TONIC
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Staci Hart
Release Date: October 13, 2016
Joel Anderson doesn’t take anything seriously.
Not his relationships, which have been few and far between since his brutal divorce. Not the drama of working in a tattoo parlor, which seems to be around every corner. When things get him down, he smiles and cracks a joke. But he’s not the kind of man you cross, or you’ll find yourself at the wrong end of his fists.
Annika Belousov takes everything seriously.
Like her job as a reality television producer, given that she typically has something to prove. Or her love life, which is defined by a series of requirements — affluent, ambitious, accomplished, to name a few. Definitely her family, who worked their whole lives to afford her every opportunity, a sacrifice she doesn’t take lightly. When she’s tapped to produce a reality show at Joel’s shop, she doesn’t think twice, just goes in for the kill, as if there were any other way.
The second Annika walks into Joel’s shop, he makes it his mission to crack her open, but she’s not having it. He’s all wrong — too crass, too hairy, too un-serious. But it doesn’t take her long to find out there’s more to him than smirks and tattoos. And what she finds could put her career and his heart on the line.
Not that Joel cares. Because for the first time in a long time, he’s found his tonic.
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“Let me see it.”
“What?” I blustered, caught off guard.
“Stand up and turn around. I want to see it.” I was too surprised and caught up in the moment to refuse, so I stood and turned, laying my palms on the armrests as I faced the back of the chair.
One hand rested on my hip.
My heart stopped as I wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself into.
I glanced over my shoulder, my gaze bouncing between his face —turned down too much to read —and his reflection in the speckled, antique mirror, which I couldn’t see much of either. His free hand moved to the waistband of my tailored pants, and his fingers hooked and tugged, pulling the band down low.
His thumb ran over where I knew the tattoo was, and I felt his breath. Every place where we connected spoke to me of ownership.
“You got this done here? In New York?” His voice was rough.
Mine wasn’t much better. “Yeah. In Brooklyn.”
“Let me cover it up for you. Give you something you’re proud of. Your skin …” He paused, and I wished I could see his face, read his mind. “This shouldn’t be here, not on you. Let me … I want to …” He had moved closer, his hand on my hip pulling me back into him slightly enough for me to not have noticed that the backs of my thighs were touching his, my back arched just enough, his breath hot.
And then, he disappeared. I stood, finding my hands were trembling, wondering where I was and how I’d gotten there. The shop was mostly empty —no one had seen, not that it would have looked like much from the outside. But from where I stood, I felt every single deliberate move like a telegraph, telling me exactly what he wanted to do without him having to finish the sentence.
His back was to me when I turned around, his face down —I couldn’t see it in the mirror over his cabinet of ink and needles as he dug around in the drawers, seemingly for nothing in particular.
“Let me know if you want me to draw something up.”
“Okay, I will.” I paused, not knowing what else to say, feeling like I should say something. But there was nothing that I could say. “Well, have a good night, Joel. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded, glancing at me in the mirror. “See you, Annika.”
I tried not to bolt out of the shop, but once outside, I admit it —I took off. I hauled up the stairs and into the office to grab my bag, grateful that Laney was already gone, and I texted my driver, asking him to pick me up a few blocks away so I could walk, put some distance between me and Joel, get the energy out of my body, through my legs and feet, into the pavement.
My heart! Staci, what have you done with my heart?! And my cheeks…..I’m going to need my cheeks back because they have melted off my face with all of the smiling. I’m just a pile of goop.
…his dark skin against my white, the ink of him against the cream of me, the marked and the blank…
Staci….effing…..Hart. Where have you been all my life?! This is my first Staci Hart book, and I am never looking back. I will be purchasing this gorgeous paperback and keeping it on my bookshelf forever. This review might be a little random, but I just FEEL so GOOD after this book that I’m a little crazy right now. Staci’s words. All of Staci’s words. It’s not just the story or characters that I loved so much….it’s her words.
This book killed me….with BEAUTIFUL WORDS. I loved this so much, I literally grabbed a napkin while reading it and started writing down notes for my review.
Joel & Annika:
Joel (aka Hairy) is a tattoo artist….a hairy tattoo artist. He owns the tattoo shop, Tonic, which is getting its own reality tv show. He isn’t excited about it, but he realizes he would rather be the show on tv than the competition to get the show. When he first meets Annika…..FIRE! I LOVED the animosity between the two right away. Annika tries to give him the cold, but his fire is so hot that she cannot resist him. I’ll take a little bit of THIS and THAT.
”I’m not supposed to want you. You…you make me mad and you make me laugh and you make me crazy, and I’m not supposed to want you, but I do. What am I supposed to do? What do you want? You want me to throw away my career? How about you? Should I use you up and toss you out too? Or maybe you’ll do the same to me. I don’t know, because I don’t know you. But that hasn’t stopped me from wanting you, not since the first time I ever saw your stupid, hairy face. I hate you, and I want you, and I hate that I want you. But I do.”
