Angel’s Ink audiobook

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Dark, urban fantasy set is a masterfully built world with lots of action but with so much going on it can be distracting. Opening Sentence: The hammer of a gun clicked as it was cocked. The Review: Angel’s Ink starts off a fascinating new series where humans live alongside the supernatural. This world has seen its fair share of blood spilled, most of it by witches and warlocks. Gage is currently a tattoo artist but was once a warlock in training. But once a warlock, always a warlock, he has to hide what he is for fear of hate, retribution and revenge against warlocks. Gage tries to act like a tough, cold hearted man but he really has a soft spot when it comes to the ladies and even some of his close male friends. So when a girl with terminal cancer walks into his tattoo parlor wanting angel wings tattooed onto her back, he tries to use his special potions to come up with a way to prolong her life. Unfortunately this backfires in such a way that he ends up in a fight for his own life. Gage is a trouble magnet. Just when you think that this guy can’t get drug down any deeper he gets thrown down another hole. Angel’s Ink is filled with many plot devices that sometimes may have you wondering where this story is going. The story is not just about the girl getting the angel tattoos. Gage also has to face his evil ex-mentor that is out to kill him and the trouble that his friends Trixie and Bronx are going through that he takes it upon himself to help solve. One of the main elements that I really enjoyed about Angel’s Ink was the tremendous cast of characters. I got to learn more about Trixie and Bronx from the novellas than in the actual novel and I thought Chang was funnier in the novella. He was in but his eccentricity that finds him really intriguing. Gideon, the warlock watching Gage, has many secrets but it was his actions at the beginning of the novel that had me wanting to know more about him. My favorite character has to be Sophie, the witchy talking cat. Angel’s Ink is told entirely through Gage’s point of view. Gage is not supposed to use magic as a part of his leaving his warlock training but he often uses it when he gets into trouble, using his magic just gets him into even more trouble. The romance may seem to play out quickly but in the timeline of the book, it has been playing out for two years. In the end, Angel’s Ink will appeal to fans of dark, urban fantasy. As the beginning of a series, it sets up many storylines that will be finished later. As it is, I can’t wait to see what is next for Gage and his circle of friends. Notable Scene: As I focused on directing more lightning at Simon, it felt as if a large hand wrapped around my throat and squeezed tightly, threatening to close off my breathing. I couldn’t stop myself from raising both hands and clawing at nothingness as I struggled to catch my breath. The hand tightened and proceeded to pull me, on my back, across the open space behind the tattoo parlor. I commanded the lightning to pound the ground where Simon stood, but I was blind to his exact location. If I was lucky I would take him down before I was strangled to death. And then the invisible hand released me. Holding my throat, I rolled onto my stomach and looked up at where Simon had last been standing. The air rushed from my lungs. Trixie stood behind him with one arm thrown across his chest, her other hand holding a large knife tightly against his throat. I don’t know how she’d managed to sneak past us both unnoticed, but I wasn’t going to question this change in events. Shoving to my feet, I gathered together the energy swirling about me and reached out for Simon’s soul once again. This time I would simply pull it from his body and release it into the air. The soul would not be able to reenter the body and the warlock would be dead. Sure, I would lose a year of my own life for killing him with magic, but it was a price I was willing to pay for Trixie. Only those with a death wish attacked a warlock.FTC Advisory: Harper Voyager/Harper Collins provided me with a copy of Angel’s Ink. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

I LOVED this book. It was one of the better urban fantasy books I have read. Angel's Ink was right up there with Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson. I really liked that it was a male lead too. That gave this series a little something different to set it apart from the before mentioned books. The characters were all so interesting in this book. I was pretty much instantly enthralled in their stories. I feel like I have only scratched the surface with all if them. I need more!!! I can tell you that what I do know about them, I LOVE! There was never a dull moment in this book. It seemed there was always a new intriguing character, or interesting twist around every corner. I can't wait to see what happens next in this incredible world Jocelynn Drake has created :)

