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Review

3.5 stars!

This book is the third in the Clipped Wings series, and is the long-awaited story of Chris and Sarah. Chris is the best friend of Hayden, and Sarah is the neighbour and friend of Tenley, and both appeared in the Clipped Wings series, with a romance between them hinted at, and though this book could be read as a standalone, you’ll be missing some context, plus the first two books are both awesome reads, so don’t miss out on those!

I love Chris! He is a tattoo artist who works at Inked Armor, and as Hayden’s best friend, the two of them have come through hell together and created a great life for themselves. Chris is the jokester, the fun one who is always quick with a smartass comment, but he has a huge heart, and I love that we got to explore that a bit deeper in this book as we learn that he has escaped from an awful home life, and still supports his mother and sister, wanting to be there for them and help them in whatever way he can.

Sarah is a student doing her final internship before graduating with the degree she’s worked so hard for, working part time as a waitress in a strip club to help make ends meet. Apart from being a wonderful support for Tenley in all that she went through, she spent a lot of the first two books refusing Chris’ advances, until he finally wore him down and she gave him a chance.

Now, it’s six months later and they have been seeing each other for that whole time. They don’t have a ‘conventional’ relationship, and haven’t really opened up to each other, but they have come to mean a lot to each other. But they keep their emotions to themselves, and neither of them have actually spoken about what is between them and how they feel about it, and now they find themselves stuck. Unable to move forward with the barriers that are still in place between them.

Her walls were like mine, which was another part of the allure. I understood walls. They’d kept me safe from people most of my life. Only my Inked Armor crew got past them, and even then, I only let them into the rooms I wanted to. There were locked closets no one but me could enter. But by keeping my walls in place with Sarah, I’d created a distance I didn’t know how to cross any more.

Chris and Sarah both have a lot going on in their private lives and their stories are told really well, and I could feel the emotion and the struggle of them trying to overcome the baggage that keeps them holding back.

Separately, these struggles could break us down. But maybe if we could hold on to each other and figure them out together…we could stop the fractures from becoming too big and keep the cracks from forming fissures we couldn’t repair.

But rather than share it with each other, they’ve kept their issues private and this book is a reflection of that, and at times it feels like two separate stories as we delve into their worlds and see all that they are dealing with – with their relationship being a side story. And while I enjoyed getting to know both of these characters more, I would have preferred a bit more of a love story (because I’m a romantic sap like that). There is a romance, and what is there is gorgeous, I just wanted more of it.

“We’re all broken, Sarah. It’s not always about fixing the parts that don’t work; it’s about making the most of the ones that do.”

Because not only is Chris a sexy bastard, but he’s also a sweetheart who can definitely bring the swoon.

“I like that I can feel your heart.”
… “It’s all yours baby. All you have to do is want it enough to take it.”

I enjoyed this book. It was slower paced and didn’t hold the intensity or awesomeness of the first two books (for me), but I enjoyed seeing Chris and Sarah work through their issues and get their happy ending.

3.5 stars.

Clipped Wings series