A sweet and insightful story with a few moments of spicy.

This story has a slower pace but I liked that. Both Derek and Basil are wary about opening up to others, and I love that they respect each other's boundaries and are always honest about their needs. Even when misunderstandings happen, they work through them. Their love story is a bit of a slow burn, with gentle intimacy and trust. There are loads of supporting characters and I'm looking forward to getting their stories in the rest of the series!

Side note: this book made me want to learn ASL and get more tattoos

A pleasant surprise. A lovely romance between Derek, who is suffering from PTSD after being abused as a child and Basil, who is deaf. I loved all of the diverse cast and the way Lindsey helps foster understanding for people outside the mainstream. Sometimes it felt a little heavy-handed, but I am ready to forgive that because I agree with what she is trying to do. Also, I think one of the reasons it is so important to include all kinds of people in - well, all books, really, but especially romance - is that it can be eye-opening and will widen people’s horizons. And we can all use some of that.
The romance was very sweet and well-paced, and while there was some “darker” stuff, the book wasn’t as angsty as I had expected/feared. I’m happy I get to read book two right away and, if that is as good as this one, book three soon.

The formatting on the Kindle version was a little wonky when it came to the text messages, and at first I felt like there was a lot of exposition info dump, but it eased up a lot as the book went on. And you know, I think it made sense - Derek works at this tattoo parlor with his "found family" (including his identical twin brother), and they all clearly have very full lives and are involved in each others' lives, and that's lovely.

I don't have any tattoos currently. I really want one, have gone so far as to find artists I'd like to work with in the last two cities I've lived in, but have never been able to pull the trigger. There's something about the permanence that makes me uncomfortable and noncommittal. I finally realized what my problem is, when I was talking to my mom about the art I have on the walls of my home office - I am not super invested in art for art's sake, but when I see something I love, I know immediately and I buy it; whereas, when working with a tattoo artist, you have to build the trust that they will create art that you love, but you haven't seen yet, that will live on you forever. And how do you create trust when you've never worked with that person before!? It's a snake eating its tail situation.

Anyway, I was thinking about this level of trust because the h, Basil, allows Derek to tattoo him without knowing what the outcome will be - knowing that he loves Derek's work, and that Derek will know when the piece is "complete," allowing it to be a moment of both healing and intimacy, even if they're not sure they will end up together. (Spoiler: this is a romance novel, duh.)

I don't really know what to say beyond this. It's a romance that deals with some heavy issues with, I think, great care. This series features a mostly queer cast, written by an agender author. Many of the characters have disabilities (hearing loss, PTSD, spinal cord injury/wheelchair user), and several push back about their bodies needing to conform to able-bodied norms in order to live normal lives. I really appreciated their stories and perspectives, and probably will get the next book in the series once I catch up on some book club reads.

TW: mentions of panic attacks, mentions of suicide, homophobia from off-page characters, child abuse (past), bullying, death of a romantic partner (past)

I wanted to like this book. On the surface it has a lot of my favorite things, but I can't think of anything I liked about it. There was no conflict, everything worked out smoothly, and everyone was too PC.

I really enjoyed this first book in the series. The author does a good job writing about people with disabilities, or at least, it seems that way to this able-bodied person. I love the family that exists at Irons and Works and I’m looking forward to reading more.

Derek and Basil

This was pretty good, I really enjoyed that both protags were disabled (Deaf MC and MC with PTSD) and that it wasn't just a side characteristic or whatever, it shaped the protags' life and their relationships without it being like An Issue (very unclear explanation, let's just say I thought the rep was good, for what it's worth as I don't experience those specific disabilities) and that there was a strong focus on platonic relationships besides just the romance.