck off. Later, she went off with one guy "Flash" for a MC weekend in Daytona, and ended up in a MC club, where she was almost claimed by the MC VP... until a disciple stepped in... It was her older brother Thomas, in deep undercover. And Thomas had to call in James to rescue her. She's just too much sass... and he's just too much alpha. But he needs to watch out for her brother Thomas, and she has her own life...

A bit too much sex, as things got a bit kinkier, but other than initial chemistry, and basic inadequacy issues, there isn't much threat to the relationship. 3/5

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5  (average of all 3 ratings)

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Love is More than Skin Deep by Mary Crawford

Shelby just graduated and joined an international teaching program, due to leave in a month. She already settled her lease and everything else. And she walked into a tattoo parlor, wanting a dreamcatcher for her back. Then everything changed. The senior designer pointed her to a dermatologist... and the diagnosis... Melanoma: skin cancer. She can't go, she has no place to live, she has no job, and since she had been a foster kid, no parents. // Mark is a single dad and a senior partner in a law firm known for taking on seemingly hopeless cases. He's busy, but an encounter with this woman breaking down just brought out all his protective instincts... but can he convince a girl who was taught to rely on no one that it's okay to lean on someone?

Ah, how two wounded souls come together, but there's not TOO much for Mark to do. He doesn't have big huge wounds, and his problem is convincing Shelby to let him in. Still, it's got good touches.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Penalty Play by Jami Davenport

Single dad and NHL defenseman Matt lives for his kids and ice hockey, in that order. His ex-wife simply up and left, not satisfied with being a WAG, disappointing his boys over and over, barely keeping in touch. Matt is about as conservative as they come, and he needs a sitter first, and maybe a wife second... someone his kids can look up to... Which is NOT Violet, or "Vi". // Violet fled her past and in order to put herself through school, she took up exotic dancing in the classiest joint in town: the bouncers and supervisors are gay, and there are NO lap dances or private sessions. She enjoys sex, and she has tons of tattoos. Definitely not fit for a hockey wife... But there is this intense chemistry betwene Matt and Vi that neither can deny. It helps that Matt's kids actually like Vi... When they finally gave in, the chemistry sizzles. But when Matt's ex-wife wanted to contest custody as a ploy for more money, Vi felt she was in the way... esp. when the evil Ex found her past, the secret she doesn't want to tell anyone...

Okay, the chemistry here does sizzle, though Vi's a bit too... uh... self-bashing? Knocked herself out? It doesn't seem to fit her personality, not to mention it's a trope, but I think the author did try to joke about that self-sacrificing bit.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Beneath This Mask by Meghan March

Charlie is in New Orleans, living paycheck from paycheck in a tattoo parlor, for she has a terrible secret. Her father was the biggest scammer in the history of US, dwarfing even Madoff. He went to prison, nobody knew where the money went, and she was unable to deal with the spotlight. She disappeared, changed her name, and gotten a lot of tattoos, both to reinvent herself and hide her past. She was happy with that life... Until she met Simon. // Simon is the son of a congressman, and enjoy being back in New Orleans but he has PTSD issues from losing his friend in the skies of Middle East. Charlie is so different from any woman he knew, even as he had to keep up appearances with a different woman who's trying to figure out her own life. When Charlie found a notebook hidden in her belongings that contained code, she knew it contained clues to where the billions of money went. She knew she can only drag Simon down, but Simon will not take no for an answer... Until an ambitious reporter spotted her...

At first reading, all the emotions felt raw and powerful, but it was upon a second reading you started to notice "wait a minute..."... Charlie was very quick to get butthurt when she spotted Simon on the society pages (with that other woman), even though she accepted she can never be with him. Instead, she eventually convinced herself that she can have a fling with Simon, but not tell him anything (which obviously is when it all went pear-shaped). Simon's PTSD seems really... shallow? And sleeping with Charlie apparently cured him (however temporarily) and that just felt wrong. The two basically went back and forth, one breaks up, one makes up, it just goes back and forth. I really want to give this a better score, but I ended up with 5.5/8 (3/5 on Amazon scale)

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman with huge secret must resist charming son of congressman for she cannot drag him down...

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Something New (Exile Ink) by Skylar Hill

Cam was orphaned just before her 18th birthday, and she did all she could to raise her little sister by herself, including working in a tattoo parlor for a boss that denigrates her work everytime he gets, even though she brings in the clients. She just never expected "Jay"... // James McGowan is a legend in the tattoo community. He is handsome, buff, charming, and unrivaled in ink. Heck, he even had a reality show for a while. When he saw a work that took his breath away, he had to meet the artist... So he booked a consult as "Jay," and met Cam. Moreover, the chemistry is off the charts, as Cam had admired James' work for years. However, Cam can't afford any distractions, even as she desperately wanted to lose herself in James' arms, and James wants Cam personally, even though he's there to hire Cam to join his new tattoo studio. Can she let down her guard and risk everything for a brighter future?

