Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~'s Reviews > Permanent Ink

Review (with book giveaway!) originally posted at Sinfully.

At twenty-three, and having just been bailed out of jail for tagging again, Poe knows he is wearing his father, Landon’s, patience thin. Working as a cashier at a gas station and living in his father’s basement allows Poe to spend the nights with his friends and pursue his passion for graffiti art, but he understands his father’s frustration with him, even if he mouths off about it. He just wishes his father respected his art a bit more. When Landon’s friend Jericho, owner of the tattoo parlor next to his garage, offers to take Poe on as a receptionist and possibly as an apprentice, Poe is less than thrilled, regardless of how sexy Jericho is. Jericho’s been in Poe’s position and was given a hand up and he’d like to pay that favor forward, plus he knows Poe is a talented artist.

Poe has always gone for older men or women and likes to be dominated and used by them and being around Jericho, watching him work at his passion, just has Poe’s attraction growing. Jericho has taken notice of Poe but there are so many reasons not to get involved. Poe gets aggressive, makes it clear that he is eyeing Jericho and they ultimately give in and find out their interests may line up even more than expected. When Jericho manages to get over the employer/employee stumbling block, he still has concerns about the seventeen year age-gap, his friendship with Landon and the daddy play. He doesn’t want to be a father to Poe for sure, but he does like taking care of Poe and the kink works for both of them.

I really enjoyed this story and these characters. I love a mouthy character, especially when his love interest knows how to react to him and that is Poe and Jericho, so their back and forth from the start worked for me. As far as the romance goes, it’s a slow build at first, but once Poe and Jericho get together, they jump right into exploring the daddy kink. I liked the way it worked for them, it’s only during sex and is pretty mild, but I wanted it explored just a little more (I also admit I was disappointed when a celebratory sex scene was teased and then not shown). While we see that they are compatible in the work and bedroom settings, I wanted more of Jericho and Poe’s relationship development outside of those places so I could feel their romantic connection a bit more. Other than that I liked the tension in the buildup and the challenge Poe posed for Jericho.

As expected, Poe has the most growth in the story, but there is a lot at play here, offering growth arcs for Jericho and a bit for Landon as well. There is so much that changes when Poe starts working as an apprentice, it touches every aspect of his life and not all of it turns out for the better. As much as I enjoyed Poe and Jericho, I was also invested in the friendship between Jericho and Landon and the father-son story as well.

The authors did a great job writing the main story while setting up the other characters that I assume will have stories in the coming books. There are several secondary characters that made themselves known and teased future stories to come, all of them different and interesting. Blue, Poe’s best friend and partner in art, is trouble in so many ways, but Poe doesn’t see past the friendship and loyalty he has towards him. Landon is fantastic, walking the line of friend to Jericho and single father to Poe and Jericho’s ex, Callum, adds some flirty fun to it all while helping to set Jericho straight.

This was a successful collaboration for me and I’ll be looking forward to more in the series. Looks like the next book will again, have a significant age-gap (a win for me!) and an even tougher nut to crack than Poe was.