I want to give this a 5 because of the things I did like, but in all fairness a 4 is the best I can do.

This is part of a series, and I've not read the series so I can honestly say it stands alone just fine.

It starts a little slow, I almost put it down and moved on to something else. Well actually I did and then something said to give it a little longer, so I did. And I'm gad I did. While I'm not a fan of alternating first person I haven't let that affect my review, although is did frustrate my reading experience.

Overall, a good story if you are ok with insta-lust/love. it is kind of fast paced once you get into it a little and moves along well. I enjoyed the mix of characters that went along with Tansy & Cai, even though there weren't many. It was a pleasant change to read a FF book where every character isn't a Lesbian or Gay.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35915531-her-hometown-girl" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Her Hometown Girl (Belladonna Ink, #3)" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1501899896m/35915531.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35915531-her-hometown-girl">Her Hometown Girl</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3226469.Lorelie_Brown">Lorelie Brown</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2110079500">2 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Riptide Publishing in exchange for an honest review.<br />A quick read, this romance with BDSM and angst just couldn't get me hooked into the plot. The relationship between Cai and Tansy didn't gel for me and sex (there was lots of it) scenes aside, I didn't find the plot/style of writing completely enjoyable. I actually struggled to finish reading but felt I owed Ms. Brown the courtesy of doing so before giving my review. 2.5 stars
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This story was not for me and kind of bored me. I also did not like how it almost belittled tamsy throughout the story. Cai repeatedly calls her my little girl and good girl after Tamsy calls her daddy in a sex scene - that is just not for me and I caught myself to just skip a lot of those scenes.

Review of Her hometown girl by Lorelie Brown.

This is book number 3 in the series Belladonna Ink. It's surprising how all the books in the series are so different from each other. Ms. Brown manages to create romances with flawed, conflicted characters with unusual but realistic plots. This is the story of Tansy, a 26 year-old bride who cancels her wedding at the very last minute when she walks into her fiancée cheating. That same day she meets Cai, a 39 year-old tattoo artist, and eventually gets involved with her. Tansy realises that she was in an abusive relationship with her ex that left her broken and fearful. On the other hand, Cai doesn't do relationships, too traumatised by events of her past. Somehow, both of them find momentarily solace in each other but, will their relationship last?

Written in first person and in present tense from the point of view of both main characters, this book describes their search for redemption, understanding and love. Somehow it is coherent with the plot that their relationship would thrive in a BDSM context but the scenes are sometimes awkward and repetitive. Maybe in this case less would have been much more effective. Fortunately, the emotional aspects of their relationship are explored much better but, in my opinion, part of the reader empathy is lost.

Overall, an ok read if you can put up with long and repetitive BDSM scenes. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Her Hometown Girl is a novel of about 65,000 words, a third standalone piece in the Belladonna Ink universe (standalone stories linked by the female-centric tattoo parlor Belladonna Ink), written in first person present tense, from the point of view of both protagonists -- Cai, a thirty-nine years old tattoo artist, and Tansy, a twenty-five years old school teacher.
The writing is again exceptionally good with a strong plot and characterization. The main characters are very likable, but at the same time they are both, in their own way, deeply troubled people. Tansy in particular is badly affected by a long-term abusive relationship, and her struggle with the consequences, as a very important theme of this book, is done well and convincingly.
There is a nice bunch of secondary characters, and Tansy's charming family dynamics with special emphasis on her grandmother Ethel (that lady is a hoot, as Cai says in the book).
The sex scenes have some elements of BDSM, which is in correlation with main characters' individual problems and needs. They are done well and are not boring by any means.
Lorelie Brown is great in blending ethnic and cultural diversity (Cai is a Californian of Chinese origin, Tansy is a small-town Idaho girl) in her stories, and banding it together with characters' past in a really believable conflict. This is her third book that kept me interested from start to finish, and that I liked enough to put it on my re-read list.
I recommend this book, and am looking forward to more good stories from the Belladonna Ink universe.

