BOOK REVIEW


Review for 'Tattooed Sweetness' by Katlyn S. Coen.


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Katlyn S. Coen.


Publication date 7th December 2022.


This is the the first book I have read by this author but it most certainly won't be my last!!


I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title.

This novel consists of 31 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


This book is based in Mosbach, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany🇩🇪.

This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Philipp Sandtmann and Celine Lechner. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.

In 'Tattooed Sweetness' all of the characters are flawed and struggle with their own issues and insecurities. Tattooed Sweetness is about love, loss, and experiencing life in all its facets. It deals with sensitive topics that may be triggering for some readers.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO KATLYN ON AN ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS ROMANCE.

The storyline is an absolutely perfect example of not only how opposites can attract but how you shouldn't judge a book by its cover or a person by their skin. I was sucked straight into the storyline from the first page to the very last and loved discovering the different areas of Montreal. The setting is gorgeous and I love the fact that Katlyn includes QR codes that you can scan throughout the storyline to help you get an even more vivid picture of what is happening in your head. I found the storyline to be unique and I enjoyed watching the friendship and relationships between the characters develop and change throughout the book. It is filled with romance, tattoos, friendships along with some tension, suspense and abuse. Katlyn has done an amazing job on writing from both Philipp and Celine's characters and I enjoyed discovering what was going on in their minds as well as seeing what they were doing. I enjoyed the fact that the chapters had their own titles related to what was going to happen in that chapter and I also found the translations of some of the different languages used to be very helpful. I absolutely adored the last chapter 'What Really Happened' as I always love discovering where authors get their ideas for their storylines from and the fact that this one came from a chance meeting of a couple who were the complete opposite is fantastic. Although this book is advertised as a slow burn I found the storyline itself to be fast paced and I absolutely flew through it in a day and still wanted more. I started it in the afternoon and I just could not put it down until I finished at 2am so I completely blame you Katlyn for the bags under my eyes!!! It is absolutely gripping and will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions from happy to sad, angry to filled with a bubbly feeling. I loved the tattoo aspect of the book being a huge tattoo fan myself. I am the type of person when wearing a long sleeve top and trousers nobody can tell I am inked but in shorts and a T-shirt you can see I am covered which always seems to surprise people. I absolutely adored the ending which was absolutely perfect. I was shocked when Philipp's past was revealed and then shocked again when his father revealed his secret. It does annoy me though how he could protect Konstantin but was an awful father to Philipp. I loved the fact that Katlyn included the recipes for Celine's Pide-Pizza and Philipp's Jalapeno Pimento Cheese Sandwiches at the end which I thought was a nice addition and not something you come across much. I would have liked to know more about what happened to Kevin and the gang that came to the tattoo parlour but not every book is ended with a perfect ribbon and I didn't think it affected the storyline. I also want to point out that this book was translated to English and I think that the translator did a fantastic job!

I was not a fan of Philipp at all when I first met him and found him to be obnoxious, full of himself and to put it bluntly just up his own butt. My first impressions of Celine were of a hard working, sweet woman who unfortunately could not see her scummy boyfriend for the using piece of crud that he was. I absolutely could not stand Kevin from the start and the way he treated Celine made me sick. I mean what sort of loser gets jealous of a character in a book for crying out loud? Philipp, however, started to grow on me and as we started seeing his softer side I started liking him more and more. I loved Celine's friend Pauline and thought that she was a great friend for her and excellent support. She was full of life and laughter and she is the type of friend everybody needs. I thought Bella, Philipp's girlfriend at the start iof the book, was a bit desperate and clingy as well as being extremely jealous. However, Bella also grew on me as I continued through the storyline and it was nice to see a friendship develop[ between her and Bella. I absolutely adored Celine's Aunt Mareike and her "partner" Horst who were both larger than life characters and absolutely brilliant support network for Celine. regardless whether you love or hate the characters they all work perfectly together in this sexy page turning romance.

Well done Katlyn on an absolutely fantastic page turner. I am looking forward to reading more of your books! Here is to your next success!!


Overall a page turning, sexy romance that goes to show how opposites can attract!!

Genres covered in this novel include Romance, Comedy, Contemporary Romance, Slow burn Romance, Romantic Comedy Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga and Humor & Satire amongst others.


357 pages.


This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free on kindle unlimited and £11.99 on paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!


Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.


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This book take place in Europe,  Mosbach - German. Friends to lovers story between Philip and Celine. The story was nice and sweet, we face their live before together. Philip with bella and Celine with Kevin. Dynamic in their relationship how to be brave and face the past, the present and then the future. I love how this book have link to interact between author and reader. The receip really helpfull i want to try it.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#TattooedSweetness #KatlynSCoen #BooksGoSocial #NetGalley #ARC

Updated star rating. After giving what I felt was very kind and constructive feedback, the author decided to DM me and act very defensively and, quite rude. So I have adjusted the star rating to what I feel the book would have been for me if I had read it without striking up this weird faux-friendship with the author. In no way will I bash her or speak illy, but in an attempt to spare her feelings after she was initially kind to me, I didn’t want her ratings low for the debut. Additionally, I would like to caution authors and readers alike that if you specifically ask for feedback, you must take it graciously and with a grain of salt. No one is perfect and you cannot expect 5 star ratings every time, from every reader, in every country. Thank you.


