Series Review: Beneath This Mask & Beneath This Ink by Meghan March, Reviews + my brief Q&A!

I have a new favorite author!!! I can sum up everything that will follow in this series review in that one, short sentence!

Last week I've had the absolute pleasure of reading Meghan March's BENEATH THIS MASK and the recently released BENEATH THIS INK. Here is my series review! But if you want the simple and short version: I absolutely love these books!

Publication Date: September 29, 2014
Book 1 of the Beneath Series

Synopsis:

He loves me, and he doesn't even know my real name.

The limelight that follows him could expose everything I'm hiding. But even knowing the risks, I can't force myself to stay away.

I'm going to break his heart, but mine will shatter right along with it.

Will we lose it all when I reveal what's beneath this mask?

The last time I went this gaga over a story and its author, I ended up following her career, looking forward to each upcoming book, and reveled in the successes and awards she and her books attained. That was Penelope Douglas, and before her, J.A. Redmerski. Now I've found a new, all-time favorite author: Meghan March!

I am just in love with this story!!! Gahhh…. When I reached the last page, I was just all melted hearts and mallows. This is the type of story I will remember for a long while, and the story I will shamelessly recommend to others. It has everything I look for in a contemporary romance, whether NA or Adult: well-rounded characters, chemistry, tasteful sex scenes if there are any, a really great story, and a conflict or problem that will make me despair just enough so that by the time I get to the beautiful ending, I will embrace it and enjoy it even more!

BENEATH THIS MASK was all that, and more. It is romance at its core, but Meghan March was able to weave in perfectly a legal subplot involving the heroine, Charlie. I had read many books that involved one of the characters in a legal fiasco, but it was often easy to predict the direction of those plots. Hence, there was usually little excitement and no burning need to find out how the conflict will be resolved.  With this book, I seriously had to restrain myself from peeking at the last pages (which I tend to do when I'm so overwhelmed with worry that I need reassurance that the characters will be alive or together in the end!). I was so worried but also so excited because I had a strong feeling the next parts are going to be very, very good, and that there's no way I should ruin things by peeking at the ending! By the last 30% of the book my brows were literally scrunched up in anxiety and I was clutching my kindle too close to my face—as though doing so will make me read even faster and get to the resolution I wanted so much to find out!

I just loooooved that experience! =D

The romance part of the book was oh so gooooood! Simon Duchesne is my new fave book boyfriend! It was refreshing to have a hero who is so honest with his feelings and doesn't cow at the thought of being in love. He cares so much for Charlie, he can drop everything in a snap and be her knight in shining armor. That he leads a company, has a seat in the city council, and is potentially a congressional candidate makes all his efforts to be with her whenever he needs him even more impressive. Most importantly, he knows that he wants something more with Charlie, and he won't settle for anything less.

Unfortunately, Charlie's situation doesn't make it easy for her to be completely honest about her roots, who she really is, etc.... Naturally, this makes her budding relationship with Simon very difficult. This won't work was uttered and hinted at a lot. Thank goodness these two behave maturely and would quickly work out their arguments and misunderstandings.

Charlie has so many qualities though that I love and wish I had. Although she is hiding from her past, dons a mask of tattoos and has a tendency to run, she ultimately turns around to face her problems head on. Although she has vulnerabilities, she's also a courageous young woman. She had to build a new life while still so young. She turned to tattoos to change her appearance, but also ultimately because she felt freer in her new skin.

There is really so much more to Charlie, but there's no better way to find out than to actually read the book.

The supporting characters were also great. I'm hoping we'll see them in succeeding books! All of them have interesting personalities. Even Charlie's giant mutt, Huck, was a wonderful addition! Thanks to him we get to see Charlie's softer side early on, one that doesn't have to act tough behind her tattoos.

Oh gosh what else can I say without spoiling you guys… just read it, read it, read it! I highly recommend BENEATH THIS MASK! :D It's romantic and toe-curling, intense and exciting, and it surprised me at every turn. I couldn't predict what would happen next, be it about the romance or Charlie's troubles. And I loved that! The story and the characters just sucked me in. I barely stopped reading once I started. It's not very often now that I have this kind of response, what with the amount of romance I've already read. So whenever it happens, I'll love that book and that author for a long, long, long time!

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Synopsis:

I've always known she was too good for me, but that never stopped me from wanting her.

And then I finally had her for one night.

A night I don't remember.

I figured I'd blown my shot.

But now she's walked back into my life, and this time, I have the upper hand. I want my second chance.

