Tattoos and Tatas (Chocoholics #2.5)

Formats owned: Kindle e-book and Audible audiobook Cover gush: I love this cover so much! Its so strong and has a perfect amount of pink. And how can one not love the clever breast cancer symbolism / placement and tagline? Bravo! .**Minor spoilers alert!!!**. Plot: Im a fan of the Chocoholics series, so I was happy to one-click book 2.5 in the series. This was a good story that tackled a serious health issue without the reader feeling crazy weighed down. I could relate to Liz and her initial failure to live up to her best friend Claires expectation of support during her health crisis. I lost someone very close to me in 2014. I still remember how I thought optimistically and yet erroneously that shed be fine in the end, that wed all adjust eventually to her new normal after she got the health treatment and surgery she needed. I video chatted with her daily because I couldnt travel out of state to support her in person. I rationalized that she had other family around her in person locally who wouldnt be a sobbing mess like I wouldve been had I been there daily in the hospital. Instead, I talked to her nurses and to my family members for updates daily. And I prayed like crazy for the best possible outcome for her while trying to control my panic attacks. If Id had a crystal ball, I certainly wouldnt have taken the risk of never hugging my special someone again in person. But in real life, we dont get do-overs for health crises and things dont always end well for the patient. I liked that author Tara Sivec acknowledged that fact in her Note to Readers in which she shared her own experience with losing her mom to leukemia in RL. Fortunately for Liz, she got her head out of her bum after Claire set her straight with some keeping it real talk. Additionally, the flashbacks were nicely sprinkled in. Overall, this novella had a perfect amount of ridiculous moments to lighten and cushion how their circle of friends and family experienced Claires cancer diagnosis and recovery struggle. If only real life could play out as well as this for all those who have to fight a serious health crisis.

Tattoos & Tatas is a Chocoholics novella with characters from the Chocolate Lovers series. Sounds a bit confusing, and it probably will be to anyone who picks up this novella without having read the previous books in the series. But it\’s not so difficult to comprehend: Tattoos & Tatas stars Liz and Claire, who are the founders and owners of Seductions and Snacks, the bakery/sex-toys venture that we see come to life during the Chocolate Lovers saga. In the new series Chocoholics , we hear about their children\’s respective, embarrassing stories, but the merry crew of Liz, Claire, Jenny and their husbands is never far away. So Tattoos & Tatas is, as the cover explicitly states, a book about breast cancer, and how it hits not just Liz, but also Claire, as her closest friend. I find it very noble that the author dedicated this book to breast cancer awareness, and therefore donated the proceeds of this books. As far as the story itself goes, it was nice. Well, that is if you put apart the actual breast cancer that Claire is hit with, requiring her to go through a double mastectomy. I liked the fact that beyond that, we got to hear more about Liz and Claire, and how their friendship actually happened. Of course, the random and peculiar (and sometimes OTT) Tara Sivec humour never fails to make an appearance, which brings a lot of laughter to the table despite the dire circumstances. I must admit I never rate novellas exceedingly high, just because I always feel like they don\’t give me the satisfaction I get out of a full-length, non-cliffhanger novel. But the reason why I am not giving Tattoos & Tatas a full 5 star rating is because the main things this story focuses on in how devastated Liz is at the idea of seeing her friend suffering from cancer (the story is told from her POV entirely). I know any form of cancer is never easy, and that even those who are not a direct victim suffer from it – just like Liz does. But Liz just goes out of her way to ignore her best friend and that is just sad. Especially if you put yourself in Claire\’s shoes. There was a strong message in this book around how cancer sucks, and around fighting it with positive attitude and lots of laughter (which I strongly believe in), but I was just disappointed to learn that the main character in this book, the one that was supposed to adopt this attitude the first, was actually the last to do it, and made this disease more about herself than about her friend – the actual patient. But hey, even though I did not agree with the MC, the book was still nice, and held a positive message. So if cancer is one of those touchy-feely subjects, this book at least won\’t make you cry into your pillow (or if you do, it would be because of laughter).

WARNING: Tara Sivec is a bad influence. Reading this book may have you make your husband google LOONER just to see the look on his face which in turn may blow up in your face when he makes you watch the clips on his phone. Which brings up the question…How does Tara Sivec know about looners in the first place? Moving on… This is a novella in The Chocoholics series by Tara Sivec. If you have read the Chocolate Lovers series, this is a spin off when Claire and Liz and the gang are older and their kids are all grown up. Tara\’s humor doesn\’t stop after the Chocolate Lovers series. If anything, the books get funnier. Tara\’s writing can have you tearing up and misty eyed on one page and by the next tearing up because you are laughing hysterically. Liz and Claire have been through everything together. When one of them is diagnosed with breast cancer, the bonds of friendship are tested. When all control is lost, they come to realize that their memories and humor may be what gets them through. As with the rest of the books, I loved this little installment. It made me laugh. It made me cry. I loved reading the flash back memories, adding to the stories and giving us more in the lives of the Chocolate Lover\’s gang.

This has been sitting on my kindle since I bought it last October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, and wanted to do my bit to support such a worthwhile cause. Every now and then a book transcends normal reading patterns and the authors show just what they are made of by standing tall, Tara Sivec took on a subject that silently lies beneath the subconscious of each and every woman out there and showed us that it is Ok to be scared but that with friends and family it is also Ok to kick some cancer butt. Told from Lizs point of view, this is the story of two best friends dealing with the fact that cancer threatens to tear them apart. Claire breaks the news that she has breast cancer and as hard as that is for her to deal with it is the powerlessness that Liz experiences that puts the biggest strain on the two of them. Liz doesnt cope well and to her shame she pulls away from Claire in order to try and assimilate how exactly she should feel, instead of just going with her gut instinct to be at her best friends side while she faces the biggest battle of her life, It was fabulous to see all the characters from the The Chocolate Lovers series pop up throughout the story, each offering their support in their own way but it is the relationship between Liz and Claire that dominates the tale. Unable to fix her friend and make her well, Liz eventually gets her head around the situation and realises that she really is being a complete ass and she has to put Claire first. When she rocks up at the hospital during Claires treatment in order to put things right and repair the friendship that she holds do dear, I couldnt help but feel for both women. But I felt proud of Liz and the fact that she could swallow her stupidity and like a true best friend stand by her girl when it really mattered. Tara gave a serious subject humour and hope. She showed that through pain and suffering that the tough pull on their big girl pants and with the support of those around them they learn that when all else may crumble around you, your friendship and family will pull you through. Laughter is truly the best medicine and there are few that can make me laugh more than Tara Sivec.

I have to admit, I was a little thrown this was from Liz\’s POV. We have never been inside Liz\’s head before, and I struggled to quickly build the connection to her needed, in such a short book, that was handling a tough subject. I do wish the book had been longer, and really got in depth, and maybe had some scenes from Claire and Carter (they remain my favourites over the entire series) – but it fit with the rest of the series how it was. But this book was ALL about Liz and her reactions – I found myself wanting to know what Gavin thought (I do not think he even appears in this book, he is mentioned) and as I said, be in Carter\’s head maybe? And again, as I have said with the other books in this series – Where the heck is Claire and Carter\’s daughter?? She is just – gone. But what there was, the emotion and reactions felt honest, raw and real. With the typical TS humour added.

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