Pink Ink

by Avina St. Graves

Gothikana meets Dexter in this sinfully delicious dark romance about a horror-obsessed film student who's secretly tracking the murders of a serial killer--unaware he's also her brooding professor.

There's a serial killer prowling the city, and no one has noticed...
Except for me.
I see the connections between his kills--
The artistic references,
The careful curation of the scene,
The macabre motifs that turn violence into vivid works of art.
When I recreate one of his murders for my film project at Cresswell University,
I unknowingly present it to the very man who committed the crime.
Professor Maddox Shaw.
A world-renowned artist struggling to recapture his muse.
A serial killer caught deep in the web of a dangerous secret society.
A man who makes me come alive.
Sleeping with your professor is bad enough.
Sleeping with a serial killer is just asking for trouble.
When trouble finds me, it's not Maddox, but the powerful people pulling his strings.
There's no line they won't cross to keep their secrets safe.
And there's no line Maddox won't cross to keep me.
After all, he's good at killing people.

Genres: Dark Romance, Romance, Dark, Dark Academia, Thriller, Mystery, Contemporary

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2026

About the author

From an early age, romance author Avina St. Graves spent her days imagining fantasy worlds and dreamy fictional men, which spurred on her introverted tendencies. In all her day dreaming, there seemed to be a reoccurring theme of morally grey female characters, love interests who belonged in prison, and unnecessary trauma and bloodshed.

When she isn't reading, writing, doom scrolling, or figuring out how to make red flags look green, you can find her holed up in bed, combating the three Ps: back pain, neck pain, and knee pain.

Reviews

[levi (speak tf up about 🇵🇸 and &#x1f1f1]

Professor x student trope
Serial killer x detective trope

Yes sign me up thank you

[Saranya (v busy) · Rating 3 out of 5]

She is obsessed with recreating the city’s most gruesome unsolved murders for her senior project. He is the professor grading her work and the hidden hand behind the crimes she’s bringing to life.

ᰔᩚ professor x student
ᰔᩚ age gap
ᰔᩚ secret society
ᰔᩚ found family
ᰔᩚ murder
ᰔᩚ dark academia vibes

This was exactly what I needed for my current mood. Having previously read Skin of a Sinner, I couldn't wait to dive into another one of this author's worlds. I really, really loved Reyna, the fmc of this book. Her character was much interesting and stronger than that of Belle. While Maddox, who is the mmc of this book, was compelling, Roman still is unbeatable.

But here's a thing- I don't really want to read any book in a male's pov. Most of his pov's were filled with lust!

Regardless of that, this was unputdownable. I absolutely devoured it. And oh my, what a spectacle of the plot twist that was!
────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────
commentary:

~ He aCtUaLLy committed a murder with a bReAd kNiFe?!!?!!
~ Uhh, there's a mistake in their age gap here. It was mentioned 7 years gap and now it's saying 11 years age gap.
~ Bahaha, the fmc just called him "the human embodiment of viral infection." Love you, girlie<3
~ My head is absolutely steaming right now. The mmc made a horrible first impression, and people with that disposition always irritate me.
────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────
Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: 4 August 2026

[Ayman · Rating 4 out of 5]

i can tell this book fed the family

[Ss]

𝖣𝖺𝗋𝗄 𝖺𝖼𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗆𝗂𝖺, 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖿𝖾𝗌𝗌𝗈𝗋 𝗑 𝗌𝗍𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍, 𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗀𝖺𝗉, 𝗌𝖾𝖼𝗋𝖾𝗍 𝗌𝗈𝖼𝗂𝖾𝗍𝗒?? 𝖲𝗈𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗉𝖾𝗋𝖿𝖾𝖼𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗆𝖾🙂‍↕️

[DianaRose]

the dark romance girlies will love maddox shaw🙂‍↕️

full rtc closer to pub day

[Dahlia]

Saw this on ig and added it to my tbr just to find out it wasnt released yet 💔
But good side ? Professor x student romance where she is obsessed with crimes but her professor ends being the criminal she searching for. Yep am in

[naima ☠︎ꨄ︎]

okay so i just found out through my fyp that this author is from newzealand? i will always support my fellow kiwi authors 🥹

[Youssra (semi ia- shelving books don't mind me)]

Only adding this because it's prof x student... praying this fmc isn't as insufferable as Bella🤢

