Scan barcode
A review by jackiehorne
Merry Inkmas by Talia Hibbert
4.0
3.5 Another interracial romance winner from Hibbert, this one a holiday novella set in a tattoo shop. Our hero is hot/cold emotion-wise tough-guy white Cash, the owner of the shop, and our heroine curvy, take no guff black Bailey, who finds herself drawn to him, despite having watched her own mother fall far too often for guys who did not end up staying. The central question here is one asked by Bailey's friend John:
"He's very 'tortured artist.' You know?"
" 'Tortured artist' is code for 'attractive arsehole'"
"Only when they're faking it. Have you considered that he might have some genuine baggage?"
How much baggage should a woman put up with? And why?
The answer: adults talk things out, call each other on bullshit behavior. And agree to treat each other better. And trust yourself not to hurt the other.
Half a point off because the opening of the novel, in which Cash and Bailey join together to aid a homeless man, made me really uncomfortable (Cash pays for him to live in a hotel and gets him a job, without knowing anything about him except that Bailey, whom he has been obsessing over but whom he has never interacted with before outside of the coffee shop where she works, says that he's a good guy). The whole thing felt like it was there to make Cash (and Bailey) into the good guys, even though the homeless character, John, does feature in small ways throughout the rest of the story.
"He's very 'tortured artist.' You know?"
" 'Tortured artist' is code for 'attractive arsehole'"
"Only when they're faking it. Have you considered that he might have some genuine baggage?"
How much baggage should a woman put up with? And why?
The answer: adults talk things out, call each other on bullshit behavior. And agree to treat each other better. And trust yourself not to hurt the other.
Half a point off because the opening of the novel, in which Cash and Bailey join together to aid a homeless man, made me really uncomfortable (Cash pays for him to live in a hotel and gets him a job, without knowing anything about him except that Bailey, whom he has been obsessing over but whom he has never interacted with before outside of the coffee shop where she works, says that he's a good guy). The whole thing felt like it was there to make Cash (and Bailey) into the good guys, even though the homeless character, John, does feature in small ways throughout the rest of the story.