I don’t go looking for angsty reads but somehow, I start them and can’t look away. Some frustrate me to no end and leave me feeling Hulk like anger. Others make me psychoanalyse the characters and I picture sitting them down and giving them advice. In Tap Left, I kind of didn’t realise what I was getting. I bought it on the release date and I can’t pinpoint what made me one-click. It wasn’t just that the cover was HOT!! It wasn’t just that it was by A. Zavarelli either. It could have been the blurb, but I don’t think it was just that. I think all three of those things helped, but there’s one thing that would have forced my one-click finger. There’s this word you see. This particular word gets my heart pumping. This word, when mentioned by the hero, has the ability to make me shudder, shake and shiver. This word is why I read romance.
The magic word is…MINE
I am a big sucker when the hero gets possessive and territorial (hmmm…that’s probably why I love paranormal so much). Of course, there are stipulations. It cannot be used when the hero and heroine just meet (CREEPY). It cannot be used like two blokes fighting over a toy (DOUCHEWAFFLE). It cannot be used by the psychotic serial killer looking for his next prey (SCARY). It really just needs to be used the right way. So, you put MINE in the blurb you better make sure you’re doing it the right way.
Tap Left was kind of messy. The main characters have messed up pasts and some serious history to overcome. I admit that I spent most of the first half putting all the pieces of the puzzle together. I wanted to know why someone so horrible and acted so meanly, made such an effort to be in the heroine’s orbit. I struggled to understand why the heroine was so hard on herself. Why do people make their lives so much harder by caring about others before themselves?
Sassy's rambling, skip to the next paragraph to avoid, her OTT mumbo jumbo. See, I’m a firm believer that if I’m happy, everyone around me will be happier too. But, then again, I’ve learnt to be that way. I forget that these young whipper-snappers haven’t been around the block a time or two. I’m using 42-year-old logic when, at their age, I was making the same bloody mistakes. This is the part I reach in most books where I want to step into the pages and give them a word of advice. My advice would be…find your happy place, communicate and last but definitely not least, if you can love them at their worst you will love them even more at their best.
Tap Left was a little bit kinky, of the HOT and STEAMY kind. I loved most of their “play” but one scene made me want to kick the hero where the sun don’t shine. Both characters are dealing with damaged pasts and have issues with guilt and neglect. Their self-loathing makes them act out in ways that hurt and manipulate. I always saw their actions as reactions to protect themselves. If you hurt them and walk it’s better than being hurt and left behind.
I haven’t read many books like Tap Left as I tend to tap out before it takes a stranglehold. I experienced the highs and lows and felt my heart break and flutter with their emotions. I took a deep breath when the emotions got too much to control my anger, frustration, lust and sorrow. In the end, I finished with a smile and a sigh. I enjoyed the journey, and again, A. Zavarelli has given me something that I thought I wouldn’t want but loved in the end.