Under His Skin
So Inked #1
By Sidney
Bristol
Genre: Contemporary
Erotic Romance
Publisher: Ellora’s
Cave
ISBN: 9781419940941
ASIN: B00887PZHK
Number of
pages: 170
Word
Count: 55,000
Cover
Artist: Syneca
Book
Description:
A woman who
doesn’t believe she deserves love…
Toe-curling kisses and enough sex to fill a
weekend were all Pandora wanted from a fling with her teenage crush. She’s
never forgotten how he played the knight in shining armor to her damsel in
distress. She’s ready to say thank you in several naughty ways, so long as she
can walk away when it’s over with her heart intact.
A man moving
on from tragedy…
Brian has no intention of allowing the feisty
tattoo artist to leave after one taste. He hasn’t had enough of her inked
curves. The packaging might have changed, but Pandy is the woman he hasn’t been
able to excise from his memory. He’s ready to put together a new life, one that
includes her.
But Brian isn’t the only one vying for Pandora’s
attention. Someone else wants her, dead or alive.
An Ellora’s
Cave Pricked
1. How did you first start writing erotica?
My friend’s dared me to do it.
Originally I wanted to write Epic Fantasy, because it was
epic and awesome. I’d grown up reading things like Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of
Valdemar books, and I really wanted to write my own swords, sorcery and horses
type of books. I wrote, and my friends read it. They said it was good, but
suggested I try writing romance and it’s stuck.
2. What is your naughtiest scene
ever?
I think my naughtiest scene is in a book I’m currently
revising. It’s the follow up to Under His Skin. The hero flat out admits he saw
this position in a porno and wants to try it out and the heroine goes with it.
3. How many times did it take you to
use the "p" word without blushing?
That depends which “p” word we’re talking about! Nah, I
still blush a little, but that’s because I have a twelve year old trapped
inside of me that will never stop laughing at those words. Or the “c” ones
either. Those might be worse than the “p” words.
4. Tattoo's can be sexy. If you were going to get a tattoo,
what would you get and where?
I actually have a lot of tattoos. Well, seven, two of which
are very large.
The next tattoo I want to get is going to be my left
half-sleeve. Since I have a stained glass window on my right, I want to get
another stained glass window on my left so the style is kind of even. Unlike my
right arm, which features actual people, my left will be a twisty, Tim Burton
like tree, with books and stars hanging off the branches.
5. What is your favorite kind of
erotica to write?
Right now it’s contemporary. Before my friends dared me to
write contemporary romance, you would not have caught me dead reading it. I
mean, who wants to think about real life when there are so many twists and
turns you can do with fantasy and paranormal and sci-fi? But then the contemporary
bug bit me, and I just love it. I think that the everyday drama of life gets
undervalued at times. Unless you’re a Real Housewives of Wherever nut like I
am. What can I say? I like my trashy TV. I’m going to be branching out next
year and writing contemporary books with heavy BDSM elements as well, just
because I wanted to do more and explore interesting lives and people.
6. Salad or burgers?
Um, neither? (Don’t tell my dad, he’s a cattleman!!!) If I
had to choose, I’d go with a gourmet burger. I can’t get into salads no matter
how much I try. Burgers I’m picky about. Last year I had The Worst Food
Poisoning Ever thanks to a car hop burger. I thought I was going to die. My
mother had to get cops called in just to get in my apartment to make sure I was
alive. Nope, I was just busy in the bathroom. It was the least attractive
moment of my life. “Why, hello cute police officer, please entertain yourself
in my living room while I finish praying for my stomach to die.” It was a bit
of an experience. I don’t eat fast food burgers anymore though. My stomach does
wonky Please Dear God No! things.
7. Movie watcher or book reader?
Reader. I fidget too much for movies. I need to be
multi-tasking, knitting, writing while I watch or playing a game to really
enjoy a movie. With a book, my focus is there and I can really get into it.
It’s a little sad, because I used to love going to the movies, but now I just
can’t sit still long enough.
8. What is your favorite book of all
time?
