Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Mace Fox

Rate this book
Mace Fox

Masonry Ink is my establishment.I’m the owner, operator, and the HMFIC. To some, it’s just a tattoo shop. To others, it’s a place for hope when you’re disillusioned by the system. Everything was copacetic until she walked through my door—a real tough chick carrying an adorable baby girl, going through a hard time. I should’ve sent her away with a handful of cash and a good luck pat on the shoulder, but I didn’t. Now, she is all I can think about, maybe even more than the taste for blood. I waited nine years to commit a murder. He deserves to die screaming for taking away my little sister…and he will. Giving in to my feelings is not an option. There has to be a final reckoning, no matter the cost to my heart.

True Boardman

I escaped a prison of torture carrying a secret in my belly. Getting away turned out to be harder than I thought, until the sexy owner of a small-town tattoo shop offered to help. Mace Fox is unlike any man I’ve ever met. Brash and apologetically masculine, he is the alpha dog I’ve been searching for my entire life. I was only meant to stay for a short while to gather my strength until I moved on with my newborn. That was before Masonry Ink showed me what it means to have a family and that home is more than a place to lay your head. It is the touch of a man whose strength takes away all the pain. Whose commitment to protect the ones he loves matches my own. Whose promises are more than just empty words. The harbinger of my suffering threatens to take that all away. He won’t stop until he’s destroyed me. That’s the thing about running—it’s a race you’re never supposed to win.

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 28, 2023

761 people are currently reading
340 people want to read

About the author

S.H. Richardson

9 books756 followers
USA Today Best-Selling author SH Richardson lives in Virginia with her husband and four fur babies. She loves sports, traveling, and food of all kind.

Connect with SH:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorshrich...
Twitter: Twitter.com/sharonricher1
Instagram: Instagram.com/mrsbigt813
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01EG9K4RO?...
The Junkyard Gang: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theju...
All author: https://allauthor.com/profile/sharonr...



Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
570 (51%)
4 stars
283 (25%)
3 stars
166 (15%)
2 stars
53 (4%)
1 star
28 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
Profile Image for Kathyjacks.
Author 0 books143 followers
April 10, 2023
Couldn’t finish

Had to dnf this one when the hero kept sleeping with other women . Also when the heroine just randomly decided to give him a bj in the tattoo parlor office. I didn’t feel any chemistry , no build up of their relationship, and it seemed random at that point in the story. I did like the heroines back story and it kept me interested but not enough to get past the dislike and disconnect I felt for the hero.
Profile Image for FANCHON.
724 reviews24 followers
January 11, 2024
I wanted to love it… but had to DNF ::update::

Oof. I really wanted to love this. And parts I did. Mace started off this tortured complex guy after his baby sister’s abuser and k!ller gets the “good ole boys” treatment and they basically say she asked for it 🙄 Flash forward and he’s now running a tattoo parlor and some vigilante justice club. At first, I wasn’t put off by his personality. He was grouchy and rough, but I knew he had a heart in there. But then he crossed the line from simply abrasive to a D- bag. And I just didn’t want to continue the ride to pretend he redeems himself.