[⊹ ࣪ ˖ ꒰ঌ mimi ໒꒱ ⊹ ࣪ ˖ {s•ia}]

im not a big dark romance reader BUT once i saw this was professor x student where he’s a serial killer and she’s recreating his murders for a film project for his class you know i had to request an arc right away 🤭


and yes i got the arc ◝(ᵔᗜᵔ)◜

[Darlene I read WAY to many books · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ATEEEE!!! this book up. The banter between Reyna and Maddox made me giggle because Rey didn't hold back and Maddox didn't also when they first met and you go wtf this asshole 🤣🤣🤣

And when they both find out he's her new sub professor she's intrested in learning from him. Taking his advice when she recreates murders for her senior project and well he's the subject since he's the serial killer, She's obessed with she just doesn't know it. I loved watching Maddox kill he made sure he set up the scene so his Lil muse would explain it to him. He loved that she saw him. I swear they were two peas in a pod. She was also looking for clues to her father's murder. 👀👀👀

It does take a minute for them to cross that path lots of sexual tension, building trust and losing it when secrets come out later in the story. And mind you Reyna didn’t care he was a serial killer she hated when he lied that he was engaged. Spoiler below on that. 😏 girl said with her whole chest you can kill but i ain't dating a cheater or being a cheater 🤣

Beside that mess the other thing that made me wanna slap Maddox was the "break up" because he didn't want his brother to go through what he went through. Glad he woke up and chose to be selfish and go after his girl.

Saftey- Maddox is engaged only thing they've done is she kissed his cheek and that was for show for the society. Thats all nothing sexual, he never wants to be near her. She is really nice she also doesn't wanna be with him she has a whole ass boyfriend. And Reyna has a cop friend who has a crush on her and goes on 1 date thats all.

Low angst, no ow/tiny om drama, Cheating (not between mains), Drama, sexy times, no virgins

Recommend-yes
Cover-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat level-🌶🌶🌶

Slowburnish
Age gap
32mmc/22FMC
Gore
Secret society
Body mutilation
Arrange marriage (not between the mains)
Use of paintbrush
Praise kink
Torture
Exhibitionism
Seperation few weeks
Off page csa/sa
Assault to the main character
Mentions of self harm & Cancer
Scarring
Impact play
Breath play
Roleplay
Cockwarming
No condom
Hea
Epilogue

[Dani (Daniiireads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gallery Books and Netgalley out here making my day with this arc approval 🫶🏻

“𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆.”

There’s just something about a serial killer romance that hits every time, and I loved Pink Ink so much!

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧:
- professor x student
- age gap
- dark academia
- secret society
- serial unaliver

[bel · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was so good. someone erase my memory so ican read it again. i need more of them

[litlindseyreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you ever have a crush on a professor in college?

When I was in college I took an online French class that required in-person exams. All my friends and I were so excited for test day because we all had a crush on the attractive young professor. I’m pretty sure the only words I ever spoke to him were “Thank you” and “Have a nice day” haha

Well, let me tell you… Reyna says a LOT more to Professor Maddox Shaw in Pink Ink by Avina St. Graves.

I haven’t read a dark romance (that wasn’t advertised as a dark rom com) in several months and Pink Ink really exceeded my expectations.

I loved the suspenseful spooky vibes of this book. Maddox Shaw is a serial killer that operates as a man who takes care of problems for a secret society. He’s also an artist (his kills are part of his art) and a college professor. Reyna is a film student at the same college who has been obsessed with recreating an unknown serial killer’s kills as part of her assignments for her film class. Suddenly, her film professor gets replaced with Professor Shaw.

Do you enjoy talking about and analyzing all mediums of art? This book is definitely for you. My analytical English major heart loved the art analysis-banter between the two MCs.

If you’re reading for the spice, you won’t be disappointed.

Overall, I really loved this book. Pink Ink was the first story I’ve read by Avina St. Graves and it definitely won’t be my last!

Thank you so much to Avina St. Graves and Gallery Books for the opportunity to read this ARC! Now available!

[Bri · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOW LIVE!
Amazon US * Amazon UK

I've taken some steps back from reviewing over the recent years but one thing to know about me if you haven't seen my reviews before - I'm not going to blow smoke up your ass. ARC or not, if a book is a 1 Star read for me, I'm going to say it and I'm going to say why. And on the flip side, if a book is rated 5 Stars for me, just know it blew me out of the water. And this one was luckily the latter.

To be perfectly honest, I have only read one book by Avina St. Graves before and it was a rough read for me that ended as a 2 Star. So I was a little nervous to jump into this one but I mean, Professor/Student, Serial Killer/Crime Junkie? How could I not give that a try?!? And I'm really glad I did because I devoured this story. Let me tell you why...

"To be loved by an artist is to become immortal."

