15 Romance Books About Tattoo Artists

Under Locke
by Marina Zapata

He was my boss, my brother’s friend, a Widow, an ex-felon, and a man I’d seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.

After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly… even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she’s ever met. He’s rude, impatient and doesn’t know how to tell time.

And the last thing they ever expected was each other. But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop.… she should have chosen the strip club.

“Babe, I’ve handpicked everythin’ and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want,” he breathed. “And I keep what’s mine.”

Business Casual
by B.K. Borison

Nova Porter isn’t looking for love, and she certainly has no explanation for her attraction to buttoned-up, three-piece-suit-wearing investment banker Charlie Milford. Maybe it’s his charm? Or maybe it’s his determination to help her fledgling business however he can. Either way, she’s distracted every time he’s around. With her new tattoo studio set to open in her hometown of Inglewild, she doesn’t have time for frivolous flirtations. 

In an effort to get Charlie out of her system once and for all, Nova offers a proposition. One night. No strings. They’ll kick their uncomfortable attraction to the curb and return to their respective responsibilities. But their explosive night together scatters their expectations like fallen leaves. And with Charlie in town as the temporary head of Lovelight Farms, Nova can’t quite avoid him. 

And Charlie? Well, Charlie knows a good investment when he sees one. He’s hoping he can convince Nova he’s worth some of her time.

Tonic
by Staci Hart

Rule number one of producing reality TV: don’t fall for the talent. Especially not the tattooed, cocky man looking at me like a dare he’s dying to take.

I’ve had to be tough in a world that doesn’t take women seriously—all business, no weakness, never let them see you crack. Joel Anderson is pure fire, all beard and bravado and blistering hot smirks. The only thing he takes seriously is driving me crazy.

But beneath the cocky exterior is a man who’s steady, loyal, and dangerously good at melting my armor. The more time I spend in his tattoo shop, the harder it gets to remember why I swore off men like him in the first place.

Then my boss makes it clear: if I want to keep my job, I’ll have to do whatever it takes to make this show a hit. Even if it means using Joel’s darkest secret as ammunition.

I can save my career, or I can save what we’re building. But the choice might destroy us both.

Throttle Me
by Chelle Bliss

Welcome to Inked—the hottest tattoo studio in the south. The men of Inked are pierced, tattooed, and loyal with a dash of grumpy, mingled with a heavy dose of protective male, and best of all—they’re family.

Suzy’s a control freak and has her life mapped out – work hard, find a man with a stable job, and live happily ever after. She’s content with the status quo, but her plan comes to a screeching halt when he enters her life and turns it upside down.

City gave up on love when his heart was crushed in college, preferring to be the typical bachelor. He spends his nights hopping from one bed to another and his days working at his family tattoo shop, Inked. A chance encounter on a dark road makes him question what he had sworn off forever – a relationship.

Is City the knight in shining armor to the damsel in distress? Can their relationship survive when a fantasy falls apart and a secret comes out that changes everything?

Flirting With Forever
by Claire Kingsley

Nora Lakes is sophisticated, successful, and happily single. Career problems aside, her life is fine the way it is, thank you very much. Sure, her best friends are all moving into a new season of life—full of husbands and babies and white picket fences. But that’s not what Nora wants.

Neither is the gruff, tattooed guy next door.

Tattoo artist Dex St. James has enough trouble on his hands without the distractingly beautiful woman next door. Being a single dad to a teenage girl is no joke. The last thing he needs is a flirtatious new neighbor who makes his blood run hot.

He’ll just avoid her. She’s not his type anyway.

But Nora and Dex can’t seem to stay out of each other’s way. Between a pesky nocturnal visitor, Nora’s blossoming friendship with Dex’s daughter, and their undeniable chemistry, that up-against-the-wall, brain-melting kiss was probably inevitable.

Nora has rules when it comes to men, and she has her reasons. Dex threatens to break every last one of them. She doesn’t want forever. He won’t settle for anything less. But when these two collide, the result is fire.

And maybe even forever.

Delicate Ink
by Carrie Ann Ryan

One look at the woman who comes in for new ink and Austin Montgomery knows she’s the one for him. The problem: she can’t stand him. Now he’ll have to be his most charming and brooding if he has any chance of changing her mind…and claiming her heart.

Sierra Elder has reasons for keeping away and secrets close to her heart. An accident took her first love and scarred more than her soul in the process. Now the inked man with a wicked grin is starting to melt the ice she’s built to keep her safe, but the danger isn’t only from what she feels.

Some secrets were never meant to be kept and when mistakes from both of their pasts come knocking, they’ll have to trust each other, even if it could hurt them both in the process.

A Little Bit Like Desire
by Brooke Blaine

Shaw Jennings, the seductive, enigmatic owner of Body Electric Tattoo works hard and plays even harder. He’s built a life he’s proud of, and though that doesn’t include a significant other, he’s got plenty of sexy men to keep his bed warm at night. None of them have ever made Shaw sit up and take notice for long, though. But that all changes when a famous rock star walks through his door.

Trent Knox had the world in the palm of his hand as the lead singer of TBD, one of the biggest rock bands in history…until the day he walked away. A getaway to South Haven Island seems like the perfect place for Trent to find himself again and reignite his passion for music. But what he never expects is to find his muse in a six-five, tatted-up badass whose sinful smile he can’t get out of his mind.

The only problem? Trent’s a notorious womanizer, and Shaw isn’t interested in being someone’s experiment—muse or otherwise. But in a town as small as this one, Shaw is finding it more and more difficult to keep the persistent rocker at arm’s length. As the tension between them builds, maybe it’s time to finally give in and get carried away with something a little bit like…desire.

