Scan barcode
autumnwitch14's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, and Stalking
Moderate: Medical trauma, Classism, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Minor: Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
readwithpep's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Child abuse
Minor: Cancer
notsobinaryart's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Classism, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, and Pedophilia
overflowingshelf's review
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
CW: domestic abuse; homelessness; intrusive thoughts; reference to parental death from cancer
Merry Inkmas is not your traditional holiday romance novella. If you’re looking for a light-hearted holiday romance, this is not the story for you. Now, I don’t think that should put you off the story though.
However, and I’m being honest, this is a bit of a hard novella for me to review. After reading it almost a month ago, I feel a bit indifferent toward it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it, but it didn’t leave as much of a lingering impression on me as I thought it would. It was fine?
Famous tattoo artist Cash Evans has come a long way from his troubled childhood, but he cannot fix his troubled outlook on love. To Bailey, Cash is “hot coffee guy” – a regular who comes into the coffee shop whom she flirts with and harbors an attraction towards. When an incident at the coffee shop leaves Bailey without a job, Cash offers one to her at his tattoo parlor. While Cash tries to avoid her to fight his attraction towards her, he cannot seem to stay away, fixing her plumbing, helping the homeless, and even offering Bailey a place to stay for Christmas. The more Bailey learns about Cash and his demons, she cannot help but feel her jaded views of love changing.
The romance in this book was really sweet, even though I would have liked a little more relationship development before jumping to the epilogue. However, it is a novella, so that format, by its nature, does compress timelines a bit, especially when this story has a lot of other things going on. I thought the chemistry between Cash and Bailey was fantastic, and their attraction was apparent from the story’s start. Talia Hibbert did a great job with the sexual tension between them and bringing the heat, and my heart was invested in them getting their happily ever after. Everything happens in a short timeline, which made certain things feel rushed, but overall I loved how their romance made me feel in the end.
The characters in this book took me by surprise. Cash was so unexpected. He’s the tall, tough-looking tatted ginger, but he’s got a heart of gold and is battling his own demons. I feel like when you get characters with his physical attributes, you expect a different personality from them, so I appreciated that he took me by surprise. Both Cash and Bailey are emotionally complex characters and well-developed. I liked that Bailey stands up for others – her heart is in the right place. These two have a rather pessimistic outlook on love, so they are perfect for each other.
Outside the romance, domestic violence and homelessness play a fairly big role in this story. I don’t think I’ve ever seen homelessness mentioned or addressed in a romance novel before, and I think Hibbert handled it well. The domestic violence storyline is tough to read, but it played an important role in Cash’s backstory and shaped him as a person, so it felt necessary.
As I said, I liked this book after reading it. But now, a month out from reading it, it doesn’t stir that much emotion in me. There’s no specific reason that I can pinpoint as to why – it might just be a vibes thing. Overall, I think this was a good story with a solid romance, but it’s something I’ll probably forget the details of by next holiday season.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Minor: Death of parent and Cancer
rickireadss's review against another edition
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
i wanted to love this SO bad. i honestly think if i had read the ebook, i would have enjoyed it more since i didn't really like the narrator. i did like the grumpy/sunshine aspect, the plus size rep, and the fact that our mmc was TATTED *swoon* but overall, i just felt like it was choppy and didn't really flow. like some of the scenes felt just thrown in there or abruptly happened, and i was like "woah, wait what???" not my favorite of talia's for sure, but i know many have loved it.
⚠️: domestic abuse, emotional abuse, home invasion, death of parent, mental illness, bigotry towards unhoused people, stalking, cancer, grief, adult/minor relationship (past, fmc’s mother)
⚠️: domestic abuse, emotional abuse, home invasion, death of parent, mental illness, bigotry towards unhoused people, stalking, cancer, grief, adult/minor relationship (past, fmc’s mother)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Stalking, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Grief, and Cancer
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
4.25
"She’d started to think of him as a cup of coffee: black, with a shot of gingerbread syrup curled up at the bottom. Someone just needed to stir him up and make him sweet all the way through."
➽ After not vibing with Talia Hibbert's other Christmas novella, Merry Inkmas really blew me away!! It's a steamy, angsty but also sweet romance that I had a lot of fun reading. Bailey is a caring barista who loses her job when she helps one of the homeless people in her area. It just so happens that Cash - the owner of a tattoo studio nearby - witnesses all of this and offers her a job as his receptionist. I loved the chemistry between Bailey and Cash, it was clear that they wanted each other and I was rooting for them to get it together!
➽ At the same time, the author managed to explore their background stories really well! Cash is a bit of a bad boy with a temper, but he never becomes aggressive with Bailey and is trying his hardest to leave behind his past (which includes an abusive father). You can understand where he's coming from and why he's still hesitant to get involved with Bailey and give her his heart. Meanwhile, Bailey also had a tough past that she doesn't like talking about and makes it difficult for her to get attached. I liked how they both worked through their issues and tried their best to make it work!
➽ After not vibing with Talia Hibbert's other Christmas novella, Merry Inkmas really blew me away!! It's a steamy, angsty but also sweet romance that I had a lot of fun reading. Bailey is a caring barista who loses her job when she helps one of the homeless people in her area. It just so happens that Cash - the owner of a tattoo studio nearby - witnesses all of this and offers her a job as his receptionist. I loved the chemistry between Bailey and Cash, it was clear that they wanted each other and I was rooting for them to get it together!
➽ At the same time, the author managed to explore their background stories really well! Cash is a bit of a bad boy with a temper, but he never becomes aggressive with Bailey and is trying his hardest to leave behind his past (which includes an abusive father). You can understand where he's coming from and why he's still hesitant to get involved with Bailey and give her his heart. Meanwhile, Bailey also had a tough past that she doesn't like talking about and makes it difficult for her to get attached. I liked how they both worked through their issues and tried their best to make it work!
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Cancer, and Child abuse
vaesie's review
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse
ashleycmms's review
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Cancer, Death, Grief, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
jzthecatlady's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I devour everything Talia Hibbert writes, and this was no different. This had great pacing and was sweet and spicy.. although not gonna lie I wouldn't have minded a bit more spice. Overall, I though the story was great, but I wish it had been just a tad longer so we could have gotten to know the characters a little bit more. But definitely still a very fun and endearing read, as always.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Domestic abuse
kim03's review
emotional
lighthearted
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
This book is proof that Talia Hibbert is super talented and with the pace she has evolved within the last few years, she's gonna be a god damned genius very soon.
The story was cute, the beginning a little underwhelming, but the climax basically brought me to my knees (metaphorically), which meant for me that I cared about the characters and that they were three dimensional.
Tropes: workplace romance
Content warnings: death of a parent, domestic abuse (bot emotional and physical), homelessness (if that even is a triggerwarning, i just feel like it's a sensitive topic)
The story was cute, the beginning a little underwhelming, but the climax basically brought me to my knees (metaphorically), which meant for me that I cared about the characters and that they were three dimensional.
Tropes: workplace romance
Content warnings: death of a parent, domestic abuse (bot emotional and physical), homelessness (if that even is a triggerwarning, i just feel like it's a sensitive topic)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Emotional abuse, Cancer, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, and Child abuse