Nancy/True is two days postpartum when she stumbles across the tattoo shop in need of help. She’s running from a vile ex and his father, and I only got a glimpse of how depraved the situation was before the point that I quit. But it’s enough to know it’s bad. With very little money or options, she’s desperate and almost falling over with fatigue, not to mention bleeding all over herself. Mace is not kind, but does ship her off to someone else to take care of. Someone he makes out with in front of her while ignoring her existence and never bothers introducing her to before he abandons her there. Just dumps her and leaves. So he’s this weird jerk who also takes care of people. There’s very little interaction between the two of them in the weeks that follow, and on the rare occasions when he does have any interactions with her, he treats her poorly. In fact, he treats his coworkers and teammates pretty badly as well. They finally face off with him to tell him he’s out of control, so he has a big toddler tantrum saying he runs the show- so get over it or leave. He’s basically a grade A jerk to even those who have his back. He seemed to progressively get worse, and less redeemable, which was the opposite of what I was looking for. I guess the idea of fighting for justice for those victims helps him rationalize his abhorrent behavior. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The end for me was when True confronts him, saying she wants a job at his shop. Saying she won’t be a charity case or rely on a man. He’s horrible to her, I mean completely awful, but then tells her he’ll give her a two week trial but she needs to pack up and leave town after. (How it’s a “trial” when he tells her to disappear after the two weeks is whatever I guess). Then he tells her to sit down and wait for him…. And she does… But he LEAVES and the goes to a hotel to spend the next 48 hours banging a waitress. 🤬🤦‍♀️🙄. REALLY??? Come on. They’re not a couple, I get it. They’re barely even acquaintances, and he barely tolerates her, and isn’t EVER nice to her (aside from financially bankrolling her care). I’m not sure I can stress that enough- he’s NEVER nice to her. But we know they’re going to wind up together, so I don’t need to see that. As if him being an impossible D- bag wasn’t enough, now we have to see him banging randoms to “get his head back on straight”? Nah, I’m out. Honestly that was the nail in the coffin. Tell her to sit and wait and leave for 48 hours? You don’t come back from that. She deserves a better guy. She was treated like trash by her husband and his evil father, and apparently hasn’t learned her worth since she winds up with this loser at some point. I skimmed the last few pages, and naturally they’re all coupled up and happy. I just refuse to believe it based on the actions in the first 20%.
******
I went back and finished it, against my better judgement. While I will say I did enjoy it the closer we got to the end, I stand by my initial opinions. I didn’t believe the connection between them until the last quarter of the book. At the point she started getting up in the feels for him, they had very little interaction and the vast majority of it wasn’t good. He was literally never ever nice to her. Never. She became attracted to him after seeing him **black out in a rage** and almost end a guy… because, you know, that means he’s so strong and can protect her 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️ He screamed at her, told her to leave, called her a wh0re like her momma, then said her baby would follow in her footsteps and be a wh0re too. Anyone that said that would be dead to me. She chooses NOT to leave, but to sit down and cry. But those tears must be magic, because they suddenly make him care. Then when he approaches her and says “forgive me?” with an oh-gosh shrug… HER. HEART. MELTS. Classic abuse victim behavior. “But he didn’t mean it and he is sorry. Maybe if I’m better he won’t have a reason to hurt me” 😡 She latched onto him and obsessed over him when he was nothing but cruel to her repeatedly, and that made it hard for me to carry on. She jumped from one toxic abusive relationship to another. Ugh.

Eventually the story improved once it got closer to the end and I could ignore how they supposedly started their “relationship“, though editing got worse. I would have appreciated it more if he’d been the marshmallow he is when he’s with the baby, and just a rough and tortured guy on the outside. Unfortunately he chose to cross way over into d bag territory way too many times.
Profile Image for Intel Chicky Reads Romance (Kara Merideth).
2,091 reviews1,409 followers
August 10, 2023
Pretty good!

Story: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trope: heroine in peril
Angst: 😱😱
Smexy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Mace Fox was the first book I've read by SH Richardson and ill likely be coming back for more. There is something a bit different about her writing style that didn't work for me and made it a bit hard to get into at first, but I was glad I stuck with it. Loved the FMC and the MMC totally grew on me. The side characters were true "characters" and provided a lo of comedic relief, lol. The storyline was interesting and definitely held my interest all the way to the very climactic ending.
Profile Image for Shanna Ferris.
465 reviews27 followers
September 27, 2023
“Are we safe with you, Mace?” she asked.
“No, True.” I ran a single finger over her lips before kissing her softly.
”You’re home with me.” End of…"


Part of me really wanted to rate this book higher. The plot itself was A+, but there were things I really struggled with! Mainly the Authors writing style, especially when it came to conversations between more than two characters. I would find myself getting so lost and having to go back and reread! Towards the end of the book, it did get much easier, but there were still scenes that I got lost in!

