Mariana Zapata

After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly ... even if the tattoo business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she's ever met. He's rude, impatient and doesn't know how to tell time. And the last thing they ever expected was each other. But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop ... maybe she should have chosen the strip club.

Under Locke

Anita

"Knew the moment I saw you, standin' outside the shop, scared, that you were an innocent little thing. So sweet. So good." He lowered his head to take my chin between his teeth. "You got no idea what it's like for you to give me your trust, Ritz. If I was a good man I'd tell you to find somebody better, somebody that won't lose their shit over an asshole eye fuckin' you." 

His tongue traced the oval shape of my chin. "But I'm not a good man, and I'm gonna take everythin' you want to give me and everythin' you don't."

"Babe, I've handpicked everythin' and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want," he breathed. "And I keep what's mine."

Leonie

“I just want life to quit taking a shit on me.”

“Nobody’s ever made me feel the way you do.”

"My ma," he said. "The only person who knows me better than you do is Ma and that's cheatin'. Not my sisters or my brothers, babe. Just. You."

"You're beautiful, and you're so fuckin' sweet, and you're smart, Ritz. You have to get that from your ma because you definitely don't get that shit from your pa. Knowin' Son and how much he feels for you, I know your ma wouldn't want you to suffer like you are."

Dex scrubbed his hands over his face, his eyes wide with intent. "Babe, I've handpicked everythin' and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want," he breathed. "And I keep what's mine."

Dex let go of my sweater taking a step toward the drunken fart. “You know damn well you don’t come into my shop demandin' shit, callin' my girl a bitch.”

What did I do? I tip-toed into the hallway that led toward his bedroom and tried to listen in. Just for a minute. That was it.

"—the fuck is wrong with you?...She's shy with strangers, Dex. Shy. You think your attitude helps that any?....No. No. Imagine if she was your sister. How the hell would you feel if somebody called her a bitch....Well, that's Lisa. That's not Ris. Imagine if it was Marie...Did you hear me? What if—no. Fuck you, Dex. If something crawls up your ass, don't take it out on her. You act like a bitch—"

Lucy

Lauren McGrail

amber :)

Ilham

I didn’t want to finish it. 
IDK WHAT TO DO NOW
I loved this book.

After losing her job in Florida, Iris Taylor has no choice but to go live with her half brother, Sonny, in Austin, Texas.  Sonny belongs to a biker gang called the Widowmakers, so the job that Sonny gets for her is at the local tattoo and piercing parlor called Pins and Needles situated on the campus belonging to the gang.  The owner of Pins and Needles, Dex Locke, treats Iris so badly that she seeks out another job, but nothing pays as well as this one, and Iris is finding herself more and more attracted to the handsome, grumpy Dex.

Under Locke is an enjoyable read from start to finish.  While the last part of the book goes on a little too long, the pacing in the rest of the book is first rate.  The dialogue seems realistic and adds another layer to the story,  however the novel isn't without its problems.  Iris is a little too much "damsel in distress" and Dex is quite overbearing at times.  Overall, though, Under Locke is an entertaining addition to the "Zapata Universe."

Lynn Braden

After losing her job in Florida, Iris Taylor has no choice but to go live with her half brother, Sonny, in Austin, Texas.  Sonny belongs to a biker gang called the Widowmakers, so the job that Sonny gets for her is at the local tattoo and piercing parlor called Pins and Needles situated on the campus belonging to the gang.  The owner of Pins and Needles, Dex Locke, treats Iris so badly that she seeks out another job, but nothing pays as well as this one, and Iris is finding herself more and more attracted to the handsome, grumpy Dex.

Under Locke is an enjoyable read from start to finish.  While the last part of the book goes on a little too long, the pacing in the rest of the book is first rate.  The dialogue seems realistic and adds another layer to the story,  however the novel isn't without its problems.  Iris is a little too much "damsel in distress" and Dex is quite overbearing at times.  Overall, though, Under Locke is an entertaining addition to the "Zapata Universe."

amira

I’m sorry but this genre isn’t just… my cup of tea and it was hard to go through the book.

aleksandra

2/5

I tried to read it again after two years and I don't know what happened that made me give it five stars then. It's crazy how your taste changes over the years.

