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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
mayareadsxo's review
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Domestic abuse
xandriaisreading's review
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A cute and quick Christmas read! Boss/employee and miscommunication are things I'm not particularly a fan of so it lost me for a bit.
The characters are stubborn. The love story is only 2 months with the majority of their interactions in the second month. Then a 5 year time jump? For a short read, it really tried to stuff as much as it could in to it.
The characters are stubborn. The love story is only 2 months with the majority of their interactions in the second month. Then a 5 year time jump? For a short read, it really tried to stuff as much as it could in to it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Stalking
abookwormspov's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Pregnancy, Grief, and Domestic abuse
bootsmom3's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Physical abuse
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Pregnancy
jillkaarlela's review
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
Taylor Swift Songs: “peace”, “Afterglow”
Age rating: 17+ (3 steamy chapters, 1.5/5🌶️)
Why did I wait so long to read Talia Hibbert’s books??? They are so good!!! I really enjoyed this sweet and spicy yet remarkably moving holiday novella! I loved that while it was an uplifting romance, it also dealt with issues of parental trauma, homelessness, domestic abuse, mental health (specifically intrusive thoughts) etc. and in a novella, no less!! The characters in the book were so charismatic and I really liked them for each other!! If you like “he falls first and falls harder”, you will LOVEEEE Cash, because this man is OBSESSED with her!! And we love a giant tatted grumpy/shy man!!!! He’s so cute, I love him!! While everything did happen pretty quickly, since this was a novella, I feel like it all made sense and felt right/not rushed. It still had emotional growth and depth while being relatively short. Overall, really enjoyed this quick read, and I highly recommend!
TW: domestic abuse, violence, intrusive thoughts, homelessness, parental death
Age rating: 17+ (3 steamy chapters, 1.5/5🌶️)
Why did I wait so long to read Talia Hibbert’s books??? They are so good!!! I really enjoyed this sweet and spicy yet remarkably moving holiday novella! I loved that while it was an uplifting romance, it also dealt with issues of parental trauma, homelessness, domestic abuse, mental health (specifically intrusive thoughts) etc. and in a novella, no less!! The characters in the book were so charismatic and I really liked them for each other!! If you like “he falls first and falls harder”, you will LOVEEEE Cash, because this man is OBSESSED with her!! And we love a giant tatted grumpy/shy man!!!! He’s so cute, I love him!! While everything did happen pretty quickly, since this was a novella, I feel like it all made sense and felt right/not rushed. It still had emotional growth and depth while being relatively short. Overall, really enjoyed this quick read, and I highly recommend!
TW: domestic abuse, violence, intrusive thoughts, homelessness, parental death
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Violence
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
shaipanda's review against another edition
challenging
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
Aww I really liked this! I did think things suddenly got really serious and intense between Cash and Bailey v quickly towards the end but otherwise thought this was p well done :) this was one of the only books of Talia Hibbert’s backlist I hadn’t read and while it’s not an absolute favorite by any means I did like it a lot more than I expected given that it’s a Christmas book
Will say did nott love the Harry Potter references but it’s from 2017 so like I get it
Will say did nott love the Harry Potter references but it’s from 2017 so like I get it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Physical abuse