One massive pet peeve I had was Mace's use of "End of." I'm not sure if this is some odd slang. But his use of it was OFTEN! It was literally his last words in the book!

Mace was honestly a TOTAL a*s 85% of the book! Like almost unredeemable! But the last 15% he did make up for most of his wrongdoings! And his love for sweet Kayla was so adorable! Especially when he admitted to his visits with her!

True/Nancy was a kickass heroine! And she's who kept me reading this book! (Also Kaden!!! But 🤣😍) Her ability to put Mace in his place even with her past was 🤌🤌!!! I love that even though she's been through so much she pushed so hard for the life she thought her baby girl needed and deserved!

"Walt Whitman said, “Peace is always beautiful.” Now that I’d found some of my own, I believed that wholeheartedly.

KADENNNNN!! I need a Kaden and Sal book so badly!!!! Kaden was hilarious!! The Evern scene with him was so good! And would have me

"D*ck lives matter, my guy. Raise your hand if you agree.”

“Uh-uh… you flinch, and it’s gonna be chitty chitty bang bang, f*ck stain"

I really did LOVE the plot of this book!

▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️▪️

•Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
•Plot:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
•Humor: 🙃🙃
•Emotional: 😭😭
•Spice:🌶🌶
•Relationship pace: Slow
•Ending: HEA

•Tropes: Grumpy H, wounded h, single mom, boss/book keeper, h in distress running from past, tattoo shop, OTT MMC, touch her and die, found family

•TW: abused FMC, SA, loss of family member, crooked cops, abuse of power, manipulation

End of
269 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2023
Tough Chick

So the story was good, loved the storyline! The characters were lovable. Although the one guy was a bit over the top acting like a freaking 12 year old jonesing for his first girl. But the excessive use of the term “tough chick” was really weird. Like some of the slang and sayings were newer and American. But that tough chick came from left field. And I am not a fan. I probably need to go back and read Dread, but I’m not sure if I’ll like it as much since True and Baby Kayla won’t be in it. Anywho, it was a good stand alone MF romance. Be on the look out of scenes where you don’t know what the heck is going on. It’s almost like the author intended to elaborate on what was happening but maybe deleted the scene by accident? And it does get a bit wordy, I had to skim and bypass a lot of it. And you don’t really get Trues entire story, just heads up. References to her crappy mom and conversation that eludes to what the villain in the story subjected her to. So at this point I’m not even sure if there was any scrap of truth to the rumors in her hometown or it was just fabricated to make her look bad.
Profile Image for Debra.
136 reviews3 followers
April 19, 2023
If the author had used a proofreader and/or copy editor, I would have rated it higher.
Profile Image for Kimberly Glass.
268 reviews2 followers
August 23, 2023
2.5 stars. Could have been a good story but it took a sharp turn to suckville fairly quickly
127 reviews
September 15, 2024
Shocked at the *overall* high rating when all recent reviews are poor, definitely were *paid* for reviews by amazon I suspect. I made my way through this book but literally crawling to the end.

The plot initially held promise, but failed to deliver. The MMC is supposed to be this big bad scary guy, the unloveable rogue, and sure. But then he verbally abuses the shit out of the FMC and says all these awful things about her and then goes "oops sorry I shouldn't have said that" and the FMC ??completely forgives him? Like if a man I'd ever dated called me an wh0re and that my daughter would be one too, I'd probably commit a felony, or at the very least I would simply never talk to him again. There also wasn't convincing chemistry between the MCs and the sex scenes were overall lackluster if you're interested in any *spice*.
I'm also sick and tired of authors trying to pretend that they respect women and that their characters respect women when they call them wh0res and trash etc. If you're painting a villain that way, fine, but don't pretend your MMC/H is some fantastic guy when he'll berate and talk down about other women.

