{"id":37555,"date":"2018-10-18T07:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T11:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=37555"},"modified":"2018-10-18T20:46:27","modified_gmt":"2018-10-19T00:46:27","slug":"arc-review-inked-sailors-grave-2-by-drew-elyse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=37555","title":{"rendered":"Blog Tour & ARC Review: Inked (Sailor’s Grave, #2) by Drew Elyse"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Amazon US<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon AU<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

INSTANT ATTRACTION IS A POWERFUL THING.<\/p>\n

Six months of dancing around each other led to one explosive night and two weeks without a word.<\/p>\n

Only then did I learn the truth:
\nThe man I\u2019d wanted since he walked into Sailor\u2019s Grave Tattoo Parlor was actually an undercover cop.<\/p>\n

And the worst part is, I don\u2019t even know his real name.<\/p>\n

BUT WHAT IF ATTRACTION ISN\u2019T ENOUGH<\/p>\n

For over eight months I held back.
\nExcept for that one night when I couldn\u2019t fight it anymore.
\nI\u2019d wanted her from the beginning, but I should have kept waiting until my secrets weren\u2019t between us<\/p>\n

Now, I have the ultimate challenge before me:
\nConvince the inked goddess of a receptionist to at least let me keep her safe, even if she won\u2019t give me another chance.<\/p>\n

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Find\u00a0INKED\u00a0<\/em>on GOODREADS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Review<\/b><\/h4>\n

3.5 stars<\/b><\/p>\n

The second book in the Sailor\u2019s Grave<\/i> series, and we are back in the MC-run tattoo studio, Sailor\u2019s Grave, this time for receptionist\/office manager, Jess\u2019s story. And though this book is #2 in the series, and this series follows on from another series (Savage Disciples<\/i>), this book can be read as a standalone.<\/p>\n

Jess is a bold, confident girl who has had a difficult life but who has fought hard to get where she is, and she\u2019s confident in who she is and her alternative-ish style. For the last few months she has been sharing lusty glances with a customer who comes into the studio for two-weekly appointments, and who also just happens to be her neighbour. She made her move only to get shot down, and she\u2019s all kinds of worked up about it until the object of her fantasies comes knocking at her door. They have one sizzling encounter, only for him to disappear the next day, and it\u2019s two weeks later when she learns that her mystery man is actually an undercover cop who had to leave as part of his mission, and that she has no idea who he really is.<\/p>\n

Braden was completely swept off his feet by Jess. She is exactly the kind of woman that he wants, and she pushes all his buttons in the right way, but he held himself back from starting anything until he could come to her openly and with everything. Their one time together never should have happened, but he can\u2019t regret that it did, and now he just has to bide his time until he can get back to her.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t the only one who grabbed life by the balls. I knew what I wanted when I saw it, and I\u2019d never fucked around in going after it. There wasn\u2019t one doubt in my mind from the start that I\u2019d wanted her.
\nBut what could I do with my identify being a secret that stood between us?<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s months later when Braden returns, and it\u2019s right when Jess becomes the target of a violent stalker. He has a challenge in front of him to get Jess to give him another chance, but that\u2019s not going to stop him from keeping her safe in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Braden is such a great hero! He is a total alpha, he knows what he wants, and he is committed to winning his girl. His absolute devotion to Jess is beautiful to see, and I loved how he held nothing back from her as he fought so hard for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I\u2019m getting into. I know what I want. And that\u2019s you, Jess.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And when his hard work pays off and we get a passionate, intense romance that is all kinds of hot!<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really are a goddess.\u201d
\n\u2026 \u201cDoes that mean you\u2019re at my command?\u201d
\n\u2026 \u201cNot a chance. I\u2019ll worship you, but you\u2019ll get that how I want to give it.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But there are still barriers between them, with Jess\u2019s fears holding her back. They have issues to work through if they\u2019re going to find their HEA, but with Braden going all out, it\u2019s really gorgeous to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tired of being afraid,\u201d\u2026
\nI kept moving toward her. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to be. Why the hell should I scare you?\u201d
\n\u201cI might care about you.\u201d
\n\u201cWell, I\u2019m already there. So who has the upper hand here?\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a great story with a really interesting set-up, and I enjoyed these two together, but my big issue with this book is that we\u2019re dropped into the story after all of the build-up has happened, and we didn\u2019t get to watch it happen and enjoy the development of feelings. We meet them when they\u2019re both already feeling it, and apart from a quick flashback glimpse (which is more sexual than emotional), we miss out on their first steamy encounter as well. And I think missing all of that stopped me from feeling this love story as much as I wanted to. Yes, there\u2019s chemistry that they are clearly feeling, but I wasn\u2019t feeling it with them, which was disappointing when the first book in this series made me feel so much! But it does build well, and though Jess got a bit annoying at times, Braden more than made up for it with his awesomeness.<\/p>\n

The mystery\/suspense part of the storyline is predictable, but it plays out well, and it adds a nice dimension to everything that is happening between Braden and Jess.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed this one \u2013 not as much as I was hoping \u2013 but still a good read. And I\u2019m really intrigued for Parker\u2019s book up next.<\/p>\n

3.5 stars.<\/p>\n

Advanced Review Copy generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Sailor’s Grave<\/strong><\/h4>\n

(A spin off from the Savage Disciples<\/em> series.)<\/p>\n

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Marked (#1)<\/strong> (Liam & Kate)
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0Amazon US<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 Amazon CA<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon AU<\/a><\/p>\n

Inked (#2)<\/strong> (Jess & Braden)
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy:\u00a0 Amazon US<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 \u00a0 Amazon AU<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Drew Elyse spends her days trying to convince the world that she is, in fact, a Disney Princess, and her nights writing tear-jerking and sexy romance novels.<\/p>\n

When she isn’t writing, she can usually be found analyzing every line of a book, binge watching shows on Netflix, doing strange vocal warm ups before singing in a variety of musical styles, or screaming at the TV during Chicago Blackhawks games.<\/p>\n

A graduate of Loyola University Chicago, she still lives outside Chicago, IL, where she was born and raised, with her boyfriend and her fur babies Lola and Duncan.<\/p>\n

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WEBSITE\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 FACEBOOK\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 TWITTER\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 INSTAGRAM\u00a0<\/a> |\u00a0 <\/strong>GOODREADS<\/strong><\/a><\/h4>\n

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  Amazon US\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon UK\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon AU\u00a0 |\u00a0 Amazon CA\u00a0|\u00a0 Paperback   Blurb INSTANT ATTRACTION IS A POWERFUL THING. Six months of dancing around each other led to one explosive night and two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":3.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,9,29],"tags":[59,850,48,851],"class_list":["post-37555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mystery","category-romance","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-drew-elyse","tag-review","tag-sailors-grave"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Inked-FOR-WEB.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-9LJ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}