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A review by booksafety
Under Locke by Mariana Zapata
4.0
Book safety, content warnings, and tropes & tags down below.
Slowly, like a snail making a long trek, I rolled my eyes over to his face, taking in the flawless bone structure staring back at me from over demon flesh incarnate.
Every time I read this book (this is the third time), I'm amazed I actually end up liking Dex by the end. He is an absolute asshole just about all the way through. Thankfully, our FMC isn't (completely) blinded by the fact that Dex is hot as hell, and she doesn't actually start getting feelings for him until he starts treating her better. If not for that, I would've hated this book, lol. It's still Mariana Zapata though (my favorite M/F author), and the writing is so good. It's not my favorite of hers just because of the tropes, and it's just a bit more relationship angst than the other books of hers I've read (mostly because of the touch of other woman drama which I never enjoy). To be clear, Dex doesn't actually step out on Iris either physically or emotionally.
"Babe, I've handpicked everythin' and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want," he breathed. "And I keep what's mine."
In true Zapata fashion, there's some really great side characters in this that definitely add to the story. This book is... I don't know, stereotypical? Innocent beautiful girl (who doesn't know she's a knockout) who wears cardigans and has a hidden dirty sense of humor starts working at a tattoo shop where the grumpy asshole boss is hot as sin and they fall in love? I don't think it gets more typical lol, but the rest is so good that I can overlook a lot of that. There are other elements that feel original though. I do actually enjoy this book a lot.
Man with anger issues who's actually loyal as hell and loves hard when he falls x Woman who keeps secrets from those she loves if the truth can hurt them = Just a touch of issues, lol.
Using the word 'pissed' to describe his reaction would be like saying that the Pacific Ocean was a body of water.
No but I actually really do love Iris and Dex, and their cameo in Kulti always makes me smile like a goof.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Tattoo artist
Motorcycle club
Opposites attract
Boss/employee
Brother's friend
Virgin FMC
Ex con
MMC with anger issues
Eggplant piercing
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Mentions of cancer and treatments
Mentions of the death of a parent (cancer)
Absent parent
Brief mentions of prison
Violence
Cancer survivor FMC
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: A bit of other woman drama, but nothing after they're together.
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 1st person, single POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/F
"But I'm not a good man, and I'm gonna take everythin' you want to give me and everythin' you don't."
"You gotta be the best thing I never knew I wanted."
"What'cha thinking, Ritz?" I held my hands out for him to see how badly I was shaking. "I'm thinking that I love you so much it scares me. See?"
Slowly, like a snail making a long trek, I rolled my eyes over to his face, taking in the flawless bone structure staring back at me from over demon flesh incarnate.
Every time I read this book (this is the third time), I'm amazed I actually end up liking Dex by the end. He is an absolute asshole just about all the way through. Thankfully, our FMC isn't (completely) blinded by the fact that Dex is hot as hell, and she doesn't actually start getting feelings for him until he starts treating her better. If not for that, I would've hated this book, lol. It's still Mariana Zapata though (my favorite M/F author), and the writing is so good. It's not my favorite of hers just because of the tropes, and it's just a bit more relationship angst than the other books of hers I've read (mostly because of the touch of other woman drama which I never enjoy). To be clear, Dex doesn't actually step out on Iris either physically or emotionally.
"Babe, I've handpicked everythin' and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want," he breathed. "And I keep what's mine."
In true Zapata fashion, there's some really great side characters in this that definitely add to the story. This book is... I don't know, stereotypical? Innocent beautiful girl (who doesn't know she's a knockout) who wears cardigans and has a hidden dirty sense of humor starts working at a tattoo shop where the grumpy asshole boss is hot as sin and they fall in love? I don't think it gets more typical lol, but the rest is so good that I can overlook a lot of that. There are other elements that feel original though. I do actually enjoy this book a lot.
Man with anger issues who's actually loyal as hell and loves hard when he falls x Woman who keeps secrets from those she loves if the truth can hurt them = Just a touch of issues, lol.
Using the word 'pissed' to describe his reaction would be like saying that the Pacific Ocean was a body of water.
No but I actually really do love Iris and Dex, and their cameo in Kulti always makes me smile like a goof.
Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️
⚠️ Tropes & tags ⚠️
Tattoo artist
Motorcycle club
Opposites attract
Boss/employee
Brother's friend
Virgin FMC
Ex con
MMC with anger issues
Eggplant piercing
⚠️⚠️ Content warning ⚠️⚠️
Explicit sexual content
Mentions of cancer and treatments
Mentions of the death of a parent (cancer)
Absent parent
Brief mentions of prison
Violence
Cancer survivor FMC
⚠️⚠️⚠️ Book safety ⚠️⚠️⚠️
Cheating: No
OM/OW drama: A bit of other woman drama, but nothing after they're together.
Third-act breakup: No
POV: 1st person, single POV
Genre: Contemporary romance, M/F
"But I'm not a good man, and I'm gonna take everythin' you want to give me and everythin' you don't."
"You gotta be the best thing I never knew I wanted."
"What'cha thinking, Ritz?" I held my hands out for him to see how badly I was shaking. "I'm thinking that I love you so much it scares me. See?"