Review: Hot cabin romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 4, 2010
I picked this up on a whim after reading an excerpt and I'm glad I did. It was my first read from this author, but it won't be my last.Kelsie Cole is a pink-haired, well-inked tattoo parlor owner who hasn't worn a single-digit clothing size since she was a pre-teen. She's off for a week vacationing at her twin brother's lakeside cabin in North Carolina and she's not too keen to see the car pulling into the driveway. She decides her brother's a dead man for telling his best friend and business partner that he could have the cabin this week. She's known buttoned-up, suit and tie wearing John McBride since they were nine years old, and he's gotten under her skin since day one.John doesn't know why everything he says or does causes Kelsie to snap at him. She interprets his glances and questions as judgments on her weight, tattoos and piercings. He's fascinated with her, in reality, and just wants her to see him as a man so he can treat her like a woman. He's determined to use the week to change things between them.The Sweetest Tattoo isn't very long at just shy of 30k words, but it packs a lot into the space. John and Kelsie have known each other for 20+ years, which helps establish their connection. Dane uses dialogue and memories to share their bits of backstory to show how they became the people they are. It's an opposites attract story on its face, but then you also realize they have a lot of common experience, making them sort of two sides of the same coin. Both faced adversity when they were young, but they both chose different ways to deal with it.It wasn't the best sex writing I've ever read, but it was certainly above average. While there was a lot of it, it was full of emotion and character development, so it never felt gratuitous. Major props for the hero volunteering to use a particular sex toy before he was to do the same to her so he'd be in the know. It was a surprisingly hot scene with a lot of feeling to it, but I was totally surprised to see that. Nice gamble, imo.I'd suggest this for anyone who likes a quick and naughty novella without any particularly kinky elements to it.