Will she be able to see the man beneath this ink?

Having loved BENEATH THIS MASK, I dived straight into the second book in the series, BENEATH THIS INK. Boy, I am so happy I did! :D

Meghan March kept me guessing again. I thought this one would have a simpler plot and that it would be easier to predict how things will unfold… but no, the opposite happened. There were twists I didn't see coming at all! The romance is still top-notch, and I daresay this book raised the hotness meter even higher. Vanessa and Con had me squee-ing. Well, Con had me squee-ing!

He is first introduced in book 1 as Charlie's friends with benefits. He is known to prefer one-night-stands instead of having serious relationships that lasts longer than one or a couple of nights. What we didn't know was that he actually had one night with Vanessa, Simon's high-society friend who used to pose with him in high-profile events for appearances sake.

Constantine (love that his name suited his character!) is a retired soldier who now a tattoo artist and owner of several businesses. Most people won't look beyond his muscles and tattoos, but he really is so much more beneath that tough exterior! He is a loving son, a loyal friend, and an intense and protective lover. He plays an active role in helping keep teenage boys out of the streets and getting in trouble with the law. He really is a very impressive hero!

Vanessa is more than just your quintessential rich, society woman. Her deepest passion is to prove herself capable of heading her family's foundation. What she wants most in the world is to preserve the foundation's legacy and be able to help so many people through it. This is what urged her to seek out Con two years after that disastrous morning-after.

It was at this point in the story that I thought, oh, the rest will be predictable. She'll prove him wrong, he'll prove her wrong, they'll face pressure from society, but they'll stick it out in the end. I am so happy to tell you though that there is so much more meat in this story than that! There no boring moment for me. Their issues were also addressed early on, and I was especially thankful that any misunderstanding was quickly explained. I did get irritated with Con's penchant for jumping into the worst conclusions whenever he senses that Vanessa is about to blow him off. This is the only flaw of his that I wish was resolved more fully in the course of the story. Other than that, the two of them are just dynamite on the page! I love their chemistry. Con is intense and just forceful enough to make me swoon. Vanessa is no pushover, but she can't help but respond to this sexy, straightforward, caring and protective man. There's no denying these two should be together, even if another handsome and charming man entered the picture.

I'm talking about secondary character, Lucas Titan. For the record, Ms. Meghan March, I'd love to read his story next! He was an absolute ass in majority of the book. Even as I disliked him though, he was such a solid and intriguing character that I wondered more than once if there is more to him than the jackassery I was reading.

I have nothing but praise for Meghan March after reading these two books. :D Like I said, I'm now an avid fan! She has a flair for storytelling that I love. Her characters are likable and well-developed. Her narration flows smoothly, and she has lots of surprises up her sleeve. The books don't have just one conflict. They're not the type wherein there's a big blowout, a breakup, then someone grovels and they get back together in the end, and that's it. So much more happens in these books, and the overall results are truly satisfying!

SO. If you want romance, sizzling sex scenes, beautiful characters with chemistry, and really well-plotted storylines, I highly recommend these books by Meghan March.

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Q&A with Ms. Meghan March!

I was drawn to the tattoo parlor as a setting because I'm fascinated by tattoos and the people who aren't afraid to take on society's judgment by covering themselves in works of art. There's something so beautiful about it. I also love to explore the reasons why people get tattoos. For Charlie, it was initially a way to hide, but then the ink became an inseparable part of who she was. Simon and Con both had tattoos for a different reason—to remember and to honor their service and those they'd lost. 

I don't actually write at a desk :) I think I'm probably in the minority, but I generally write curled up on my couch or sprawled out on my bed. BUT, a few things I generally have nearby would be water, coffee, dried cherries, dark chocolate, Skinny Pop, and my dog, Brooklyn. She's an excellent listener—when she's not snoring. 

I'm a cross between a pantser and a plotter. I generally try to figure out a few key scenes before I start writing, and I tend to plot more the further I get into a book because things get complicated. That said, several of my favorite scenes (including every opening scene) are those I sit down and just write. Almost no conscious thought—just the words flowing onto the page.

Meghan March is a Michigan native who has spent a good portion of her life buried in a book. Case in point: she read the entire romance section of her small town public library by age fourteen. Even after growing up (sort of) and getting a law degree, she never lost her passion for a great story, twisty plot, epic romance, and amazing characters. When she's not writing, she's probably reading, target shooting, drooling over fast cars, or playing with her crazy mutt.