Title: Mad Love
Series: Guns and Ink #1
Author: Shana Vanterpool
Genre: New Adult Dark Romance
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Release Date: 25 September 2017
She was a disruption he never wanted.
He was everything she distrusted.
Klayton Caldwell owns a tattoo shop in Denver, Colorado, and has seen just about everything and met just about every kind of person. And they all have one thing in common. Ink.
He isn’t complicated. What you see is what you get. Sex? Always. Relationships? Never. Pleasantries? He doesn’t do that either. Those who can’t handle his mouth get inked elsewhere. Klayton holds everyone at a distance, even his friends. He doesn’t do “close.”
Until Madison ends up in his tattoo parlor, broken, afraid and alone. There’s something about her, and almost immediately, Klayton’s guard drops. Now, everything he knows about himself changes as his life begins to unravel.
Twenty-year-old Madison Hart’s future was taken from her the moment she was abducted from her college campus and held captive by a sicko. After escaping, she flees, running into a stranger. A stranger who shares a similar past. Someone who might be able to help her heal. If she’ll let him.
Madi comes into Klayton’s life like a storm. She’s beautiful. Pitiful. Dangerous. Her pain runs deep enough that she may never be able to talk about what she’s experienced. Her refusal to talk takes a level of patience Klayton’s not sure he has.
He must navigate her broken pieces by changing everything he is. Who he’s been all these years won’t work anymore. But Madi fights him, she fights herself. She fights the madness.
She refuses to talk. He can’t control his mouth. She doesn’t want to be touched. He can’t help himself. They don’t want love. Inside this storm, is a love so mad it might destroy them both.
MAD LOVE is book 1 in the Guns & Ink series from Shana Vanterpool. Look for the rest of the Guns & Ink series coming soon from Swoon Romance.
Book #2 Hard Love - Cat and Brando
Book #3 Bad Love - Isaiah & Bell
Mad Love is the first book in the Guns & Ink series. It
covers some dark subject matter that could be a trigger for some readers.
Madison has escaped from a madman after being held captive
and repeatedly raped over and over again. She runs into Cat who takes her to the only
place she herself felt safe when she went through something similar and that is
to her best friend Klayton.
Klayton owns the local tattoo parlour which is a daily
struggle to make ends meet. He is not close to anyone and never will be except
for Cat who is the only person in the World who knows him and will take the
crap from him. So when she brings in a waif who has been traumatised he feels
he has no other action to do but to take her in. Little by little he sees how
broken Madi is but slowly but surely he gradually earns her trust, so much so
that it is only Klayton that she will allow to touch her and she feels safe with
him. Through their own darkness and demons the pair become more than saviour
and protected.
This was a very emotive and challenging read when you
experience through Madison what she has gone through and her coping mechanism.
Klayton, even though at first came across as a brute and standoffish, quickly
became my hero. He was amazing! I did find the relatively quick transgression
to how Madi became close to him and then kissing etc. even after the hell she
had recently been through. I also found Klayton’s ‘hook ups’ with the hanger on
Lynda a bit strange when he had Madi in his apartment. Also the constant retching
and up chucking had me nearly barfing at some points! But only a few blips that made me ponder.
However it was a wonderfully dark but with elements of light
through the romance that developed that gave this read a thoroughly engaging storyline.
I loved the connection between the pairing. There was also some comedic
elements provided by Cat. Can’t wait to read her story which I presume will be
the next book. Four stars.
*ARC kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
Romance author, coffee drinker, and bad boy aficionado. Every second not spent breathing is an opportunity to write and read. I live in Northern California with my family and actress dog, Halle Bella. (Just Bella when she decides to cut the crap.) Escaping with a good book is something I live for and I write so others can do the same.
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