Additionally, the lack of proofreading of a *published* book was a bit tough. Many spelling errors were littered throughout the novel, fine, but the poor formatting also made it incredibly hard to tell what was a flashback or a fantasy and what was really happening.
There were also many characters who were mentioned and backstories alluded to which weren't included in the book. A perusal through the author's goodreads indicates these are characters from other books in her previous series, however, if you haven't read her other series it can be incredibly confusing. This book is marketed as a standalone, but with all the additional characters whose presences aren't explained it shouldn't be marked as a "one-off".
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
49 reviews3 followers
September 25, 2023
I finished it but Wow...it was rough. Really, REALLY rough.

By the end I felt like I had testosterone poisoning.

I am an avid reader of many genres. I love well crafted characters and an immersive storyline.

The author did a great job crafting the villain. I was ready for that character to have Karmic Retribution the first time they were introduced, which I was very pleased how that turned out by the way.

The characters were jaggedly illustrated portraits of intensely fractured souls.

The tattoo shop was more of a front for the clubhouse of vigilante justice that Mace put together to satisfy his deep seated need for retribution and justice. Personally I was disappointed at the lack of tattooing, art, creativity, etc that I was hoping to find with the title of the book being Masonary Ink and billed as a tattoo romance series. Hopefully the series can be rebranded as Watch Me F*&^ S%@# Up!: Here's Why Universal Mental Healthcare Should Be A Thing.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against a good Karmic Retribution/Avenging Angel story line. John Wick was great until the end by then I think we were all relieved that he went home.

There is a saying that I think really applies to this book, "When you are going through Hell keep going."

Personally I walked out of that book and don't plan on going back. I absolutely get why some DNF. It is an intense, painful, bitter, depressing, and demoralizing read. The characters get used and abused, on all levels, by family, friends, lovers, and found family. I didn't see any trigger warnings but there should be LOTS of them.

Good luck to the characters (and the readers) I have a feeling they are all going to need it.


Profile Image for Mads.
212 reviews
July 1, 2024
What. the. fuck.

[I could remember the look in my fathers eyes as he watched my mother expose her breast, position my sister across her lap, and encourage her to latch on with a satisfied smile "you're too young to understand, mace, and I don't expect you to," he spoke, "but there ain't a man livin' that don't get a hard-on seeing his woman like that."] HUH!!! WHAT!!

["not just anyone could go ten rounds with a heavy weight, and yes, I was talking about my cock"] BROTHER EUGHHHHHH

Seriously that isn't even the weirdest quote I could have pulled. The MMC was disgusting, like literally a piece of shit. It made me sick to see the FMC let him treat her like shit and call it love. I honestly feel like I read a wattpad story written by a man who thinks these MMCs are what women want. Literally after making the FMC cry, he decides he has a heart, and she forgives him!!! If a man said to me what he said to her... I'd probably castrate him. I solely finished this book so the time wouldn't be wasted and it would go to my book challenge, but I skimmed.
Profile Image for Jennifer.
1,301 reviews20 followers
March 11, 2024
I was excited to read this. I saw a blurb somewhere and ran to the Zon to get it on KU. The cover? Gorgeous. Tattooed guys with muscles? Yes please sign me up. Single mom on the run with baby in tow needing help? Yes!

But Mace was so freaking rude! Too rude. So mean in fact that I was at 60% and still hated him. he was banging some skank he picked up in a hotel to stay away because he didnt even want to be near True. Eeeeew. Besides being hot, I didn't feel any chemistry. When he started spending time with the baby I thought, here we go he's turning into a big mush!! But it never really happened. He never gave True the benefit of the doubt even though he helped people on the DL. its what he did. Many times I almost DNF. but I battled thru to the end. I kind of want to continue because the side characters in this story were better than Mace and I want to know more about them but Idk if I can survive more books like this.
1,457 reviews18 followers
July 16, 2023
Oh man, what a tale!!!....

