Blurb:

Two lonely men. One mind-blowingly fantastic night. Zero chance of ever meeting again…

Or, that was how it was supposed to go.

Never in his life did Dante imagine he’d be married, much less a widower before he’d made it past his twenties. Luckier than he deserved the first time around, who’d take a chance on a grump like him now?

The past two years haven’t been easy. Losing his muse, his sister urging him to move back to the reservation, struggling under a new boss, watching as the tattoo studio he’d trained in is run into the ground?

Yeah, Dante’s about to blow a fuse.

To top it off, now he’s getting dragged online by some faceless hack on the other side of town. It’s wrecking Dante’s reputation — and his clientele list.

Overworked, underpaid, and fed up with it all, what Dante needs is to find his center; someone willing to let Dante feel in control again, even if only for one night.

And look who just walked in…

Hello gorgeous.

Wes never felt comfortable in his own skin, even before the accident. Maybe that’s why he became a tattoo artist, who knows? He’d never bothered much with philosophy, focusing on his craft instead.

It’s harder than it was before. Wes can’t work the hours he used to; stuck taking more breaks, doomscrolling and lashing out at other artists way too talented to be wasted on the dreck they’re posting online. It’s a jerk move, sure, but he can’t seem to stop. It, like everything else in his life lately, all just spinning out of control.

So when he stumbles across a man with a cocksure grin; who measures Wes up with one look, eyes glittering with mischief as he demands Wes follow him to a nearby motel?

Wes may not be the kind of guy to ever score Mr. Right, but a one-night stand right out of his fantasies with Mr. Right-Now? Oh, yes Sir.

They didn’t even exchange names.

Perfect, it was perfect.

Until…

Bear Ink is an MM rivals to lovers tattoo artists romance.

Expect heavy elements of steamy open door MM romance, swearing, humor, angst, trust, communication, exploration, queer joy, competent characters, adorable awkwardness, and guys cooking breakfast together…

*****

Review:

I wish we’d gotten a longer story with this one. It’s a good introduction to a new series, leaving readers interested in each of Wes’s brothers. But I really liked Wes and Date, individually and together, and would have loved to have gotten more of their romance. There was so much to explore: Wes’s issues coming out of his accident, Dante’s moving on after his husband’s death, and the way their tattooing careers intersect. But what we are given is steamy and fun and emotion packed. There’s a hurt/comfort aspect as well as moving forward from trauma and it gives all the feels. I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing more of them as we get other stories from Bear Ink.

(I was given an ARC and there are some continuity issues that may have been cleaned up in the final copy.)