Links: Amazon, Goodreads. Price £0.79
Peyton is a tattoo artist working for her long-time friend Seb when they get the job of a lifetime – tattooing world-famous rock band Rancid Vengeance. Tasked with inking Sam, the band’s overconfident lead singer, Peyton falls for a man she knows will be no good for her – and then into a torrid relationship. Will she change her mind when she discovers his true nature? How will dating a world-famous Rockstar change her?
This is a book of two intertwining parts. The first is the romance. This is trope-tastic and extremely saucy. Sam, or “Bolt”, is muscle bound, perfectly dressed, and carries a gigantic member. He’s cocksure and arrogant on the outside, but inside is a sensitive soul with a painful past. Peyton and Sam fall for each other instantly and spend most of the book have frantic sex.
I was initially put off, but two things saved it. First, I was reminded of a porn writer I used to know. She said that the readers come with certain expectations, and it was your job to give them what they wanted. If you’re tending (largely) to women’s fantasies, you have just as much a responsibility to serve that as you have to make sure Luke Skywalker confronts Darth Vader or that Inspector Morse discovers the murderer. So, this is a saucy novel, and that comes with certain responsibilities.
Once I accepted this, I began to enjoy that part of the relationship. The sex scenes made me giggle and it was all tremendous fun. This led to my discovery of the second part. The structured nature of the romance allowed space for all sorts of interesting character work.
Peyton is cool. A talented tattoo artist who basically built her car and has an active creative life is someone you would want to be friends (or lovers) with. She grows throughout the book, empowered by the romance but driven by her own dreams. While the sex stuff was making me giggle the character development hooked me. A delightful story sits between the flexing pectorals.
