Written In Flesh

by S.L. Armstrong (Editor), Kristen Pavka (Editor), Alex Whitehall (Contributor)

For many people, there's nothing hotter than a man with tattoos. He might get them to commemorate a lost loved one, celebrate an event, or just to look bad-ass, but there's no doubt the man enjoys showing off his ink. Tribal, classic black and white, or elaborate colored artwork spanning the entire back, each mark has a story, an indelible reminder of the past etched onto the human canvas with care and precision. We're showcasing four of those stories in Written in Flesh.

Key is Bound by Ink to a woman he does not—cannot—love. He runs to escape his fate, but finds Dax, another fugitive, and learns that some bonds go deeper than skin.

In the heyday of the 1980's, Ian Grothe's club is about to discover the Next Big Thing, but Ian only has eyes for the lead singer. But as the band's star rises, Ian gets left behind, his hopes turning to Powder.

Then, in Helotry, Rontak is an escaped slave who wears the mark of his service beneath his skin. While on the run, he is sheltered by Tréy, an artist with a heavy secret of his own.

Finally, Ellis comes to the Sui Generis Protection Agency bearing the Mark of the Familiar, magical animal tattoos granting him remarkable shapeshifting abilities. When he feels a True Bond to William, the Wardsman of the agency, he has to convince William of the truth or risk losing his sanctuary, and perhaps even his life.

Genres: M M Romance, Anthologies

117 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 13, 2012

About the author

Support S.L. Armstrong & K. Piet on Patreon!

S.L. Armstrong has been writing for as long as she can remember. Art and reading have played a large part in her life since young childhood, but around fourteen, writing became her passion. Voraciously consuming every book in front of her opened up hundreds of worlds in her head, and she soon wanted to create worlds for other people as well. She has a particular fondness for gothic horror, horror, high fantasy, urban fantasy, and romance novels. The authors she turns to time and again are Stephen King, L.J. Smith, V.C. Andrews, R.L. Stine, and Anne Rice, among others. She has no shame in picking up the young adult novels she loved as a child, and she will talk your ear off about grammar and punctuation.

After she married her husband over seventeen years ago, she began to truly delve into the world of writing for public consumption. It was sheer chance that she stumbled on M/M fanfiction, and she's not looked back. Though fanfiction will always have a fond place in her heart, she soon grew tired of playing in other people's sandboxes. When she discovered M/M romance, and how it was now a legitimate branch of romance writing, she knew her course. S.L. plans to release F/F, M/M, M/F, and multiple partner books as she continues her writing career. M/M romance is where her heart lies, no matter what else she may write or read, and it's where she keeps returning to. There is something about two men passionately in love that just makes her heart melt, and she has no intention of giving that up anytime soon.

S.L. Armstrong lives in Florida with her husband, partner, two dogs, and twelve cats. She hates the heat and longs for a northern, snowy climate. She writes with K. Piet on a number of projects, but she also writes her own solitary titles as well.

Reviews

[Kiru Taye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of 4 creative and refreshing stories about the significance of tattoos. Bound by Ink and Mark of the Familiar were my favourites stories.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review posted on World of Diversity Fiction Reviews

3.75 Stars

Bound by Ink by Kimber Vale
3 Stars

Key lives in a place where man on man love is not allowed and even though he has strong feelings in that direction he goes ahead with a bonding ceremony to his best friend. While he is getting her name tattooed on his arm he talks with Betta the witch giving him the tattoo and learns there is a place where he would be free to love whom he wants. So on the eve of his marriage commitment to Kaya he realizes he can’t do this to either of them and he runs right into the arms of Dax.

The beginning of this story had such promise, I was really enjoying it. When Key and Dax meet they seem so right for each other. I loved both of these characters and their time together was sweet but the last half of the story kind of lost me. The pace of the first half was perfect but as the story moves along it gets feeling rushed and has way too much happening all at once. Having said that I did like the story I just wish it were longer just enough to make the last half flow better. The HEA ending was perfect though.