Oh man, what a tale!!!....

I'm gonna be honest - several times I seriously disliked Mace Fox! I adored him in the previous book Dread (definitely should read it too!) He was just so alpha and caring and straight and just so darn tasty 🤤 but in this book, he peeved me off, several times!
And yet at other times, I could easily fall to my knees!

Then we have True (what a strange but cool name!) she's running on empty, literally just give birth and ison the run - that is one determined mamma bear right there, I love her!
She's had a horrendous time, is truly alone and has not one iota of trust, my heart hurt so bad for her.

Attraction, repulsion, love, hate, peace, fear, twists and danger, it has it all.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm off now to read more of her work!!
Profile Image for Rozebudzz.
230 reviews2 followers
August 22, 2023
Long

There’s a sweet HEA but the trip to get there was long and painful. I almost set it aside a few times but didn’t have anything better read so decided to just push thru it. I liked True and her growth in this story. She was damaged and had low self esteem but she’s a survivor and a tough chick. I didn’t really like Mace for about 99% of the story. He was mean and rude and just a horrible man-child and he didn’t deserve True and Kayla. The side characters were great and had good storylines that I would’ve liked to pursue. Overall, it was an ok read but if there’s more in the series, Im not interested in finishing them.
Profile Image for Dawn Millet.
187 reviews1 follower
August 25, 2023
The excuse I gave Corrine that first time was that I was there to check in on Dread, make sure he was following all her rules while living in the guest house. Since I was the one
who asked her to rent out her space, the lie was easily believable. When she left me alone with the kid to go check on a bottle in the warmer, I focused on her deliberate smile meant only for me. It was as if she’d recognized me from before and started to make cooing noises. One squeeze of her tiny fingers, and all the pressure that was suffocating me seemed to evaporate into thin air.
Profile Image for Kiryn McClain .
30 reviews1 follower
February 28, 2024
Not for the faint of heart when it comes to cursing as I swear each sentence had a curse word in it. (Not really, but there was a LARGE amount of it). Some triggers of abuse in it, but I loved reading the story and only had one tidbit that seemed unusual/far out there for the characters.

If you like over the top white knights and damsels in distress getting strong and independent, this is probably for you. I read the entire thing in just a couple of days absolutely needing to know how it ended. Overall, great read for anyone who likes HEA and sassy characters.
1,917 reviews4 followers
June 1, 2023
3 stars

3 stars
Much of the story was good. Very brutal.
The attitudes toward women that this bunch of tattoo artists and vigilantes have, is really degrading. Until they find “ the one”.
The horrors that True endured?. Twisted.
I got tired of the sex scenes and skimmed quite a bit through those.
We see Mace’s real character unfold in this book. Most of them really. Dead Man needs a story.
Kaden needs a story most of all.
Profile Image for Book Nook Kitten.
648 reviews11 followers
July 24, 2023
So badly written and boring I couldn't get through even a handful  of pages. Tjerez not many revuews, Like 18 I think, but still some said it didn't get any better. The hero treats the heroine and all his workers like crap and while I don't usually pay heed to other reviews, the fact I found this so boring and depressing it had me checking the reviews before the first chapter ended was enough for me to stop reading and deleting this from my kindle.
1,714 reviews4 followers
August 16, 2023
I read the books in this series out of order. Although it can be done and enjoyed, I think it would be more enjoyable to read them in order. Mace was more pleasant and easy going in the first book. He is struggling with his own personal demons in this book and it definitely shows up in his personality. So far, all the male characters are often verbally abusive and it is hard for characters to come back from that for me. Fortunately for them, the female characters are much more forgiving.
Profile Image for Abbey Michelle.
88 reviews
September 4, 2023
the characters

The characters were very blah to me. The main chick was boring and had no spark. They didn't mesh well and it was also confusing as to why he would black out so much when angry. I understand his sister was murdered but he was crazy. His adopted sister is the worst character could not stand her. Karen and Sal were weird as heck. It had so much going on in this book that I could follow the characters made it boring and awkward.
Profile Image for Wendy Livingstone.
18.7k reviews235 followers
October 5, 2023
Great story!!