Isabella 

I really struggled finishing this book because I didn't feel anything at all. I had no connection whatsoever with the characters, the plot, with everything. At first, I thought I needed some time to get used to it since it is a slow burn story just like Kulti. However, unlike Kulti, I didn't grow to like this. I tried liking this, I really did, but I guess it wasn't for me. This is such a let down after reading Kulti tbh. I still plan on reading her other books and I hope I like them!!

Ana Luiza

Tem tanta coisa errada nesse livro que eu não sei por onde começar. Espero que a Iris tenha em alguma momento da vida dela se livrado do Dex. Que homem desprezível, sem respeito nenhum, machista e possessivo. Horrível. Fora isso, não tem bom desenvolvimento de nenhum personagem. O plot do livro todo foi resolvido em 2 páginas e muitas pontas ficaram soltas.
A única coisa que me deixa feliz nesse livro é porque ele me mostra o quanto a autora evoluiu desde sua primeira obra. Confirma aquela frase que diz que ninguém nasce descontruído, e que as vezes a própria minoria age de maneira preconceituosa consigo mesma. Fico feliz pela Mariana Zapata e pretendo continuar lendo mais obras dela, as mais recentes pelo menos.

lexie

Michaella 

2.5
I don't know what to say...
From "fleshly valuables" to saying "babe" on every page, the writing leaves much to be desired.
While the premise was interesting, the delivery was just not it and I will excuse Mariana because this was her debut novel. Thankfully her writing has improved because this book was a no for me.

Faith Kitowski

4.8/5. THAT MAN HAS ME DEAD, ON THE FLOOR SCREAMING. mz never fails. i’m addicted to mz’s books at this point

Jeanne McKnight

It was good but not my favourite Mariana Zapata book. 
Iris annoyed me at times, especially in the beginning. Always wanting to cry or puke.
And then there is Dex with all the yelling and screaming. I can understand in the moment why, but he really needs to learn to control his anger.
I liked the plot and loved the MC and the tattoo artists at the shop.
In the second half of the book, Ris and Dex grew as characters. And they grew on me and I was rooting for them in the end.

This was not like every other book I read for Mariana Zapata, and even though it lacked a lot of the stuff I went in expecting it was still good. Maybe long for not having enough stuff going on like the other books but it was decent. Locke has a tattoo parlor and Iris ends up working for him, and it’s safe to say that locke is one of the grumpiest fictional men ever and most of the times I really didn’t get him. I wish I can understand the way he thinks because there were a lot of stuff that felt offensive coming out of his mouth and I really wanted Iris to give him more hard time about it but it wasn’t much to completely change the “not so good* attitude he has. All in all it was a fun read but nothing great.

Samaa

🧸

another mz book where I hated the mc sm in the beginning that I wanted him to fall down the stairs and die. but of course halfway through the book I fell in in love so hard with him, not surprising at all..

as always mz ate and left no crumbs her men are the standard istg. 

iris annoyed me sometimes cz she's just so dumb but I liked her so her character wasn't a really big turn off for me.

Kasey Montagnat

I did really love this book marina zapata is my fav but this book didn’t do a 5 star for me because there were a few things I didn’t like I felt like it skipped over some things I like in this trope but overall it was good and I loved the main mcs <3

Lover of Romance 

I was just browsing Audible’s library when I saw this title pop up and since it had been a little while since I have read a MC romance, I knew that I needed to grab this one up here. Especially with it being a 16 hours in length, which means it would take me a few days. And boy I fell hard for this story and I have to say that this author found a new devoted fan!!! Because even though this is a MC romance, the club isn’t the focus of the story, its more in the background and the focus is the characters and their powerful love story.

So Under Locke begins when our heroine, has lost her job and needs a place to stay and when her brother convinces her to stay with him and that he has a job for her, she is all for it even if it means coming back to her roots and facing the demons of her past. So Iris Taylor has moved back to Austin, and after six months of not having a job, she is relieved to finally have one again and not relying on her savings. She adores her step brother, who is her closest friend. She gets a job with her brother’s friend from the club, who is a jerk and arrogant but pays well and its a decent job and the only other job available would to work as a stripper and that is so NOT Iris. So she tries to tough it out while trying to tough it out with her boss who may be sexy as sin but as the personality of a termite.

I found that I adored this book so much and yeah the hero is a jerk in the beginning, but what really changes is when Iris starts to stand up to him. Now she isn’t this passive doormat, but she tends to get tongue tied around him (probably due to the fact that she likes how he looks) but when she finally finds her voice that is where it really gets interesting and the jerk persona goes away and we see the real hero.