3.5 stars-You may read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2012/10/...After a tattoo gone wrong, Gage Powell finds himself at the receiving end of a gun barrel. Seems a good luck tattoo’s ingredients weren’t up to snuff, but it didn’t help that the customer wasn’t willing to shell out more than $50. A misfiring tattoo is bad enough, and after taking care of the disgruntled customer (with his fist), Gage is visited by his warden, Gideon, who is determined to catch Gage practicing unsanctioned magic. Gage left the life of an Ivory Tower warlock a long time ago, but he’s on probation, and if he gets caught using serious magic, the punishment will mean death. The fact that his old nemesis Simon Thorn is also on his trail is just icing. Simon considers Gage a blot and means to wipe the blot that is Gage out. Gage can hold his own, but is only able to use magic in self-defense, which isn’t always convenient. When he’s visited by a dying girl who wants a pair of wings tattooed on her back he decides to put “a little bit extra” in the tattoo, to simultaneously wonderful and disastrous effect.Poor Gage. He just wants to live his life, run his tattoo shop, The Asylum, and work a little magic, preferably to help people, but the warlocks he does his best to avoid make his life a living hell, and he must find a way to correct the tattoo that was supposed to save a dying girl’s life, but ended up doing much more, or his very soul will be in jeopardy. He’s allowed to use magic in self defense, but never to kill, or he will lose a year of his life (which would be spent in the underworld and not without pain.)Warlocks and witches are universally feared and he never wanted to be cruel and heartless like so many of his kind. He was taken away from his family at a very young age, when he began showing magical promise, and for their safety, hasn’t contacted them since. Makes for a pretty lonely existence, but it’s not all bad. For example, he has good friend in Bronx, the big hearted (and just plain big), troll that tattoos in his shop, and Trixie, the beautiful elf that’s hiding a secret of her own, and who he’s been nursing a crush on from the moment he laid eyes on her. All the magic in the world won’t save him if his friends get hurt because of him, and that severely hinders him in what he can and cannot do.Gage reminds me a little bit of Harry Dresden, and although this isn’t (yet) quite as good as that series, it certainly shows promise. It’s always refreshing for me when we get a new male protagonist to root for in urban fantasy, and Low Town is a wonderful world to escape to for a while if you need to get your fix of fey, vampires, weres, etc. I enjoyed this first book in a new series, and the author also has e-shorts out about Bronx and Trixie if you’d like to know more about those characters. Gage is a great new UF voice, and his devotion to his friends (who he considers his family) is partly what makes this such a fun read. Fans of urban fantasy should enjoy this one, and will certainly look forward to the next installment.

Posted at Yummy Men & Kick Ass Chicks Angel’s Ink is the first book in Jocelynn Drake’s new The Asylum Tales series. I have heard wonderful things about this author’s work so when I noticed that she was starting a new series I jumped at the chance to read her. I’m glad I did.Angel’s Ink is about a warlock ‘sort-of-in-hiding’ who runs a tattoo parlor called Asylum. People and beings can come into the shop to either get a ‘regular’ tattoo or to get Gage and his crew to mix in a bit of potion to heighten the tattoo and giving it extra power such as luck or love. In Jocelynn’s new world, warlocks use their power to make others fear them – something Gage wanted nothing to do with and the reason he left The Ivory Towers. The premise of the series is fantastic. And it’s told from Gage’s perspective which I also found unique. You don’t often find books written by female authors being told using a man’s point of view. And she did a good job with it. Not once did I think “this is a woman writing as a man”.I loved Gage as a character. We’ve only just started scratching the surface of his story and I for one am looking forward to reading more about him. His power, even though he is not supposed to use magic at all, seems to have grown since leaving the Towers and I’m curious to see how that will impact not only his life but his friend’s too.Gage has two co-workers in his tattoo parlor. Trixie and Bronx. Trixie is an elf and doesn’t realize that Gage knows what she is. She was cute and fun to read. She’s also Gage’s love interest and I found they went well together. Trixie has a pretty important plot line in the book that sort of came out of nowhere a bit into the book and it continues on. The book ends hinting that hers will be a main plot in the next book.Bronx, I loved him! He’s a troll and the strong silent type. But when he did talk it was important and meaningful. And his actions spoke so much of him. He’s loyal, smart and I found myself smiling when he was on the page. There was just something about him. He too is the subject of an odd and out of nowhere sub-sub-plot line that I know will continue in the next book. His plotline really seemed forced in there though since it was introduced close enough to the end of the book and not enough of an explanation came along with it. Let’s hope a little clarification comes in the next installment.As I already mentioned twice, there are a lot of plotlines in this book. The book opens with Gage facing off against an irate customer and then facing off with his guardian, Gideon (another great character by the way). Then we meet Tera, a young woman who is dying of cancer and who wants angel wings tattooed onto her back. That one was a great storyline. I would have loved for the entire book to be just about that one but it wasn’t. In fact, I found that this story fell to the side of the others after a while and that was a shame. I liked Tera and her story broke my heart. Her explanation of why she wanted the wings on her back gripped my heart. But then Gage’s tattoo mentor and warlock mentor are thrown into the mix and Trixie and Bronx’s problems are shoved in there on top of the already too many story lines…it really was just too much. And the storylines weren’t all introduced in the beginning of the book. Nope. Once you settle into one plot, the next one jumps out so you can’t focus on the first one or two or three because you are finding yourself thinking on the fourth, fifth and sixth! I understand that the author was setting things up for the next books in the series but in doing so, she made it difficult for me to fully embrace any of the stories. With a couple out of the way by the end of Angel’s Ink, I’d hope that the stories will be more refined in book two.The world the author created, while a good one, seemed just thrown together. I am thinking it’s like this because it is stuck in the middle of all of these plots and sub-plots and sub-sub-plots and that in the next book the world will become more refined. At least I’m hoping that is the case because the frame is there and what I see, I liked.Because the bones of the story were solid and the characters were good, I am not kicking this series to the curb quite yet. I feel that this series has a lot of potential and I just think that the author has to streamline things a little bit. Because really, Jocelynn has a great writing voice and the pacing of the book was nice. So before giving you my true opinion on the series, as opposed to just this first book, I am going to give book two a try. Then I think I’ll have a better feeling of where this series is headed. Angel’s Ink had its issues but I still believe it is worth reading.3.5 stars

