close tostars,
This is a correspondence love story done right! It was so sweet, The build up to their meeting was perfect, Sexual tension and flirting. I loved that there was no cheating or ow/om drama whatsoever, It was true romance which doesn't need all of that nonsense,
The heroine pushed away for a short bit but she was so miserable without him, Roux was perfection. His Cajun dialect and dirty mouth was the stuff of dream heroes!
So, what kept it from beingfor me Well, while the epilogue was cute,months out isn't enough.
I want, no I NEED, to know how their lives panned out, I just didn't meet my expectations at the end, I picked this book up as it was recommended on one of my favourite podcasts, Fated Mates in their epistolary romances episode.
And, for those of you, who like me, wasn't exactly sure what an epistolary romance was until you googled it, it means a book where the hero and heroine fall in love or the relationship develops via writing.
This could be in the form of an old fashioned letter, or perhaps an email and even IMs, text messages.
. . and sometimes a combination of all of those things, Think Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata or Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas.
But, back to Written on his Skin, This book spoke directly to my id, completely bypassing my brain and I mean this in the BEST way.
Our sexy, bearded hero is in the military and falls in love with our curvy heroine when she sends him a letter.
He has a very physical, primal reaction to seeing her words set forth on paper and guys, from that point I was a goner, I loved this book. It was short and it was sexy and I adored every second of it,
This is a fairly short novella that I devoured in one sitting and I feelcertain that I will reread again and again.
I haven't seen Simone Stark release anything else since this book in, but if she does I am all over it!
p.
s. If you haven't listened to the Fated Mates podcast, give it a try! It is mainly focused on the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole.
But, if you haven't read that series although guys, . . why wouldn't you have It's the best! their interstitial episodes give you trope recommendations,.I really enjoyed this novella but would've enjoyed it more if it was longer or if there would've been a little more to the epilogue.
The writing was great excited to read whatever this author writes next,.Stars.
Ah, I really did fall in love with this book, but maybe it's just because of how much I adored Roux.
After finding a letter on his cot while on tour, Roux is introduced to the sweet and caring Abby.
She catches his heart from the first letter and from there a beautiful sweet love story begins, Roux was all you could want in a hero, he was sweet, all alpha and a total sweet talker when it came to Abby.
A bit of unnecessary drama but other than that it was such a good read! If you want a bit of instalove then check out this book.
This was just two weak plot points away from porn and soooo heavy on the instalove,
Yet I enjoyed the story what there was of it and the characters, Since this is a debut I think I will look out for the next story and try that too.
Hopefully a bit less instalove and a bit more fleshed out story!
How did I miss that this was a novella Or maybe I knew but forgot
Anyway had I known/remembered I'd have read this sooner but whateves.
I love books with letters and emails and texts and well you get the idea, So admittedly I was very excited to read this, Unfortunately it didn't live up,
Too fast paced but then what else would you expect from a novella
Too much smut
Yes it's a thing especially when you were really looking forward to the letters aspect of the book.
Also very farfetched and something, . . I mean for God's sake he was turned on by her handwriting! I mean wtf man
I'm getting the heebee geebies here.
Maybe you're not and you thought it romantic instead but that's your opinion and this is mine and we're all entitled to ours.
It's not a bad book by a long shot and I did have a good time reading it.
Especially since I was supposed to be studying and this was super short and just enough to clear and relax my mind.
xD
."Magic Peen Gave Me SelfEsteem" Stars
I have to say that this book hooked me from the getgo.
First off, that blurb YES PLEASE! I love books with some sort of longdistance communication, Letters, emails, texts, anything . I LOVE IT!
And this book delivered right from the beginning, An honest letter from Abby to Roux set the stage perfectly,
"You could be anyone, I could be anyone. And suddenly, we're more than anyone, We're someone. To each other. Letters are magic that way, don't you think"
Roux has had a lonely adulthood.
Losing his parents at a young age and joining the military as soon as his grandmother died, he's spent overyears oversees serving his country.
And Abby's letter felt like a lifeline, A connection to someone that he felt deeply, . IMMEDIATELY.
Now, I am no hater of instalust/love, Not at all. It doesn't turn me off, and I don't even blink if I see it in a blurb/review.
Sometimes
it works, and sometimes it doesn't, Here . it worked, but at the same time, it was a little too much,
Roux was all kinds of turned on and hard as a rock from the moment he opens up Abby's first letter, reads the first couple of paragraphs, and sees her beautiful handwriting.
. . he was done for.
So, I'm all about a man falling for a woman in all kinds of ways, . . I love your honesty, your sense of humor, your intelligence, your beauty, your penmanship cue record scratch
But you know what I rolled with it,
The letters QUICKLY got flirty and naturally Roux was all bangs chest Abby is MINE! Which is when my rolling with it turned into an ummmmmm, let's slow our roll a bit.
Abby's insecurity with her appearance and decision to send her sister's picture to Roux had me pausing a bit.
That's a little weird. I'd be pissed as hell if my sister did that, Dude, you're sending my pic to strangers and chatting them up No,
So, let's talk about Abby's insecurity, She's a little chubby per her, and kinda boring per her, and nerdy per her, Personally, minus the insecurity, I thought she was adorbs, Her animal puns tshirts were amazing and I want every single one of them, However, she constantly compared herself to her "perfect" sister and was convinced that a man like Roux would never want "someone like her.
" And there go my eyes rolling away, . .
Of course the inevitable happens and the two finally meet I have to be honest and say that this scene straddled the line of creepy for me a wee bit.
The sparks are there and oh boy so are the sexy good times, Roux does not hold back in his dirty talk and dirty ways, Homeboy could get it any day,
Just know, the heat has been brought,
And now we move into our hero injecting selfesteem into our heroine via his awesomely amazing dick.
