At twenty-three, Poe Montgomery is going nowhere. He still lives in his father’s basement and spends most of his time tagging with his friends. When an arrest lands him in debt, Poe accepts the front desk job at Permanent Ink, the tattoo shop owned by his father’s best friend, Jericho McAslan. Jericho is nearly twice Poe’s age, but with his ink and prematurely graying hair, he quickly takes the starring role in Poe’s hottest fantasies.

Jericho is known for his ability to transform poorly designed tattoos into works of art, but he was once as aimless and misdirected as Poe. Wanting to pay it forward the way someone once did for him, Jericho makes Poe his apprentice and is determined to keep things strictly professional. Easier said than done when Poe makes his interest—and his daddy kink—abundantly clear.

Jericho can’t resist Poe or their intense chemistry for long. But between the age gap, tension with Poe’s father, and Poe’s best friend calling him a sellout, they’ll need to ensure they’re both on the same page before they can rewrite their rocky start into something permanent.

Goodreads | Riptide Publishing | Amazon
Annie’s review of Permanent Ink

*I was provided with a free copy of this book in return for an honest review

This book was an unexpected gem during my summer vacation read-a-thon. I knew I was going to enjoy it because I love these authors’ work. In the past, daddy kink has been hit or miss for me, although I do really love a good age-gap story.

Beyond the fact that this book was very, very steamy (and successfully executed on that front), this story had a lot of unexpected depth. There’s something to be said for authors who can pull of a successful and believable romance between characters when one of the characters doesn’t seem to be looking for romance in their life. It was really special, getting to watch Poe and Jericho’s relationship develop and grow.

The characterization was excellent. Both Poe and Jericho were fleshed out. I understood their motivations, what made them tick; the points where they were lost or confused or unsure of what the right thing to do was. I love Poe’s growth in particular. I think because although he really does grow and begins to really work for a different, more focused future, he still has growing and maturing to do. At 23, I was sure of my future. I thought I had finished growing into an adult. But to be honest, 23 was the start — I don’t think I really began to understand who I was and what I wanted with maturity and clarity until my late twenties. I see some of this in Poe: he’s in transition. And Jericho is helping. He’s written as a character who is supporting and encouraging Poe (even though he is often frustrated), but one thing he wasn’t was condescending. This is excellent.

The side characters are interesting and provide a good support to the main story. Blue is a mystery to me, one I hope we get to see untangled in a future book. I love when a character is set up as irredeemable and then gets a redemption story (AKA Colin in Roan Parrish’s Out of Nowhere, one of the best character redemption stories I’ve ever read).

Avon grew up in the southern United States, and now lives with her very patient husband in a liberal Midwestern college town. When she’s not writing, she’s either doing some kind of craft project that makes a huge mess, reading, watching horror movies, listening to music or yelling at her favorite hockey team to get it together, already. Avon is always up for a road trip, adores Kentucky bourbon, thinks nothing is as stress relieving as a good rock concert, and will never say no to candy.

At one point, Avon was the mayor of both Jazzercise and Lollicup on Foursquare. This tells you basically all you need to know about her as a person.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Piper Vaughn wrote her first love story at eleven and never looked back. Since then, she’s known that writing in some form was exactly what she wanted to do. A reader at the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a great book—fantasy, young adult, romance, sci-fi, she loves them all (and has an over-two-thousand-book library to prove it!). She’s an avid tea drinker, a hockey fanatic, a vintage typewriter collector, and loves to travel so much she has “wanderlust” tattooed on her ankle and dozens of countries on her bucket list. Recently, she discovered the world of nail art and realized she’s pretty handy with a paintbrush—as long as it’s a miniature one.

As a bisexual and Latinx person, Piper takes great pride in her heritage. She grew up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood and strives to put faces and characters of every ethnicity in her stories, so her fictional worlds are as colorful as the real one. She currently resides in the suburbs of Chicago with her husband, son, and a cat that has Piper wrapped around her little paw. Above all, she believes that everyone needs a little true love in their life … even if it’s only in a book.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Genre: Contemporary Orientation: Bisexual Orientation: Gay Orientation: Pansexual Pairing: M/M Publisher: Riptide Publishing Review Tag: Age-Gap Tag: Art / Artist Tag: Friends to Lovers Tag: Part of a series Art & Soul series Avon Gale Permanent Ink Piper Vaughn