Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Flash
SERIES: Ink Slingers
AUTHOR: K.M. Neuhold
NARRATORS: Tim Paige and Liam DiCosimo
PUBLISHER: KM Neuhold Publishing LLC
LENGTH: 5 hours and 25 minutes
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2024
BLURB:
Lewis tattoos himself on my brain instantly. Too bad this whole situation is about to get messier than spilled ink.
Lewis
Clingy, needy, Too Much
Just a few choice words from men who never deserved me anyway.
I’m not going to make the same mistakes again though. I plan to ride the motorcycle hottie of my dreams just until we both get bored.
Besides, who has time for anything but a quick fling when the jerks at the tattoo shop next door insist on doing everything they can to annoy the hell out of me with some stupid prank war?
Arrow
Possessive, intense, too much
My exes weren’t wrong about me. I have a habit of falling too hard for men who never feel the same.
Meeting Lewis in a rainstorm, steaming up his backseat during a flash downpour… maybe this is my sign to try something casual for a change…
And then there’s the prank war between my motorcycle club and our new neighbor. Whatever the twink did to get on Jag’s bad side, the whole thing sounds a lot less appealing than losing myself in MY pretty twink with a cute butt and big, blue eyes who insists this isn’t anything real.
Is he right? Is this thing between us nothing more than a Flash tattoo that time will fade? There’s only one way to find out…
REVIEW:
Lewis is NOT having a great day. His car breaks down – well starts smoking – about 5 miles outside of town. He really really doesn’t want to have to call the local mechanics shop for a tow. He’s still not lived down a little incident with his bluetooth connection to his phone while he took his car in to be serviced before. But needs must. Just when he’s contemplating walking the 5 miles home, a good Samaritan in the form of a HOT AF silver fox motorcycle rider named Arrow shows up. When it starts pouring down rain, they crawl into Lewi’s backseat and well let’s just say they steam up the windows 😉 The rain stops, Arrow takes off after giving his MC club card to Lewis and the tow truck saves the day.
A month later, Lewis hasn’t called. But he’s been getting ready to open his new flower shop and has been busy. Yeah, right. He just doesn’t want to be disappointed again. The opening is maybe going to be OK except that Lewis is hung over and his neighbors in the tattoo shop next door keep playing Dance the Night Away by Dua Lipa and an intense volume. Over and over and over and over again. When he does over to ask them to turn it down, the guy who is there basically blows him off. Thus begins the prank war.
Lewis ends up going out to Wooley’s the local gay bar and runs into Arrow. They have another hot encounter but this time Lewis doesn’t want to just let it go as a one-off. He gets Arrow’s number and they start texting. Then he invites Arrow over 😉 Needless to say they get hot and heavy. But just casual. Uh huh. Neither of these guys does casual well and they’ve both been burned. Lewis is told his clingy and “too much” (man I hate that phrase). Arrow’s buddies tease him about proposing in a month. Neither is aware that they have more in common than they think.
The prank war continues and Lewis is not happy. Every tine he tries to retaliate, well it definitely doesn’t go to plan. The final straw though is when Lewis and Arrow finally run into each other at their places of work and Lewis completely misinterprets Arrow’s motive and even his knowledge of what has been happening. Luckily they both have friends to help them see the light, as it were 😉
This story kicks off a new series by KM Neuhold. It’s so much fun! If you’re looking for anything other than a delightful, humorous, sweet and sexy read, you’ll have to go elsewhere. This series returns to Fall Crosse, Wisconsin, the setting of two of Ms. Neuhold’s previous fan favorite series, Four Bears Construction and Big Bull Mechanics. Both Lewis and Arrow have been introduced in the later series very briefly. It’s not required to have read those two series before this one, but for fans of those books, there are some quite enjoyable cameos here of characters from both series. In keeping with the delightful character of those series, Ink Slingers is a throwback to small towns, meet cutes, hot hookups, incorrect assumptions, “keeping it casual” to true love stories. There is very little angst here – other than the internal overthinking of everything by both Lewis and Arrow about what the heck they are doing here. The story is told in alternating dual first person POV, so the reader is never wondering what each MC is thinking. Basically both men are afraid of getting too serious too fast. They’ve both ben burned and they are cautious about getting in too deep right away. Arrow’s coworkers tease him unmercifully. Lewis is his own worst enemy making assumptions about what it is Arrow is about and what he really wants. He tries to talk himself into being ok with “casual” despite that never really working for him. The whole time these two are falling in love, they really don’t know enough about each other. Certainly they don’t know that it’s Arrow’s tattoo shop next door to Lewis’s floral shop that is behind all the pranks being pulled on Lewis. At least Arrow doesn’t know that the prankee is Lewis and Lewis doesn’t know that Arrow works at the tattoo shop next door. Of course when Lewis finds out things get rocky. But thanks to good friends, cooler heads prevail and things work out 🙂 Loved revisiting Wooley’s and seeing familiar faces here. As usual, there are heavy doses of humor and snark and steam. Also some cute animals grace the pages 😀 I can’t wait to see who gets there HEA next. Will it be Jag? Or Rowan? Maybe Hiro? What’s he hiding behind his tired eyes ? 😉
One of my favorite discoveries with KM Neuhold’s books is the dynamic narrating duo of Tim Paige and Liam DiCosimo. Since Four Bears, they have done the dual narration of all of these Fall Crosse series. I absolutely LOVE their work and in fact, I think they are my favorites when it comes to these alternating dual POV stories. Both are experienced and seasoned pros and I always know it’s going to be a quality performance. This work is no exception. I loved Liam DiCosimo’s portrayal of way too much in his head Lewis. He’s adorable and insecure in his own way which I thought was really well done here. Arrow’s gruff exterior belies a bit of a marshmallow heart which is really a sweet spot I think for Mr. Paige. Rough on the outside, squishy on the inside is a favorite character trope and this is a fine example 😀 Honestly I could listen to these two narrate romances forever, so whenever I get the opportunity, it’s an autobuy for me. This author and these narrators have a great thing going here. I really hope this is a long series. So much to look forward to! Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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