5 Wine Glass #Review for Dead Ink by Donna Augustine

Title: DEAD INK
Series: Karma #4
Author: Donna Augustine
Format: Kindle, 309 Pages
Published: Strong Hold Publishing (June 5, 2015)
ISBN: ASIN:B00Z25EBEE
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: Author
Rating: 5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Within the walls of his tattoo shop, Dead Ink, Lars hides in plain sight from the past he walked away from. But he still battles every day with the dark urges that drove him from his position as the Grim Reaper. Then Faith Dover appears, seeking his aid, and Lars discovers that he isn’t as hardened as he thought.

On the run from her kidnapper, Faith stumbles into Dead Ink, towing in enough secrets and baggage to weigh down the dead. But Lars isn’t the savior she hopes him to be. Dark and seductive, he might be more dangerous than the people she’s running from.

When he discovers her suspicious ties to a crew of murderers, will he help her or cast her out to the craziness that has overtaken the world? Can Faith win the heart of a soul incapable of trust?


A note from the author: This is a companion romance novel that takes place in the Karma urban fantasy world. It runs parallel to Fated's timeline. It can be read alone or in addition to the series as the final book. 

Linda's Thoughts:

Could you even kill a dead girl?

OMG! Dead Ink is a fabulous addition to Donna Augustine's Karma series! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the cover! It's listed as the fourth installment in that series, but it could also work as a standalone, if that is your preference. However, there's no doubt that your enjoyment of Dead Ink will be multiplied exponentially, if you have previously feasted on Donna's paranormal urban fantasy series Karma first. You should know that I considered Karma such an incredible, highly-imaginative series that I listed it in my top ten reads in CY2015. So…. It was truly a treat to revisit the Karma world as I dived headfirst into Lars' and Faith's story.

Lars is Death aka the Grim Reaper. He is also a talented tattoo artist and the owner of Dead Ink, a unique tattoo shop in a deranged and dangerous world rocked by chaos and riots. If you have read the earlier books, you will remember Lars. Fate had enlisted him to tattoo Karma to block the evil villains from being able to monitor her movements. Lars is a cocky, quiet and brooding dark hero that you will undoubtedly want to drool over.

Lars’ universe is turned topsy turvy when Faith appears in his shop seeking asylum from Malokin and Keith, Malokin’s second-in-command – both extremely despicable characters.  Faith is in serious trouble and doesn’t know where to turn for help.  She desperately needs a safe haven. So… she turns to Lars who scares her. She can feel the danger rolling off of him, but she is also fiercely drawn to him. Lars fights their chemistry tooth and nail.

Fate and Karma both make appearances in Dead Ink. Yay! I miss them so much!!!!!!  I really, really hope that Donna returns to this world again with more great stories. I’m not ready to let it go. We get down and dirty with Lars’ best friends. Cutty was my favorite of the bunch.

Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from Dead Ink:

The biggest question she had was how do you rebuild a life when you aren't a person anymore?
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For someone who had died not long ago, she felt more alive with him than ever.
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She was slowly being overwhelmed by his scent, the feel of his hands on her and the taste of him. His arms tightened around her until she felt almost weightless on her toes. His lips moved along her neck and she heard the soft sigh of pleasure escape her lips and realized there was no choice for her to make. She'd already made it the day she'd met him.

Dead Ink has it all: a steamy romance, a great plot line, delicious and snarky humor, thrilling suspense, dangerous fast-paced action sequences, and more...  Dead Ink hit all the paranormal gritty urban fantasy romance notes for me. Donna’s writing makes the whole story so believable. The characters seem alive! The threats to them seem so real! I hung on their every word. Honestly, I could not put this book down staying up into the wee hours to finish it. I cannot recommend the whole series enough. If you are a fan of paranormal urban fantasy romances, do yourself a favor and dive into the Karma series!!!!


Suggested Reading Order: 
KARMA (Book #1)
JINXED (Book #2)
FATED (Book #3)
DEAD INK (Book #4)