Found Together

Inked Together #2

by Diane Michaels

Magical ink. Two wishes. Now Anja and Griffin are searching for a connection.

Free spirit Anja Lund is hearing voices. Well, just the one invisible announcer who keeps spilling the dirt on all her potential dates. Knowing a man’s secrets before she falls in love seems like a wish come true. Until her so-called guardian weeds out every eligible man she sees.

Griffin Hull is single, but not by choice. It’s safer to hide than to expose his scars and himself to another rejection. After he mysteriously loses his inhibitions whenever he’s on the phone, he believes he’s found his curse’s loophole. Whether he’s texting his ex, calling a Hollywood star, or working remotely with Anja, Griffin is learning to trust women again.

But the past repeats itself, making him want to disconnect and forcing her to listen to a catalog of her flaws. Can their friendship plus a face-to-face meeting teach Anja and Griffin to believe in themselves?

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 14, 2021

About the author

Diane Michaels is a harpist and author. She balances her fondness for ice cream with her enjoyment of working out and walking through the woods. When she is not spying on the world from behind her harp to collect ideas for her next book, she and her husband make up stories and songs for and about their miniature poodle, Lola.

Reviews

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book two of the Inked Together series and the main characters are Anja Lund and Griffin Hull, who both end up across from each other one night at Inklyn Tattoo Gallery, to get their first ever tattoos. Griffin is having a tattoo to go around the scar on his forearm after a drunken accident with some hot flames, whilst Anja is having a tasteful butterfly on her ankle. One of her best friends, Violet, met her boyfriend Ben when they also got tattoos at the same time, hers done by Amelia, just like Anja’s appointment will be. Amelia was given a special sample bottle of Mystic Mate Double Black ink and she swears it is the smoothest ink ever, but has some very weird aftercare instructions, with the tattoo not being allowed to see the light of day for a whole week! The man doing Griffin’s abstract tattoo had borrowed Amelia’s special ink, so they have both had this mystical ink used in their tattoos and both made a wish about relationships as they were getting there tattoos done. Anja wished she could get a warning headline about all the men she meets, so she would know from the start who would be a good date, whilst Griffin wanted to go back to learning about a possible date by other means first, such as writing to each other or speaking on the phone, rather than face to face, after he was left scarred after his accident.
Griffin works as an author, writing steampunk books, but has isolated himself nearly completely after his accident, which took place when drunk after a woman ripped his heart in two. Anja is almost the complete opposite, a free spirit who does as she wants most of the time and isn’t exactly what you would call punctual or work driven. Her current boyfriend commented that he needed her to change to be more professional, if she was to accompany him to a business dinner, tone down her dress sense and her bubbly personality. That didn’t end well for him! Half way through the tattoo, she got a strange tingly sensation and then started hearing an announcer’s voice in her head, telling her what each man was really like, in a short, sharp bullet point list. She thinks she might be going crazy and it seems there are no single men out there, without some sort of really off putting downside. Griffin meanwhile has been blackmailed into going to LA to help his sister Daphne find relatives for some of the old files their publicist company still held, as the boss was retiring and closing down the firm. His meddling sister has arranged a drink for him with his ex-Mallory, after his express orders not to arrange anything for him, knowing what Hollywood types reactions to his scars are likely to be from past experience! He starts texting his ex and finds he can easily chat to her in that manner and also ends up in chats with a rising Hollywood star that his sister wants him to pass on a relative’s paperwork to, having turned her down as a client and that not turning out well.
He also starts communicating with Anja, the woman he spotted in the tattoo shop, unbeknown to him, as he ends up with his last file for a musical duo known as Canaro y Roca, thought to be an Argentinian pairing, represented by J. Adams Publicity well over fifty years ago. He learns the lady was Arminda Canaro and the violinist was Leon Roca, but he never spoke during any interview and is somewhat of a mystery person. A link to Apollo Artists, their management firm, where Anja currently works, provides the connection between the two. Meanwhile, Anja volunteers at a local old people’s care home and some days plays music on her guitar, to the residents before dinner. Usually old favourites, anything to get their memories firing, with her trying especially hard with an old man called Mr Lowenstein, who she spots suddenly reacting to a tune she plays. Griffin and Anja text and email light-heartedly, with Anja’s replies always lifting his spirits and getting closer to discovering who Leon Roca might be and the answer is closer to home than either of them could imagine. Anja thinks he is based in LA and he is too scared to face her, even though the two get on really well by phone and email. Whether Griffin will withdraw back into himself when he does get to meet her face to face for the first time, is up to him. He needs to take the plunge and realise that some people can see past the scars and into the person he really is inside, without putting other people’s past reactions onto Anja. The two are perfect for each other, they just need to take the next step and allow the magic to flow! Another romance with a mystical twist and two people drawn together by the special ink they both share. Just one more friend to go, Tracey, to help on her journey for romance! I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of the book above.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wishes Can Come True . . .

