What We Deserve
by Lizzie Stanley
I’m used to being alone, until she changed everything...
When my ex-wife left, she said the cruelest words she could think of, and I took them all to heart.
Now I work at my loveable bastard cousin’s tattoo parlor and keep most people at arm’s length. I have the occasional one night stand to take the edge off, but there can never be anything more than that for me.
I don’t let myself think about how lonely I am. At least I’m not ruining anyone’s life, right?
Then Emily walks into Wishbone Tattoos, asking about the receptionist job. And this shy, smiling, kindhearted woman is everything I’ve ever wanted.
I can’t help falling for her, even though I know I mustn't, for both our sakes.
But there’s something about Emily I don’t know. Something that will make her the exception to my hard and fast rule...
She’s battle scarred herself, and running scared from a dark past which snaps at her heels, but I’m not going to let anyone hurt her ever again, I swear to god.
And maybe, if we’re lucky and we both want it hard enough, the two of us will finally get what we deserve.
Spice Level: 3/6 | Story Score: 6.5/10 | Rating: 3.75/5 |
I had a challenge prompt for a book with a question word in the title. It surprised me how few of those I had on my TBR. I’m pretty sure this one came from a Facebook book group post about tattoo artists and it’s been sitting in my 20 Kindle Unlimited list for months. For some reason, I just kept refusing to return it even when I couldn’t get myself to start it. Other things just kept being MORE appealing. But, now I’ve done it!
And I can honestly say, I’m happy to have read this book.
This is a book for anyone that just needs something less angsty…which has been me lately. The guy in this story is GOOD. The girl in this story is KIND. They both have shitty pasts but they’re drawn to each other immediately. Their friends help nudge them towards each other and it’s just a CUTE story. There are a few dark topics in the story (mental/emotional abuse, infertility, mass shootings/gun control) but the story itself doesn’t feel weighed down by them. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but nonetheless, that’s how I felt.
This story takes place in England, with a couple of the characters being originally from Louisiana, so the language stumped me a few times. I saw another girl review this and say that it was too much for her, but I just rolled with it. I know the instant someone brings a Creole accent to me, I’m going to have to be willing to gloss over some things. Lol. I’m from the Midwest and I’m not exposed to a lot of accents, so strong ones always throw me for a loop. I generally can figure out the gist though.
There was something brought up in this book that I’d never encountered before and we all know how much I enjoy that. Eli could tell when Emily checked out and started acting like she thought she was supposed to…including when she faked an orgasm. AND HE CALLS HER OUT ON IT. That surprised me. I feel like romance novels rarely address that we do that…let alone the reason that we do that…and *claps* fun times, Author!
I think this would probably be a good palette-cleanser story for most people. I was excited to see that this is the author’s debut novel and I’m hoping that means that her writing will just get better from here. She created characters that I enjoyed and I feel like I NEED Dean’s story, so I know that I will read her again.
-SPOILERS-
The mental and emotional abuse in this story was tricky for me. I don’t read a lot of dark romance, but I have read several, and that almost made the oral abuse from her ex anti-climatic. However, that’s a terrible stance to have, and I feel like it’s one that the author brings up, and I applaud her for doing so. Mental abuse is abuse. Flat out. It sucks and it’s awful and it’s life changing…but even she points out that if he would’ve just hit her once, maybe people would’ve taken it seriously…and that hit home for me. If she was my friend, I would be UP IN ARMS over the emotional abuse thrown at this woman. However, in the story, I was like, ‘well, that sucks and all but why is it so hard for her to snap out of it’... I appreciated this story for pointing that out to me about myself. I get it: we all accept a lot of things in books that we wouldn’t in real life. But I don’t feel like I should be wishing worse upon a character even. I still have words that live inside my head from being a teenager that affect my day-to-day decisions. I still have that doubt and fear and shame given to me from people that I didn’t even like back then. I can’t imagine the toll it would have if it came from my boyfriend.
So kudos to Lizzie Stanley for opening my eyes.
The gun control/mass shooting aspect of the story caught me off guard. I feel like it was done in the way it only could’ve been from someone not from the US and it hit me a bit odd. Again, I’m from the Midwest and we love our guns, lol. However, I think EVERYONE can agree that mass shootings are bad and them happening in schools is even worse. I’m ready for Dean’s story.
I didn’t like that both main characters were infertile. I would’ve much rather one of them been (either one) and the other just not wanted kids. I dunno. I have several friends that are having, or had, a very hard time conceiving. It has ripped them apart more than once and luckily, they’ve had partners that were in it with them that cared. And I think that’s a beautiful thing. I understand that having difficulty conceiving is common. Very common. But how often are two people absolutely infertile…and what are the chances that they find each other and they check every box for each other.
Again, I get this a romance story and the author was creating a perfect match for these characters. I guess I just would’ve liked to have seen Emily have to help Eli with something. Eli helps her SO MUCH and the ONE hang up that Eli has, Emily just has too, so it’s not discussed or worried about.
Standalone | 340 Pages | Trope Challenge: Everyone Can See It |
“This is not a chore to me. I’m not sitting through this until it’s my turn. I’m doing this because I genuinely…” he sighs, “seriously want to. I love the way you feel on my fingers. I love the way you taste. I like doing those things, and I want to carry on. And I don’t want to stop until you’ve genuinely come, and maybe not even then. I have all the time in the world, and I’m in no rush. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing...”
"May I carry on?"
- Eli, What We Deserve by Lizzie Stanley
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