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The Tattooed Heart
Chris and Lee have been best friends since the fourth grade. Now in their thirties, Chris rents a booth at Tattoo 804 where he makes a living as a tattooist. His own art is hidden in a portfolio behind his desk-his clients always want him to copy a design or character someone else has drawn, and none ever ask for any custom ink. To satisfy his artistic cravings, Chris coerces his friend Lee to stop by after hours for free tattoos in exchange for letting Chris design whatever he wants.
Lee's body is a shrine to Chris's artwork. Every tattoo he has is a custom creation from his friend, whom Lee has loved for years. Though both are gay, Lee has never had the courage to let Chris know how he feels, and it pains him to watch Chris flit from boyfriend to boyfriend in search of Mr. Right when Lee would gladly claim that title.
Chris's latest boyfriend, Barry, is in a local band and sounds absolutely wonderful ... Lee hates him already. But when all Chris can talk about is Lee's latest tattoo, Barry feels like a third wheel and their budding relationship sours. What will it take for Chris to realize the lover he's looking for has been sitting in his tattoo chair all along?
Lee's body is a shrine to Chris's artwork. Every tattoo he has is a custom creation from his friend, whom Lee has loved for years. Though both are gay, Lee has never had the courage to let Chris know how he feels, and it pains him to watch Chris flit from boyfriend to boyfriend in search of Mr. Right when Lee would gladly claim that title.
Chris's latest boyfriend, Barry, is in a local band and sounds absolutely wonderful ... Lee hates him already. But when all Chris can talk about is Lee's latest tattoo, Barry feels like a third wheel and their budding relationship sours. What will it take for Chris to realize the lover he's looking for has been sitting in his tattoo chair all along?
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Snyder
303 books566 followersAn author of gay erotic/romantic fiction, J.M. Snyder began in self-publishing and worked with Amber Allure, Aspen Mountain, eXcessica, and Torquere Presses.
Snyder's highly erotic short gay fiction has been published online at Amazon Shorts, Eros Monthly, Ruthie's Club, and Tit-Elation, as well as in anthologies by Alyson Books, Aspen Mountain, Cleis Press, eXcessica Publishing, Lethe Press, and Ravenous Romance.
In 2010, Snyder founded JMS Books LLC, a royalty-paying queer small press that publishes in both electronic and print format. For more information on newest releases and submission guidelines, please visit JMS Books LLC online.
Snyder's highly erotic short gay fiction has been published online at Amazon Shorts, Eros Monthly, Ruthie's Club, and Tit-Elation, as well as in anthologies by Alyson Books, Aspen Mountain, Cleis Press, eXcessica Publishing, Lethe Press, and Ravenous Romance.
In 2010, Snyder founded JMS Books LLC, a royalty-paying queer small press that publishes in both electronic and print format. For more information on newest releases and submission guidelines, please visit JMS Books LLC online.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 12, 2009
This is my book so I won't review it.
June 24, 2011
I didn't like reading about Barry and Chris having sex. Not sure why that scene was added.
They suppossed to be best friends but Chris only. Alls when he wants to try out a new tattoo design? Some friendship
Then Chris calls lee like he has a new design and when lee shows up its just to drive Chris and his friends to a club to watch Chris' boyfriends band. What a doche, I don't like Chris.
Then Chris just starts removing Lees clothes at the club even after lee says no repeatedly. Chris just treats him like a piece of meat and doesn't even think of him as a person. Yeah Chris is a douche. Not seeing at all why Lee suppossedly loves him
And then Chris just ditched Lee at the club Lee didnt want to go to with his friends. Such a douche
The whole book all Chris can say is how great Barry is and how good in bed he is. Then Barry breaks up with him and he immediate moves on to Lee. They don't talk or anything though. They just starting to get together at 92% when the book ends at 93%. Very Unsatisfying ending and did nothing to redeem what a douche Chris was. Or to explain how he goes from not thinking of Lee as a brother (when he wasn't thinking of him as just a canvas to do whatever he wanted with) to wanting lee for sex.
They suppossed to be best friends but Chris only. Alls when he wants to try out a new tattoo design? Some friendship
Then Chris calls lee like he has a new design and when lee shows up its just to drive Chris and his friends to a club to watch Chris' boyfriends band. What a doche, I don't like Chris.
Then Chris just starts removing Lees clothes at the club even after lee says no repeatedly. Chris just treats him like a piece of meat and doesn't even think of him as a person. Yeah Chris is a douche. Not seeing at all why Lee suppossedly loves him
And then Chris just ditched Lee at the club Lee didnt want to go to with his friends. Such a douche
The whole book all Chris can say is how great Barry is and how good in bed he is. Then Barry breaks up with him and he immediate moves on to Lee. They don't talk or anything though. They just starting to get together at 92% when the book ends at 93%. Very Unsatisfying ending and did nothing to redeem what a douche Chris was. Or to explain how he goes from not thinking of Lee as a brother (when he wasn't thinking of him as just a canvas to do whatever he wanted with) to wanting lee for sex.