•••••
Thank you so so much to, not only Net Galley, but to author Katlyn Coen for the chance to review this title in advance.

**This Top Portion is Spoiler Free! To Avoid Revealing Any Major Plot Points Please STOP at the Asterisk Line Beneath THIS Section: **

-HEA
-Opposites Attract
-Somewhat Forced Proximity

TRIGGER WARNINGS:
-emotional and physical abuse
-self harm

Tattooed Sweetness was not quite what I was expecting when I initially spoke with the author via Instagram asking how to go about signing up for this ARC. While it is a romance, it's quite slow, and not necessarily in the fun "slow burn way", in my opinion it was more "endless pining".

Tattooed Sweetness, however, did have some really good plot twists that I was absolutely not expecting. Namely, with our MMC Philipp (whom is absolutely my type of book boyfriend in every applicable sense).

Overall, I feel so not feel confident giving the book anything higher than 2.5/5 stars. I took quite a bit of issue with the author's overuse of certain phrases and profanity and some recycled jokes throughout the novel. While the profanity isn't a deal breaker for me in any way, it seemed a large filler at times. This, I also found to be the case with the much-tired phrase "Oh my God."

I will admit though, after speaking again with the author, that I do have to consider than translator as a part of this. Originally, it was written in German and was then translated by another party for the American publication. Maybe the phrases and overuse of words was not the author’s direct action, but the result of her translation service.

Additionally, I found the time jumping more confusing than agreeable. I'd like to see the author, in the future, utilize dates more so than just the passing of weeks or months, as the year was mentioned only once in the novel as far as I can recall.

********************************************************************************************************************************************
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT. PLEASE STOP HERE IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE EXPOSED TO MAJOR PLOT POINTS
*********************************************************************************************************************************************
I was absolutely unprepared for Philipp's backstory in Tattooed Sweetness. The emotional and Physical Abuse form his mother was deeply cutting. It was also not a topic I've seen touched on very often, particularly with Heterosexual male characters. I think it's important to remember that abuse like this is often dismissed and hardly ever taken seriously, as our society tends to prioritize the importance and severity of Domestic/Spousal Abuse (in most regards: a husband using violence against his wife).

As mentioned in the first portion of this review, this novel was nothing but PINING. It was around the 85-90% mark that the characters actually advanced in making any romantic contact. In my opinion, the sex scene between the two main characters is moderately tame and brief. I did, however, enjoy the fact that our MFC, Celine, is the one who made the first move by kissing Philipp in the front seat of his truck. It's rare that we are able to witness our Female protagonists making assertive, sexual decisions.

Other thoughts and concerns:
- I didn't care for how we handled Celine's friendship with Pauline. They had a fight regarding Philipp (Celine thought that she may have been interested in him and he in Pauline etc.) It's stated that Celine and Pauline are "not on speaking terms but make a brief truce to arrange Christmas plans", and then for the rest of the book we don't mention her again. We don't see Celine reach out to her BEST FRIEND after her ex-fiancé, Kevin, assaults her in their apartment (inevitably leading to her prolonged stay with Philipp.)
- We also fail to follow up with any sort of repercussions with Kevin, and his family, when they find out that the engagement is dissolved. (Like his police friend who I’m sure would like to hear about how Kevin was left tied up and possibly beaten in the apartment.)
### as the author wanted to point out when she DM-ed me: “Celine would have sought refuge with Pauline if she had her phone.” Okay so you expect us all to believe that she would stay with Philipp for MONTHS, and continue to work without getting a new phone and/or borrowing one at the shop? Seriously? That’s not very realistic. Further, the author was very adamant that because Celine purchased baby garments for a coworker from Pauline that meant their friendship was fixed. But we, as the readers, never actually see them reconnect. Celine just stays with Phillipp, gets her things back from the apartment with help from the gang, and I guess shops at Pauline’s all without her actually apologizing or even telling her friend where she’s been for 2 months? Riiiight.

Overall, I didn’t really enjoy the read, it felt quite juvenile (and not in the YA sense). I hope that Katlyn will continue with her works in romantic fiction, because I enjoyed the idea and the personalities of her characters--thank you again to the applicable parties for making this copy available for advanced review.

This was definitely a fun and entertaining read despite it being quite predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed and loved it

Phillip and Catlin are two opposites but as is often opposites attract. This slow burn was so so read for me. For me, it dragged on a lot until they become a couple. I had to make myself read the book until the end.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley

This book was not to my tastes. It was a confusing read and Phillip was not a character I cared for. The cover is adorable and the synopsis sounds great. I only read part of this book being that I wasn’t able to connect with it.

This was incorrectly mislabelled as a graphic novel. I dont believe I am the correct demographic for this novel but I could not get into the story.

I loved the characters and the plot of the story, I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Phillipp and Celine were the epitome of opposites attract. I enjoyed their development and storyline. Poor Phillipp has had a rough life and he just needed someone like Celine to come along and believe in him, give him comfort and support and be a partner. Great story!