Powder by Alina Ray
4 Stars

Ian owns a small club that’s in need of a band to play after his regular band has had to drop out. He sets up an audition for the band Shredding Angels but knows he doesn’t have a choice he has to hire them time is running out. Thankfully it turns out to be the best thing he has ever done….for a while. Ian realizes he’s attracted to the tattooed lead singer, Arnold, he asks him out for coffee and doughnuts to firm up the contract and learns Arnold is attracted to him. Ian decides Arnold isn’t a name for a member of a “famous band” which is what Arnold is hoping Shredding Angels will be and the two of them decide on the name Apollo. Things work out well for these two and they become lovers but things happen that pull them apart.

I really liked this story. The romance between Ian and Apollo is slow and sweet which I loved but the thing that separates them kind of annoyed me obviously not enough to make me dislike the story. I didn’t like how Ian so easily forgave Apollo after being separated for so long but if Ian is okay with it then who am I to judge. One of the sweetest moments for me was when Ian sees a new tattoo that Apollo has and realizes what that tattoo represents.

Heliotry by Suzanne van Rooyen
3.5 Stars

Heliotry is a sci-fi story. Rontak is born and raised a slave the tattoos he wears on his body won’t let him hide from that. He’s sold to a man that abuses him and in my opinion tortures him, it’s a horrible life and after spending years with this man he escapes. Trey finds Rontak injured and starving, he takes him home to care for him and he learns that something in his life is connected to Rontak.

I liked this story I guess part of that is because it is sci-fi and all realism can just go right out the window. I loved Rontak he’s such a strong character after having endured a life of slavery but he also has a gentle and almost virginal side to him. The planet he lands on after his escape is completely new to him and at times I saw a childlike way about him that really endeared me to him. Trey was a trickier character to figure out. I know he had strong feelings for Rontak and wanted to do anything he could to save him from being captured by the hunters and uses his family’s money to save him money. There were things in this story that made me go hmmm…in any other genre I would have balked but in stories that realism isn’t an issue I let it go. I thought this was a good addition to the anthology not my favorite story but I enjoyed reading it.

Mark of the Familiar by Alex Whitehall
4.5 Stars

The story begings with Ellis being rescued from an abusive master by James a member of the Sui Generis Protection Agency and taken to a safe house. Ellis has the capabilities of shifting into various animals all connected to the tattoos he bares on his body. When Ellis arrives at the safe house he catches the scent of his mate and runs to him only to find William doesn’t want anything to do with Ellis. William is James’ son and a Succubus that has had to live with everyone around him wanting to touch and be with him so he doesn’t trust the feelings that Ellis has or brings out in him, he doesn’t want to believe that Ellis is his True Mate.

I loved this little story, out of all of the stories in this anthology this was my favorite by far. This story is a unique cross between fantasy, magic and shifters. Ellis is the sweetest mix of innocence, shyness and strength. His fierce protectiveness of William made me smile, everything Ellis did made me smile. For the most part this is a light read but there are those small sections that we have to re-live with Ellis through his nightmares and that’s the abuse he suffered by his former master. I thought the characters were well developed for the size of the story, I did wish it could have been longer to get to know William better but I thought this story was more about Ellis and not getting into much of Williams life didn’t stop me from loving the two of them together. I would love to see this story expanded to novel size and include some of the other characters that are living in the safe house. This world was fascinating but the one negative was the story wasn’t long enough to explore that world in very much depth.

Overall this was an enjoyable read with a great mix of stories.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bound by Ink - 2 stars

Powder - 3 stars

Helotry - 2.5 stars

Mark of the Familiar - 4 stars

[The Novel Approach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in Flesh is an anthology about ink and the men who wear it. Out of the four stories, three where exceptional, and I can’t stop thinking about them! They were all different in writing styles but most of all, they where innovating and engaging. I really enjoyed this anthology and would highly recommend it.


See the entire review at The Novel Approach: http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/20...