Ink Master

Ink and Kink #3

by Frances Stockton

Phalen, a former Army Ranger turned PI and tattoo-shop owner, is a Master waiting for someone to challenge him. Submissive-in-denial Cassie is the perfect partner in lust. Having been out of town for a case, Phalen returned determined to claim his woman and discovers she’s more open to BDSM than he’d hoped. He couldn’t be more turned-on.Then Cassie nervously reveals her submissive twin sister may have been killed by an abusive Dom, who died shortly after. Despite the fact that her family and the cops believe their deaths were murder-suicide, Cassie hires Phalen to find the truth.While he investigates a cold case, their relationship scorches the bedroom and his dungeon. But when his investigation points toward someone close to Cassie, she’s caught in a psychopath’s web of lies. It’ll take all Phalen’s skills to unravel the clues—and save Cassie’s life.

Genres: BDSM, Erotic Romance, M F Romance, Contemporary Romance, Erotica

329 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 21, 2011

About the author

My love for storytelling began when I created my first fictional characters in kindergarten, convincing my family and friends that Red Henry and Green Henry were identical twin brothers in my school. They were mischievous, rarely did their homework, and even had girlfriends! Years later, I started to write, completing my first manuscript in middle school. I confess the heroine was a cross between a contemporary Laura Ingalls Wilder and Nancy Drew, who’d been dating one of the Hardy Boys, but when I wrote “the end” I’d known I had more stories to tell. Of course, life intervened, but whether I was in high school, working as a Veterinary Technician, earning a degree in history and secondary education, or teaching, I was always writing and reading romances.

Finally, I met and married my hero and moved to New England. Shortly after, I joined RWA and the New England Chapter and have been writing faithfully ever since. Now I am proud to be an author with Ellora’s Cave Publishing. I invite you to come and meet the Panthera, explore my website, read the reviews, excerpts and more at www.francesstockton.com. Or email me at romance@francesstockton.com. I love to hear from readers!

Reviews

[♥Laddie♥ (Lee Lee) · Rating 1 out of 5]

One word...vajazzling....enough said.

Usually I do some kind of plot recap but this time there's going to be none of that. Why? Oh, I'll tell you why, because this story has no plot. There's a very weak attempt at a mystery but it keeps getting beaten back with some of the raunchiest and unsexiest (yes, I made up a word) sex scenes EVER.

The main characters in this book are Cassie, a popular televangelist's daughter, and Phalen who is a tattoo artist and shop owner, a private investigator, a Dom, and a retired Army Ranger who was injured in war. Phalen is a lot of things. I kept expecting him to run into a phone booth and jump out in tights and a cape. I guess the author was trying to make him the most alpha of all the alphas but it was just too much.

I lost count of how many times Phalen and Cassie had sex. It was damn near non-stop and it was just...so...bad. Bad and nasty. First of all the first time Phalen and Cassie have sex, Cassie comes about three times. I know it's messy because there's a lot of talking about her soaking through her pants. Now afterwards, Phalen takes a shower but Cassie doesn't clean up. Nope. She just goes back to work. Then later Phalen has sex with her again and she's soaking through her khakis AGAIN. I'm gagging by this time because it sounds like she's got a musty swamp thing going on between her legs because apparently she has an aversion to soap and water.

And then? Then Phalen takes her shopping for clothes and underwear and this chick still hasn't showered. Not good, Cassie. Not good.

Also, can we please talk about how crazy it is that Cassie spontaneously orgasms at least five times throughout the book? The sound of a whip makes her orgasm. Dancing makes her orgasm. It seems like if Phalen breathes within ten feet of her it sets Cassie off. I was like get a grip woman. She was just orgasming and getting her juices everywhere because Phalen forbid her to wear panties. I'm surprised she was able to walk and wasn't leaving puddles of lady juices everywhere.

And then Phalen takes Cassie to get her vajayjay completely waxed. Guess what? Phalen wanted to screw her right then and Cassie got off on it. Big surprise. Phalen also wanted to think of a way to vajazzle Cassie. Yes, the word vajazzle was actually used. By this time I'm pretty sure this book is set in an alternate universe because I was no longer comprehending the absurdity of the sexual situations.

And EVERYTHING turned into a sexual situation. I thought I was buying a mystery story. Instead I got 329 pages of non-stop juicy crotches, a ten inch forever hard dick, and the overuse of the word fuck. Sad? Let's fuck. Scared? Let's fuck. Happy? Let's fuck. You get the idea.

All in all, I feel like this book was not worth the $7.99 I paid for it. The only reason I finished it was because I was hoping it would get better. It never did. I can't stress enough how much I don't recommend this one.

[SB*needs low angst books* · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted this to work and thought it would be went down as I kept reading.

Cassie is the heroine who likes the hero Phalen and he is interested in her too. Their business are next to each. She runs a book cafe and he is a PI and does tattoos.

Cassie is the daughter of a popular evangelist father. Her sister was killed and the father blames the bdsm life she was apart of and has also distanced himself from his remaining daughter because she supported her sister.

Phalen lets it be know he wants her and he even helps try to get information behind what happened to her sister. He is also a BDSM master and she is also interested in the lifestyle but hesitant because of her sister.