I couldn't do this one
Dnf
I got to 40-45 % and I was hoping it would get better but it didn't for me.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Riptide Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

First off, a little snippet on why my rating isn't higher than it is: It is quite possible that if one specific aspect had not been included in the book, I would have likely liked the book about . . . oh, maybe 75% more than I did. It is one of those things that just shuts me down, drives me away, and makes me want to not read what I'm reading. If this book had been by anyone else, and if I hadn't already read the two previous books in this series and loved them - I likely would have not been able to continue, would have had to not finish the book.

I'd love to say that either I worked past that issue, or that the issue was not a large one in the book. However much anyone else might feel about the subject, it was large enough to adversely impact me.

This is a book that involves a woman who had to tightly control themselves in their small town in Idaho and couldn't wait to spread her wings in some much larger location - because she's a lesbian. While reading that, like say in a flashback or something, would not have been a favorite thing for me to read - it is not what I'm referring to nor are there any flashbacks in this book. That same woman then, once she arrived at a California based college, allowed herself to be 'taken over' by another woman. One who constantly berated her and controlled her. One who she only finally got away from when she caught the woman humping one of the caterers on their wedding day (that then didn't happen - the wedding). That's how the book opens, by the way - with Tansy finding Jody on top of a man. But no, as hard as it is to read about an abusive relationship, and about a woman trying to recover from that relationship, that also isn't the issue I had problems with. Well, I don't particularly like reading about abuse and the like, and I have skipped books that included it, but that isn't the issue that caused me to not wish to continue this book when it first popped up (then relatively easily pass by; much much harder to pass by the second time - I literally had to stop in the middle of a sex scene because of this issue and not pick up the book again until a day or two later).

I've really built this up, haven't I? Well, it's a combination of power imbalance, and 'daddy and little play'. Yes, daddy. Tansy literally called Cai daddy during activities that occurred (maybe only once, - after I realized what the sex scenes were going to be focused on, I started just skimming them, so that daddy might have just been once, power imbalance and words like 'little', 'good girl', and other references that turn Tansy into a kid like figure and Cai into a parent like figure? Continued throughout).

That just kind of leapt out at me. First there was some reference to S&M, and a somewhat vague idea that Tansy might actually be into that . . . maybe. Then sex occurred - sex where one turned over all power to the other, and waited for permission from the other, and put themselves into pain so that they 'could feel' (wtf?). So yeah, any other author, any other book, I would have not continued this book.

Some aspect of that, one woman comforting another and helping her recover from an abusive relationship, would have worked perfectly. Turning it into 'daddy play' involving two women? Awkward and not something I wanted to read. Especially as it falls into the trope of . . . hmm. I've forgotten how that is worded now. Something along the lines of 'BDSM helps abused people recover', or 'BDSM is something abused people fall into'.

Ah well.

This book stars Tansy Graves - teacher, 20 something (26?), almost married woman, and Cai something (did her last name get past me without me catching it?). Cai is late 30s. When Tansy was 12, Cai would have been 26. 14 year age difference. I think Cai might be 39, then, and Tansy 25. Both are allowed to have their point of views expressed and seen.

The two meet when Tansy stops by the Belladonna Ink tattoo parlor to get a tattoo. And she has the tattoo placed on her skin (I'm wording this all wrong, which words do you use when you describe someone getting a tattoo?) at roughly the same time she was supposed to be reciting her marriage vows. But instead - butterfly tattoo. The tattoo artist being Cai. Both see something in the other. Then Jody, the abusive girlfriend of Tansy, shows up.

I'd like to say 'and the story jumped three months', but there's a rather . . . disagreeable scene that readers have to get through involving Tansy and Jody before we can get to that three months later bit.

Three months later Cai and Tansy meet up again when Tansy comes in to get her tattoo touched up. Whereupon they decide to date. And do so. Time passes. Mention of S&M occurs. Sex involving Cai dominating Tansy occurs - repeatedly. More time passes . . . etc.

