Monday, November 10, 2014

Draw Me In by Regina Cole

The Basics:
Draw Me In by Regina Cole
Flirt
New Adult, Romance
Published November 4, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon Kobo

Why I picked up this book:

Blurb! 



Blurb:

In Regina Cole’s steamy novel of hot ink and delicious angst, two tortured artists take a leap of faith—but the past threatens to tear them apart.
 
After her parents pull the plug on her college fund to finance their nasty divorce, Hailey Jakes is desperate to pay her own way and finish her degree in graphic design. She can hardly believe her luck when the sexiest guy she’s ever seen hires her to be the receptionist at his tattoo shop. With sea-blue eyes, jet-black hair, and full sleeves of tattoos on his muscular arms, Neill Vanderhaven looks like the kind of guy who wouldn’t give her the time of day. In fact, he’s mesmerized by her—and it doesn’t hurt that she’s talented as hell.
 
But Hailey and Neill have more in common than instant chemistry: They’re both carrying serious baggage. Hailey’s parents split after years of blowout fights and sloppy affairs. Neill just got out of something serious with a woman who loved her bad habits more than she loved him. When they take the plunge on a new relationship, they’re both breaking their own rules.
 
But then a terrible misunderstanding brings Neill’s worst fears to life, and their connection threatens to come crashing down. What they have is more than skin-deep, but now Hailey and Neill need to decide whether the kind of love that lasts forever is worth such exquisite pain.


My thoughts:

I'm a sucker for a tattoo artist these days. They seem to be fairly popular in the 'bad boy' end of the spectrum, and there's *nothing* wrong with that. Neill absolutely fits the bill as a sexy leading man. He's young, standing on his own two feet having recently become part-owner of the shop he works in and he doesn't want to get brought down by relationship drama the way he did with his ex.

For her part, Hailey is a young college student with an artistic flair. Her parents' marriage has turned ugly recently, and Hailey's trying to cope with the fallout. When she gets a job working reception at Neill's shop, the two find themselves drawn to each other despite their individual better judgement. 

Everything that happened in the tattoo parlour was really great. There were moments I laughed at, moments that were pretty romantic, moments that were emotional. Watcing Hailey try to find her footing in the shop was quite entertaining as she wasn't perfect at the job but she was definitely determined.

All of Hailey's drama outside of the shop? I just could not buy into at all. Her advisor, her parents, even her roommate, it all fell really flat for me. Some of it seemed really overblown and some of it just didn't hit the right notes. I wanted her to react more to her mother being missing, I couldn't wrap my head around the advisor at all (possibly because this was not a part of my post-secondary education).

I think if the angst and action had stayed centered around the shop, I would have enjoyed the book more. Knowing that Hailey was struggling to make ends meet, and then struggling to solidify her position at the shop could have sustained the book, I think. The connection between Neill and Hailey worked for me, so at least there was that!

Bottom line:

A lot of promise, and a very sexy tattoo artist make Draw Me In worth a read if you go for the latter. While it doesn't have the depth that I've found in some of my favourite New Adult books this year, I do think Draw Me In is entertaining enough to warrant a read!

3.5 stars
For fans of tattoo artists, angst, crazy plot turns

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