Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed by Jade C. Jamison

 Companion novel to the Tangled Web series

Kory McCallister has had her eyes on tattoo artist Stone Bowman for quite some time—so long, in fact, that no other guy will do. Stone pushes every turn-on button Kory has—he’s tattooed from head to toe; he’s hot; he’s funny and charming; and he’s also mysterious. So when Kory’s friends dare her to ask Stone out on a date, she can’t believe she actually finds the guts to do it.

More surprising? He takes her up on the offer.

She discovers that, while his past might not be quite as dark or mysterious as she’d imagined, it’s bigger than she’d expected, and it’s something she will need to contend with if she decides she wants to keep him around to color her life for good.

You may have read this novel in the INKED Anthology, but this version is 10% larger than the previous version

Sometimes the title of a book just grabs you and you know you have to take a chance on the story; well that is what happened to me with this one.  I am happy to say this was a chance worth taking.  I felt the author did a great job developing a meaningful story in less than 200 pages, with well-developed characters and a plot that was new and unique to me.  It is important to me that I can feel empathy and emotions not only for the characters but with the story as a whole.  While I wasn’t brought to tears with this one, I certainly can say I was affected by the emotions as I learned what these two went through.

Although we have an abundance of books on the market dealing with abuse and the trauma the victim continues to live with, this author took a different twist by introducing us to Kory and what she does to seek the comfort that can only be found in The Iron Maiden Shop.  This is the place that she faces her fear of needles and begins getting piercings in her body, but she also finds Stone Bowman, the tattoo artist that does her piercings as well. 

After two years of going in there to seek his attention she finally gathers the courage to ask him out.  He accepts and this is where the real story begins.  Kory’s past still leaves her with nightmares and anxiety that paralyzes her at times.  She fears sleeping; she fears living, but what she doesn’t fear enough to stop her is finding more out about Stone.  I loved her courage and determination in a world that had tried to cripple and break her soul. 

Stone isn’t an angel with a perfect life either.  He hides who he used to be and what he has went through in hopes that Kory will see the man that stands before her today.  Once his past is out there we are going to watch Kory have to deal with her insecurities and jealousy while Stone is going to have to help Kory heal from the pain of her past.  I love the journey they took together and would love to say more but won’t risk even a small spoiler.  Stone is HOT and yet the author balanced his personality and sexiness with a lot of tender compassion with makes him a total package in my opinion.

The author doesn’t take long in the beginning to get the story going.  I didn’t find times that I felt lagged or was lacking with useless scenes.  As I said, it wasn’t a long book but I must admit I was surprised when I had ended it.  I was so into the story I never really paid attention to the quickness.  I love that in books when I can get lost in the story and forget the world.  

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