The "evil boss" was just cliche mean. While I enjoyed the tattoo terms, and there are some emotions there (including a full make-out session in one of the private rooms), the rest seems cliche / trope. The book also ended on a happy note, but with a lot more to come for the couple. It's NOT a cliffhanger though, even though it's only 116 pages.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Tattoo celebrity wanted to hire the new female talented tattoo artist... while in disguise

Overall Rating: 3/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Justice Inked (Cowboy Justice Association) by Olivia Jaymes

Sheriff Dare Turner is known in town for his scowl and generally bad mood. Caring for a little sister who thinks she's old enough to know better doesn't help, neither does a body found outside the local tattoo shop, where Dare himself goes to have a tattoo done... but then, Dare is secretly fond of the tattoo artist, Rayne Dunn. // Rayne is a rebel and a workaholic. She works too much to enjoy a date, esp. not with grouchy sheriff Dare. Dare thinks Rayne is too loud and mouthy, and Rayne thinks Dare has a stick up his butt. However, when someone tossed Rayne's shop, with the body outside, things get tense. When her purse was snatched, AND her home was tossed too, it's clear that the bad guys are after something... Can Dare protect Rayne from whoever's after her? Or is she involved?

Pretty good romantic suspense setting up the enemies to lovers schtick. The tension escalated nicely. The resolution was a trope but competently executed.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Can and should the sheriff protect the tattoo artist he's fond of, when she's targeted?

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Delicate Ink (Montgomery Ink Book 1) by Carrie Ann Ryan

Delicate Ink is about a woman running away from her trauma, meeting a "bad boy" who's actually not that bad. In a way, the plot is trope, and there seem to be a few too many subplots flying about. This also has a bit to do with a bit of D/s relationship and a little kinky sex. It came off as a bit of mix bag.

Sierra Elder moved to Denver and opened her own fashion boutique. which was one of her immediate goals. Her other was to get a tattoo... a large one that can cover her horrific scars from that one thing she... doesn't want to talk about. It happens that her place was across the street from Montgomery Ink, a tattoo parlor operated by Austin Montgomery. But their first meeting was not a happy one... // Austin Montgomery is over thirty, and not married. being a guy who owns a tattoo parlor, inked sleeves, and scruffy beard didn't help him in the dating scene much. And his previous woman is getting too clingy (and the one before that was... ten years ago). When Sierra walked through the door, Austin was not a happy man, but there was something between them. For Austin was a dom in the BDSM scene and he recognized a sub when he saw one... But this sub had been hurt before... by who? But even as Austin drew Sierra out of her shell and learned about her own trauma, the Montgomery family is facing its own crisis, and Austin got his own surprise later. Will the couple share their burdens, or drive each other away, believing it's better to shoulder the burden alone?

Instead of coalescing into one giant problem, the problems faces by FMC and MMC separately were resolved separately. Which made the ending rather a bit of ho-hum. There were also several additional characters that seem to serve little more than distractions. All in all, this is a good... but flawed book.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Can a prim and proper woman with secrets and starting over fall for a tattoo parlor dom with inked sleeves and gruffy exterior?

Overall Rating: 3/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Under Her Skin (Blank Canvas Book 1) by Adriana Anders

Under Her Skin was an interesting tale of two people trying to recover from their wounds and reputation, while learning how to trust, with tattoo being a major plot device.

Uma had to disappear from her abusive boyfriend. He was too powerful and too resourceful... He worked for the law. He had destroyed her life, piece by piece. She arrived in a small town in Virginia, where a dermatologist has a standing offer of pro bono tattoo removal work if you qualify, and she had to take the only job available... work as a housekeeper for a cruel old lady who sees all men are threats and she can do nothing right. And next door neighbor is Ivan, a blacksmith by trade... Ivan is a large but also gentle man, but Ivan grew up with a bad reputation and knew how to fight. Uma isn't ready for love yet, but Ivan is there like a rock to hold on to. But when she finally revealed her deepest shame, and Ivan went after the evil ex, Uma had to do the one thing she swore never to do... Talk to her evil ex, if only to save Ivan...

Intensely personal, severe PTSD from abuse, and recovery. I wish for a bit more explicit karma on the evil ex, but the ending is good enough. The b-story of the cruel old lady was good too.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman on the run settled in a small town, fell for the gentle blacksmith; her ex with resources are still hunting for her...

Tropes: protector, woman in peril, tattoo, scars, different worlds, small town

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Reviews True North by Kelly Collins

True North is about finding the ability to love against after suffering tremendous loss. My only problem with this book is there's not enough karma for the evildoer who's so cold-blooded you'll cringe.

Alexa left LA with a scarred heart after suffering indescribable abuse. A man has wormed his way into her family and her bed and taken away her family business. He even killed her baby by giving her morning after pill to induce an abortion, then told her that he's actually gay and had sex with his male lover in her house. She tried challenging him in court to get the business back, but after losing even that in court, she is in need of a fresh start... So she spent her savings to buy a $900 jalopy, brought one suitcase, and left for parts unknown. Having her car broken down in the middle of nowhere was not a fate she planned, nor was being rescued by a scruffy tattooed but very handsome guy named Zane. But it seems fate had dealt her a different hand, for when she walked into the bar named Last Resort needing a beer and some food, there was her rescuer, who needed Alexa as a temporary barmaid. And the more Alexa learned about Zane, the more she fell for him... for Zane is actually a single father, and motorcycle club member, and someone who can make her very happy... if she will let him into her heart...

