#BlogTour “Stroked Long” by Meghan Quinn

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 My musings…                                                                                                                                                                                                                             5 BREAK MY HEART CROWNS                                                                                                                                                                                                   Meghan Quinn is known for bringing laughter to the romance world with her outrageously hilarious characters and stories.  But when I love Meghan Quinn most is when there is a more serious thread for her characters or story mixed in with all the hilarity, and Stroked Long delivers in all aspects, easily making this story one of my favorite books written by her.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   What really makes this story tug on the reader’s heartstrings is the characters.  These characters will burrow into your heart, and you will not want to say goodbye to them when the book is over.  From the opening pages, the reader’s heart will bleed for Bodi, and it will continue to ache as he/she watches this man struggle.  The complexity of his character, the motivation behind his behavior, and his struggles to live a “normal” life will eat the readers up, melt their hearts, make them fall in love with him.  Meghan Quinn’s ability to write Bodi as a vulnerable character while still showcasing his strength of character is truly incredible.  The other side to this fantastic duo is Ruby, and god did I love her.  Her quirkiness, the endless rambling, the ownership of who she is in all her goofy glory makes her my favorite type of heroine.  The kindness and acceptance and love that she exudes throughout the novel will completely make the reader a fan of her character.

These two completely come alive when they are together. They have fun, truly live in each other’s presence, and are electric in the bedroom.  The is a perfect amount of dirty talking laced with emotion, so the reader can clearly feel that this is more than just sex for them, creating authenticity in them as a couple.

This plot will suck the reader in from the very first pages, quickly setting the tone for the more serious nature of the story.   Don’t worry there are still the moments of humor that readers have come to love and expect from a Meghan Quinn book, but there is more.  This journey she takes the reader on will move him/her emotionally, as if he/she is the one falling in love with Bodi, and the devastation that comes will affect the reader just as much as it does the characters.  There is no choice in this book but to feel it all, the self-hatred, the guilt, the laughter, the friendship, the family, but above it all readers will feel LOVE and see the healing powers of love.

Stroked Long has a slightly different tone than the hilarious romance novels readers have to come to love from Meghan Quinn, because it is more.  It is a story of loss, of dealing with trauma, of truly living a life without a fear, of letting love heal.  It is truly some of her best work to date.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

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