This is another ARC that I got for review from NetGalley. They have a lot of romance novels from a lot of romance authors I hadn’t heard of before. I read The Darkest Link in about an hour, so it’s a quick read. It reads easily and fluently, thanks to the fluent language. The conversations between characters are well written and the main characters have a very sweet relationship.
Scarlett Cole wrote a good book, all in all. Not great, but good. The blurb gives you a good idea of what to expect:
When her car breaks down off the side of a lonely highway far from her sunny Miami home, tattoo artist Lia never expected her very own white knight to ride up on the back of a barely street-legal motorcycle…and she never expected to fall for her dark savior. After a string of failed relationships and a bruised heart, Lia is not looking for forever, and the hot mechanic, with his sexy scruff and shaggy hair, is simply impossible to resist and the perfect candidate for mind-blowingly-perfect, no-strings-attached one night stand.
Reid left his life in Chicago far behind him and hasn’t been back, but he’s never been able to escape the guilt he feels about his own painful role in inviting a monster into his baby sister’s life. A monster who almost destroyed her. Being with Lia is an unexpected gift, one he doesn’t feel he deserves, and their one night together has him wanting more than he should. Especially since she doesn’t know the truth about his past. However, when he finds Lia’s bracelet in his bed, he has the perfect excuse to drive down and surprise her at her tattoo studio, Second Circle Tattoos, in Miami. He’s in for an even bigger shock – and a fist to the face – when his past and present collide in the humid Miami weather when he runs into the last person he’d ever expect to see in a tattoo studio: Harper, the sister he betrayed, and the last link to his former life.
So Lia, the female lead, comes from a stereotypical rich white family. By following her dream of becoming a tattoo artist, she has rebelled which has caused a break with her family. She is a vintage-loving girl that dresses like a pinup basically. Reid, the male lead character, is a big hunk of a m an who also has a contentuous relationship with his family: he broke off contact because he feels responsible for what happend to his sister. She was attacked by a friend of his, which his father blames him for and kicked him out for.
When Lia’s car breaks down, Reid, who just happens to own an auto repair shop, stops to help her out. They give in to the sexual tension and spend one night together, after which they decide to part ways since they live rather far apart and lead very different lives. Neither of them are in a good place to start a relationship at the time, but they can’t forget about each other. They keep on using the slightest excuses to see each other and end up bonding over the fact that both of them feel like the odd one out in their families.
She doesn’t see eye to eye with her super rich, super conservative family and he was exiled by his parents after his sister was attacked. They both have bagage, but they get over it to be together. They have a supporting, sweet relationship and I liked their dynamic. Not a great book, some clichés here and there, but a good, relaxing romance novel.
What do you think?
Happy reading,
Loes M.