Synopsis

Ginger Holtzman has fought for everything she’s ever had—the success of her tattoo shop, respect in the industry, her upcoming art show. Tough and independent, she has taking-no-crap down to an art form. Good thing too, since keeping her shop afloat, taking care of her friends, and scrambling to finish her paintings doesn’t leave time for anything else. Which … is for the best, because then she doesn’t notice how lonely she is. She’ll get through it all on her own, just like she always does.

Christopher Lucen opened a coffee and sandwich joint in South Philly because he wanted to be part of a community after years of running from place to place, searching for something he could never quite name. Now, he relishes the familiarity of knowing what his customers want, and giving it to them. But what he really wants now is love.

When they meet, Christopher is smitten, but Ginger … isn’t quite so sure. Christopher’s gorgeous, and kind, and their opposites-attract chemistry is off the charts. But hot sex is one thing—truly falling for someone? Terrifying. When her world starts to crumble around her, Ginger has to face the fact that this fight can only be won by being vulnerable—this fight, she can’t win on her own.

Small Change is the first book in a series that will include M/F and M/M romances.

The Finer Details

Publication Date: June 1, 2017
Publisher: Self-published
Editor: Julia Ganis Website
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow
Sequence: Series – Small Change, book 1
Series Type: new couple
Length: Novel: 429 e-book pages
POV: 1st Person Single
Tense: Past
Pairing(s): Male/Female
Identities: Bisexual, Straight
Age Range(s): 30-34
Genre(s): Contemporary
Tropes & Tags: opposites attract, body art/tattoos/piercings, food
Setting/Locale: Philadelphia, PA
Ending: HEA

Advance Review Copy received from the author via A Novel Take PR.

Review

So…it took me a quick minute or twelve to realize that GINGER is Daniel’s BFF from In the Middle of Somewhere. Don’t…don’t ask me why it didn’t click sooner. I couldn’t answer that question.

Haven’t read In the Middle of Somewhere? NO WORRIES. Really. Sure, Daniel and his man pop up, they’re talked about. But this isn’t their story, and there’s not a whole lotta leakage from that story to this one. The timeline heavily overlaps so, ya know, you could use this book as a springboard to that one. (Hint, hint)

Instead, what we have here, is Miss SASS-a-frass Ginger. Tattoo artist and a spitfire of a woman who, unfortunately, has to continually prove herself and justify her actions, worth, and etcetera in a male-dominated industry. Her shop is her life and every ounce of her blood, sweat and — you know the drill — go into making it work. There’s NO TIME for love and stuff.

Except…that sandwich shop owner down the street sure is drool-worthy perfection on a fresh marble rye.

Folks, AMAZING bi rep here. Like, wow. Seems like most of the books I’ve been reading with bisexual characters have been those exploring same-sex relationships. Been a long while since I read one that was M/F. And that the bi thing wasn’t some cringe-worthy oddity to poke at and exploit.

I just. I loved Ginger, okay? She’s original, witty, sarcastic, smart-mouthed and keeps a heart of gold under lock and key, except for the folks who are closest to her.

“I felt like a feather drifting over the rooftops, kept aloft by the breeze and a kind of happiness I’d never know.”

And boy, oh boy does it take Christopher some time to unearth the keys to her heart after an inelegant (yet hilarious) first meeting.

Partly because they couldn’t be any more different than pop-tarts and pastrami. Also because Ginger is BUSY and their hours don’t easily coincide.

“He was love, and hope, and appreciation. I was yearning, and trepidation, and the fear of grasping at nothing.”

But wow, is he patient and kind and sweet and sexy and determined and a tree of a man I’d just like to climb all over.

Yeah, I said what I said.

“I wanted Christopher. I wanted him in my corner when shit was rough. I wanted him in my bed, holding me. I wanted his sun to shine on me. I wanted to soak up his light like a moon, and glow with it.”

This book was a smart, well-paced blast and contained so many feels from sexy ones to ones that tugged at my heart, and some that made me laugh. It was pretty much all the things I love in my romance books — and what I love about the stories Roan Parrish tells.

Purchase Links

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Excerpt

He was tall, with the thick build of someone naturally powerful, rather than the kind of sculpted muscles of someone who worked out in a gym. His thick red hair was cut close on the sides and long on top, combed back from a square hairline. He had a strong jaw and a smirky mouth, and his stubble was nearly blond. It was his eyes that I couldn’t look away from though. They were almost the same color as his hair—a warm goldish-orange—and shot through with flecks of blue.

My first impression was that his face was arresting, interesting the way sometimes in a gallery there’s one painting that pulls you in and won’t let you walk past. Each line eases into the next, each color shades into the one beside it in just the way your eye desires. Once you start to see the details you can’t look away.

But the more I looked, the more interesting converted to handsome as hell.

“Dramatic start to the day,” he commented, eyes sliding to the spot where I’d been crouched when he came in.

“Not even my first encounter with a floor this morning, unfortunately.” I leaned an elbow on the counter, drawn toward him.

“One of those, huh?” He spoke with the ease of a food service professional accustomed to such exchanges, and the utter empathy of someone who actually meant it.

When he held the bag out to me over the counter it was accompanied by an easy smile that crinkled laugh lines at the corners of those extraordinary eyes and displayed charmingly sharp incisors that overhung his bottom lip a little, like a kid wearing dress-up fangs.

“Just in case the vagaries of your day find you needing another one,” he said.

And then he winked at me. Not the friendly wink of a barista. A filthy, promise-laden wink that shifted his grin from charming to sexy as hell.

Additional Praise for Small Change

“Small Change is a gem. A beautifully written, deeply emotional story with tons of life bursting out of its pages. I loved this story! Can’t wait for more.”
–Molly O’Keefe, USA Today Bestselling Author

“I can always count on Roan Parrish to deliver emotional truths and gritty realism. Like many readers, I was waiting for Ginger’s story. And what a story it was!”
— Sarina Bowen, USA Today Bestselling author of Goodbye Paradise

“It sounds anemic to say, ‘You will fall in love with Ginger,’ but you will! This tattoo artist heroine manages to be both a delight and a total badass at the same time. Parrish makes her characters work for their happily ever after, which means Small Change has it all: vulnerability and great big leaps of faith, broken hearts and patched-together hearts the stronger for that patching. (Also: smashing the patriarchy and amazing sandwiches.)”
–Jenny Holiday, USA Today Bestselling author

About the Author

Roan Parrish lives in Philadelphia where she is gradually attempting to write love stories in every genre. When not writing, she can usually be found cutting her friends’ hair, meandering through whatever city she’s in while listening to torch songs and melodic death metal, or cooking overly elaborate meals. She loves bonfires, winter beaches, minor chord harmonies, and self-tattooing. One time she may or may not have baked a six-layer chocolate cake and then thrown it out the window in a fit of pique. She is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan of Handspun Literary Agency.

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