For all of her quirky, out-there ways, Anja Lund is steadfastly true to herself. The person you see is who she is and, while accommodating in many ways, she will not change to fit a false image. So when her handsome new boyfriend tells her she must drop the quirky and become a mature woman befitting his station in life at the client dinner, a cookie-cutter corporate wife image, she kindly tells him that will never happen and ends the romance. Then she makes an appointment to get a little butterfly tattoo on her ankle.

Griffin Hull’s sister Daphne calls him for a huge favor. The entertainment publicity firm needs him to find the owners for old records their office isn’t handling any more so the boxes can be returned to former clients. He has a talent for it, but no desire to go back to LA. But his sister won’t give up until he agrees. He buys annoying toys for her two kids so she will suffer long after he returns home. It’s only fair, right? He’s scheduled to get a tattoo before he leaves so he can hide some of his scars from the accident. When his ex texts him about meeting up when he gets to LA, he is angry that his sister told her he was coming. He is practically a hermit these days and doesn’t want to socialize.

At the tattoo parlor, Anja and her artist were chatting and she said she wished men came with warning labels where a voiceover would tell you all their flaws. When a guy stared at her, a loud voice told her all about him! It continued analyzing each man around her until she finally heard it say, “He is honest, funnier than most, and values inner beauty.” Oh, where is this guy? In a nearby chair, Griffin was wishing he had to correspond with a woman before meeting her so they would grow a close friendship and, when they met, his scarred face from severe burns would not even matter. Will the string of coincidences still to come bring Anja and Griffin together with their friendship and bond already in place? Will they find their HEA at last?

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware what you wish for!🙄

3.5-4🌟 stars
The magical "beware what you wish for" premise for this series is cute and I found both steampunk writer Griffin and free spirit Anja very worthy, likable characters. The plot weaves their lives together with coincidence after coincidence and has them bonding as they collaborate to solve a mystery.

It was great to see Anja confront her weakness for dating the wrong men and also get some positive forward steps in her workplace. And her attempts to bring a fragile nursing home resident pleasure: solidly precious.

Here's the thing ... I am not a big fan of text conversations that go on for pages. And, in this book, there's plenty of texting. The two main characters learn alot about each other's tastes from their texts and phone conversations but take an awfully long time to actually get together and talk face to face, so the romance is late blooming and a very brief section of the story.

I enjoyed the story but liked the first book in the series about work colleagues Ben and Violet (Anja's friend) better.

[Javon50 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anja has just broken up with a pretentious, jerk of an almost boyfriend who criticizes her job, her work ethic and wants her to change into his perfect mate. Getting her first tattoo at Inklyn is her way of being Anja, and nobody else. While getting her tattoo, when Anja wishes aloud that all men should come with a warning, she soon begins hearing point by point descriptions of every trait, good and bad, each time she looks at a man. Wondering if she is hallucinating, she tries to get on with her life pretending the voice is not real. Meanwhile while Griffin is getting his tattoo, also at Inklyn, his life too is experiencing some aftereffects he cannot explain. This storyline is imaginative, creative, and quite entertaining. I could not help but be caught up with the lives of both Anja and Griffin. This is my honest, voluntary review of an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Anya and Griffin’s story was fun. I loved the quirkiness of Anya and the grumpiness of Griffin and how they brought the best out of each other. Loved how all the pieces fell together at the end. Looking forward to the next book and can’t wait to see what chaos the Mystic Ink will cause to Tracy. I received an ARC of this book from the Author in return for voluntarily writing an honest review.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and whimsical story with interesting and entertaining characters. Each page is a journey that you will enjoy until the end. There are some twists and a little drama but plenty of light hearted events that happen. Good read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Manisha Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book two in the ( Inked Together Series ) . This is a funny rom-com story . I love the characters and the storyline this my first time reading from this author but not my last.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book so far I have found this series a little slow to get into but well worth the effort. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Noreen Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

No as good as the fist in the series. I think the high point of the story was poor Mr Lowenstein and his capacity for living in his music.
Look forward to Tracey's story.