Nico by J.B. Hartnett Series: Leaves #3
Published by Self-Published on February 7th 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Format: eARC
Purchase @ AMAZON or BN
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When I was a boy, I met a girl.
She didn’t know it then, but…
She changed me.
Now…..I am a man.
A man who is broken by the stories of the women who come to me.
They are my birds with broken wings.
I help them heal, help them to make them strong, so they can fly free.
Lark changed me. Loved Me. Made Me Strong.
With her, I am free.
I write…To the girl of the past. To the girl of my present.
And, the girl of my future.
Dear Dish…[space size=3]
Liezel’s Thoughts:
I will admit that this is the first J.B. Hartnett book that I’ve ever read. I’ve had both Inky and Cole on my e-reader forever but never had the time to read both before starting Nico. Did I feel lost going straight into Book 3? Not at all. I however was impressed with its’ storyline that I couldn’t help but read both Inky and Cole right after I finished Nico. After reading all of it, I would have to say that the entire series is just spectacular.
So about Nico…he is a SoCal tattoo artist. Sounds simple right? Not so much. He creates beauty from women’s pain. He has this gift (besides his art that is) … the gift of compassion and sensitivity that you rarely experience in men. Every single one of his clients are able to find peace and acceptance under his creative hand. The only thing is that Nico suffers tremendously knowing the agony and misery that each of his “birds” have gone through.
His only way to cope with everything is through sex – lots of it. Most of the time not even that helps. There are multiple people who pass through his life that tell him to find his true partner to help him carry the burden but that doesn’t sound so easy to him. That is up until he meets his new neighbor Lark. He is immediately taken with her and she with him. It is as if their souls recognize and gravitate towards each other. Their relationship blossoms exquisitely over time. It however doesn’t come so easy as you would have hoped. There are painful secrets that are kept and one wanting to destroy something so beautiful.
“I felt lost. I was empty because there was no one else on God’s green earth that made me feel any kind of peace…until you.”
I have a very short list of authors that are on my insta-buy list and I have to say after reading this entire series, J.B. Hartnett is now on it. I was very impressed with the writing, the storytelling and most especially the character development in each and every one of the stories.
She definitely has this special way with words – how she is able to describe a painting, a tattoo or a difficult situation or scene for that matter. It was as if I was literally pulled into the book and experiencing it firsthand. Every emotion was truly heartfelt – whether it be one of the women’s pain or Nico’s longing or even the couples happiness.
What I loved most is strong, intertwining relationships – not just the one between Nico and Lark but also the remarkable rapport that Nico had with his family, friends and even the women ( most importantly Inky) that he’s come to help over the years.
Absolutely loved this book and can not wait to see where J.B. Hartnett takes us next.
The Verdict:
Teaser:
“Nico…” she begged.
“What is it, babe?” In that moment, I was a tease. I was going to make sure I took this bad fuckin’ day and turn it into something she would remember happily.
“You know what I want,” she moaned.
“Don’t move.” I walked away, into the kitchen and dug into one of the bags. The store fuckin’ got me, what could I say. I was gonna barbeque in style next summer. But one thing my kitchen needed was a new spatula. Nice rubber handle, strong, and wide, flat, heatproof silicon…perfect for what I wanted. I came back and rubbed over her left cheek, pulled away for that perfect first contact and…
Thwack!