He bathes her in compliments of how wonderful, smart, funny, sexy she is, and light bulb if someone like Roux could find her awesome, maybe she is, Ugh. This is a narrative in romance that I really want to bash with an oversized hammer, Why Why is this a thing
One hot guy with a dirty mouth and a lifechanging dick and POOF!! Look at that, I'm so amazing and love myself.
If it weren't for this pet peeve, I would have rated this higher,
Because you know what The writing here is good, The characters were pretty well developed for such a short novella, The story hooked me, kept me reading, and had me invested from start to finish,
And I'll tell you another thing, I'm keeping my eye out for Simone Stark and her future books, She hooked me with this debut, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what else she has up her sleeves.
.Give Me More Books, Simone Stark Stars!!!!!
One of my favorite novellas EVAH!!!! Of course, I wish it was a full book, but Ill take what I can get.
I will definitely be rereading this gem again and again,
Abby starts sending anonymous letters to a soldier cue eyeroll, I typically dont go for this type of story line, especially if it is weepy, But this was NOT weepy, I loved how the temperature was turned up very early on in the letters, These two quickly get to know each other, but Roux does not mess around and he gets right down to business.
Abby and Roux are adorable, And oh so sexy. Roux is a dream! He sobig, giggles And the fact that Abby isnt your skinnyminny bodytype, She is curvy and Roux loves her body!!!
The letters, THE LETTERS!! I have to admit, I usually dont like letters in a book, But these. are Hawwwt!! And then they eventually start with some sexy phone times, growl
And when they finally meet in person, I was fistpumping I was so excited, Let the sex commence!!!
There are so many facets of this book that made it amazing, This short is definitely up there with another one of my favorites, Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye.
I WANT MORE BOOKS FROM YOU, SIMONE STARK!!! Get on it!! wink DNF
Ugh this sounded so good, but this romance was too fast.
I needed more buildup to them falling for each other, Dude literally got a hardon after he sees the girl's handwriting, I don't have a penis, but who the fuck gets a hardon from pretty handwriting
I just devoured this.
Like a piece of chocolate cake, I ignored my entire family for an hour, It was glorious.Bébé Stars
I have read 'Written On His Skin' countless times, yet this story never fails to captivate me.
I swear there is magic in these words and of course there is the gorgeous hunk of a man Sergeant Theodore LaRoux who will melt your heart and your panties.
. .
A love affair written in letters, This is a must read for diehard romantics that enjoy a good romance with a side of dirty.
"I could tell you all my secrets,
I should also tell you that Im not terribly fascinating,
Sorry. Im just Abby. "
Roux has been deployed overseas for over a decade, Accustomed to being alone he is surprised to receive a letter from a random stranger,
Abby who spends most her days tending to fur babies wasn't expecting much when she agreed to write a letter.
A letter that would provide a soldier with friendship and comfort whilst being away serving their country,
Neither imagined that their instant connection over written ramblings would quickly become feelings shared through love notes.
But what's the harm in fantasizing and embellishing the truth when you're never going to meet the person
Watching our hot French speaking alpha convince the shy Abby that they can be more beyond paper will have you giddy with joy and lust.
Truly, if you enjoy a well written OTT romance packed with heat, read the damn book,
"Every moment is fated, ”
She caught her breath, Then, unable to stop herself, asked, “Even this one”
He reached up, cupping her cheek, pulling her down for a kiss.
“Especially this one. " STARS
I will be forever seeking out romance books with an epistolary theme.
Hence my decision to pick up this book, This novella isn't bad if you're looking for something sweet, short, steamy the sex was pretty hot, don't mind the completely over the top lust and can suspend all disbelief.
And I truly mean ALL of them,
For instance you have to be able to overlook the hero rather strange affliction, mainly being full turned on by someone's penmanship.
Nuh uh. You read that right, We're talking legit hardon for someone's handwriting, Her cursive letters made his dick hard, So much so he discards the letter at some point needing to jerkoff to thoughts of this lady he's only ever read ONCE.
I mean I wasn't expecting that and I'm a calligraphy addict, I love the craft but not THAT much,
"Her handwriting was fucking beautiful, All arcs and swoops, like nothing he'd ever seen, No measured loops. No perfunctory print. A masterpiece of script that seemed to prove she was writing honestly, . .
Fucking hell. He was hard as steel, and all because of her handwriting,
So anyway, Roux decided after one letter from Abby that she was HIS.
I know it's supposed to be all kind of "alpha man wants his woman" vibe but it gave me "creepy stalker" vibes instead.
Like "disconnect your phone, don't give him your address and hide, Abby" vibes, Too late, Abby, though, the hero indeed shows up at her door after using his army credentials to access her phone number and address despite the heroine explicit demands to be left alone.
His insta lust/love/obsession with Abby felt unhealthy rather than seductive/possesive and I needed something more to define their epistolary connection than the lame "like magic her cursive cast a spell on him and gave him an instant hardon.
". NO.
Then for me, came the fact that the hero's speaking French Cajun, it's different enough from French that it made me cringe because the author used it in a really cheesy way.
The hero asks the heroine to call him "loup" wolf and he calls her "bébé" baby even going so far as to shortening it "béb".
Hmmm no. Cringe cringe cringe for this French reader,
I was also expecting more angst from the heroine's insecurities and her lies to Roux but it was clear from the beginning that the focus was being given to the sex aspect rather than emotions.
It's regrettable the author missed the opportunity to convey any REAL connection between two characters of an epistolary romance.
Thank you for reading my party pooper's review!
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Gain Your Copy Written On His Skin Written And Illustrated By Simone Stark Formatted As Paper Copy
Simone Stark