Title: Stories Beneath Our Skin Main Characters: Liam & Ace Author: Veronica Sloane Genre: Contemporary Romance Length: 210 pages Publisher: Torquere Press, Inc. Date of Publication: April 9th 2014 Story: Tattooing might have once been Liam’s passion, but he left it all behind along with ugly memories when he went to college. When his uncle’s health fails, Liam must come home at last to say his goodbyes. His days are spent at the hospice, leaving his nights to rake over the past. To fill those empty hours, he takes a job at Great Sin Ink. The close knit friendship of the workers there both intrigues and shakes Liam, who has spent the last four years keeping everyone at arm’s length. Neither Deb, the no-nonsense piercer, nor Goose, a manic tattoo artist, will let Liam get away with his isolationist ways for long. If it were just those two, Liam might have stood a chance -- but there’s also Ace, the owner of Great Sin. He hires Liam despite a thin resume, and that is a kindness Liam can’t forget. The two start up a tentative friendship, learning about each other as the summer days melt into each other. Slowly, Liam reveals a tender heart underneath the wall of quotes he uses to keep everyone out. Unfortunately, life doesn’t stand still, and both Liam and Ace have hard struggles before them that might break them up before they can even get together. Me and this book: First time reading something from Ms. Veronica Sloane and judging from all the positive comments/reviews I’ve seen from this I’m expecting something simple and sweet. I don’t fancy reading hardcore mm books from time to time and this was one of those times, good thing I have this sweet contemporary romance book to read until I get that hunger to read hardcore books again. And let me tell you, this was one book I did not thought I’d like so much, it just felt so raw and real. Adding it to my list of favorite ‘Stay In Bed’ books. Review: Men with tattoos. Yup, that’s one of the things that will catch the reader’s eye. But that’s not all. This story is not just about tattoos, it’s really in fact about real life, the struggles, the pain, the ’moving on’s, the friendships, the love. This book was about everything real in life, there were no dramas and plot twists, just real life. Let me get that out first, okay? This story begins and ends with the point of view of Liam, a twenty two year old, six feet and three inches tall, a keeps-to-himself kind of guy. Like any other, his life wasn’t as clean as what people might think. On his last year in college, Liam found out that Gene, his uncle and the very person who took care of him, was severely ill and was suspected to live not much longer. Being the most important person in his life, Liam went back home to come spend his uncle’s last days with him at the hospice. When visiting hours cuts short or when Gene grows tired and falls asleep, Liam needed something to take his mind off of things. With a few years of tattooing in his background, Liam went off to find a tattoo parlor to hire him for the time being. Eventually, Liam’s resume landed in the hands of Ace, the thirty something year old owner of Great Sin Ink and he was the total opposite of Liam starting with him being only five feet and four inches tall. Unlike Liam, Ace was experienced, open-minded and not to mention kind. Having a liking to Liam’s designs in his resume, Ace had decided that hiring Liam was worth it. So him and together with the other workers at Great Sin Ink, welcomed Liam into their lives. And that was how it started for them. There weren’t any love at first sight things unlike in other books, in here there was time. Time to get to know each other, time to understand each other’s lives, time to fall in love. With this story, the readers will be given a ride to Liam’s life and how he lived it through, despite his uncle dying, his hidden past and his relationships with his co-workers especially with Ace. And what’s great about this book was the way the story itself flowed. There weren’t any sudden plot twists and dramatic over-the-top climaxes, everything was done just as it should be, some scenes were bound to happen but it still gave a big impact despite the readers knowing beforehand. The relationship between the two leads developed throughout the story slowly and unsure at first with both of them having their own problems to deal with but when they spend more of their time together, one by one the pieces of their relationship came to life. What was more amazing was how incredibly written this story was. Intricate words and poet lines were used correctly and perfectly spaced within chapters, not too much. Secondary characters were lovable and interesting, giving the readers a chance to love them too. Dialogues between characters were creative and fun, not overly scripted. Each chapter will surely draw the readers more into the lives of Liam and Ace to the point that every emotions in the story can be felt completely may it be sweet, loving or sad. Smiles and few tears were shed at the right moments but don’t worry this has a happy ending, with a sweet epilogue to finish it off. In conclusion, this was a very very very well made book. Not all books are done like this and I definitely recommend this to all readers out there. This was a simple pure story about how to two people came together and fell in love despite all the problems in the past, the present and the future. And this was by far one of the best “Stay In Bed Books” for me. Definitely one of my favorites. |
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February 2016
"Without a doubt, there was no place, nothing as exotic or rare, as that moment right there with him. Never again could I claim miracles didn't happen." |