The slow burn style of the first half of this story was *Chef's Kiss* and that comes from a reader that doesn't usually love too slow of a burn. But here's the thing. It was done beautifully. Full of tension and intrigue and holy hell that yearning between Reyna and Maddox where you could feel how they wanted each other with the looks and the banter was amazing. My god, the banter! I loved it. I was obsessed with it. I was obsessed with the characters and even now I want to go back and re-read it all over again. Especially for the spice that was done so well and had me clutching those invisible pearls.

Now I do have to say that the twist wasn't very twisty for me. I guessed it very early on in the story. But at the same time it still left me guessing with the secret society storyline and I didn't know how that would end for Maddox and Reyna. It did come to an end pretty quickly near the end to kind of wrap things up in a nice neat bow, but for me that didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story at all.

Overall, I highly highly recommend this book and I can already tell that I will be doing a re-read sometime in the near future. Was it absolutely perfect, no and again I won't blow smoke up anyone's ass and say that it was. But the story as an entirety was brilliantly done and I really liked the mix of intrigue and romance and spice. I think this actually might be my first 5 Star read of the year and it truly deserves it in my book.

ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.

[Kenia Coronado · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ate this up!! Loved the structure of the story, the pace was perfect, the slow burn was perfect, the characters and everything! The plot and twist i did not see coming at all!! I was getting worried towards the end because things were not anywhere near being resolved but the twist made sense!

[Renita · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To my muse,
To be loved by an artist is to become immortal. This is for you.”

IM SORRY. I don’t understand how Avina continues to write the most amazing stories with the most amazing men and the BEST FMCs. I had high expectations for this book and my expectations were exceeded.

Reyna moves to New York to attend Cresswell University to get her degree, of course, but to also learn more about her dad who passed away shortly before her mom. She only saw her dad a couple days out of the year, but she knew he attended the same university. She goes to an art gallery and ends up offending one of the painters with her critiques on their painting. Turns out the same artist she offended, is her new professor, Professor Shaw.

One thing I’ve always LOVED about Avina’s writing, is the banter, and this book is no exception. The banter in this book is hilarious. And can we talk about that tension???

I love Maddox and Reyna with my entire being. The way this man talks to her is unmatched. 😭 And I’m sorry but Reyna is my spirit animal. She throat punched him and immediately became my favorite FMC of all time. I love that girl.

So many of my favorite tropes are in this book. We’ve got:
🖤 Professor x student
🩷 Secret society
🖤 Touch her and 💀
🩷 Dark academia
🖤 Age gap
And more.

I love love love this book so much. How am I supposed to wait so long for release day until my physical copy comes??? 😭

[lex (samkiel’s version ⚡︎) · Rating 5 out of 5]

avina bestie drinks on me next time because holy frick this is my new favorite book of yours!!!!! Shaw is everything to meeee. I ate up the forbidden Professor x student tension between these two. the way they egg each other on, intentionally and unintentionally was honestly so hot. this wasn’t just lusting for another person, this was a look into unfettered obsession.

And the overlapping of the macabre crime scenes and classical art forms was masterful, watching unexplained violence be molded into an elegant and secret conversation between a serial killer and the person hunting them.

Thanks to Gallery Books for the eARC!

[Yara’s Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

I fear I may have hyped this one up a little too much in my head…

The premise sounded SO good: dark academia, professor/student, a serial killer, murder as art, secret societies??? Like hello??? I genuinely thought I was about to be obsessed.

And I did enjoy it! The whole concept was really interesting and I loved the darker, creepy atmosphere around the murders and the art. Reyna being fascinated by this unknown serial killer while unknowingly discussing his murders WITH THE ACTUAL KILLER had so much potential and there were definitely moments where I was completely into it.

But for some reason it just never fully hit for me. I think I went in expecting something darker, more intense and more suspenseful, and instead I found myself waiting for the story to really grab me. There was quite a lot of description and inner monologue, and at times I just wanted things to move.

I also expected to be absolutely feral over Maddox because… broody professor AND serial killer?? The material was right there. But I never became as obsessed with him or the romance as I thought I would. The chemistry had its moments, but I wanted more tension, more obsession, more something.

I think that’s ultimately my problem with this book. Nothing was necessarily bad, I just wanted MORE from basically everything. More suspense, more danger, more chemistry, more unhinged behaviour.

Still a fun read with a really cool concept, and I can definitely see why other people loved it. I just think my expectations were way too high going in, which is probably on me.