I like this new Urban Fantasy world from Jocelynn Drake. It's different. Supernaturals live openly among humans, but the magic-wielding witches and warlocks are set apart from everyone else. They are powerful, ruthless, and consider themselves gods. No one can stop them. No one even dares to question them.Gage changed that. Primed to be a warlock from childhood, he turned his back on it all. He refused to look at humans as chattel and left the Ivory Towers behind to become a tattoo artist. Of course, he's not only pushing ink, his tats are imbued with special potions that give the recipient a little something extra, from good luck to love spells and beyond. He remains under the watch of the warlocks, though. If he uses his magic for anything other than self-defense, he's a dead man.Gage has a little trouble clamping down on his gifts, but he tries. He wants to keep the new life he has made for himself: his tattoo parlor and his two employees and best friends Bronx and Trixie. Of course, to call Trixie a friend may be a little bit of an understatement. He is head over heels for the beautiful elf in hiding. He knows she has secrets, but as he learns why she is on the run, the two of them become closer and closer.Things are going on along pretty well for Gage until a woman dying of cancer comes into his shop, asking for a special tattoo. She tells him she wants wings on her back, saying it may be closest she ever comes to being an angel. Gage is touched by her story and ends up mixing a powerful potion that inadvertently makes her immortal. He must spend the rest of the book trying to clean up his mistake, all while trying to help Trixie out of her problems, and staying away from his old warlock mentor who is hellbent on killing him.If it sounds like there is a lot going on, that's because there is. The book is faced paced and kept me engaged from beginning to end. I love how easily Drake slips in the details of the world-building. There are no big info dumps, but I always felt like I understood what was going on. I liked Gage, and though I am not used to a male first person POV in my Urban Fantasies, it was easy to slide into his head. He is a good guy, but he's not a perfect guy. He's powerful but he's not infallible. He is impetuous and he makes some bad choices, but I think that's part of why I like him.I felt like the relationship between Gage and Trixie was a little... easy. I think I would have liked the chance for a little more tension to grow between these two. But romance and deep feelings take a backseat to the action in this book. It's not superficial, but it's not emotionally gripping. It's fast and exciting.When all is said and done, I feel like we got a solid resolution, but the door is left wide open for the future of Gage and his crew. I look forward to see what is coming for them next.Rating: B*ARC Provided by Harper Voyager