Now I have to say that I LOVED both characters in different ways. But our heroine is really the voice of the story and such a powerful one at that. Iris has gone through so much in her life. Her father abandoned her family when she and her mother got cancer. Iris survived but her mother didn’t and ended up being raised by her grandmother but in reality protected her younger brother, who now barely speaks to her. But when she found her step brother, they became as close as two peas in a pod. Iris is a bit focused on the scars that she gained from her battle with cancer when she was just a child and is more than a bit self concious about it.

As Iris and Dex begin to build a relationship slowly together, there is a danger coming due to her father’s irresponsiblity with money and dealing with bad people. Now she and her brother have both a enemy biker club and a gang after them. And only by finding their father will they both be safe.

I will say that this book was like a breath of fresh air and I honestly never wanted it to end. Both Iris and Dex are complex characters and we see so much depth and true strength from both of them. I did like that this book wasn’t your typical MC romance, it was so unique in so many ways that I felt gravitated towards this story even more. It is a bit “soft” not the tough and gritty MC romances that are normally in this genre which was nice actually since I was in the mood for this style of a read. Those that don’t care for MC romance would probably enjoy this one. 🙂 The club that Dex is a part of is actually one of the more ‘honorable’ ones with their Prez making his members have clean businesses and helping them out when he can. I really liked seeing out the Prez changes how they do things once he takes over. Now Dex is part of one the original lines of families that started the club. He is devoted to his family and true to his own values which I just respected so much. I love how loyal he is to his mother and sisters. He is very protective but its so sweet not overbearing or frustrating. Once you get past his tough exterior, his character really grows on you by A TON!!

 There it was. That fierce loyalty. He didn’t have a clue how that was the most attractive thing about him. It trumped his face, his ink, his body, everything. Dex Locke was true. He was grounded.

The romance that builds between Dex and Irish is full of angst in the beginning. Dex is trying to protect his club and has trust issues with outsiders. Iris just wants a good and safe environment to work in, and once they deal with their issues, then their relationship takes a new turn and boy was it fun seeing the fireworks of their dynamics work themselves out and their relationship was simply pure delight!! The dangers that surround them only strengthen their bond as they fight together.

 You’ve gotta be the best thing I never knew I wanted

A story that will give you curveballs of emotion, sensual sexiness and a story that is a rollercoaster you won’t want to get off of…..A DELICIOUS TALE!!

Dex really is the "I'll murder anyone that looks/hurts you" vibe and I LOVE IT

„This was pointless. I loved words. I’d always loved words. I loved the freedom you could find in them. I loved manipulating them. I loved the way they sounded and the power they held. But sometimes, sometimes, they weren’t enough.“

And sometimes those words drive me very, very close to the edge. I’m so massively disappointed because I wanted to LOVE this book in capital letters. I enjoy a good MC story (don’t we all), I loved the setting with a tattoo shop and a female main character that has enough sass to keep a whole club in line. In theory? Perfection.

The reality was very much different for me as a reader. Let’s start with what lived up to my expectations: The family-feeling of an MC was nailed, the supporting characters were likeable yet had not enough definition for me to actually care about them (introducing a bond to a brother who is notably absent, having a co-worker with a life shattering crisis just to give the FMC a chance to talk about herself, … not enough, sorry).

I knew I was getting into a slowburn as soon as I read the name Mariana Zapata, yet this book has almost 500 pages and after finishing I’m seriously asking myself: Why? Why is it so long? There’s not plot whatsoever to get to a length like this. While I don’t know the answer to “why”, I for sure know how – are you ready? Buckle up! First of all, inner monologues and as we only get the POV of our FMC Iris Taylor those were repetitive as fuck. I don’t really know a single thing she enjoys after 500 pages, yet the amounts of times it was mentioned that she’s a  vegetarian borders on “now I know where the reputation veggies tell everyone they don’t eat meat” (they usually don’t … both, tell everyone and eat meat) stems from. The second thing repeated over and over again is a whole bunch: Our girl had cancer and the scars to show it. Please don’t get me wrong here, I root for characters that are not picture perfect, yet this topic was blown up SO much and resolved in such a non-rewarding way, and it felt like Iris was giving herself a continuous pity party and … no. Just no. [Unfortunately I had too many close encounters with cancerous diseases in my closest family that I simply can’t deal with pity, maybe that stems from how these people in my life chose to deal with it, though, I’m not saying either is right or wrong, it just was unbearable for me to read.] A lot of Iris’ character felt – for a lack of a better word – “half-assed”: She was confident and sassy, but also subdued and meek, she doesn’t swear yet swears like a pg13-rated sailor replacing curse words with “frigg/friggin”, “eff”, “crap” etc, she has such close bonds to her brothers yet is annoyed with them taking off – taking care of their own lives or the stuff that impacts hers. Another thing that really annoyed me about her character was how often she claimed in her inner monologue to “have gotten past” something while obviously still being held up on that – I lost count of how many times she kept bringing the same situations either verbally or mentally up, that had been “resolved” or proclaimed as such prior in the book.

