House of Payne: Max by Stacy Gail [Review]

House of Payne: Max (House of Payne #6) by Stacy Gail
Format: ebook
Source: provided for review
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: October 8, 2017

House of Payne
1. Payne
2. Scout
3. Twist
4. Rude
5. Steele
6. Max - Kindle
7. Tag
8. Ice
9. Styx
9.5. His Princess
10. Loki
11. Sage
11.5. Good Girl
12. Talon
12.5. Party Girl

Related Series
(Find all the books in the series on the 1st book review)
Scorpio
1. Year of the Scorpio: Pt 1

Men of PSI
1. Luke: The Profiler

Stacy Gail
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Synopsis (Goodreads):

TRIGGER WARNING: This book contains flashbacks of violence and drug abuse, and the impact of these factors on family members. If you have issues with these elements, this book is not for you.

Chicago’s premiere tattoo studio, House Of Payne, is across the street from the Mad Cow diner, but it might as well be on another planet as far as waitress Paradise Simone is concerned. She’s a good girl from Waukegan with a past she’d rather forget, and a future that goes only as far as the next day. What does she know about superstars and paparazzi?

But Pari does know danger when she sees it, and tattooist Max Kulagin has it written all over him. A proper Waukegan girl should know to steer well clear, but she can’t resist Max when he leaves beautiful, intimate art sketched out on cheap diner napkins.

Beautiful, intimate art…of her.

Max knows ugliness. He was born in it. Raised in it. Had it shoved down his throat every goddamn day. So when he stumbles across true beauty, he worships it. There’s a deep sensuality in the waitress who likes to suck on her pen whenever he’s around, and he’s just the man to bring that beauty out in her. She might be a lady in the street, but one look at Pari tells him she’s going to be a freak in the bed.

And in the shower.

And while he’s driving with her head going to town in his lap.

The life Max leads might be in the spotlight, but it’s Pari who gets caught in the glare. When her past catches up to her, it’s her life that holds all the excitement, and not in a good way. But there’s no force on earth that can take Max’s beautiful Paradise away now that he’s finally found it.

Thoughts on House of Payne: Max: Good graaaaavy, I love diving back into the House of Payne world. The individuals who Payne has surrounded himself with are bold, a little wild, and 100% fascinating. (And I'm WICKED excited to hear we're getting more books set in this world. WICKED EXCITED!)

But I don't want to get ahead of myself. This is Max and Pari's book. Max, the wonderfully foul-mouthed artist with no filter and a propensity for saying shocking things. He's a hoot. A sexy, dirty-mouthed hoot. Pari is pretty much his opposite. She doesn't swear (except under extreme conditions) and she's battened down tight. She might like the look of Max, but she's not ready to trust anyone after what she's been through.

Until she is. Until Max worms his way into her head with his art and his kindness and his delight at how she's willing to call him out on his overbearing ways. Once he's in her head, it's a short hop to her heart. And his bed. *swoon*

Without going into specifics, Pari's sister...*crazy eyes*. I'm totally with Max when he said she didn't deserve any part of Pari after what she'd done to her. While she did try to make up for her extreme lapse in judgement...I don't know. I guess she's lucky she got Pari for a sister because Pari is much more forgiving than I'd be in her shoes. (And that kindness inside her is a big part of what makes Max love her as much as he does, so...FINE. It all worked out. *tones down the crazy eyes*)

I have serious love for this series as a whole and am completely smitten with every minute we get to spend among the outspoken artists and (sometimes) broken characters in this world.