I have to say it is the one of the few times I wasn't feeling the sex in the book. I hated the who evangelist father plot. I hated the mystery that surrounded the sister. I wasn't feeling the couple like I wanted to. The heroine kept throwing me off because she would say she is not good with pain and getting a bikini wax made her cry but she wants to volunteer for the hero when he does whip training. (you hate pain but you will try the whip, WTF?).

It was a book that felt like it had too many parts but none that came together well so the story felt very broken up. It just felt like here is one plot, then here is a plot that is also apart of the story kind of thing.

So while I thought it had more potential it kinda failed. Nothing really truly came together for me.

[SoBeA · Rating 3 out of 5]

So for the most part Ink Master was a pretty entertaining read...I loved that there was a plot! While it did get pushed to the background a few times, it wasn't abandoned and it did carry all the way towards the end of the book. Also I loved, loved that we didn't have to wait til the end for the H and h to say their ILY's! seriously that made me all kinds of happy. And I loved a lot of the secondary cahracters, and now i can't wait for another book! However despite how much i enjoyed the story I did have a couple issues that made it impossible to give this higher then 3.5 stars:

This first thing just seemed odd to me, and not a little bit frustrating. The h's sister dies, and in part in seems like she (the sister) couldn't go to her family for help becasue of her (and the h's) dad's behavior....but no one ever seems to call him on it...It's sorta jsut glossed over, and t he heroine's suffering from daddy doesn't love me doldrums...The dad does eventually apologize/feel bad for how he acted, but by then it was a little to late for me.

Then there's the fact that the heroine starts the book off as a novice in the world of BDSM, ....yet in all the sex scenes, she seems to know exactly what to do...The hero mentions at ones point that he's given her lessons, but it occurs off stage, which for me seems a little too much like a cop out, and honestly I can't help but be disapointed that we don't get those scenes! Add to that the BDSM aspect as a whole...Despite some of the er...eqipment our Hero and heroine use, IMO, it's just not as instense/descriptive as I was hoping for...Maybe it's just me, but it seemed like a lot of stuff got glossed over.

Lastly, the only other thing that bugged me was that the bad guy was crazy to easy to figure out...I kept hoping I was wrong!

But like I said, overall Ink Master is a great book, and as first time Frances Stockton reader, I have to say I can't wait to read more!

[Obsessed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. I want my own Phalen Maddox, and barring that I'll sign up for any of the guys roaming around in that universe.

The sex was intense and frequent. The BDSM flavor to it was very hot. I'd sign up to let him train me anytime.

I figured out who the villain of the story was early on, but there was still plenty of suspense as the reader waits for the story to unfold.

I know I'll be checking out these two related books soon.

and

[K.J. Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Ink Master, which was my first read of Frances Stockton. The nice part was the relationship was relatively smooth. No lying, no hiding, just a lot of mutual trust while the two worked their way through the next phase of their relationship, taking a friendship to the next step. The suspense plot was woven in nicely and kept me guessing, honestly, which is often rare for me in books. I was incredibly taken with the hero, despite my own real life affection for clean-cut boys, which also took me by surprise! Great read, lovely work with the D/s relationship and the suspense plot was fantastic too.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frances Stockton can create a story that will completely absorb you into a world of tantalizing pleasures with characters that draw the reader into an emotionally compelling read. Phalen is a dominant man with eyes for only one woman--Cassie. Cassie feels the overwhelming passion that sizzles when Phalen surrounds her with his presence. They are two incomplete souls that call to the other even as their passions take them to the naughtier side of Phalen’s life. He wants her submission but knows he must slowly bring her to the BDSM side of his life. Between these two characters, the pages will sizzle and burn as they explore their growing relationship. The depth of emotions within the well-developed characters will pull you into their lives, and the plot has many surprises to bring an element of danger into an already amazing story. Ink Master is a fantastic story with uber sexy characters you will love and an edgy plot that will leave you hankering for more stories from the talented mind of Ms. Stockton. A breathtaking read and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

Night Owl Review rating 4.5 Hearts

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Frances Stockton book that I have read. It won't be the last. Loved the relationship between Cassie and Phalen, they already know each other and have been flirting, then he comes home after being away from a month and things really heat up. Well written, interesting characters. About the only thing I didn't like was the fact I knew who the bad guy was almost right from the beginning, but it didn't take away from the overall feel of the story.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely better than I expected.

Some of the writing was a bit awkward for me; I felt like I was missing some lead-in novella but maybe it was just back story from the previous books. The characters grew on me and by the end I was fully invested in the story. I liked the mystery angle, though the outcome was predictable. It was a fun read, and I'd probably read it again. It was definitely HOT!

[Saundra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Porn with plot-- just not an overly interesting plot. I knew whodunit the moment he was introduced. The smut was a bit too... I don't know... explicit keeps coming to mind, but that's not exactly it. The language lacked subtlety. The word 'sluiced' was used a lot, which... gross. I've read worse, but I'm not running out to read more of this literary wonder's work.

[Natasha Jackson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. It sounded good but was boring. I had to just skip to the end. I don't know a lot about com/sub relationships but the part I read in this book sounded like they were playing a game. I guess because she was new to that type of relationship she talked too much. He would tell her something and she has to give her speech. It just wasn't for me.

[Aelliana]

Badly written.

[Bea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. The suspense aspect was pretty good and compelling. But the sex scenes were pure porn; nothing romantic at all!

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5