Review Courtesy of All Things Urban FantasyAfter reading the two standalone ‘prequels’ for Jocelynn Drake’s The Asylum Tales series, I was more than ready for a full length novel set in this fascinatingly gritty world with these intriguingly flawed characters. ANGEL’S INK introduces a budding romance between outcast mage turned tattoo artist Gage and on the lam elf Trixie which I would have liked to evolve over a few books to get used to the idea instead of being hit with it so suddenly.Apart from the somewhat rushed romance, Drake does an excellent job of introducing us to various sorts of characters and creatures without getting bogged down in details and descriptions. One of my favorite introductions involved a group of amorous satyrs wanting virility tattoos at Gage’s shop.While I enjoyed all of the time spent in the tattoo shop, I was excited when Gage finally ventured out. The plot moved at a steady pace since Gage never catches a break between troubles with weres, warlocks, and elves. Not to mention the fascinating stigma he was forced to carry around as a mage since warlocks have a well earned evil reputation, something we don’t tend to come across too often in urban fantasy.All in all, ANGEL’S INK introduces a complex world filled with interesting creatures, magical tattoo shops, and engaging, complex characters. Gage is especially intriguing as a quick thinking protagonist trying outrun his murky past but never able to fully turn his back on his magic. This series has already left it’s mark on me and I’ll be looking forward to more ink when the next book in The Asylum Tales series hits shelves in 2013.Sexual Content: references to sex, sex scenes

Angels Ink by Jocelynn DrakeThis book fills in all the background information that I wanted when I read Asylum Interviews:Bronx. Another title could be warlock on the run as the protagonist is rougue warlock operating as a tattoo artist whose ink conveys more than just symbols. I mentioned in my review of Bronx that I really liked Ms. Drake’s characterizations. I like them even better in a book where she has the space to bring them to full fruition. Stories of camaraderie are among my favorite. The willingness of friends to sacrifice all in the name of love is eminently laudable. Trixie was mesmerizing. Ms. Drake painted a breath taking picture of allure. Frazetta could have painted a show stopper with Ms. Drake's description. Bronx, the troll, is a companion we would all like guarding our back. Ink power is a concept that hopefully will fuel many stories to come. In addition to the heart warming, flawed protagonists there were some great characters as villains. Add in a deliciously complicated plot, a bit of powdered sugar for a brief but steamy love scene, swirl with complex and bombastic violence and you have a memorable recipe for a terrific book. I liked the short story that featured Bronx but I loved the book defining Gage as the main protagonist. In the vein of Jim Butcher but with plenty of differences this author should have a hit series on her hands!I highly recommend the book.

Gage Powell is a tattoo artist and potion stirrer keeping the secret that he's a warlock escaped from the Ivory Towers from not only from his staff and friends, but all of Low Town. If he's discovered or uses any magic other than in self-defense he will be quickly brought before the council and executed.When Tera, a young girl dying of cancer comes into his shop, Gage gives her incredible angel wing tattoo but with unexpected consequences. Gage encounters one difficulty after another in his quest to set things right. His magical mentor is out to kill him, the local crime lord is determined to recruit him, and the potion ingredient he needs to correct his mistake with Tera's ink is only found in the underworld.Angel's Ink is a great start to this new urban fantasy series. Jocelyn Drake has created a rich world populated with all kinds of paranormal creatures. The characters are compelling and I can't wait to learn more about them, especially Bronx and Trixie-Gage's coworkers (and love interest in Trixie), as the series continues! There is action, action, and more action! Every time Gage seems to find a solution, more trouble piles on top of him. While a few plot points are resolved at the end of Angel's Ink, there's still plenty to be addressed in upcoming books.Angel's Ink should definitely make it onto your TBR lists! I know that Book 2, Dead Man's Deal (out May 2013), is already on mine!

3.5 stars. Im going to cheat and copy my comments from the BOM activity...Well Im all done, and I think I lost a bit of interest after the first 100 pages. Maybe I did get too caught up in the fact that it was very Dresdonish. After the whole angel wing tattoo I was waiting for a really gritty and powerful stroyline to evolve around this. I was a little disappointed with the ending (view spoiler). I didnt mind the pace and I liked the side characters, but when they werent there I missed them. And tbh I kept forgetting that Gabe was even male. There were a lot of unanswered questions, and things not explained to a satisfactory degree. But as a book that can be taken on face value withouth looking too deep, Id still give it 4. Cause there was a cat....Ok spoiler now added. (view spoiler)[I didnt understand how Sparks had "Set him up". Simon could get to him at any time, and I didnt really get this as a big reveal. I understand Sparks referred Tera to Gabe so that he would go back to him for info cause Simon threatened to kill him, but didnt Simon just pounce wherever anyway? Also I thought the whole Lilith thing was a little too isolated. Its not like she was part of a storyline thread from early on that picked up at the end. It seemed a little disjounted (hide spoiler)]