This review first appeared on One Curvy Blogger.

THE WRITING

I was so damn relieved when I made it to the end of Ruby Ink. Have you ever read a book that was so amazing you couldn’t put it down, even though you were sure the book was giving you an ulcer? Not because it was terrible because it was sogood. The writing was so well done and complex that I really couldn’t guess what was going to happen next, even though I had suspicions about certain characters.

Ruby Ink is a train wreck that you can’t stop watching until the end. Every time I peeled back one layer of the plot another appeared to confuse the hell out of me yet enthrall me. I recommend this book to anybody who loves suspenseful romance, regardless of whether you like erotic romance. It doesn’t even read as an erotic romance, in my opinion. Ruby Ink was a wickedly intense read that should not be read until you have the time and energy and enough stomach lining to tolerate such a crazy adventure!

THE STORY

I can’t begin to explain how surprised I was by this novel. I’ve been a reader of romance for years and as big a fan I am, I am the first to admit that most romance novels are pretty predictable. For example: Heroine and hero meet, pretend they don’t have feelings for each other, grow closer, fall in love … but then out of nowhere, something happens and someone gets hurt. Hero eventually realizes how much he loves heroine and professes his undying love and pleads with heroine to forgive him. Hero and heroine fall madly in love and live happily ever after.

I can name dozens of romances that pretty much go in that direction in some shape or form and I’m completely okay with it most of the time. Ruby Ink, on the surface, has a similar plot and when I read the first couple of chapters that I had the book figured out … boy was I wrong. This book is so completely different from any other romance, any other book I’ve ever read that it blew my mind. The plot is far more complex than I realized. I’m so glad this book didn’t turn out as run of the mill because now I am so looking forward to reading more of L.J. Wilson!

The smart (and slightly disappointing) about this erotic romance is that, somehow, Wilson turned this kinky-ish book into something that mainstream readers wouldn’t be irked by. And no, I don’t mean that it falls into the “mommy porn” category (please erase this phrase from your dictionary. Sooo insulting), I just mean that it is sensual enough to be mega steamy but mysterious enough to work for people who don’t enjoy those in detailed sex scenes that I enjoy. I can’t tell if this is something I liked about Ruby Ink or disliked. Maybe a mixture of both, because I was able to enjoy the romance regardless of the sex.

THE CHARACTERS

Goodreads labels this book as New Adult Contemporary Romance. P an innocent college student and an older, experienced older man fell slowly, but completely in love with each other and how the relationship was so easily shattered in the course of one night. But the book (except the first 2 chapters) take place seven years later, so if you are like me and NA is not your cuppa, don’t worry.

❝Who got matching tattoos before having sex? They did. The exotic symbols stood for love, happiness, and peace. Somewhat skeptical, Aaron had agreed to earn the ink with her, one tattoo at a time. ❞

As much as I loved this book, it wasn’t an easy story to read. I felt so much for both Ruby and Aaron, but it was hard to watch absolutely nothing go right for them, even when they thought it was. I wanted to hate them at times, but it was impossible to hold on to my anger. Both make stupid mistakes, but they both are made to pay the price for them in ways they don’t deserve. What makes me so angry with them sometimes is they couldn’t see how each of them were manipulated by a man orchestrating all of their pain and sorry for seven torturous years, but I couldn’t blame them because I didn’t see the convoluted scheming until it all came out at the end.

If the plot was complicated, the characters were even more so. Especially the antagonists … Honestly, there was only one antagonist I could properly label as “villainous” from the moment we were introduced, and even then he had moments of surprising humanity I didn’t see coming. Each person dropped into this book was well-developed, whether they were the bad guys or not, they all had moments of humanity that I didn’t see coming… even the one I labeled Satan. The characters of Ruby Ink were some of the best well-rounded characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

THE END

I’m hoping this rambling review made some sort of sense to you. It is so hard to explain the depth Wilson gave to the plot, the characters, the writing … I’m convinced she is some sort of mystical fiction magician with the mindf*ck Ruby Ink gave me. I’ll be surprised if I can read another romance without comparing it to this book. If I could ever convince you to read one book this year, Ruby Ink would be it!