This was a decent story and I somewhat enjoyed both of the heroines. However, nothing really stood out making it a great book.

Best book of the series. The characters were very relatable and the story a quick read. Would recommend to anyone wanting a quick entertaining romance.

first book in a while that was f/f that was just ok for me. It was tropish but wasn't sexy enough for my sexy reads tastes.

Although this was my least favourite of the Belladonna Ink series, Her Hometown Girl was still a pretty good read.  I normally don't mind scenes involving BDSM, but I just wasn't really into the sexual dynamics between Tansy and Cai.  

Despite that, I did enjoy the pacing of the story and the characters, especially Cai.  I thought it was interesting getting to know her character throughout the book.

In the end, it is still a book I'd recommend for others to read if they are fans of Lorelie Brown's Belladonna Ink series.

TW: Rape [Somewhat on page, also talked about in terms of what happened in the past.]


This was an adorable read. Or rather, these two were adorable together. Because the story itself is a bit heavy at times, as Tansy deals with getting out of an abusive relationship -- which she never saw as such until it was over. Related to this: I do wish Tansy had talked to someone, not just Cai, about that. Romancelandia, can we please start embracing therapy as part of a character's story? Love doesn't magically fix things that need to be seriously addressed and worked through with a professional.

But these two were just cute and sweet together and I loved reading their story.

The heat level is pretty hot, and there's some mild kink in the form of some spanking and "Daddy play" [that's how the two refer to it as at one point].

An age gap romance between a teacher and a tattoo artist? Um, yes, please!

I am a fan of Brown’s Belladonna Ink series. This is the third in the series, but each book reads as a standalone. I have to say I enjoyed book one the most, but this one is still well worth reading. Brown does a fantastic job of allowing readers to connect with her characters. I also enjoy her characters imperfections. They seem realistic, and have realistic thoughts. Brown does dialogue well, and the conversations between characters read like natural conversations. This is an area of struggle for many lesfic authors. I recommend the Belladonna Ink series; though it isn’t required I would read them in order. For me this one was a 3.5 rounded to 4.

I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

Finished! What a sweet, sweet romance! This is the first book of Lorelie Brown's that I have read. The book is a quick read, and I really enjoyed it. There was a touch of angst, but generally problems were addressed, communicated, and worked through. Cai is sexy, edgy, patient and caring. Tansy is naive, bubbly, a bit of a spoiled brat, and cute. Both have issues that they are still working through, and they make a very adorable couple.

Her Hometown Girl was a sweet, endearing and beautiful story!

The characters, Tansy and Cai are both fighting their own demons when they meet. The story follows them as they try to escape their demons and work to keep their relationship intact.

It shows Tansy growing stronger as she overcomes her past, and embraces a new life.

At the same time, it shows Cai lowering the walls she'd built around herself and letting Tansy in.

It's a story to cherish! I absolutely loved reading Her Hometown Girl! It was sweet, simple and absolutely heartwarming! <3

This was a good read for me. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It's a straight up "I liked this book" read.

Tansy was a really good character, the book starts out with her having left before her wedding and you find out how horrible her ex is/was. Following along as she paved her way into moving forward to a future that she wanted and that was hers. And I really liked how Brown didn't just make her completely "Overcome" everything that had happened to her. Tansy full on had to work at overcoming everything and it was nice that that is actually shown in a book.

Cai's character was one that while I liked her, I didn't love her. Did I think she was good for Tansy? Yes in a way. However there really wasn't a lot given about Cai to make it easy to connect with her. At the end of the story she still felt like she was a giant blank space with a few little pieces given about her.

This story does touch on some very serious things in life - abusive relationships, rape, overcoming past traumas. There is also a BDSM aspect to the story as well. It's not overboard at all, but it does add a little extra to the story.

I have to say I’m very pleasantly surprised by Lorelie Brown. This is the third book I read (all of them are Belladonna Ink series) and I quite liked them all. There is one thing she does so good: she presents inner monologues so vividly, yet formulating thoughts, fears, hopes in a very laconic sentences and phrases. It picked my interest in the first book, and it keeps going through all of them!
Although I’m not very fond of particular BDSM dynamics Tansy and Cai had (daddy-little girl), the couple has a great chemistry.

Cai and Tansy are two unique multidimensional characters. Their lives are both devoid of a meaningful relationship.Tansy’s ex girlfriend is abusive and has wrecked havoc on Tansy’s self worth. It’s only when she meets Cai that her life takes a turn for the better. The plot is interesting and the emotional level draws the reader into a higher level of engagement.
This story does deal with abusive behavior, rape, and BDSM. Personally, I was a little taken aback by the BDSM storyline, especially when Tansy called Cai “her daddy.” Aside from that, it was a good read.

