ARC Review: Tattoo Thief by Heidi Joy Tretheway - 3.5 Wine Glasses

Tattoo Thief 
(Tattoo Thief #1)
by Heidi Joy Tretheway
Paperback, 300 pages
Expected publication: October 8th 2013 by Heidi Joy Tretheway
ARC Courtesy of Publicist
Goodreads - Amazon - Kindle

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.

Crystal's Thoughts:

Beryl wants an adventure, so she leaves everything she knows behind to move to New York. Expecting a reliable place to stay with her old college friend and an easy job with her Uncle Dan, what she finds instead is a grungy motel and a trashed penthouse that she is in charge of cleaning up. Cleaning up after a rock-star's rampage is no where near glamorous and Beryl is quick to assume that the offender, no matter how hot and famous he may be, is a spoiled child. Gavin might be living the high life but once Beryl starts having to correspond with him for her job through email she soon comes to realize that he is more then meets the eye. 

Tattoo Thief was a good story, nothing what I expected from a rock star romance as you don't really see the band aspect of Gavin's career. It wasn't angsty or star-studded, but none-the-less enjoyable. Beryl embarks on a journey to find herself, the true her. Not the person her mom wants her to be. Or her boyfriend. The independent woman she wants to be herself. And this is the crux of the story, essentially a young women's journey into adulthood. Gavin is lost in guilt and grief, searching for something but doesn't know what or how to get back. In each other they finally find who they are and what they've been missing.

I liked the building of the relationship between Beryl and Gavin by way of online correspondence instead of face-to-face. It was an interesting and unique way to develop that blooming romance between characters. Saying that, this technique did cause a bit of delay in the motility of chemistry, I didn't feel that burning attraction that I needed to fully connect with them as a couple. Though don't get me wrong, there were several steamy scenes. It also seemed to slow the story line down further into the book and I was soon wishing that Beryl and Gavin would get to that first face-to-face meeting faster so that I could truly see those sparks of a connection. But even with their first face-to-face meeting there were outside forces that seemed determined to get in the way of that essential connection. Tretheway's writing was wonderfully descriptive though so even without meeting Gavin, through her characterization and Beryl's online stalking, I was easily able to imagine the hotness that was Gavin Slater. I think that if the story switched to Gavin's POV occasionally that it would have help build a better perspective of his character and moved the story along faster. 

It's sometimes easier, especially when talking with someone so sexy you may tend to stutter, to communicate in writing and Beryl was able to say exactly what Gavin needed to hear to get out of his depression. Sometimes he didn't want to hear it and other times Beryl came off as a bit insulting, but in the end it was what he needed. Because of this type of 'first meeting' their dialogue was honest and oft times humorous. And through Gavin, Beryl was able to find that independence,  excitement, and adventure that she had been searching for since her father died. They really completed each other and their growth throughout the story is what really had me turning the pages. Over all Tattoo Thief was a good story, cute and funny. I look forward to more from the series and it's author.

Rating: 3.5 Wine Glasses