Roxy's Reviews: Review, Excerpt + #Giveaway: Tattoo Thief by Heidi Joy Tretheway

22-year-old Beryl doesn't know why Gavin Slater trashed his penthouse, abandoned his dog and fled the country. But as his house sitter, she must pick up the pieces for the front man of the white-hot rock band Tattoo Thief.

When ultra-responsible Beryl confronts the reckless rock star, she wants to know more than just what to do with his mess. Why is he running? What’s he searching for? And is he responsible for the death of his muse?

New York newbie Beryl must find her footing in Gavin’s crazy world of the ultra-wealthy to discover her own direction and what can bring him back.

Steamy, sassy and tender, Tattoo Thief is a story of breaking from a comfort zone to find a second chance.

EXCERPT

In Tattoo Thief, Beryl leaves her sleepy hometown to become a house sitter for New York’s elite, including Gavin Slater, front man for the rock band Tattoo Thief. He’s trashed his apartment, abandoned his dog and fled the country—leaving Beryl to clean up the wreckage and unravel the mystery of why he fled and what can bring him back.

Beryl moves into Gavin’s still-filthy apartment to take care of his dog Jasper, a slender red-and-white basenji with short fur, triangular ears and a curled tail. She can’t stand the thought of cooking in his disgusting kitchen, so she gets takeout.

Jasper and I dine al fresco on the terrace. He dives into a monster bowl of dog food—I have no idea how much to feed him—and I pig out on wine and dumplings. I give him a few bites of my dumplings because it feels wrong not to share.

“So what’s your story, Jasper?” I say out loud, even though I know this takes me one step closer to being a crazy cat lady who talks to her pets. All I know is he’s a boy. Not how old he is, how long Gavin Slater’s had him, or if he can do any tricks.

Jasper whines and cocks his head at me.

Something’s wrong.

Jasper’s nose is getting puffy and his cheeks are swollen. I get down on my knees and stroke his neck. He gurgles. His eyes are wide and fearful—is he struggling to breathe?

I panic. What’s wrong with this dog? What did I do?

I race to the foyer and hit a button for the intercom to the doorman. “Charles! It’s Beryl! You’ve got to come help me! Jasper ate something and now I think he can’t breathe!”

“He’s choking?”

“No, his face is puffing up.”

“Allergic reaction,” Charles diagnoses. “Keep him breathing. Give him mouth to mouth if you have to. I’ll be up in thirty seconds.”

I rush back to Jasper, who is lying on his side, wheezing. I pry open his jaws and he whimpers. I spot a dumpling-bit in the back of his throat and swipe it out with my finger. Those Red Cross Infant CPR classes I took for babysitting a decade ago are coming in handy.

Charles barrels through the front door with a bottle of translucent liquid. He pulls back Jasper’s head and pours a dose down his throat. I freeze, watching to see if it works.

Jasper’s breathing slows, no longer the frantic panting. As I see his body relax, mine does too, melting into a puddle on the terrace floor next to this weird little dog.

“What did you give him?” I ask Charles.

“Benadryl,” he says. “Poor little Jasper. Did he get into something he shouldn’t?”

I gulp, trying to decide whether to lie. But since Charles is my only friend in New York besides Jasper, I tell the truth.

“I gave him part of my dumpling.”

Charles walks over to my sad little wine-and-dumpling dinner. “Pork and shrimp, right? From the place on Seventy-Fifth? These are really good. But Jasper’s allergic to shrimp.”

Oh.

I am so not cut out for this.

In what crazy parallel universe did I think I could just take over Gavin Slater’s dog and his apartment and everything would be OK? I’m deliberate. Prudent. Careful. Safe.

I’m blowing it.

“I didn’t know,” I admit in a tiny voice.

“Don’t worry,” Charles reassures me. “You were just trying to be nice to him. He’s a basenji—an African dog. Their breed is finicky and about as obedient as cats, but basenjis were originally bred to hunt lions.”

“Lions?” I can’t hide the skepticism in my voice. Jasper is barely a step up from a purse-dog. “What were they—bait?”

“They’re tougher than they look.” Charles strokes Jasper’s side as he recovers. “These dogs are from Kenya, same place my parents are from, and they can’t handle shrimp or most seafood.”

“Now you tell me,” I mutter.