I like to be surprised when I read, so I try to only skim and get the bare bones of a book's plot when reading the summary so everything catches me off guard. I can't help but feel like I had a bit more information going into this one though, since it featured a lot of tropes I try and avoid, but I eventually got to the halfway point and figured I should power through, especially since I got this as an arc to review. Despite the past abuse and character kinks that really aren't my cup of tea, it wasn't all that bad. I liked that there was some actual build up as opposed to an instant relationship with everything tied up in a neat little bow right away. The characters weren't as fleshed out as I like and Tansy honestly annoyed me with her constant second guessing low self esteem even though I certainly understand why a character would be that way in her situation but it was a decent read and I think I would try another book by this author because I'm here for anyone who has characters have a conversation about Swamp Murders.

3.5 stars for this one which deals very gently with the concept of assault, violence and separately - BDSM. I honestly wouldn't choose or read the book for any of these reasons but Lorelei Brown handled it all very gently, respectfully and crafted a genuinely loving novel between two good characters.

Refreshing story to what I normally read. Never heard of this author before so it was a first time read by her and I wasn't disappointed.
Great storyline and great writing.
Lots of emotional scenes which were quite gripping.
Great book. Highly recommended.

An interesting, if unanticipated, addition to a series that has introduced a range of satisfyingly imperfect characters. Neither Tansy or Cai (or their brand of intimacy) typify my standard tastes but I was left quite satisfied at the conclusion, specifically after the journey of healing that evolves along with the depicted relationship. Will continue to follow this author.

Tansy is supposed to be getting married. Instead, after discovering her ex-fiancée having sex with one of the wedding caterers, she’s getting a tattoo. The tattoo she’s always wanted and her controlling partner has always stopped her getting.

Cai doesn’t do commitment. She’s happy on her own, independent and invulnerable. But when an adorable, impertinent, and deeply damaged Tansy appears in the tattoo parlour where she works, she’s tempted to reconsider.

Her Hometown Girl is a love story that’s also about rebuilding identities and recovering from abusive relationships. In case it wasn’t clear from the set-up above, both of the main characters are women.

The slightly twee name is misleading – this isn’t really a girl-next-door type of romance. Unusually for a romance, the book dives almost straight in with an unflinching portrayal of rape and domestic violence. Matched against the title and cover, it’s jarring, but the book itself isn’t. It’s not a simple, airy love story, but one dealing with a lot of pain; the scenes are distressing, but not gratuitous.

There’s a reasonable amount of sex in the book, and it tends towards the more explicit end of things, rather than fading to black or consisting primarily of burning kisses and losing oneself. There’s also an element of BDSM that’s not really hinted at by the blurb; it’s nothing too extreme, but you should be aware that the romance does involve non-standard power dynamics. Again, it matches the story and belongs; it’s not a case of a fetish being tacked-on.

The main thing that stands out about Her Hometown Girl is that it expects a lot of the reader. It expects you to grapple with quite complex and emotional ideas, when that’s not what most romances demand. It expects you to understand and accept things that are somewhat unusual. I like that – “lesbian BDSM romance with undertones of domestic violence” is a difficult elevator pitch, and it would be so easy for Her Hometown Girl to fall into gratuity and shock value, but it doesn’t. It’s a love story, and it expects the reader to treat it as a love story. The fact that it’s not heterosexual and there are darker plots and unusual sexual politics isn’t important to that core idea, these things are details about the story, not the heart of it.

I think that’s an important thing. Romances tend to reinforce social attitudes a lot, to play it safe and stereotypical. Tall billionaires end up with petite blonde virgins, and other possibilities get pushed aside. Her Hometown Girl strikes against that, and it does that by not making an issue of it, by being a story with these elements and not one built on them. I’m aware of the irony in highlighting that tactic, but I felt it was something that the book did really well.

I should mention, of course, that while the book isn’t stereotypical, it doesn’t dispense with the fundamentals of romance. The main couple are convincing, and the ending is satisfying. It’s everything you want from a romance, filled with heartbreak and yearning and final fulfillment.

The prose never gets in the way, and is used effectively. The writing is engaging throughout, shocking and sweet and tense where it needs to be. The plot hangs together and doesn’t have any glaring issues, although there was one subplot that I felt needed either more development or less presence.

The key idea here is that Her Hometown Girl is a romance, and it’s sweet and satisfying, and compelling. It’s definitely not hackneyed or overly-reliant on tropes. It’s not always an easy read, and there is real conflict throughout. I enjoyed it, and I’d recommend it.

Trigger Warning: There is a rape scene and subsequent fallout from an abusive relationship.

Reading about the fallout of an abusive relationship is not usually my thing as I recover from my own experiences. However, I'm always drawn to strong characters who persevere in spite of their situation. Tansy and Cai are astonishingly strong women that are broken and recovering from very different traumas. Their attraction is immediate, and they gradually find in each other solace and safety along with understanding and strength. They find rejuvenation through the slow build of trust interlaced with a steamy erotic twist that surprises and energizes them both toward healing, and potentially, so much more. The writing is superb as we get to delve into both their first person POVs that features their tumultuous reincarnications. Finding their happy ending won't be easy, but it certainly was a gloriously emotional ride. I'm exhausted from the feels this book pulled from me., and that's exactly how I like it.