Rough Sketch

by Teega Mack

He's got it fame, money, sex appeal... but bad-boy artist Hudson Jones is already a complete mess at twenty-five, and all his friends know it. They've witnessed the heavy drinking and drugs, the out-of-control fighting, and the scores of damaged women who have dared to spend the night with him, willing to endure his brutal dominance for the chance to be seen with a star. But no one knows why Hudson has a violent streak, and he prefers to keep it that way. Besides, he's pretty sure he can suppress his habits for Lilith's sake. But when figures from his horrific past resurface and he can no longer ignore the trauma he once endured, his compulsive need for control threatens to take over.

Pleasant, bubbly Lilith Hughes just wants to focus on her art. After all, she's travelled all the way to Canada from England on her parents' dime just to have some time alone with a canvas and a brush. And maybe she wouldn't have fallen so hard for Hudson if her friends hadn't warned her about how screwed up and dangerous he is. But she has become intrigued by this sexy rebel with the mysterious nightmares that have him pleading for mercy in his sleep, and now all she wants to do is fix the broken bad boy and show him the love he's never had. And so what if he is known for being rough in the bedroom? She knows what she's getting herself into... at least, she thinks she knows...

Please this book contains dark themes, discussions of child abuse, and graphic depictions of rough sex, and is suitable for a mature audience.



“Can I look?”
He hesitated. He had only ever allowed Maddy to see his sketches. They were personal and dark, a glimpse at the broken parts of his soul. His sketches came unedited, unfiltered, a scribble of his hand to create exactly what he was thinking of. Unlike his paintings. When he painted, he portrayed only what he wanted people to see. But, like Mad before her, Lilith probably wouldn't have any idea what the images meant, and besides, she hadn't laughed at him for crying in his sleep like some dumb little kid. Maybe his soul was safe with her.
“Yeah, go ahead.” He tried to sound casual, but his voice came out too loud and his hands shook.
He watched as she opened the book, her delicate fingers handling it as if it were made of the finest gossamer. On the first page was an almost exact sketch of the rock-and-stream painting, except that in this picture there was an opening in the cliff framed with wood, the entrance to a mine. She turned to the next page, a sketch of the meadow painting, exactly the same except for a small hole in the earth where the meadow rose into a bit of a hill, the type of hole a fox might live in. He could see the question on her face before she spoke it.
“Why are these ones different?” she asked.
The dreaded question. He shrugged. “They're just rough sketches, like a first draft. Not a final product at all. I take out the unnecessary parts when I paint them.” There, would that be enough explanation? No, apparently not, because the next question was already forming on her lips, the same Mad had asked when he saw the first sketches in the series, ages ago.
“Well, the paintings are called Small Spaces, though, aren't they? You took out the only small spaces in the pictures.”
“Yeah, but I just name them whatever I feel like. You know, art and all that.” He waved his hand like it didn't matter. Never mind that he had named twenty-three paintings the exact same thing.

149 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 16, 2015

About the author

Teega Mack is a sucker for bad boys with issues. Give her a hero with emotional (and/or physical!) scars, a nice hot bath, and a beer, and she will happily ignore the world until the very last page. She also likes to read good, solid literature, both adult and juvenile.

Teega lives on the West Coast of Canada with her husband -- who is not a bad boy, but it's probably better that way -- and two kids, where she tries in vain to balance writing, family, and keeping a clean-ish house. She also enjoys knitting, cooking, and daydreaming. She is currently working on her second novel.

Click here to check her out on facebook

Reviews

[Mercedes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a slow start for me, it seemed to be a bit wordy and to go into almost too much detail for me, but I am glad that didn’t deter me because I definitely ended up liking the book. The story followed Hudson and Lil and while Hudson was the resident hunk in this book, the story was really about him needing Lil and her being able to help him. Hudson’s struggle was the main point of the book, but the story would have been stagnant without Lil and she wasn’t just some cookie-cutter heroine.

Hudson is a rather successful artist with an abysmal past. He is severely traumatized. It was evident from the start that he had some major emotional baggage but we were not clued in to the full extent of this baggage until quite a ways into the book. Understandably so, this caused Hudson to have some issues but he was lucky enough to have a few people around him with his best interest in mind. I really liked his best friend Maddox; he was always there for Hudson and tried to steer him in the right direction when he needed a bit more guidance. However, there were a few of his “friends” that were just ridiculously clueless, how is it possible that they were so blind and didn’t know that Hudson was in some serious pain?? I would have dropped those friends. 