3 stars for the beginning, 4 stars after the first couple of chapters. If you pick up this book please read past the first few chapters where Philipp is written as a male chauvinist douche bag in his relationship with his tattoo artist assistant which he ends. Because at that point he changes and the narrative becomes a 4 star story written from both his and new business adviser Celine’s perspectives becomes interesting. I would describe the rest of the book enjoyable as a good blossoming love story type holiday read story. Thank you to Katlyn S Coen and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given,

triggers: child abuse (past), partner abuse

tropes: opposites attract

Philipp is expanding his business and gets help from Celine to make his dream a reality. Over time a friendship develops, so much so that when Celine needs help, the only person she thinks to turn to is Philipp.

The idea behind this book is solid and I give the author credit since it's her first book in English, but I feel like this could be better. There were times when it was very wordy.

It takes a long time to get to the romance part, and then as soon as it happens, the book is over.

Philipp and Celine's story is sweet and ends with a happily every after.

While this wasn't great, it wasn't bad either. Just because it wasn't for me though, doesn't mean it's not for someone else.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to review this.
I think the marketing for this book is wrong. I went into this thinking it was a graphic novel and it is not. I did not finish this, besides not being a graphic novel, the writing was very stilted and felt super juvenile and cringy. It was not for me.

The book is a slow burn. If you cross first ten chapters the you might love it. The hero keeps his feelings hidden for the heroine even though it was very clear that he can't pass a day with her. I just needed more of description as on some chapters I found we reached the conclusion soon.

Philipp - The male character's past was something I didn't expect. I adored the way how he shared everything with Celine.

Celine - The female character is independent and confident woman who will steal your heart.

P.S: I loved the way Kevin proposed Celine that was really romantic for me.

I am hoping to try the Dutch version of this book as I felt the translation didn't to justice.

Got to Chapter 3 and just could not get into it. SO can't really rate it more than a 1. The way Celine is referred to as "girl" really bothers me. Plus the meet cute was just like any other persons meet cute nothing to spectacular. Already in the first couple chapters, the guy is already questioning his relationship with his girlfriend.

Tattooed Sweetness
by Katlyn S. Coen
Earc:NetGalley
Publisher:Books
Publication Date:07 Dec 2022
Genre:
Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga | Humor & Satire | Romance

I don't understand whether it's a graphic novel for this book. If anything, it's a kin to a light story.
This is a lovely Romance and a slow burner if you enjoy that. Every comment and interaction serves to heighten the relationship between the two of them; their chemistry is enough to burn anyone who gets in their way. The slow-burn romance in this novel was what the doctor ordered, and it was a fun, easy read.

#NetGalley
#Comics, Graphic Novels #Manga #Humor & Satire #Romance #bookstagram #bookreview #goodreads #booktok TattooedSweetness

This is a good little read it has everything a person needs in a romance, its a slow burn but the heat comes off the pages and leaves you just that little bit breathless. i felt singed by some of the scenes in this book and boy am i blushing in others.
i liked this book on a whole its a good romance overall, i find Philipp a little bit unlikable but not enough to stop reading.
Thank you to Netgalley/ Katlyn S. Coen/ BookGoSocial for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me a copy to review.

This book was an enjoyable quick read, the slow burn romance was just what the doctor ordered.

Good! I’ve been enjoying some romance, but this was a little less to my taste. Even so, the prose was good, and the characters were fleshed out. It was a quick read, nothing too crazy. I’ll recommend for anyone looking around in this genre!

I was told that this book was a comic and there was no ounce of a comic in this.Two the book wasn't for me but maybe it for someone else to find an enjoy

******spoilers*******

I really struggled finishing this. I wanted to like it, I did. There were things that I couldn’t really get over. (Pros/cons are below and contain some spoilers). I feel like with some revision this could be a good read, but it definitely items had some adjustments that need made.

Stars: 2.5
POV: dual
HEA?: yes
Cheating: no
Cliffhanger?: no
TW: alcoholism, child abuse
Tropes: slow burn, tattoos, opposites attract

Cons:
-Wordy at times. Some things are just too descriptive. Why do we need to have such huge multi-page descriptions of how MMC sanitizes his place?

-the discussion questions after every chapter. I feel like if the author needs those in the book, there should be a section at the end, to keep the story flowing.

-the time lapse. Instead of putting (time passes) as a break, use the ******, ~~~~ or other ways to break it up.

-I’m really not liking FMCS views on people with tattoos. she just plays off her current BF’s alcoholism, but tattoos make you an automatic criminal? Then there’s not really much development (in my opinion) and suddenly she changes her opinion 80% of the way through.

-there’s a huge time lapse and suddenly the story glances over a huge fight FMC had with her best friend during that time lapse. I feel like something that big should have actually been in the story since it was relevant.

-he’s sharing his past and all she can focus on is “he’s a criminal”, not he stole to get money so he could get away from his abusive mom.

Pros:
-I liked Phillip

-I liked that Phillips ex didn’t create drama.

-the notations for when things weren’t in English so I knew what it said.