I personally think the resolution was a bit weak, but I won't spoil it. I will just point out that there was not enough karma dealt to the evildoer. Alexa was totally an innocent victim. While she eventually found what she needed... a strong protective guy in Zane, I really want to see a bit more karma.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman who lost everything ended up at a bar called Last Resort... and met a guy who can save her... from herself

Tropes: protector, woman in peril, tattoo, different worlds, single parent, bar owner

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up)

GRR Review Inked Passions by Amber Burns

Inked Passions is a thorough average romance between a tattoo artist/biker/cage fighter bad boy and an ER nurse / rich / good girl.

Cade likes bikes and tattoos and underground ring fights. When one sore loser jumped in an alley, he met ER nurse Cindy.  Later, when Cade agreed to be his best friend Tommy's best man at the wedding, he found Cindy was the maid of honor. Seeing serendipity, Cade went on to woo Cindy, and work through her disapproving parents...

One will be hard-pressed to find a proper "darkest hour" or much of a grand gesture by either MC to achieve the proper ending. At least the pairing was somewhat fresh, and characters nicely portrayed, but the "smarmy suitor" never was much of a threat, and the family was too much of a drag. It's a romance without the emotional swings other than exasperation, and love never really was under much of a threat.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Tattooed cage fighter meets prim and proper ER nurse with disapproving family

Tropes: MMA, tattoo, clinic, different worlds, kidnapping

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: SEAL'd Perfection Complete Series

SEAL'd Perfection by K B Winters is a hard series to rate for me. On one hand, I appreciate the care into building a "bad boy" character Jace who has a past, has a present, and is debating about the future. I appreciate the conflicted woman Kat who wanted to fall back in love but can't take the risk or did not dare to. On the other hand, Jace just doesn't feel like a military or ex-military guy, and the military details in Book 4 are completely implausible, which basically ruined it as a "military" romance.

Jace Winslow is an ex-navy SEAL who became a tattoo artist. His bad boy image got him a reality TV show Inked by Jace and for a while he was lost in the limelight of Hollywood, until one day he cleaned up and moved out to a small quiet town, but kept his show and his tattoo parlor.  Kat Ryan divorced two years ago after a bitter contest and now just wanted to make the best living possible for her son Jax... which means work as a waitress in the diner... right across the street from Jace's new tattoo parlor. When Jace walked through the diner door, her concentration was shot, and she seriously questioned about what she really wanted in life... and everything else... But does Jace feel the same? 

The first three volumes in the series are fine, as basically Jace and Kat slowly circled each other, gained each other's trust, while dealing with some other issues.  I can even understand the fictional background, even though it does strain my belief. Generally, ex-SEALs do NOT seek publicity, being used to secrecy for so long. Having an ex-SEAL get his own reality TV show is rather... uh, let's just say, fictional.

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

YES SPOILERS DARN IT!

It is with book 4, when Jace was recalled to service, that I have problems with. The technical and military details were all wrong. Basically, while Jace was "training recruits", he got handed an order to deploy for a special mission. That's not how SEAL reserve teams works. SEAL does have two reserve teams for ex active duty members, and they do train, but they don't train recruits. There is a special cadre for that. The only way for them to go active is the whole team gets activated for however long the deployment is, and it's six months to a year or however long it should be, not for one mission, not for one guy.

Then instead of spending a couple weeks of intensive training to get back into shape and catch up on paperwork and qualifications, Jace and crew were immediately shipped off to some unnamed carrier out in the middle of nowhere and ordered to wait. There was supposed to be a comm blackout, but his sergeant apparently can break it without permission from the captain (!), by allowing Jace's buddy to call home to check on his wife, and the buddy lent the phone to Jace, who then called up Kat, and they had basically phone sex AND Facetime where Kat did a remote strip-tease. This is so off-the-charts improbable it downright ruined the entire series for me. If the carrier was on comm blackout to maintain secrecy, why is the phone allowed? How are they even getting a connection anyway, much less enough bandwidth to do Facetime, on a carrier under comms blackout?!

The military action was tolerable, as was Jace getting his purple heart, merely tolerable. The tactics used just feel wrong. But that could be because I'm a guy.

Book 5 deals with Jace's return to stateside and his injuries changed him, and he and Kat basically had to start over, almost. That I had no problem with.

To put it altogether, Jace and Kat do make a cute couple, but the military details were quite off the mark to be utterly ridiculous. If you take out the military bits, you'd still have a good romance. So the military bits aren't really needed.

Category: Military / Bad Boy

Primary Plot: Tattoo-artist ex-SEAL Jace woos small-town waitress Kat and her young son, is there a future between these two?

NOTE: Major problems with military and technical accuracy

Overall rating: 2/5