Fractures in Ink

By: Helena Hunting

Narrated by: Rose Dioro, Jacob Morgan

Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Sometimes the things we shouldn't want become exactly what we need.

Waitressing at a seedy strip club isn't ideal, but it pays Sarah Adamson's tuition. Her goal is to finish her master's program and get a job that doesn't involve tight skirts and groping hands. She doesn't need distractions. Especially not the one that comes in the form of a hot-as-sin tattoo artist who works across the street from her apartment.

Kicked out at 16, and a high school dropout, Chris Zelter is familiar with wanting things he can't have. His fractured life has never been easy. As the product of someone else's bad decisions, he knows exactly what happens when the wrong person controls your marionette strings. Now an accomplished tattoo artist in a renowned studio in Chicago, Chris has it together.

Mostly.

Apart from his infatuation with Sarah. She's way out of his league, and Chris knows it.

But he's willing to be her bad decision. At least for now.

©2016 Helena Hunting (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

Great addition to the series

I really loved the inked armor crew and their banter. I also loved Hayden and Tenley's relationship but I was very curious about Sarah and Chris's relationship. I did like seeing how their relationship functioned and it was nice to get a continuation to the group's story.

The only reason why I have this 4 stars instead of 5 was that I was more interested in Hayden and Tenley. Chris and Sarah are great secondary characters but I didn't find them interesting enough to have their own full book. I would have liked it more if we had more of a back story to their relationship instead of it picking up in the middle of it.

I love Jacob Morgan's voice, he is one of my favorite narrators.

DAMAGED SOULS & A BUMPY RIDE LEADS TO TRUE LOVE

Chris and Sarah are already together when this book starts out but they're treating each other as booty calls rather than anything else because, at this stage, neither one wants to show their true feelings. Sarah's waitressing in a sleazy Strip Club by night but she also Interns and hopes to graduate soon but Sarah's success, along with his childhood insecurities, makes Tattoo Artist Chris feel like he's undeserving of Sarah. Chris is waiting for Sarah to move on to someone more 'respectable' than him.. but he doesn't realize that, during Sarah's own miserable childhood, she got an unpleasant taste of what men in suits are capable of.

Two imperfect souls who are perfect for each other but they are their own worst enemies because neither one wants to open up, lower their walls, share their secrets and let the other person in - so they're each battling their problems alone. Sarah's low life Strip Club boss is blackmailing her and is just waiting for the right time to cash in his 'favor' and Chris is having major problems trying to help and protect his 19 yr old sister who is living with their emotionally absent non supportive Mom and her controlling abusive husband. And, before they finally open up to each other, each of them (on separate occasions) will break up with the other.

There's angst and drama in this bumpy road story as well as sex, secrets, sweet scenes, previously written about secondary characters and some soul searching - all before Sarah and Chris eventually open up and get their HEA ending. The characters of the caring, sexy, damaged tattoo artist and the hard working waitress/intern who naively got into dangerous waters because of mounting tuition costs were likeable and well developed. Dual POV's, easily a standalone book and the narration was good.

Worth a credit? I liked this story - so YES, IMO, a creditworthy listen.

Disappointed

First, I love Helena Hunting and her "Pucked Series," and some of her other books. So I was excited to see this in the romance package selection. I am waiting for one of her new releases. So I thought this would fill in the time till the next audio is produced. Unfortunately, this left me struggling to pay attention which is weird because Jacob Morgan is one of my favorite narrators. As a result, I did not finish this book.

Now for some people, I believe they will enjoy this storyline. Unfortunately, I felt that the backward approach of the couple who is already in some form of a relationship and sleeping together at the very beginning of the book did not give me the type of chemistry or build up that I prefer in a good romance. Lets us just say, I need some form of "foreplay" to connect with the characters. Much of the story, I listened to was all about our hero trying to find out what his ex-girlfriend was doing or what the real reason she walked away from him. Since the hero really painted himself so unworthy of his girlfriend, I started to believe him which is not sexy if I view a book hero as a loser. I need my heroes to have that sexy charm which was completely lacking in this book. Additionally, I felt like there was so much damage that was caused when the heroine walked away at the beginning of the book, that their relationship could never fully recover in order for me to get that fantasy HEA. Remember, this a make-believe romance, not a real relationship. We all know many real relationships that people go back and forth and hold on to a bad situation. Unfortunately, I am looking for some kind of fantasy when I select books. I have read/listened to hundreds of romance books over the years, so I have questioned what makes a story a 5-star rating, What I have determined is that there is somewhat of a formula and if that formula is broken, then the story can become flat. I think for some people who want more of the Cinderella or more of an alpha-like story, then this book might not appeal to you. Overall, The narrator's voices were excellent. C+ story A- narrators.

Note: If I would have purchased it, rather than using the romance pkg, I would have finished it.

good but

didn't care for female narrator. talked too slow and voice kept trailing off so hard to hear. also spoke in a breathy way, kinda like a loud whisper. she didn't have many chapters so that's good.

Worth the read

I loved this story, and I’ve enjoyed the whole series, including the “Pucked” books. The characters are interesting, some a bit angsty, some humorous and always likeable. The women are interesting and real, and the men are what every girl wants. What female doesn’t want to be respected and worshiped ? I hope Helena Hunting expands the “Inked” and “Pucked” world even more. It’s a wonderful escape. I also hope Jacob Morgan narrates any future books in the series, as well as Rose Dioro who is also enjoyable. Thank you Helen Hunting, for providing hours of enjoyment. Definitely worth the credits.

Amazing

Wow what a story. Sarah is one ambitious strong woman. Chris is one loyal complicated man. The make for one complicated couple. They both have a lot of old baggage. There both kind of close off with walls around there hearts. Amazing how everything happened the way it did.

good book made great by Jacob Morgan

Another story from Helena that completely sucked me in. I love her writing style. however, "Pucked" is still my favorite. even though I loved the entire series.
Anyway, back on track. this story revolves around Chris and Sarah getting their HEA. she gets blackmailed at the strip club she waits tables at. he has to deal with his mom and step-dad and finally gets his sister away from them. had just the right amount of angst for me. I love that the drama isn't so overdone that I'm rolling my eyes. most of the books I read are too much in the drama. I appreciate that this felt like real life stuff. crap I can relate to from my childhood and friends with a similar upbringing.


definitely enjoyed the book. Jacob Morgan just makes it so much better. his voice. the way he gets in character. the best. really sells me on it. Rose is just okay for me. she's a little breathy and tries to sound too sweet or soft or something. idk. I don't dislike it just sounds way too young or something. found myself switching to my kindle and reading her chapters when I could. luckily, it was mostly told from chris' point of view! can he just narrate everything. even the girls POV? he does great at that too. talented mother.....

Loved it!

Great storytelling as usual. You suck me in every single time. I know this was part of a series but I was able to follow along pretty well. Now I have to go start from the beginning.
Jacob Morgan was amazing as usual.

Great Narrators

Liked this one purely for the narrators who I am really loving. They are wonderful to listen to and do great work.

Now I've been dying for this book since I read Clipped Wings and it took me so long to finally read it. I wanted to love Sarah and Chris's story, but I didn't. It was just ok. I felt that we could have a deeper story to dive into and they both could have had more depth, but they didn't. They both had terrible parents growing up and that's the gist of it. Maybe I wanted it to be too much like Clipped Wings, but the Chris I read about in those two books seemed so different than the guy in this book.

Sweet and Sour

It was good to have a new story line theme for a change, but the female narrator was hard for me to listen to. She sounds like she is 11 or 12 years old, and better suited for voicing a child or teen character.