Under My Skin

Under My Skin by M.L Rhodes
Amber Allure

Romance/Contemporary

Novella

4 out of 5

Blurb:
The smart guy”—Sebastian Keller’s lived with that label most of his life. Though he hasn’t always appreciated it, and it hasn’t exactly made him a man magnet, he’s put his intelligence to work building his store, Great Escapes Travel Book Shop, to the point it’s now the favorite recommendation of travel agents in the St. Louis area. His customers—especially the jet-setting senior citizens—love him for his amiable personality.

He doesn’t feel very amiable, however, when Rad Tattoos moves in next door to Great Escapes. Its owner, Dylan Radamacher, rubs Sebastian the wrong way from the get-go. The man’s insufferable, stubborn, and, worse, a bad boy. Everything Sebastian loathes. To add insult to injury, Sebastian’s certain the loud music, the congested parking lot, and the constant colorful parade of the counterculture in and out of the tattoo studio are scaring away his loyal, conservative customers.

And yet, much to his annoyance, the teasing sparkle in Dylan’s eyes, his hot, inked body, and come-hither voice set Sebastian’s libido on fire. Sebastian’s “been there, done that” with the bad-boy type before, though, and almost lost everything because of it. There’s no way he’s going down that road again.

But when Dylan sets his sights on Sebastian and is determined to take him for a walk on the wild side, Sebastian knows he’s in big trouble. It’s going to take all his smarts and a whole lot of willpower to resist the sexy tattoo artist before the man finds a way to burrow deeper under his skin...

Review:
What can I say about Under My Skin that the blurb didn’t? I think it covered every element of this short story so I am just gonna share my thoughts on the book. I was a sweet story with a nice message and I enjoyed reading it.

Sebastian is considered the "smart guy" by looks alone, he is actually a smart guy but he hates the label. Sebastian has a habit of picking bad men, and has sworn to stay away from the bad boy looking type, because they only bring pain. He has his own travel store, his neighbour store is a tattoo parlour, and he’s hating it but digging the owner. He knows that the motorcycle and tattoo wearing type is bad news but he can’t help his attraction.

When a late night get together leads to hot sex with the tattoo storeowner Dylan, Sebastian is cursing himself in all kinds of ways, yet he is drawn to the bigger man and is hoping that Dylan will be his right decision. Until a misunderstanding leads him to jump to conclusions and might put the love affair to end before it even begins.

I really liked this short story it was quick and sweet. A few life lessons to be learnt here (yes there is life lessons in M/M romance/erotica). This one is 'don’t judge a book by its cover', 'just because one orange in the bag is sour doesn’t mean that they all will be', you know that kinda stuff. Sebastian was quick to judge Dylan because of his rotten relationship in the past and it almost cost him a chance at real happiness. In addition, deals with labels, because body art does not mean you are crude and stupid. Just one of many ways a person can express themselves. Overall, a very nice read.

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