Dang, this is hard. My favorite book right now “of all time”
would be Feed by Mira Grant. It’s a political thriller with zombies, and she
does amazing things and breaks “rules” so beautifully. I think The Blue Sword
by Robin McKinley would be the one that’s stuck with me the longest as a
re-reading favorite. I mean, it spoke directly to my fantasy loving, heroine
sword wielding best horse ever loves. If I ever wrote fan fiction, it would be
about that book, in that world, but I’m crazy and can’t write fan fiction.
9. What are you working on now?
As I’m writing this interview, it would be the next book
after Under His Skin, set around the
So Inked tattoo shop. I can’t talk a lot about it at this stage because nothing
is certain, but this is a book that’s been a labor of love. The hero and
heroine are real tough asses. If you’ve read Under His Skin, this is Kellie’s story, and her hero is such a guy
at times.
It’s by far the most emotionally exhausting book I’ve
written. I come from a background of writing a lot of things I have experience
with and when I sat down to create Kellie before I knew that Under His Skin would spin a whole
series, I gave her one of my life experiences of having a loved one in the last
stages of Alzheimer’s. My grandfather never knew I was born, I lived twenty-one
years loving him without him ever being able to retain my name.
If I would have known I’d be writing Kellie a book when I
started in January, I probably would have snipped her grandmother from the book
completely, because the memories and emotions are hard to deal with even six
years after his death. That said, writing the second book has been a
wonderfully cathartic experience. I’ve never cried when I wrote something
before, and the first chapter of Kellie’s book had me in tears.
10. What are some of your favorite
sexy songs?
Ooooh, sexy songs? A few weeks ago I started a burlesque
dancing workshop just for kicks and I learned very quickly that my definition
of sexy is vastly different than other people’s. My favorite, sexy or romantic
songs are all weird.
Roper’s “You’re Still The One”
Well, baby, when I first saw you we
were at the Hippy Rock Show / You called me an ignorant male oppressor and spat
in my face because I like meat / But the first time I got a whiff of that
Petuli you were wearing I knew it was love / I think we're going to make it
Roper’s “Vendetta”
I just painted flames on my walker
I'll pick you up at 6 AM we'll show off to our jealous friends You'll wear
lipstick, I'll wear depends At last we shall have our revenge
Calibretto’s “When I Think About
You”
When I see your pretty face it's
hard to hate the human race just whisper softly in my ear I love you more with
each passing year
Calibretto 13’s “The Proposal”
Now love can be a very complicated
thing / So don't confuse it with lust because it ain't the same / I know I love
you from the bottom of my heart / You're God's creation, you're a work of art.
P!nk’s “Leave Me Alone I’m Lonely”
Go away, give me a chance to miss
you / Say goodbye, it'll make me want to
kiss you / I love you so much more when you're not here / Watchin' all the bad
shows, drinking all of my beer.
Overall:
This book rocked. From the first page, I was impressed with Ms. Bristol's portrayal of the inner world of a tattoo shop and competition. With each chapter you learn a new phrase and she lovingly describes the process involved to ink someone, both during and the aftercare. You can almost feel the sting of the needles against your skin as Pandora gives Brian a tattoo he will never forget.
The other part of this book that really intrigued me was the imperfect characters. Pandora is plagued with self doubt and past traumas. Brian is recovering from a near fatal plane crash. Both share a past that they wish they could forget, but as they get tangled up in the sheets, both of them start wishing for more, and with each encounter I turned the pages faster and faster.
Dealing with Pandora's ex and the threat to the shop adds an element of suspense to a plot that is already pretty energized and full of pop. The characters are ones you care about, the world is exotic so you learn something about a fascinating subculture that most only make assumptions about and the sex is steamy as hell. Kudos to Ms. Bristol for rocking my world with a great read that took hours from my sleep and writing schedule...it was worth every second.
I have one word for her: MORE!!! :)
If you love kick ass characters that love as hard as they live, then you will devour this book!
4.5/5
About the Author:
It can never be said that Sidney
Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life. She is a recovering roller derby
queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the
US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the
rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and
Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she
splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.
