Under Locke

I wasn’t a huge Dex Locke (the big tatted guy that rides a bike) fan throughout the book, I rolled my eyes every time I read of him, but gradually he became very sweet and caring which made me soften from time to time, also love how relatable Iris was and her “That’s what she said” jokes and overall personality (the other characters were funny and sweet too and unfortunately almost everyone had daddy issues in this book). I can’t complain, other than my poor virgin eyes that got violated but oh well, guess that was my price to pay.

This book was different from what I expected from a Mariana Zapata Original but not in a bad way. In the beginning [the first 50 pages maybe?] i had a hard time getting into the story which may be be connected to the fact that a motorcycle club/tattoo studio story isn’t normally my cup of tee. But I stuck to it cause I believe in Zapata and her writing like nothing else. And it was worth it!! When knowing her other books you can detect that this was one of her first books. It hasn’t got the typical Zapata-pattern which I so much adore [ you should have seen my face when I realized exactly this - not going deeper into it but she wasnt ruling on the throne for immaculate slow burn then I guess if you know what I mean ^^ ] but it was still a great story. I pretty much read it in one sitting…like all her books. Iris and Dex are an powerful front you don’t want to stand against in a war. Dex is the overprotective slightly explosiv mc I’m accustomed to from mafia books and in a twisted way this motorcycle club is nothing else than a mafia. And Iris is the sunshine despite everything she already has experienced in her short life - cancer, a shit ass dad, raising her brother, loosing her mom and grandma….. And they fit so perfectly together it was a joy to see them slowly get attached to one another. And I really liked it. But I don’t love it. This won’t become one of my favorites and it probably isn’t on my top shelf of her best books but still worth a read. Especially for everyone enjoying some gang action. 3.75