From my notes, 'Up to something like 19% in, or thereabouts, I was thinking that I might not actually like this one - at least not as much as the previous two. Then something snapped and I was really feeling everything. Sucked into the story. Was in there up to about . . . oh, 24%? When S&M was mentioned. But that came and went quickly, and I got back deep into the story.' So I was 'into it' from 19% to 44%. Somewhat deeply into the book. Whereupon the story shifted for me. Tansy had started coming into her own, allowing her more natural bouncy, happy, etc. personality out. And then she continued with that self-determination, admittedly it was her desire to go here, and became Cai's 'little one'. And that's when I had to stop reading the book for a day.

Sex: lots, graphic, BDSM related, includes spanking. Other than noticing how super awkward the first sex scene was, I cannot comment on the quality of the later scenes as the nature of the 'daddy-little one' power-play going on forced me to just skim those later scenes. There's at least one scene involving Cai and Tansy that doesn't include that dynamic, but that's also the scene that ... (insert spoiler here).

Overall: Despite my desire not to read a book that includes one woman calling another one 'little one', I did find the book entertaining and readable. Even, in places, quite fun and good. And, as I started off with - there's a strong chance I'd have rated this book much higher without that little one stuff. That was partly what my skimming was about - trying to get a reduced 'little one' experience. It was too ingrained in the story, though, to do that.

Rating: Tentatively rate this book ... 3.65

August 24 2017

RATING: 4 out of 5

Her Hometown Girl is the third book in Lorelie Brown’s Belladona Ink series. Each book is stand-alone and can be read in no following order. This is the first novel length, though, also features dual narratives for the first time.

Tansy and Cai couldn’t be more different. Twenty-five year old Tansy is a girl from Idaho; she is sweet-natured and tends to be more shy. Thirty-nine year old Cai is a tattoo artist, definitely bolder than Tansy (even if it plays around the butch stereotype in tattoo artists, along with her posture and owning a bike). Tansy runs away from her wedding when she catches her future-bride getting shagged by the caterer’s assistant. She decides to get herself a tattoo and Cai is the one handling her.

One thing for sure, Brown’s writing is beautiful *sigh* And I loved her imperfect characters. Tansy has been in an emotionally abusive relationship with her ex — but I totally loved her for attempting to be braver, to stand up for herself. The part where she challenged Cai when Cai told her that she didn’t look for forever made me want to clap my hands in pride. Personally, I thought Tansy has more intriguing layers. Cai also has a sad backstory but compared to Tansy, I thought Cai is more straight-forward as a character.

I adored their relationship — aside from the one in the spoiler tag below. There were a number of tender moments between the two. Cai totally gets Tansy and doesn’t feel bothered when Tansy gets insecure. She adores Tansy, thinks she is beautiful. I thought Cai was good for Tansy.

“You are brave. It’s why I love you. You’re still soft, that’s what makes all the parts of you. That’s why you’re so amazing.”

I did feel slightly unsure about one thing, namely ** SPOILERS ** the D/s element in this. Yes, it was very interesting to read about D/s that involved two women (of course I read more MF and MM, so my D/s experience always involved men) … but it also felt like coming out of nowhere.

I would be fine if this was simply a hurt/comfort romance. Adding D/s element felt a little bit awkward; especially when Tansy started to call Cai “Daddy”, in opposite of Cai’s endearment to her as “little one”. ALTHOUGH, it contributes to those layers of Tansy that I mentioned above. Because clearly she enjoys it. Tansy can get flirty and rather demanding in her submissive role ** END SPOILERS **

Full confession: I still skipped a lot of the sex scenes. I just can’t read two women doing it physically. I get squeamish with too many girly bits involved. I mean no offense. I skip alot of sex scenes in M/M or M/F too. Please consider my asexuality and more likely sex repulsive in real life, okay?

In overall, it’s another great addition to the series.

By the way, Tansy’s grandmother is so. freaking. cool!! One of the highlights in this book for me was when Nanna told Tansy that she was ** SPOILERS ** bisexual, and would’ve married her first girlfriend if she had the opportunity! ** END SPOILERS **