Fractures in Ink by Helena HuntingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Reviewed by: Michelle
Copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review
Helena Hunting has inked, tattooed, and ingrained herself into the literary community as an author that deserves to be spotlighted and honored. If you have read Helena’s Pucked Series, then you are all aware that she can write smart, funny, and sexy romance but did you know that she can also write gripping heartfelt angsty romance?
“I didn’t want her to have a permanent reminder of me that she couldn’t erase. I wasn’t talking about the art. ”The first time I read Clipped Wings, I was hooked. I needed, wanted, and craved for Helena’s writing as I was obsessed with these cast of emotionally broken characters. So when I found out that she was going to continue the series and write Fractures In Ink, I was ecstatic. Well, that is putting it mildly since I was over the top eager to get my greedy bookworm hands on this book and couldn’t wait to read Chris and Sarah’s story. And let me just say, this book was worth the wait as it was a phenomenal breathtaking read.
Fractures In Ink is one of those rare angsty reads that grips your heart to the core. Helena beautifully tackles this heartbreaking, poignant, visceral, and emotionally charged romance in a brilliant and tangible fashion that it leaves a ripple effect. This book consumes you in a way that as a reader you feel for the emotional journey of Sarah and Chris.
“No chance I’m screwing up your life like I do everyone else’s.” There was so much weight in that statement, and it made me wish all over again that I could be more than just his escape.”Chris Zelter didn’t have a great childhood. He knew pain, loss, heartbreak, and disappointment. So fast forward to the present, Chris is a changed man. As a renowned and successful tattoo artist at Inked Armor, Chris has rebuilt his life. His troubled past is somewhat behind him. He should be happy but something is missing. Love.
If you read Clipped Wings Series then you are well aware that Chris and Sarah are somewhat in a relationship. This relationship is not your standard girlfriend/boyfriend as Sarah and Chris never really defined what is going between them. It is a relationship that is kind of understood that they both deeply care for each other but they are both holding back in revealing their past.
“Chris was a lot of things— rough around the edges, closed off, secretive, sensitive , stunningly gorgeous, attentive, affectionate. But one thing he had not been was demanding in bed. Until now.”Sarah is a working grad student who balances her life with school, her internship and her part time work as a waitress in a seedy stripper club. Sarah knows that this waitressing job pays off the bills and her student loans. This is a job that she is eager to be over with especially with the fact that her boss is slimy, calculating, cruel and manipulative who wants nothing more for Sarah to be one of the strippers on stage.
As Chris and Sarah navigate what their relationship is, Chris’s family and past comes barreling back as he tries to financial support his half sister and dependent mother. Chris is well aware that his mom is a punching bag for his step-father and so he does his best to keep his goodhearted sister from experiencing any hardship. This emotional burden of seeing his sister suffer from the hands of her father is something that angers Chris. But this burden is something that Chris carries alone that is until Sarah begs him to let her in?
“Separately, these struggles could break us down. But maybe if we could hold on to each other and figure them out together... we could stop the fractures from becoming too big and keep the cracks from forming fissures we couldn’t repair.”Sarah is also an emotionally flawed character as well. She too also knows what it is life to grow up in hardship and so she vows and promises herself to make a better life for herself and get educated. On her road to fulfilling her dreams, her job as a waitress soon becomes a huge burden for Sarah as her boss tries to blackmail and push her into doing special “dances” for clients.
Chris is well aware that Sarah is too good for him. She is on the right path to make her life better. And so begins the emotional aspect of two broken people trying to make their relationship work. This is not a perfect relationship and that’s what makes this relationship so special as Helena Hunting allows readers to absorb the raw vulnerability, insecurity, fears, pain, and love that Chris and Sarah have for each other. So can two emotionally flawed individuals discover the beauty of fractures in the ink?
I placed my hand over hers. “You’ve been in there for a long time already; you just didn’t realize it.”Emotionally consuming and addictive is the only way I can sum up reading Fractures In Ink. This book was everything that I had expected Helena Hunting to deliver. She held you hostage not only with her stunning prose but with also her flawed characters. The writing was phenomenal as each raw emotions was not only felt but absorbed. My heart ached for Chris and Sarah and at the same time, my heart was filled with an abundance of love and admiration for their love, sacrifices, and hope for a better future. So if you are looking for a book to get lost in, then I highly recommend you to read Fractures In Ink as this book was a visceral literary masterpiece that was both angsty and heartfelt.
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