Annika is the ice queen, known for her ability to scare men away with a glare, but Joel is resistant to her ice. Annika is a producer of the reality show, so she know it would not be a good idea for her to get involved with Joel. He is all hairy smirks and jokes. He knows right away that he wants Annika, wants to figure her out and break through that ice.
Her eyes finally snapped to mine, and I tried to melt her panties off with my mind.
I loved that there was low drama, despite the reality show setting. I loved loved loved all of the side characters. I cannot wait wait wait to read MORE OF STACI HART. Always more Staci Hart.
Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life — a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can’t forget that. She’s also been a mom, with three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She’s been a wife, though she’s certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She’s also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she’s been drinking whiskey.
From roots in Houston to a seven year stint in Southern California, Staci and her family ended up settling somewhere in between and equally north, in Denver. They are new enough that snow is still magical. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, sleeping, gaming, or designing graphics.
BLACK SWAN AFFAIR
Pining after someone’s husband is one thing. Pining after someone’s husband when you’re now married- to his brother- is taking immorality to an entirely new level. But that’s me.”
It’s official. I’m ruined. Utterly and totally ruined by this incredible book, by these beautiful words, by the heart wrenching story, by the devastating angst…this…EVERYTHING.
Yep. That about sums it up.
Have you ever read a romance where you didn’t know which man to root for? Where your feelings were so up and down you felt like you were in a never ending spiral? Where you spend the entire time glued to the pages, utterly incapable of tearing yourself away for even a mere second? Because I just did.
Mesmerizing, maddening, heart rendering; this book owned me to the depths of my dark soul. I devoured every page, I screamed, I cried, I raged. I was enraptured.
Thief of Hearts
I haven’t read an L.H. Cosway book in waaaay too long. And I haven’t read all of her books. But I love every single one that I’ve read so far. What I love about L.H. Cosway is her ability to make me feel all the feels without telling me how to feel (Did you get that?). Her words and dialogue evoke such emotion and I get the feels from them. I usually don’t like student-teacher tropes but I went into this blind, and because I will read anything LH Cosway writes, I ended up loving it (duh!)! It’s not your typical student-teacher story.
Andrea teaches adult students. Stu recently got out of prison and is sentenced to attend the adult class. He is the typical bad boy, and I fell SO HARD for Stu. He’s got a dirty mouth. Cosway has a way with dirty words probably because she’s British and dirty words just sound so much more cool and natural in a British accent. Lol. Stu is tall, dark, wears sunglasses, and he smokes! Gah, I love a smoker! (only in books. Haha). Stu PURSUES Andrea…relentlessly, and I loved every second. And he can be sweet as pie! He’s pretty much my perfect man….
There is insta-attraction, and these two are so 
I LOVED Andrea’s dedication to teaching and wanting to see her students succeed. It defined her character so well. Being a teacher myself, I definitely related to Andrea in that way. I loved that it was a continuing theme in the book…education. Even after Stu and Andrea started their thing, Andrea didn’t stop wanting Stu to continue his education. She has the ability to see students’ strengths even if they aren’t the typical types of intelligence. My nerdy teacher side was like “Yes!” through this whole theme in the book. I love that Cosway even HAS themes in her books. What romance author has themes these days?! LOL!
L.H. Cosway lives in Dublin, Ireland. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. She thinks that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories. L.H. is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.
CARESSED BY ICE
The 4 Clarkson siblings are on a road trip to fulfill their mother’s wish for them. They are not close siblings so there is automatically tension between them. When the car breaks down, of course Jasper is riding by on his sexy motorcycle. Tess is the queen of insta-lust, alpha-male, dirty-talker who wants his woman.
I fell in love….with this whole family! I feel like I already have a clear picture of who each sibling is, but I know Tessa is going to pull out so much more in each book. I cannot wait to learn more about every single one of them. If you like series that involve brothers and sisters and FEELS, then you will love this book. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It is different than Tessa’s other series, and I can’t wait to jump into Aaron’s book.
DOWN SHIFT
See that pile of goo right there?
Goo I tells ya!
HIS
Le swoon. *Happy sigh*
UNSUITABLE
What. The. Heck. Was. That?!!!!
THE GOAL
Time out. Did anyone else just have a pervy hot flash here? No? Seriously? You’re a bunch of lying liars, is what you are. You totally did. Admit it. That line right there just totally revved your engines.
Sabrina is driven and highly independent. She doesn’t want or need a man, unless it’s for one night of tension relief. But that all changes when the man is Tucker, because Tucker wants more than a few orgasms from her, and he’s not hesitant to show her what she’s missing. Did I mention I adored Tucker?