How Simi Got Her Groom Back
by Sonali Dev

Two sisters. One fake marriage. Zero chance of keeping the truth hidden.

The Naik sisters escaped their traumatic past in Mumbai to come to the States, but their journeys have been vastly different. Simi is working toward a bright future as a pediatric nurse in a small town in Kentucky when Rupi shows up at her door in distress, on the run, and as always, dragging trouble in her wake.

With Rupi’s safety in jeopardy, the sisters hatch a desperate plan to keep her in the country: Rupi must get married—and fast—even if it means Simi recruiting the man she’s been secretly dating as her sister’s groom. A perfect plan? Not quite. But there aren’t many alternatives.

As the big day inches closer, Simi and Rupi face a storm of wedding shenanigans and romantic surprises, not to mention sisterly jealousies. As the stakes and tensions rise, will their secrets tear them apart or will they find a way to risk everything for love?

Bad Intentions
by Charleigh Rose

Lo Moving to River’s Edge was supposed to be a fresh start. Away from chaos. Away from bad influences and worse relationships. All I wanted was to give my little brother more of a chance than I ever had. It should’ve been simple.

I didn’t count on my transgressions following me. And I definitely didn’t count on meeting Dare. Tall, tortured, and tattooed. A Lost Boy through and through. Falling for someone like him was asking for heartache. But I was a sucker for punishment.

Dare I had a routine. Eat, work, sleep, repeat, only ever doing the bare minimum to keep up appearances. I kept my circle small and my guard high. I spent years making sure I didn’t repeat the mistakes of my past, forming an impenetrable layer of ice around my heart.

Then Logan showed up in my town, in my tattoo shop, testing my patience along with my self-control. She was fire and I was ice. I should’ve stayed away. But I had been cold for far too long.

Dirty Sexy Inked
by Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde

Mason Kincaid has only ever committed to one woman, and that’s his best friend. But he had no intention of screwing up the most important relationship in his life with something as trivial as sex…no matter how much he wanted to. Until one hot, dirty night ruined everything…

Unrequited love sucks. Katrina Sands learned that the hard way. All she wanted was one night to let loose and forget how long she’d been pining for a man she could never have. Falling into bed with him was an accident. A filthy, sexy, incredibly complicated accident…

Happily ever after always comes at a price. And if the price is Mason and Katrina’s friendship, will they decide it’s worth the risk?

Maybe…but only if they can overcome a particularly ugly ghost from their shared past first.

Clipped Wings
by Helena Hunting

Their body art is hot. Their chemistry is even hotter.

From her dark hair sweeping below her waist to her soft, sexy curves, Tenley Page intrigues tattoo artist Hayden Stryker in a way no one else ever has…especially when she asks him to ink a gorgeous, intricate design on her back. Yet for all her beauty, there is something darkly tragic and damaged about Tenley that Hayden is everything.

Covered in ink and steel, Hayden is everything Tenley has never dared to want, awakening a desire to explore more than the art adorning his stunning body. Trapped by a past that leaves her screaming from nightmares, Tenley sees Hayden as the perfect escape. Although he has secrets too, if they both keep themselves guarded perhaps their intense physical connection will remain only that.

But nothing, not even passion, can keep them safe from their pasts…

Beneath This Ink
by Meghan March

I’ve always known she was too good for me, but that never stopped me from wanting her. And then I finally had her for one night. A night I don’t remember. I figured I’d blown my shot. But now she’s walked back into my life, and this time, I have the upper hand. I want my second chance. Will she be able to see the man beneath this ink?

Of Ink and Alchemy
by Sloane St. James

Even before her father’s death, Kelly Everhart always knew Logan Teller was someone she could rely on. Now he’s taken over the Black Rabbit tattoo shop and brought her along with him. And while Kelly still finds her former crush and current mentor hot as hell, they’re firmly in the friendzone. Or so she thinks . . .

Logan’s been biding his time, but he’s no longer leaving anything to chance―not since Kelly started getting serious with her boring boyfriend. And as Logan manipulates the situation and sabotages the couple every chance he gets, Kelly starts to notice all the ways her Jason doesn’t quite measure up to the man who’s always been such a huge part of her life.

When her relationship with Logan suddenly goes from playful and platonic to strictly sinful, Kelly can’t stop herself from falling head over heels. But just as things are heating up between them, she starts receiving anonymous messages with information only a few―including Logan―could possibly know about her. Can she trust him after all?

Rich Dirty Dangerous
by Julie Kriss

I never thought I’d belong to the president of a motorcycle club. I was supposed to be a college girl. But here I am, trapped in a life that’s a nightmare. If I don’t get out, I’ll die. Cavan Wilder is my only hope.

The club’s tattoo artist wants out, too. He’s inherited millions, and if the club finds out, he’s a dead man. So we make a pact that’s all business. Too bad he’s so beautiful he makes me ache. Too bad his touch makes me feel alive for the first time I can remember.

Stay, and we’ll both be sacrificed. Run, and we’ll both have a price on our heads. Surrender to Cavan, like I’m dying to, and we might not live to see the morning. Some things, I hear, are worth dying for. Tonight is the night we find out.

Repeat
by Kylie Scott

When a vicious attack leaves 25-year-old Clementine Johns with no memory, she’s forced to start over. Now she has to figure out who she was and why she made the choices she did – which includes leaving the supposed love of her life, tattoo artist Ed Larsen, only a month before.

Ed can hardly believe it when his ex shows up at his tattoo parlor with no memory of their past, asking about the breakup that nearly destroyed him. The last thing he needs is more heartache, but he can’t seem to let her go again. Should they walk away for good, or does their love deserve a repeat performance?