Charles doesn’t hear me. “But cheese is another matter. This dog is so cheese-obsessed, he will do anything for cheese, even high-five me. I keep dog biscuits for most residents’ dogs, but I keep cheese in that little fridge under my desk for Jasper.”

“How old is he?” I ask.

“Gavin got him maybe three months ago, and he was still a little puppyish then,” Charles says thoughtfully. “So I guess something less than a year? It’s a real shame Gavin had to travel so suddenly. Jasper’s a nice dog.”

Ah, yes, the sudden travel. Strike three hundred and forty nine against Gavin Slater, Rock Star and Dog-Neglecter.

A much-recovered Jasper and I say goodbye to Charles, but I feel anger blooming in my gut along with the wine. Who the hell does he think he is? I decide to send him a message.

Dear Mr. Slater,

You’ll be pleased to know your apartment is being cleaned and we have sorted, paid, and filed all of your bills. You will see each bill itemized on your client account statement, with charges against the credit card you have on file with us.

Additionally, we learned that Barks in the Park will no longer board Jasper, so we have arranged for a house sitter to care for the dog at your apartment until you return. Please advise us of your return date so we can make arrangements.

Sincerely,B. Sutton
Keystone Property Management

“You’re welcome.” I scowl and hit send to dispatch the email even though it sounds snotty. After all, he’s paying Keystone a ton of money to deal with the details of life that most humans handle as a matter of course.

I imagine he takes our service, and most other things in his life, for granted.

REVIEW

This was such an amazing read. With a unique play on the usual Contemporary Romance love story, it was fun, fresh and very exciting.

I was fascinated with Beryl’s journey from small town to big city life, her navigation of the New York social circle, and her amazing job. She was living my biggest dream and I loved living vicariously through her in every way. I think she did a pretty good job of handling her new life, even the few curveballs thrown at her, and I loved that she adopted the New York Beryl attitude that gave her the strength and backbone to stand up for herself. She had spunk, was intelligent and told it like she saw it.

There were so many great things about the way this book was written. Firstly, I loved that the relationship between Beryl and Gavin wasn’t based purely on anything physical. Sure, he was a sexy rock star, but Beryl saw something more in him, and the more chat sessions they had the more she was able to understand him and accept him. She got to see behind the guitar playing, bad boy singer with the great bod who’d trashed his place, and abandoned his dog; she got a glimpse into his scarred soul, and helped to mend his broken heart. Their chats were real and sincere, and it got to the point where I was looking forward to them just as much as Beryl was.

Another thing I loved about this book was that even though Beryl had a huge crush on Gavin, it didn’t stop her from living her life. She went out and had fun. Even when Gavin was on the scene and things didn’t go as planned, she didn’t mope about, sitting in her pajamas, eating passion fruit gelato. Throughout the book she allowed herself to experience new things, and even unleashed her inner vixen from time to time – Although that never really seemed to end well for her.

Gavin was a great guy. Misunderstood, broken and in the darkest depths of misery, he was lost and really just needed someone to show him the way. I was a little worried that he looked at Beryl as a replacement for Lulu, that maybe he only felt lost because he no longer had his muse and wasn’t inspired, but then he proved me wrong and I loved him for that. Of course, the fact the he was gorgeous didn’t hurt. Neither did the fact that he was genuine and caring. He listened!!! He actually went out of his way to make Beryl’s birthday extra special. I mean, who does that for someone they haven’t even met face to face. It just showed how full his heart was and what a sweet and thoughtful guy he was.

I loved every second I spent in the company of these characters – Stella not so much (She did bad too many times) but I’m looking forward to understanding her better in the next book in this series. This story was fun and romantic without being too overbearing or maudlin. It inspired me to live me dreams, take chances and to look behind the cover before judging the book ;). It was fantastic!

GIVEAWAY

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Heidi Joy lives in Happy Valley off Sunnyside Road. She swears she did not make that up.

Heidi’s obsessed with storytelling. Her career includes marketing, journalism, and a delicious few years as a food columnist. Media passes took her backstage with several rock bands, where she learned that sometimes a wardrobe malfunction isexactly what the rock star intends.

You’ll most often find Heidi Joy with her husband and two small kids cooking, fishing, exploring the Northwest, and building epic forts in their living room.

She loves to hear from readers via messages at facebook.com/author.heidi.

Links:

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