June 27, 2016
Cute little friends-to-lovers story with a cock-blocked ending. I would have liked a bit more, or a sequel.
November 26, 2023
his world nothing but black ink on pale skin and the faint smell of Old Spice deodorant wafting up from Lee as he works. It’s a smell Chris has come to associate with late nights at the tattoo parlor, the buzz of the needles, the cool splash of surgical soap against the plastic gloves he wears. It’s a smell that slips seductively into his unconsciousness and seizes him by the balls, kneading them like an attentive lover. If getting inked turns Lee on, inking Lee turns Chris on. Having someone lie beneath him, patient and still, while he draws his art into their willing flesh…it’s a heady rush, he has to admit. — Chris
Warnings: none of note.
The Tattooed Heart is not my fave J.M. Snyder's work but it is worth reading for the sake of completionism. The story kinda just ends, it does end with a choice but it does kinda just end. We kinda get an implication of what Chris was going to do, of what that tattoo was going to be but doesn't mean I don't want answers. It leaves a disappointing aftertaste. In my opinion, it needed to be about 2 or 3 pages longer for the ending to be satisfying.
The characters are pretty good and do work for the plot involved. The protagonists are Lee and his forever 'I've loved you forever but I can't say it aloud' best friend, tattooist Chris. We seem to learn less about Lee than Chris but Lee is so far in love that it is an if not when with him. Chris is kinda thick as it gets which is just funny objectively, though not when you read from Lee's perspective. He does his best work on Lee, at one point he refers to Lee as his muse which is fair. Largly the story takes place in the tattoo parlor Chris works in. There is one other character in the work that I really like, but I won't spoil it.
As an aside, this is one of the few Snyder novellas with a dedication. " To my own tattoo artist at Lucky 13."
A representative gif:
October 2, 2011
'The Tattooed Heart' is a perfect title for this love story by J.M. Snyder, because Lee's heart, along with a considerable amount of his body, is tattooed with love, devotion, and passion by his best friend, Chris. Things would be just great if Chris realized it. Even though his heart's desire is literally right before his eyes, Chris is still looking elsewhere for that special someone with whom he can share all of his hopes and dreams, who will always be there for him no matter what, to love him like no one else ever could. Lee is, and always has been, all these things and more to Chris but in his perception, Lee is his friend and nothing more.
My heart went out to Lee. Whenever Chris wanted something, he was there in a second, no matter what. He's suffered patiently through Chris's long line of suitors, waiting for his chance to be noticed. He is hoping that Chris will finally see what everyone else already knows, that Lee is much more than just his best friend. Until he does, Lee can only wait and hope. Even though I wanted Lee to be happy and was rooting for him the whole time, I was also hoping that he wouldn't wait forever.
Chris is a good person, but like so many artists, he is always looking beyond what he has. Personally, I think he felt more for Lee than he could process. They were so close that he couldn't separate that which was Chris from that which was Lee. It was so close that he kept looking beyond the obvious. He had a nagging feeling that he was missing something but not that it was Lee. More than once, I wanted to smack Chris and tell him he was a fool and that he'd better open his eyes before it was too late.
'The Tattooed Heart' is a short, sweet, different kind of love story and I appreciated its uniqueness. It reminded me to take nothing for granted and be appreciative of the good things in my life.
'The Tattooed Heart' is a perfect title for this love story by J.M. Snyder, because Lee's heart, along with a considerable amount of his body, is tattooed with love, devotion, and passion by his best friend, Chris. Things would be just great if Chris realized it. Even though his heart's desire is literally right before his eyes, Chris is still looking elsewhere for that special someone with whom he can share all of his hopes and dreams, who will always be there for him no matter what, to love him like no one else ever could. Lee is, and always has been, all these things and more to Chris but in his perception, Lee is his friend and nothing more.
My heart went out to Lee. Whenever Chris wanted something, he was there in a second, no matter what. He's suffered patiently through Chris's long line of suitors, waiting for his chance to be noticed. He is hoping that Chris will finally see what everyone else already knows, that Lee is much more than just his best friend. Until he does, Lee can only wait and hope. Even though I wanted Lee to be happy and was rooting for him the whole time, I was also hoping that he wouldn't wait forever.
Chris is a good person, but like so many artists, he is always looking beyond what he has. Personally, I think he felt more for Lee than he could process. They were so close that he couldn't separate that which was Chris from that which was Lee. It was so close that he kept looking beyond the obvious. He had a nagging feeling that he was missing something but not that it was Lee. More than once, I wanted to smack Chris and tell him he was a fool and that he'd better open his eyes before it was too late.
