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.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

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.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Love all of it

I love all of the books by Helena Hunting and when they are narrated by Rose Dioro and Jacob Morgan, it is the icing on the cake! Love the way they read the story and love the story itself!

Pretty Realistic

This book was more hard hitting and realistic regarding poverty, child abuse, domestic violence and the legacy all of that abuse and neglect leaves. It was sometimes a little hard to read because of the wonderful job that the author did. Both characters were likeable and you really wanted the best for them. The actors did a great job.

It Was Just Ok

It took forever to make myself finish this book. The only reason I kept going is because of Jacob Morgan. He was Fab as always

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.

loved it❤a great story love Helena Hunting

love the story and narrators love the series and look forward to reading more from This Author and listening to R Dioro and J Morgan

Heartbreaking, Amazing, Unmatched

This book made me laugh, cry, want to punch something, and made my heart smile. Helena created literary GOLD with this amazing book.

Helena, please write more books!

Loved this book like all the others by this author. Excellent emotions, excellent premise, interesting characters and story line. Narrators were excellent.

A total fake out.

Okay so I only got this book because of the narrators. BUT...since I’m always painfully honest, I have to say the back stories were way better than this story but the narrators saved it. Some things were completely ridiculous and implausible while others seemed very likely to happen. Like- how can you record a video while your on your cell phone? 🧐 Maybe...IDK...also- how could there even be any choice about going back to work after what she witnessed. Annnnd...Sarah’s conversation with Chris was just weird. I get keeping something is a big deal but damn, spit it out. Uhhhh!! Anyway, I hope the rest of the series is added to the romance package; they sound interesting.