[Maxi’s Reads ✎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ NᴇᴛGᴀʟʟᴇʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇʀ ғᴏʀ ᴘʀᴏᴠɪᴅɪɴɢ ᴍᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀɴ ᴀʀᴄ ɪɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴀɴ ʜᴏɴᴇsᴛ ʀᴇᴠɪᴇᴡ! ᥫ᭡

♥︎ ⤷ Pink Ink delivers a gripping dark romance centered on a professor who is secretly a serial killer and unexpectedly falls for his student. From the very beginning, the story pulled me in with its unique premise, and the suspense kept me turning the pages.

♥︎ ⤷ The plot was engaging throughout, and the major twist was executed incredibly well—it genuinely caught me off guard!! I would recommend to each reader to play attention to KEY details throughout the book.

♥︎ ⤷ The romance was balanced nicely with the darker elements of the story. The spicy scenes were well placed and never felt overwhelming or excessive, allowing the emotional development between the characters to remain the main focus.

♥︎ ⤷ Spicy Radar: 🌶️🌶️/🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (2/5)

♥︎ ⤷ My only wish is that the MMC's possessive and obsessive nature had been shown through more of his actions rather than repeatedly being described. Seeing more moments that demonstrated those feelings would have made his character even more compelling.

Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book to readers who enjoy dark romance, unexpected plot twists, and the professor x student trope. It was an entertaining and suspenseful read with memorable characters and a satisfying character arc 🤍

[Susanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring but the smut? Girl, they were BUSY. 💀

[Sam B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me just say I devoured this in record time! I’m such a sucker for a good Student x Teacher romance. The angst, challenge and bickering between Reyna and Maddox in the beginning had my brain on a swivel. I never knew what was going to come out of their mouths next.

Reyna moves to New York to attend Cresswell University to learn more about her father’s death after her mother passes away.
Upon attending an art gallery, Reyna begins examining an art piece from none other than Maddox Shaw. When a striking man walks up next to her and asks her opinion on the piece, she gives him her critique. Little does she know, this man will become her teacher and is Shaw himself.

Reyna. Stalks. A. Serial. Killer.
And makes movies for her class using pink blood and recreating the murder scenes because they are set up to represent famous paintings. Avina I absolutely adore your mind.

I can’t even begin to describe how delicious this buildup was between these two. But once that buildup exploded, they were f@$kin on the desk. So I got my happy ending 🤣

Oh and did I mention there is a secret society? Buckle up because the twist and turns will keep you guessing.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first novel from this author and I just know I need to read their backlog because this story was written so well!

Reyna has transferred to Cresswell to find out more about her father after her mother passed. She's a film student whose videos lead more towards to macabre. Most people find it horrifying but Reyna has found inspiration from a serial killer whose scenes leave an artistic impression.

Shaw is forced to take over Reyna's film class which he's shocked to find her in it after a spat the previous day. He gets under her skin and vise versa. Shaw is shocked to find that Reyna's films are inspired by his kills. He finds himself becoming inspired again and uses his kills to draw Reyna in. He's obsessed with her and she's obsessed with his art.

I found this story written beautifully. It felt dark academic and I just loved reading all the art terms and film knowledge. I would love to see some of the artwork Maddox created because the visual descriptions sounded stunning.

Thank you gallery books and NetGalley for the gifted ebook.

[Pearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thankyou to Avina, Gallery Books and NetGalley for this e-ARC. 🩷

Tropes:
📷 Stalker x Stalker
🔪Dark Academia
🩷Professor x Student
📷 Age Gap [11 years]
🔪Serial K*ller
🩷Third Act Breakup
📷Indonesian FMC x British MMC
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Oh Lord. I dont know how Avina does this. This book was so good from start to finish, I was in a flow state. This is a cinematic masterpiece. I had high expectations, and she topped them all.

Both the characters are very different, they're written splendidly. You can almost hear their accents and wear their shoes in their respective POV. They're such intense people. The prose of the story GRABS you and pulls you in.

The story is magnificent.
I did not expect their love story to hook me the way it did, the tension between the two is suffocating. Maddox's madness blends beautifully with Reyna's darkness.
I love Maddox's personality, he's not your average crazy guy, he has depth, humor, and knows how to YEARN.
Reyna's mental state, her grief and curiosity for the abnormal, is explored wonderfully. Her character is so strong without the need to aggressively display it, which again, I appreciate so much.

Every time Avina writes a book, you can SEE that she has done her due research about what ever topic she wishes to write on.
The ending was so beautiful, while he painted flowers, I could see that he himself blooms throughout the book.
I wish this book went on for ever and ever.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75 rounded up to 4 ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Avina St. Graves for a copy of this ARC for an honest review.

