Title: Under Locke
Series: N/A
Author: Mariana Zapata
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Blurb: The book is told from Iris’ POV. She’s lost a lot of people in her life and had some medical issues herself. She’s lost her job and uprooted her life to move in with her step-brother, Sonny, in Texas. Sonny is in the MC and got her a job at a tattoo shop that happens to be owned by Dex Locke, his MC buddy. Iris has only been in town a few weeks, but hasn’t seen or heard anything positive about Dex. He’s aggressive, always with a girl and been in jail for assault. After 2 days of working at his tattoo shop, she knows she needs to quit. He acts like a jerk and she’s even overheard a phone conversation where he’s called her names. Everything changed, though, when they find out a rival MC is willing to go after her and Sonny for money they’re owed from her absent father. She’s put in the protective hands of Dex and soon she learns that along with all of those short-tempered habits, he’s also a caring, protective, loving guy that has a hard time letting people in.
“Babe, I’ve handpicked everythin’ and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want,” he breathed. “And I keep what’s mine.”
Thoughts: This is a book where you will definitely get your money’s worth. It’s LONG and not in a bad way. This could easily have been made a trilogy. I’ve read trilogies that were overall shorter than this single novel. Based on the length, you’d expect it to be a slow read or at least have slow parts. That is not the case here. All of the characters are very well written. There is an element of reality that you don’t normally get with a lot of romance. At the beginning, Iris is beautifully flawed, goofy and it’s obvious that she’s intimidated by Dex and other members of the MC, but she grows over the course of the story. Dex is….well, Dex is HOT! He’s the kind of guy that takes Alpha to a whole new meaning and makes you want a book husband instead of a book boyfriend. To give you an idea, the quote above takes place long before any kissing and they definitely aren’t dating yet. Wowza!
Grade: A+
