Ink

I really enjoyed the premises of the book. The glaring issue for me was that the MC obviously has some past trauma of issues with her mom that, while obviously don't need to be resolved, they weren't even really touched on? Ox had some good character growth, but Emmie really didn't have any.

 
 
~WRITING - PLOT - PACE~
While I enjoyed this one a lot, and it was a sweet romantic read, It didn't blow me away. The writing was very good. The pace, unfortunately, was a bit too slow for me. I am just not a fan of slow burn romances and the romance in this one was super S-L-O-W and although Ox and Emmie were cute together I just never felt a burning passion between them. So, unfortunately, my mind did start to wander halfway through and I found myself a tiny bit bored and impatient for things to get moving. That said, the plot was engaging enough that I stuck with it and never thought about tossing in the towel. I will say that I loved the small town feel of Metlin, and I loved the side characters. That is what kept me reading. Last, it was all wrapped up in a sweet HFN ending. 


~HERO~
OX...He was OK. There wasn't really anything about him that I didn't like. He was sweet. He was smart. Well read. Not a manwhore. Loved his family. Seemed like a decent guy. He was just maybe a tad on the boring side. I expected more “umph” from a sexy built like an ox tattoo artist. 


~HEROINE~
Emmie...I really liked her. She was sweet. She was smart. She seemed like a genuine person. Had a good head on her shoulders. Didn't seem to have too many hangups. Again, like OX, I don't really have anything negative to say about her. She was a good heroine.


 

~SECONDARY CHARACTERS~
Honestly, the best part of this book was the secondary characters. I loved all them (some more than others). Even Ginger the nasty ex seemed decent by the end of the book (lol). I can't wait to see who will be up next to get their HEA. And I would LOVE to see a book about Daisy and Spider.


~HEAT LEVEL~
Low. Like I mentioned this was a super slow burn romance. The first kiss doesn't even happen until 63% into the book. Sex not until 80% and then the scenes are just mildly spicey. I think because of how slow moving the romance was I just never felt a strong passionate connection between Ox and Emmie. Oh, they were sweet together and seemed like great friends, but “hot out of control I want to climb you like a tree” passion, unfortunately...not so much.


~ANGST LEVEL~
Low. This was a pretty low angst read. There were a couple of bumps in the road but they were cleared up quickly and without a lot of fanfare. There was a tiny bit of OW drama in the form of Ox's ex Ginger. But it didn't really bother me. And we have a tiny bit of OM drama in the form of a high school friend interested in Emmie. Again, it wasn't over the top and didn't bother me.


~IN THE END~
I liked it. It was a solidly written book with a charming small town feel to it. The secondary characters were interesting and intriguing enough that I will definitely be reading the next book in the series. Unfortunately, the romance aspect was way too slow for me and the main couple lacked spark. So a bit of a mixed bag with this one. That said, yours truly is still giving this one a solid thumbs up.