ANGEL'S INK: Book 1 (The Asylum Tales)

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World building: The expression I would use here is 'half-assed'. There were several interesting details, yet I felt that the various details never made up a cohesive *whole*. There are some important things that Gage must keep secret. But at the end of the book he is sitting outside with his two friends telling them everything. Someone could have been listening nearby. As urban fantasies go, I pretty much enjoyed Angel’s Ink, but I also had a few issues, which is why I ultimately decided to review it. Angel’s Ink is an other-earthly blend of magic and technology in the best tradition of urban fantasy that refused to let me go. The continuing Asylum Tales promise to be intriguing and wildly inventive.”

I wasn't expecting a budding romance in Angel's Ink but am thankful to Ms. Drake for including one. After everything Gage goes through you want the guy to at least get a little action! I enjoyed the flirty banter between Gage and Trixie so I had no problem when these two finally put all that tension to good use. The author adds just enough of a romantic element without taking away from the story at hand. Another aspect which made me pretty uncomfortable: apparently the dark elves/svartalfar are literally dark-skinned and are, I quote, "known for only two things: ruthless cunning and merciless cruelty". There were times where he seemed to care about ethics and doing the right thing, yet it wasn't clear to me exactly when that was. For example, he would sometimes create magical tattoos for various individuals, without much care to the potential consequences (i.e. one specific example of this is that of a group of satyrs or non human beings who came to ask for magical tattoos which would have an effect on women, and the Love Interest had to remind him that magical tattoos could have different effects on different species and that this could affect the capacity to consent of some beings by making the females of some species more suggestible when it came to sex... and he didn't seem to care much about this and seemed to have mostly changed the tattoos to make HER happy, rather than because his own conscience told him to do so). When I read urban fantasy I'm not looking for something that focuses on the romance - I'm more interested in a fast paced plot and really getting to know the characters and the world that the author has created. Yes a lot of my favourite urban fantasy series do contain a hint of romance but most of the time it has that kind of will they / won't they theme running through at least the first few books and I really enjoy that kind of tension between the characters. In the case of Gage and Trixie there was no tension, everything flows together too easily and at times felt a bit more like I was reading a paranormal romance. I just didn't feel invested in either of the characters and didn't believe that there was any real emotional connection between them, definitely not enough for them to become a couple. Angel’s Ink had been sitting in my Audible library since December 2017, so I couldn’t say I was in a hurry to get to it. Audiobooks aren’t my main format for reading, so that’s not much of a surprise. I guess I got it because it was on sale and the blurb seemed really interesting and pretty much had everything that could hook me to a book. The funny thing is, at the time I didn’t have a tattoo yet (but I wanted to have one!) or the blog (funny coincidence with the series title, but then I don’t believe in coincidences), so I had no idea what a good fit it’ll be within 2 years, hah!

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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 an other-earthly blend of magic and technology in the best tradition of urban fantasy that refused to let me go. The continuing Asylum Tales promise to be intriguing and wildly inventive. Kim Harrison I also thought the tattoo aspect of the book was so neat. I love the idea of tattooing a charm or spell into the skin, and all the good and bad that comes along with it. The potions and mixing was neat too, and I’m glad we got to see a little hint of how the process works, I do hope that Drake really delves more into it in future books. Angel’s Ink indelibly marks the beginning of something phenomenal and every reader whose tastes run to the supernatural—those who can’t wait to sink their teeth into the latest Patricia Briggs, Carrie Vaughn, Kelley Armstrong, or Jim Butcher—will want to fly with this Angel.

The first book in a sexy, dark and gripping new paranormal romance series by New York Times bestselling author Jocelynn Drake.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. 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 had some issues with the characterization of the two main characters however, which I will detail below.

The one thing that did somewhat bother me was that it seemed like there were a MILLION things going on. It felt like Drake kept adding more and more drama and mishaps into the storyline, and it was a wonder that Gage was able to get out alive after just a few short days of his world tumbling down around him. Perhaps you’ve got high-volume printing needs, trust a laser printerto get the job done efficiently. They’re perfect to get rich-quality print without a lot of wait time – perfect for home and office use. Use canon printer inkto make the most out of your prized printers – it works great with all kinds of printers – inkjet or laser and delivers crisp text and highly vivid photos to make your work stand out.Oh, and she was running from some nasty guys who wanted to force her into a marriage she didn't want. Characters other than the main character aren't as well developed - maybe too many of them? I definitely would have liked to see the female lead and the troll friend/coworker get a lot more involvement and character development. Overall, I just found this book to be a lot of fun. It’s Harry Potter for grown-ups (and yes I realize several adults have read Harry Potter myself included!) This was definitely a great start to a new series that guarantees to only get better. I can’t wait to see more of Gage and Trixie’s growing relationship and to see if Gage will have to forfeit that year in the underworld with Lilith. There are so many questions left unanswered and I’m truly glad some were left open as I don’t feel it would be much fun if everything was wrapped up in a nice neat bow at the end of every book. This leaves so many possibilities for Gage and his friends and promises of things to come in the next book; a book that I can’t wait to read! I’m always excited about new urban fantasy series, hoping I’ll discover a new Kate Daniels, new Mercy Thompson or Kara Gillian (or in this case, a new Atticus O’Sullivan). I never do, of course, but a girl can dream, right? In many ways, Angel’s Ink was better than I expected, but parts of it were disappointing as well. I’ll try not to focus only on them.