So.... Nicky?

I received this book as an entry in a contest I was judging, and I loved it. Great characters, real-feeling settings and situations, and conflicts that aren't solved right away--like life. It's a shortish story (series length), M/M erotic-romantic, and only available in e-editions.

Jon is lanky, part Korean, part Hawaiian, and nearing 30. A tattoo artist, he prefers flora and fauna over skull-and-bones designs. Seeking change and to strike out on his own, he leaves Seattle for upstate New York (!), and is trying to make it work. When he meets troubled local man Arthur, unlike him physically but with the same strong artistic streak, Jon can't stop himself from rescuing Arthur and then letting him deeper into his life. Despite the story's length, it's a slow build, with plenty of time for missteps and near-misses. Jon's business partner and a couple who run a bar nearby flesh out the kind of industrial neighborhood where friendly seems missing when really it's only a smile or kind gesture away.

The people in the story grow on you, and we fall for Arthur as Jon does. I especially liked the description of how tattooing works, what steps the artist takes and how it feels. As one of the "non-inked," it was eye-opening--I think I now have an inkling why people do it.

The end is too fast, but satisfies. Ignore the subtitle and the standard-sexy cover, and you'll find a sweet (if sweary), sexy story.