Blurb
From the moment SFPD Detective Ruan Nicholls meets Ivo Rogers, he knew the tattoo artist was going to bring chaos to his neat orderly life. A hellion down to the bone, Ivo is someone Ruan not only doesn’t understand but isn’t even sure he needs to. Everything about Ivo is vibrant, brash, cocky and arrogant and Ruan wants no part of him.
Or at least that’s the lie he tells himself when he damps down his desire for the social wild child life tosses into his path.
For Ivo Rogers, his life revolves around two things; his family and 415 Ink, the tattoo shop he co-owns with his four brothers. His family might be stitched together by their battle scars from growing up in foster care but their brotherhood was tight—and strong enough to hold Ivo together during the times when he fell apart.
Now Ivo faces a new challenge when he falls for a cop with an old-school mentality on what a man looks and acts like. Ruan is the promise of a life Ivo thought he’d never have but their thunderous clashes threaten any chance of a relationship. Being the family’s hellion makes it easy to be misunderstood yet Ivo has faith Ruan will not only embrace who he is but love him as well.
Review
My Rating - 5 Stars!
Hellion, the third book in the 415 Ink series, is an extraordinary novel by Rhys Ford. If you haven't read the previous books, don't worry, this one is easy to follow as a standalone.
Ivo is a complex and sympathetic character. His love interest is the cop who found him years ago. Ruan doesn't want to love Ivo, but he can't stay away from the younger man.
I love the way the two men complement and complete one another. A cop and a tattoo artist, yes please. Ruan's a tough, strong cop, and Ivo's a tattoo artist with feminine features, while also being masculine.
These are two men from different times and with vastly different experiences. The author beautifully explores the struggle for an older man to be out and free now. Having hid his sexuality for his whole life, remembering a time when it was too dangerous to be out, Ruan painfully struggles with being with the out and femme Ivo.
Their story is raw, real, and very heavy. It is not an easy read. But it's a wonderful one. They are two men who can save each other. Ruan allows Ivo to accept love and steadiness in his life. Ivo challenges Ruan to accept the freedom to be who you are, in addition to putting some color into his mundane life.
The writing is amazing, with two complex characters and a multi-layered story. She is almost poetic in her descriptions, in this tale of accepting and understanding each other's wants and needs. Ivo's way of dress is in conflict with Ruan's views, and causes a lot of conflict between the men. Ruan has to figure out if he can accept Ivo's presence and level of outness, despite it going against everything with which he's comfortable.
Hellion is an exquisite story of taking a chance. I love this amazing May to December, opposites attract romance. It's a powerful tale of being honest with oneself.
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