Hard Ink

Get Ink'd, Book 4

By: Ali Lyda

Narrated by: Connor Brown

I don’t have the best history with older men.

When Mateo saw my last relationship implode, he was there to help. He saved me. Hopefully, self-defense lessons will keep me from getting hit again.

I can’t ask for more of my friend. Even dreaming of keeping him is wrong. But when my ex makes things difficult, Mateo steps up again.

I don’t want a protector, but maybe, it’s time to accept a little help. For the first time in my life, I want something real.

What will it cost to keep the man I’m falling for?

Bryan needs a protector. Those rich old guys that chase after him aren’t the answer. All I want is to keep him safe.

I want to watch him grow into the strong man I know he can be. Falling for him wasn’t the plan. But now that I’ve had a taste, I can’t let him go.

Sparks and ink fly in Hard Ink, a 60,000-word stand-alone m/m workplace romance between a tattoo artist and teacher Mateo and his student and co-worker Bryan.

©2020 Special Fiction Books (P)2020 Special Fiction Books

Fantastic

Hard Ink by Ali Lyda is part of the Get Ink'd series and is a sweet and steamy m/m romance that is a mix of  co-worker and  teacher/student  love.  Mateo and Bryan are fun characters and their story made me smile.  Anothet great addition to the series.
For the audiobook, Connor Brown does a fantastic job as Narrator of this story.  Great voice performance and recording

Mateo and Bryan's story!

The magic of Ali Lyda and the Get Ink'd series continues with Mateo and Bryan's story. This is an age-gap/protector story with a little bit of kink thrown in. As always, Ali developed these characters to be relatable and likable. The story was well thought out and developed to make it easy for the reader to follow along.

Bryan is being stalked by a former daddy he met on a dating app. Mateo is there to save him when he gets into trouble. Both Bryan knows he needs Mateo to protect him and their relationship forms on the premise that not only would Mateo be his protector but he would be a good daddy to Bryan. Their chemistry is amazing and the ways Mateo is always there for Bryan are heartwarming

This can be read as a standalone but if you want to understand what's going on and how the other characters play a role, I would highly recommend reading the other books in the series first.

I received and reviewed this book as part of Gay Romance Reviews.

Inked protector with a slight age gap

I enjoyed this so much. I had not read anything by the authors before and I had not heard the narrator. So I went in blind, and it was right up my alley. A big inked protector who is trying not to notice how sweet and sexy his co-worker and now student is. Brian is a 19 year old just trying to figure out his life and get it back on the track he wants after an unfortunate upbringing. Matteo seems to have his life all together, but he too had a rough childhood. Now with Brian being stalked, they come together to help Brian learn self defense and decide further protection is needed to help keep Brian’s grandfather safe so Brian lives in with Matteo!! Their relationship develops naturally, as they were both trying hard not to be together. Once they are together it is sweet and lovely. They do have a misunderstanding but Brian seriously made up for it. And there is a scare with Brian possibly being hurt. And in the end Matteo gets a wonderful HEA with his family and Brian.

ARC provided by GRR in exchange for an honest review.

Age-Gap Romance with Personal Growth at Its Heart

"Hard Ink" is the second audio book I've listen to in the Get Ink'd series and, while it works as a standalone, further goes to show how I need to catch up on the first two audios that I leapfrogged over because they're so good.

The undeniable chemistry between tattoo artist Mateo and his student and co-worker Bryan absolutely crackled in my headphones, and Mateo's protectiveness of the younger man only added to it. Their individual journeys - Mateo's relationship with his mother, and Bryan's personal growth from an emotionally hurt kid lacking direction to an open and capable young man - are as satisfying as their HEA together.

Narrator Connor Brown delivers another engaging performance here that added to my overall enjoyment of the audio book. I received this free review copy audio book by request and have left this honest review voluntarily.

Misunderstood bad boys

These 2 are the sweetest bad boys who are actually really good guys and just get the short end until they don't! I loved this when I read it myself and Brown's performance made it even better for me!