'The Tattooed Heart' is a short, sweet, different kind of love story and I appreciated its uniqueness. It reminded me to take nothing for granted and be appreciative of the good things in my life.
My heart went out to Lee. Whenever Chris wanted something, he was there in a second, no matter what. He's suffered patiently through Chris's long line of suitors, waiting for his chance to be noticed. He is hoping that Chris will finally see what everyone else already knows, that Lee is much more than just his best friend. Until he does, Lee can only wait and hope. Even though I wanted Lee to be happy and was rooting for him the whole time, I was also hoping that he wouldn't wait forever.
Chris is a good person, but like so many artists, he is always looking beyond what he has. Personally, I think he felt more for Lee than he could process. They were so close that he couldn't separate that which was Chris from that which was Lee. It was so close that he kept looking beyond the obvious. He had a nagging feeling that he was missing something but not that it was Lee. More than once, I wanted to smack Chris and tell him he was a fool and that he'd better open his eyes before it was too late.
'The Tattooed Heart' is a short, sweet, different kind of love story and I appreciated its uniqueness. It reminded me to take nothing for granted and be appreciative of the good things in my life.
'The Tattooed Heart' is a perfect title for this love story by J.M. Snyder, because Lee's heart, along with a considerable amount of his body, is tattooed with love, devotion, and passion by his best friend, Chris. Things would be just great if Chris realized it. Even though his heart's desire is literally right before his eyes, Chris is still looking elsewhere for that special someone with whom he can share all of his hopes and dreams, who will always be there for him no matter what, to love him like no one else ever could. Lee is, and always has been, all these things and more to Chris but in his perception, Lee is his friend and nothing more.
My heart went out to Lee. Whenever Chris wanted something, he was there in a second, no matter what. He's suffered patiently through Chris's long line of suitors, waiting for his chance to be noticed. He is hoping that Chris will finally see what everyone else already knows, that Lee is much more than just his best friend. Until he does, Lee can only wait and hope. Even though I wanted Lee to be happy and was rooting for him the whole time, I was also hoping that he wouldn't wait forever.
Chris is a good person, but like so many artists, he is always looking beyond what he has. Personally, I think he felt more for Lee than he could process. They were so close that he couldn't separate that which was Chris from that which was Lee. It was so close that he kept looking beyond the obvious. He had a nagging feeling that he was missing something but not that it was Lee. More than once, I wanted to smack Chris and tell him he was a fool and that he'd better open his eyes before it was too late.
'The Tattooed Heart' is a short, sweet, different kind of love story and I appreciated its uniqueness. It reminded me to take nothing for granted and be appreciative of the good things in my life.
Read
November 1, 2009This is the classical example of short story that makes me love so much J.M. Snyder: it's a sweet and tender story, a bit naughty but not too much, and there is no sex at all. It's erotic without being pornographic, and it's all about the feelings, feelings that are simple and warm, like a homemade pie with a spicy taste.
Chris and Lee were old time friends, they met when they were still children and never be apart from that moment. Chris is the smaller of the two, in age and body, but he is actually the leader: what Chris wants, Lee does, and every single desire of Chris is like a duty for Lee. It's obvious that Lee is madly in love with Chris, but Chris doesn't really see his friend. Lee is like an old blanket, comfortable and warm, something you always search in the colder nights, but then, the morning after, you leave it at home while you go on with your day-to-day life. And Lee is too shy and unselfish to pretend more from his best friend, it's enough for him that Chris always comes back to him.
But something is changed, Chris has a boyfriend, and now, it's Barry that always comes first. It's on Barry that Chris, a tattoo artist, wants to try new things, Barry is like a blank canvas and Lee instead is already full of their past history together, an history that's inked on Lee's body. Lee is like Chris's photobook, instead of pictures of Chris in different stage of his life, there are his tattoo, from the beginning to the last, all on Lee's body.
Now Chris has to realize that what he has always wanted is right there and he hasn't to search for new shores, he already met the love of his life 20 years ago.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/83...
Chris and Lee were old time friends, they met when they were still children and never be apart from that moment. Chris is the smaller of the two, in age and body, but he is actually the leader: what Chris wants, Lee does, and every single desire of Chris is like a duty for Lee. It's obvious that Lee is madly in love with Chris, but Chris doesn't really see his friend. Lee is like an old blanket, comfortable and warm, something you always search in the colder nights, but then, the morning after, you leave it at home while you go on with your day-to-day life. And Lee is too shy and unselfish to pretend more from his best friend, it's enough for him that Chris always comes back to him.
But something is changed, Chris has a boyfriend, and now, it's Barry that always comes first. It's on Barry that Chris, a tattoo artist, wants to try new things, Barry is like a blank canvas and Lee instead is already full of their past history together, an history that's inked on Lee's body. Lee is like Chris's photobook, instead of pictures of Chris in different stage of his life, there are his tattoo, from the beginning to the last, all on Lee's body.