"My devotion to you has turned me deadly"
"If I'm a demon, I'll make a hell just for us"
"To be loved by an artist is to become immortal"

This was such a fun read!!! The romance was great. There were honestly times I forgot I was reading about a killer MMC because I would get so wrapped up in the romance and yearning and all of a sudden Maddox would brutally murder someone and I would be be thinking "oh yeah, I forgot this guy was a killer for a second there" 😅

What I Liked:
- The YEARNINGGGGG and slow burn. So much tension and banter, Loved it!!
- The secret society was super interesting. It was really giving those dark academia vibes and I enjoyed that.
- The spice was spicy in the best way.
- The whole premise of the plot - a film student making horror movies taking inspiration from a local serial killer who just happens to be her professor.... I was hooked just from the synopsis.
- The pacing was really good. I never felt bored and I loved the dual POVs.
- I like that we got to hear about all different art and art forms. The author seems to have really done her research on the subject and it shines through in the book.
-Great plot twist!

What Didn’t Work For Me:
- There is really only one thing that irked me throughout the entire book and it was the use of "My professor" or "My student" when referencing either the FMC or the MMC. Both characters are on a first name basis with each other after a few chapters so it felt unnatural for the FMC to refer to Maddox as "my professor" instead of Maddox or Mr. Shaw and vice versa from his POV.
- I also wish Reyna had more confidence when it came to Maddox's feelings for her. He expresses his devotion and obsession to her multiple times and even when he is straight up telling her how he feels she would question it. I understand why based on her back story but it was a little frustrating as a reader.

📚Read if you like:
-dark romance
-professor x student
-secret society
-🌶️
-horror films / art
-dark academia
-touch her and 💀

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty boring overall, though it had a few funny moments. Also, the MMC isn't a serial killer. He's kind of an assassin working for a secret society that, for some reason, has him take out a bunch of abusers. How noble of them.

But thanks for having the paintbrush shoved into the FMC's mouth instead of... you know, the usual.

[Nikita · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is FANTASTIC! Every piece, from the architecture of the murders, to Reyna and Maddox’s characters and their traumas, to their relationship, to the art references, to the secret society running beneath it all, combines together to form a fun and heartfelt ride!

I adore the pink splattered throughout the pages, a clear marker of the femininity amidst the brutality. Much like Reyna utilizes pink blood in her films, Avina St. Graves has made her mark in thriller romance with a signature pink flourish.

“I find peace in the dark and the macabre.”

It’s clear a lot of conscious thought went into which painters and art pieces Avina St. Graves chose to reference throughout this book. I would love to compile a compendium of the paintings included in the book to reference alongside as I read because it’s clear each one is chosen with intention!

This is absolutely a book for anyone with a deep love of the art behind film as well… and just an appreciation of art in all its forms.

“We’re a match made in a nightmare.”

[Hailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry but this book was just not for me, it was so slow it really didn’t pick up till the last 20% and even that bored me. The main character Reyna was literally the only character I liked in this book, it felt like everyone else was just written as an afterthought, Maddox was very unlikable, I predicted most of the ending, and there was parts of the story that didn’t get closure. It’s not the worst book I’ve ever read but it’s definitely not the best. It felt like a lot of the boring parts were dragged out and it made it hard to focus or read more than a couple chapters in one sitting.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Avina St. Graves for the eARC.

[mary ♡⋆ ࣪₊ꫂ᭪݁⋆˙]

DNF @ 30%
I really wanted to enjoy this one, but It was way too slow, and I just couldn’t like the MMC. He felt emotionally immature, couldn’t take criticism or compliments from the FMC, like what do you want?? 😭
His ego was too much for me and he screams A-hole

[✨️ Jessica's Bookshelf ✨️]

I'm a mood reader and I think at this time this just isn't for me. I'll circle back to it but right now, I'm just bored with it.

[Ty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pink Ink by Avina St. Graves completely blew me away. One thing I love about Avina is that she always brings something fresh and unexpected to her stories. As always, I went into this release excited and curious about what she would deliver, and this might honestly be some of her strongest work yet (and I’ve been here since her indie debut!) The creativity in this story is on another level. It’s layered, sharp, and intentional in a way that makes you stop and appreciate the craftsmanship behind it.

The plot is plotting. The spice is absolutely spicing. But beyond that, Avina turns this story into art while writing about art, and somehow makes you fall in love with the beauty and darkness of creative obsession all at once. The tension, the dynamic, the twist… everything kept me completely enraptured from start to finish.

Pink Ink is a seductive descent into artistic obsession, where forbidden desire stalks as closely as death, and deadly curiosity blurs the line between muse and monster. 5 stars!