Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Jocular Press

Genre: Gay Romance 

Tags: Contemporary with Supernatural Element

Length: 82 Kindle Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon, Clare London

Blurb:

When beauty brings not pleasure, but poison….

Russ is an apprentice tattoo artist with big dreams but few opportunities. He’s a good, steady employee, he cares about the tattoo studio’s clients, and he has plenty of imagination invested in his own designs. But he never seems to catch a break.

Not like celebrity tattooist Leo Andersson, famous for his good looks, professional success, and artistic flair—and the subject of Russ’ hopeless crush.

Yet, maybe not so hopeless. When Leo asks Russ on a date, he also offers him a chance to have his amateur art brought to everyone’s notice. If only Russ had the courage and belief in himself to take it.

Then a disgruntled client secretly offers Russ a weird and disgusting talisman that’s supposed to grant wishes—and will make Russ’ talent fly. Desperate to be Leo’s artistic equal, Russ finds himself at a moral crossroads.

If you were offered a magical chance to let inspiration flow freely through you, to bring you rapid fame and fortune—and the admiration of the man you’re falling in love with—wouldn’t you be tempted to take it?

Without ever considering the price to be paid….

Review: 

Just look at that cover ^^. My lord, I’m in love with it. So, of course, I bought the book. How could I not? 

I enjoy Clare London’s writing. She’s written some ripper stories over the years. Live Ink is a great idea and nicely executed within a short page count. 

Russ works at a tattoo studio, Inkorporated, in the heart of London. He does a lot of admin with the odd simple tattoo job, like names or letters. He wants to be a tattoo artist star like Leo from Heart of Ink. He plucks up the courage to take a sketch of a bowl he’s done himself to show to Leo but wonders what in the hell he’s doing. Why would a big name like Leo want to have anything to do with him?

Leo proves him wrong and is very positive. He encourages Russ to take part in an annual competition for budding tattoo artists that Heart of Ink is running. Russ doesn’t think much more about it but he and Leo run into one another a few times at a local coffee shop that Russ frequents, and Leo reminds him to do a sketch and enter. Leo, who’s about ten years older then twenty-two-year-old Russ, is very interested in the younger man. However, Russ has quite a degree of difficulty with self-belief, and with cause. Russ wears ink that means something to him, it’s to hide his past. Leo likes creating ink. Russ wants to do more and better. Something comes his way that could facilitate that, but at what cost? 

This is a shorter novella at 82 pages but at its beating heart is sweet story with a dab of an edge – having a supernatural element to it. There is pathos and there is connection. It’s a good novella with Halloween getting closer. I liked how it turned out. Clare London knows how to write short well, and Live Ink is no exception. 4 Stars!