The heroine of the story, Lilith aka Lil was also an artist but she did not yet have the success that Hudson had. I felt like Lill was really the more important character out of the two. While most of the drama centered around Hudson and his past, he never would have been able to make it through without Lil, he would have remained in his same destructive cycle. I feel like one of the things I liked most about Lil was that she seemed to help Hudson without really trying very hard, she was just a good person and believed that Hudson deserved the opportunity to prove himself to be a good person as well. She was really integral to Hudson because like his friend Maddox, they both realized that Hudson was keeping most of his pain to himself and that his outward brutish behavior was not entirely indicative of the man he was. She seemed to trust Hudson more than he ever trusted himself which was good for him. She put her faith in him and he did not let her down, which I’m sure most other people were sure he was going to disappoint her. 

This story had an epilogue and I was very hesitant to read it, I was afraid it would cheapen this very emotional journey I had just been on by being overly cheesy, but I really liked it. That last painting of Hudson’s and that last glimpse into his psyche was so meaningful and it was really well done. Hudson’s scars both physical and emotional played such a strong role in the story I was glad they didn’t just vanish in the epilogue.

As a last note, I do have to say some of the words lost me, the story is set in Canada and Lil was from the UK so some of the words totally threw me off. There wasn’t an inordinate amount of them but there were some. 

I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teega Mack's "Rough Sketch" is an in depth story with roots in one of our greatest shames. Child abuse ranks very high on my scale of horror. Children are so precious...

Ok, back to Rough Sketch. Lilith is an artist from England sent to Canada by her parents to get her away from a bit of a wild life. She works at a local bar and makes some friends. One of her friends is the best friend of Hudson, a very talented and successful artist. Hudson, however is a lost soul. Lil is warned away from forming any kind of relationship with him by her friends. Hudson is rough, unpredictable and volatile. Hudson has a secret.......... Lil is drawn to him, in spite of the warnings. The trust Lil gives him is touching. The care and love that is demonstrated between Maddox and Hudson is heartrending. Hudson's story is both frightening and beautiful. Considering his childhood it is amazing he can function at all. Teega has done a fine job of depicting the struggle that Hudson goes through daily attempting to survive in a world he has no training for. Awesome read..

"I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review"

[Diana Rising · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great literature. It makes me want to change all my previous 5 star reviews to a 4, because it is that moving and well written.

I can't classify Hudson. He's not a hero, exactly. I mean, he is the hero in the sense of a romance book, but he isn't the hero as in "the one who save's the day." That is Lillith. He is definitely one of the protagonists, but he is also the problem.

He's an abuse survivor, which makes him feel the need to defend himself all the time, which results in fighting. He sexually dominates to express that he is powerful to himself, more than to others. He lacks the emotional self-confidence I think it necessary in an alpha. Really, he is a sheep in wolves clothing, who is very successful at acting the wolf. He wants very much to be a good man, but at the beginning isn't necessarily aware of what that would involve, because of the horrible abuse he suffered, and the fact that he had no one save him.

I love how the heroine and his best friend saw the true Hudson and encouraged him, all the while dealing with his posturing. Hudson is really quite a tragic hero, and I am so glad you found a realistic way to give him a happy ever after. I guess that makes him a transcendent hero. The secondary characters in this book really are an important part of the whole story and help to bring about the great conclusion.

Lillith, our heroine, is pretty young, and starts our care-free. She really sees Hudson as a person, not just a famous, rich artist, and really works through the emotions of the relationship, sees him ever and ever more clearly, growing up so she can truly be there with him. She doesn't always do or say the right thing, but she learns from the results. Her heart is so big, and her love becomes so strong, that I wish I could be like her.

I loved the entire story, but it took me 3 weeks to read it, because it caused a lot of emotion and deep thought. It has a great happy ever after. That is good, because I was so invested in Hudson and Lillith's happiness.

I received a free copy from the author in order to discuss the book and provide and honest review.

[Coribooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow did not expect that. Read the reviews but still ....... Bang it was crazy, amazing and fantastic. Great storyline. Totally different and unexpected. Loved it!

[Ola · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm really glad I picked it up. So emotional and amazing!