That last sentence might read cynically, and it is intended to because as much as I hate to say it, I despised our MMC. And that’s rare, I’m sorry, but wow. You truly must butcher a character for me to not even find some scratch of “but he is good/funny/whatever” (also … explains my taste in men but that’s a worse story than this book). Dex, in theory, also was great: 6.3”, inked, grumpy yet slowly melting away at the sunshine that is Iris (uuh) and fiercely loyal to a cause, his brothers and his employees (at least, that’s what everyone keeps saying, but as the entry quote states sometimes words are not enough). Our boy has a temper – a bad one at that and one out of control multiple times. He shouts at the FMC, calls her names in and without her presence, degrades her in front of his MC-brothers and has the audacity to blame her for it – “I did it because you made me angry”-style. Lovely, innit? I’m sorry, but no. Not even when he apologises, at least not the way he did, basically saying that probably will happen again. WHAT? That’s toxic if I ever saw it. We have a six plus feet manchild at our hands and nothing about this is attractive. Trying to give him some shape of personality – besides being hot and inked and easily enraged of course – by making the man have a collection of some nerdy shit did not do the trick for me then.

So, summing up, we have 500 pages of minor plot, a lot of inner monologue about how everyone leaves our FMC, she had it so bad and how hot Dex is, some temper tantrums not thrown by the cute kid described in one chapter but our supposedly grown-ass male main lead and a ton of repetitions that really grated on my nerves sprinkled with a bit of “Protection? Aah, we’ll deal with consequences” (you know what I’m saying) on top. I wanted to love this book, I expected it to be great and instead I’m left angry. Why make it 500 pages long if it’s pure mediocrity.

I guess if you are not as disappointed as I am, you might give this 3 stars as it is decently written and might just not be my cup of tea, but … the anger, the annoyance and the feeling of having wasted time reading doesn’t make me want to rate it 3 stars. Utterly mediocre experience – that’s what she said.  

„This was pointless. I loved words. I’d always loved words. I loved the freedom you could find in them. I loved manipulating them. I loved the way they sounded and the power they held. But sometimes, sometimes, they weren’t enough.“

 

And sometimes those words drive me very, very close to the edge. I’m so massively disappointed because I wanted to LOVE this book in capital letters. I enjoy a good MC story (don’t we all), I loved the setting with a tattoo shop and a female main character that has enough sass to keep a whole club in line. In theory? Perfection.

The reality was very much different for me as a reader. Let’s start with what lived up to my expectations: The family-feeling of an MC was nailed, the supporting characters were likeable yet had not enough definition for me to actually care about them (introducing a bond to a brother who is notably absent, having a co-worker with a life shattering crisis just to give the FMC a chance to talk about herself, … not enough, sorry).

I knew I was getting into a slowburn as soon as I read the name Mariana Zapata, yet this book has almost 500 pages and after finishing I’m seriously asking myself: Why? Why is it so long? There’s not plot whatsoever to get to a length like this. While I don’t know the answer to “why”, I for sure know how – are you ready? Buckle up! First of all, inner monologues and as we only get the POV of our FMC Iris Taylor those were repetitive as fuck. I don’t really know a single thing she enjoys after 500 pages, yet the amounts of times it was mentioned that she’s a  vegetarian borders on “now I know where the reputation veggies tell everyone they don’t eat meat” (they usually don’t … both, tell everyone and eat meat) stems from. The second thing repeated over and over again is a whole bunch: Our girl had cancer and the scars to show it. Please don’t get me wrong here, I root for characters that are not picture perfect, yet this topic was blown up SO much and resolved in such a non-rewarding way, and it felt like Iris was giving herself a continuous pity party and … no. Just no. [Unfortunately I had too many close encounters with cancerous diseases in my closest family that I simply can’t deal with pity, maybe that stems from how these people in my life chose to deal with it, though, I’m not saying either is right or wrong, it just was unbearable for me to read.] A lot of Iris’ character felt – for a lack of a better word – “half-assed”: She was confident and sassy, but also subdued and meek, she doesn’t swear yet swears like a pg13-rated sailor replacing curse words with “frigg/friggin”, “eff”, “crap” etc, she has such close bonds to her brothers yet is annoyed with them taking off – taking care of their own lives or the stuff that impacts hers. Another thing that really annoyed me about her character was how often she claimed in her inner monologue to “have gotten past” something while obviously still being held up on that – I lost count of how many times she kept bringing the same situations either verbally or mentally up, that had been “resolved” or proclaimed as such prior in the book.

