(Clipped Wings #2.5)
by Helena Hunting
ARC Review
Released: June 23, 2014, Pocket Star
My rating: 3 of 5 ⭐️
Part owner of the Chicago tattoo shop Inked Armor, Chris Zelter is a talented artist who decorates skin with gorgeous designs. He might look the part of the typical jacked-up, inked-up bad-boy, but underneath is a fiercely loyal, complicated man. Kicked out at sixteen, Chris has had to fend for himself for the last twelve years, making his Inked Armor crew as much family as they are business partners. For him, it’s enough—until he meets Sarah Adamson.
A grad student waitressing at the local strip club, Sarah is used to propositions and crude comments. The job is a means to an end—finish her MBA, pay off the tuition loans, and get a good job. Then she won’t have to rely on anyone to take care of her. So when brawny, tatted up Chris begins hanging out at the club, she rebuffs his advances. At first. But Chris isn’t like her usual clientele: despite his hard exterior, he’s almost…sweet.
Sometimes, the people with the roughest edges have the biggest hearts."
Part owner of the Chicago tattoo shop Inked Armor, Chris Zelter is a talented artist who decorates skin with gorgeous designs. He might look the part of the typical jacked-up, inked-up bad-boy, but underneath is a fiercely loyal, complicated man. Kicked out at sixteen, Chris has had to fend for himself for the last twelve years, making his Inked Armor crew as much family as they are business partners. For him, it’s enough—until he meets Sarah Adamson.
A grad student waitressing at the local strip club, Sarah is used to propositions and crude comments. The job is a means to an end—finish her MBA, pay off the tuition loans, and get a good job. Then she won’t have to rely on anyone to take care of her. So when brawny, tatted up Chris begins hanging out at the club, she rebuffs his advances. At first. But Chris isn’t like her usual clientele: despite his hard exterior, he’s almost…sweet.
Sometimes, the people with the roughest edges have the biggest hearts."
*****
Where is the rest??
Ok, it's probably my own fault that I thought we were finally going to have Chris and Sarah's full story. Not. This is another Novella getting us all primed and ready for them. Their second novella in this series.
I actually like Chris and Sarah as a couple. Neither appear to have a lot of drama going on at surface level, both are just doing their individual struggling with life, but there are hints of troubled waters lurking underneath. I guess it is one of the things that keeps their relationship in a rather tentative state - neither is settled enough in their own skin to know quite what it is they want from themselves, to know what it is they are looking for from the other. They just know they want more. Not necessarily how to get there.
For a novella written from the point of view of both Chris and Sarah, I found far too much of the focus placed on Hayden and Tenley. If this is to be an introduction to Chris and Sarah's story, then let's see some more of their interaction, instead of being witness to another example of what makes Hayden and Tenley's complicated relationship so compelling. I get it, they are very much at the root of this series, but in a novella this size, there barely is room for two main characters, let alone four! And it almost felt like that.
Helena's writing is phenomenal, which is why, just like with the other books in this series, this absolutely is a must read despite the less than 5 star rating I'm giving it. This novella is yet another example of that. I was so engrossed reading it, that when I turned a page and noticed that that was it - I had reached the end of the book - I was shocked. It felt I had barely started.
✨Another short but sweet peek into Chris & Sarah.✨
**Copy provided in return for an honest review.**
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