This is a well written emotional roller coaster, which is action packed, with danger, suspense, intrigue, twists, family, friendships, challenges, humour, witty banter, romance, secrets, and love which all leads to an entertaining, haunting, unpredictable, and steamy addictive page turner. I look forward to reading more from this talented author whose work I highly recommend.
1,496 reviews1 follower
January 19, 2024
New to me author and I was enjoying the story and writing style until Mace gets so brutal and vicious to True by saying such cruel things. A few paragraphs later, after she is devastated, he laughs it off and lightly apologizes, says he has had a lot on his mind. WTF!!! DNF right there. No reason for this in this story; how does it help us understand these characters? Mace is a dick and she should have left. I doubt I'll read anything else by this author.
665 reviews
May 11, 2024
This is a must read series and I hope to see more

You never think about man's or women's inhumanity to another until it happens to you! The damage caused is beyond belief and yet if your fortunate to meet people who have experienced that or worse and want to help you be able to start a process of back to some normalcy I hope you meet a group of people such as theses characters who sometimes run the gray lines and beyond but are loyal to you
Profile Image for Michelle M.
624 reviews4 followers
April 30, 2023
Her Savior and Hero

Made Fox lives a hard life and doesn’t need or want a woman and future because he couldn’t save the one thing he loved so much his little sister. But in comes a woman and her child needing a place to call HOME. Can he find happiness and settle his heart and soul. Made and True’s story is hardcore and heartfelt all wrapped in one.
32 reviews
May 3, 2023
Good Story, Missing Info

Love the characters. Good story. However, it felt like Mace had a book 1 before this. Missing information and characters who don't make sense.
Also, there were many misused homophones that pulled me from the story. Spell check doesn't catch this issue, which is why a good book editor is so important.
Profile Image for Tara  Nelson.
724 reviews6 followers
May 13, 2023
Damn good book

Goodness gracious this book.....Mace was yummy like a sexy warm out of the oven chocolate chip cookies and I absolutely loved True. This whole story was so good and I cannot wait for the next books in this series and hoping each character gets their story. Definitely recommend this series!
Profile Image for M.
4 reviews
May 25, 2023
Read in a day

I loved this book so much. I had to read it all at once. True had to escape a horrible life with many secrets. Alpha Mace was there to help her in her time of need and that was it, or so he thought. It took True a little bit to find herself but when she did, the payback was perfect. Don’t mess with mama bear! Highly recommend this book.
Profile Image for Kellie Shore.
73 reviews
July 10, 2023
End of

This was my first book by this author I think this should've been categorized as a series I was a bit confused for about the first 25% of the book with the characters and back stories. The dialogue was sometimes hard to follow but this was an interesting spin. I wish there was a little bit more of a conclusion with a certain mysterious character but not bad.
Profile Image for Tiffany Davis.
659 reviews1 follower
July 14, 2023
Didn't notice any typos

Even though this book is marked for having typos I really didn't notice any. This was a great book. I loved Mace even though he had his moments of being a douche towards True in the beginning and basically throughout the whole book but towards the end I'm glad he came around.
Profile Image for Lacie.
616 reviews1 follower
September 22, 2023
Good men

Yes, these men aren't sparkling white but they hold to a code that benefits all. Mace had taken care of everything as much as he could. It's not even a savior contract It's just putting good in the world and taking bad out. He found his own redemption and chose love over revenge.
100 reviews
August 12, 2024
Action Suspense Love Family Home

This book had everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Mace helped the down trodden even though his life was full of pain. Enter True needing help. Non-stop action and suspense. Best thing...Mace, True and Kayla (the new baby) get their happily ever after.
Great book. Read it!
Thank you SH Richardson for a well written enjoyable book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.