A review by readwithev
Dirty Sexy Inked by Carly Phillips, Erika Wilde

Did not finish book. Stopped at 70%.
The steamy scenes are only a 3.5 stars out of 5. I usually like friends to lovers, however this story fell flat. They slept together, then started dating about 1 week later with barely any issues. Very boring! There was no tension and the reader never questions when or whether Katrina and Mason will get together.
Katrina went on one date with Blake after returning from Vegas, but chooses Mason the next day! Moreover, she was set on leaving Inked but decides to stay. Personally, I think both Mason and Katrina could have grown as characters if Katrina had stopped working at Inked. She would have become a more confident independent artist. Mason would learn to support her as well. Also, the scene where Levi is lecturing/psychoanalyzing Mason at the bar, explaining why Mason has never trusted women, is afraid of relationships, and convinces him to pursue Katrina all felt like lazy writing on the authors' part. Instead of providing opportunities and roadblocks for Mason to learn this about himself and overcome his doubts, the authors use Levi to explain everything.

In my opinion, it would have been more interesting if (after coming back from Vegas) Katrina and Blake had started dating, she'd quit working at Inked, and Mason realized how much he loves Katrina. He could then confess his feelings and fight for her.
There were a lot of missed chances for Katrina and Mason to encounter minor conflicts which could have developed their characters and relationship more. Ultimately decided to DNF.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings