Reviewed by Cindy
TITLE: Hellion
SERIES: 415 Ink Book 3
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 336 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 17, 2019
BLURB:
From the moment SFPD Detective Ruan Nicholls meets Ivo Rogers, he knows the tattoo artist is going to bring chaos to his neat, orderly life. A hellion down to the bone, Ivo is someone Ruan not only doesn’t understand, he’s not even sure he needs to. Everything about Ivo is vibrant, brash, cocky, and arrogant, and Ruan wants no part of him.
Or at least that’s the lie he tells himself when he damps down his desire for the social wild child life tosses into his path.
For Ivo Rogers, life revolves around two things—his family and 415 Ink, the tattoo shop he co-owns with his four brothers. His family might be stitched together by their battle scars from growing up in foster care, but their brotherhood is tight—and strong enough to hold Ivo together during the times when he falls apart.
Now Ivo faces a new challenge when he falls for a cop with an old-school mentality on how a man looks and acts. Ruan is the promise of a life Ivo thought he’d never have, but their clashing perspectives threaten any chance of a relationship. Being the family’s hellion makes it easy to be misunderstood, yet Ivo has faith Ruan will not only embrace who he is but love him as well.
REVIEW:
Let me start by saying that I didn’t know Ivo was going to be my favorite brother but he totally is. There’s something so strong yet so vulnerable about him that just grabbed a hold of my heart and never let go. I also love Ruan because he’s a man who’s conflicted by how he feels and what he thinks he knows but instead of holding on to that, he opens himself up to not only learning about Ivo but also about himself.
Ivo Rogers is brash and bold and totally sweet when you least expect it. Ruan Nicholls has been trapped inside his own perception about himself but the moment he meets Ivo, his life starts to change.
I wish I could put into words how this whole series has made me feel but especially this book. Rhys Ford somehow makes every emotion…every bit of anger and love and fear and happiness seem so real by painting this amazing picture with their words. Ivo’s greatest strength is his ability to accept himself for who he is. He’s very “in-your-face” but he’s earned it the hard way. Ivo is also very understanding and he sees that Ruan is conflicted about his own feelings and instead of letting it pull them apart, he lets Ruan grow and come to terms with himself in his own way.
Ruan goes through a lot in this book. He struggles to bring who he thinks he is and his attraction to Ivo into some sort of idea that makes sense. I love that he’s open to learning and that he tries hard to explain to Ivo what he’s going through so that Ivo doesn’t think there’s something wrong with himself. Ruan takes the blame for his own shortcomings and works at resolving them so he can make his relationship with Ivo work.
Of course, Ivo’s family is a bright spot in this story and I can honestly say that this patched together group of men is probably in the running for my favorite fictional family (the Top Spot is held by the Morgan’s, another of Rhys Ford’s amazing creations.) Their fierce love and protective instincts for each other are the kind of family we should all be blessed with. Family should always accept you for who you are fundamentally.
If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, then I suggest you run out and buy them. You can read this story without having read the first two, but trust me when I say every book in this series is fantastic. Reading them will just enrich the experience of reading Ivo and Ruan’s story.
RATING: 
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