That last sentence might read cynically, and it is intended to because as much as I hate to say it, I despised our MMC. And that’s rare, I’m sorry, but wow. You truly must butcher a character for me to not even find some scratch of “but he is good/funny/whatever” (also … explains my taste in men but that’s a worse story than this book). Dex, in theory, also was great: 6.3”, inked, grumpy yet slowly melting away at the sunshine that is Iris (uuh) and fiercely loyal to a cause, his brothers and his employees (at least, that’s what everyone keeps saying, but as the entry quote states sometimes words are not enough). Our boy has a temper – a bad one at that and one out of control multiple times. He shouts at the FMC, calls her names in and without her presence, degrades her in front of his MC-brothers and has the audacity to blame her for it – “I did it because you made me angry”-style. Lovely, innit? I’m sorry, but no. Not even when he apologises, at least not the way he did, basically saying that probably will happen again. WHAT? That’s toxic if I ever saw it. We have a six plus feet manchild at our hands and nothing about this is attractive. Trying to give him some shape of personality – besides being hot and inked and easily enraged of course – by making the man have a collection of some nerdy shit did not do the trick for me then.

So, summing up, we have 500 pages of minor plot, a lot of inner monologue about how everyone leaves our FMC, she had it so bad and how hot Dex is, some temper tantrums not thrown by the cute kid described in one chapter but our supposedly grown-ass male main lead and a ton of repetitions that really grated on my nerves sprinkled with a bit of “Protection? Aah, we’ll deal with consequences” (you know what I’m saying) on top. I wanted to love this book, I expected it to be great and instead I’m left angry. Why make it 500 pages long if it’s pure mediocrity.

I guess if you are not as disappointed as I am, you might give this 3 stars as it is decently written and might just not be my cup of tea, but … the anger, the annoyance and the feeling of having wasted time reading doesn’t make me want to rate it 3 stars. Utterly mediocre experience – that’s what she said.  

caitlin buckley 

tattoos 🦋🦋, love me an overprotective biker boy, new fave author :D

Abbie 

honestly don’t remember much about the plot but i remember enjoying it

Mare Claes

Really liked this book! Dex is friggin’ hot and jeez slightly possessive motorcycle men should be in every book really.
This book was honestly adorable<3

Sarah Kessler

Another wonderful slow burn from Mariana Zapata. Yes, the characters are imperfect, but they grow - you wish they had a "get a grip" friend more than a slap on the back of the head (and really, with all the bumps these characters hit/have already hit, maybe a good hug too). Definitely a re-read candidate.

Catarina Vieira

4,5

Sinto que assisti uma temporada de Sons of Anarchy do só ao ler este livro. Adorei a protagonista é a representatividade que traz ao esconder partes do grupo e em demonstrar as suas inseguranças. O Dex é o tipo grumpy que a MZ já nos habituou mas adorei o desenvolvimento deste relacionamento.
Para mim, o único ponto menos positivo foi mesmo o fim onde eu esperava que fosse um pouco mais pormenorizado. Independentemente disso, adorei!

Não é tão slow burn como todos os outros mas vale a pena da mesma forma.

elle t

She found out he had a 🍆 piercing and was like “is that for the woman or man” and he goes “wanna find out?” My jaw was on the floor .

But this book was so sweet. I knew I was going to love it when I saw a 1 star review saying “the love interest was a complete jerk with no self control” I loved this book overall!

shar

sydney

** spoiler alert **
           this is so good and it makes me happy because i’ve already read kulti so i know they have their cute little baby and are married!!!!!!

Under Locke

Reviews

Highlights