Marked by Drew Elyse 
Series: Sailor's Grave #1
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC
Also by this author: Ignite
Goodreads
“MOVING ON” IS JUST ABOUT ACTING THE PART.
I would never say as much to the people I love, but it’s the truth.
They want to see me doing better.
They want to see me living for more than just my son.
So I let them.
Every day is about putting on a face,
pretending to get over the loss of my husband.
And every day is a lie.UNTIL MOVING ON IS A TEMPTATION THAT CAN’T BE DENIED.
I’m not about to claim I’m a genius,
unless we’re talking with a tattoo gun or woman in my hands,
but I’m smart enough to know the beauty serving up my cupcake fix is off limits.
Really, I know.
Too bad the lure of putting a real smile on Kate’s face is so strong.
When she visits Sailor’s Grave Tattoo Parlor,
I can’t help but want to leave my mark.
Marked hit me right in the feels! Kate’s husband died tragically in a car accident. Several years have past and Kate is pretending she is ‘moving on’. She loves her son and will do everything she can to keep him happy. Liam watched his mom struggle after his dad died and knows all too well what Kate is going through. He wants to help her, but how do you help someone who is so closed off?
I loved Liam. He had feelings for Kate, but knew exactly what she was going through. The guilt, the loss…all of it was what he watched his mom go through. He was the perfect guy for her. Sometimes, I find widow stories difficult; if you loved someone, moving on feels like betrayal and I feel that the new person in the relationship is always competing with a ghost, but if you move on too quickly, then you question if they really loved them at all. Its a fine line to walk. Kate’s survivor’s guilt was heartbreaking. She felt that she shouldn’t ever love again, that doing so would be a betrayal. She really loved Joel (her husband) and they had been together since high school. As if the death of her husband wasn’t tragic enough, Kate didn’t have a great childhood either. She clung to Joel because they created a family neither had ever had. Appropriately, this was a slower burn since Kate has such love and devotion to her late husband.
Liam had a great family and I thought that was wonderful to read. He was close to his mom and his siblings. Its not often you get functional families in romance. I loved that he was a tattoo artist as well. He embraced and encouraged artistic talent. While my heart went out to Kate and her struggle, I adored Liam and he is what made this book for me! Marked is full of deep, real emotions and will have you tearing up frequently, but its a beautiful ride!
- POV: dual 1st
- Tears: yes
- Trope: single parent, widow, MC club
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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Clutch by L. Wilder, Outlaw Ride by Sarah Hawthorne, Follow Me Back by AL Jackson…then you will probably like Marked!
Marked
I added this to my TBR! I love that there is a functional family that seems to get along well. Like you said, it’s not something you see very often in romance. It’s one of the reasons I love the Hidden Legacy series by Ilona Andrews so much.
L @ Do You Dog-ear?
I do wish we saw more functional families in romance, I understand that there are many families that struggle, but there are also many families in the real world that are close knit. So I love seeing a book focus on strong family ties.
Lovely review darling.