Reviewed by Dee England
SERIES: Belladonna Ink #2
AUTHOR: Lorelie Brown
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 110 pages
Release Date: November 7, 2016
BLURB:
Thanksgiving arrives in one week and one day. Feeling hemmed in by parental expectations? Are they disappointed by your sapphic proclivities? I can help! The only pay I want is the holiday meal! I didn’t know what I was looking for until I saw her Craigslist ad. I love my family. I’m lucky to have them—well, most of them. But my aunt? I’m so tired of her giving my mom crap because I happen to be a lesbian. So one pink-haired tattoo artist pretending to be my girlfriend will annoy my Christian fundamentalist aunt right back and make my Thanksgiving perfect. Only . . . Brooke turns out to be cuter and more complicated than I expected. And before you can say “yorkiepoo,” we kiss . . . and abduct a dog together. I want to keep them both—but Brooke isn’t the kind to be kept. Lucky for me, I’m the kind to chase what I want.
REVIEW:
This story was so much fun. I adored the heroine’s right off the bat. In a short amount of page time I got to know them both well, despite the story being told completely from Keighley’s point-of-view. It’s also told in first person present tense, something I normally struggle with, but Lorelie does it so well. The dialogue is engaging and flows effortlessly.
Thanksgiving dinner was a blast, the witty banter certainly kept me entertained. With that said it wasn’t without some heartfelt moments as well. Kaleigh’s immediate family were a wonderful bunch of people, more so her mom, dad and sister. Her extended family… not so much.
The conversation on the rooftop between Brooke, Keighley, and her little sister, Sierra, was classic. It made me giggle like a school girl high on pot, perhaps because all three girls were partaking in said drug at the time.
Snow white/Snowy/Bennet was an unexpected part of the plot, one I enjoyed very much. Brooke’s background was heartbreaking, although I was a little confused about what actually happened to her father because the plot contradicted itself.
As with any story that mandates conflict, the two part ways for a while, which gives them both time to reflect on what they want in love and life. When Brooke turned up with Roxie my heart exploded with joy. The ending was wonderful.
Although this is book two in a series I feel it can be read as a standalone. The only connection I found was the fact Brooke works for Skyler, spelled as Skylar in book 1, at Belladonna Ink. Other than that these two lovely heroines don’t feature in book 1! I highly recommend this story.
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