Now Chris has to realize that what he has always wanted is right there and he hasn't to search for new shores, he already met the love of his life 20 years ago.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/83...
April 24, 2011
Title: The Tattooed Heart
Author: J. M. Snyder
Publisher: JMS Books
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-61152-066-8
Genre: Gay Fiction
Length: 30 pages
Buy Link
Author Website
Rating: 4 Diamonds
Heat Level: Sweet, sensual
Other: Gay, hinted at sex
Reviewer: Starla Kaye
Date: 4-24-11
This is one of those “can’t see the forest for the trees” type of stories. Sometimes it is hardest to see what is right in front of our eyes.
Chris works as a tattooist and his favorite canvas is his long-time friend. He has gone from lover to lover for years, always talking to his best friend about his relationships, including his newest lover.
Lee is Chris’s canvas for all of his friend’s best work. He is also Chris’s sounding board for things he really doesn’t want to hear. What he wants is for Chris to finally realize that Lee has been in love with him for a long time, but he doubts it will ever happen.
I wasn’t sure when I started the story if I would like it, as the writing is a bit rough. The writer has improved a lot over the years from what I’ve read of his work. But I stuck with the story and was very glad I did. Rough edges or not, and actual sex or not, this was a heartwarming story worth reading.
Author: J. M. Snyder
Publisher: JMS Books
Publication Date: 2008
ISBN: 978-1-61152-066-8
Genre: Gay Fiction
Length: 30 pages
Buy Link
Author Website
Rating: 4 Diamonds
Heat Level: Sweet, sensual
Other: Gay, hinted at sex
Reviewer: Starla Kaye
Date: 4-24-11
This is one of those “can’t see the forest for the trees” type of stories. Sometimes it is hardest to see what is right in front of our eyes.
Chris works as a tattooist and his favorite canvas is his long-time friend. He has gone from lover to lover for years, always talking to his best friend about his relationships, including his newest lover.
Lee is Chris’s canvas for all of his friend’s best work. He is also Chris’s sounding board for things he really doesn’t want to hear. What he wants is for Chris to finally realize that Lee has been in love with him for a long time, but he doubts it will ever happen.
I wasn’t sure when I started the story if I would like it, as the writing is a bit rough. The writer has improved a lot over the years from what I’ve read of his work. But I stuck with the story and was very glad I did. Rough edges or not, and actual sex or not, this was a heartwarming story worth reading.
January 17, 2017
Tattooed hotties!!!
I stumbled on this book while I was looking for something else. When I read the blurb I immediately clicked it. It looked like a great little story and I was right. Loved how Lee had always loved Chris while Chris was oblivious to it. Felt so bad for him though. Especially when Chris would get all gooey over his latest boyfriend. I really didn't expect to like Barry but in the end, I did. I only wish there was a little more to the story.
I stumbled on this book while I was looking for something else. When I read the blurb I immediately clicked it. It looked like a great little story and I was right. Loved how Lee had always loved Chris while Chris was oblivious to it. Felt so bad for him though. Especially when Chris would get all gooey over his latest boyfriend. I really didn't expect to like Barry but in the end, I did. I only wish there was a little more to the story.
January 28, 2010
More like 3.5 stars ... I really love the "falling for your best friend" theme. I think my "problem" with this story (so I can't give it 4 stars) is that I want a little bit more in the end. Oh, I know it's a novella, so it's short, but I wish I can see a glimpse of what happens next because man, Lee has been waiting for a long time for Chris to pay attention, right?
July 10, 2012
I see what everyone means when they say it was too short.
More like the ending and the whole finally-got-together-thing was underdeveloped. Maybe the author was going for a short but powerful ending but all it felt was abrupt.
Still, I enjoyed the story very much. It's a good in-between book and I recommend it to those who enjoy this genre
More like the ending and the whole finally-got-together-thing was underdeveloped. Maybe the author was going for a short but powerful ending but all it felt was abrupt.
Still, I enjoyed the story very much. It's a good in-between book and I recommend it to those who enjoy this genre
February 7, 2012
3.5 stars
February 16, 2016
Also part of the Hard at Work Anthology
March 20, 2012
This had me close to tears right from the word go. I could feel the pain these boys were in.
My only criticism is that there wasn't enough of it.
My only criticism is that there wasn't enough of it.
May 20, 2012
too short.
February 7, 2016
Ending was a bit disappointing...
May 14, 2017
Great writing style but disappointed that I had to read about one MC having sex with someone else and then when he is finally about to do it with the other MC, the story just stopped.
April 21, 2011
*Sigh* I was really sad with how short this one was but it was so good.
June 18, 2014
This is on OK story that just fell short for me. It felt stilted and a little wooden.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews