When the gorgeous, tattooed, James Brown finds the charming Tate Cooper crawling after her mother in search of their errant cat, he has no idea that his life is about to be turned upside down. He also doesn't know that he will fall for a woman even more commitment-phobic than he is, impossible as that may seem. However, Tate has recently lost both her father and brother, thus inheriting the family restaurant, and has a sister who has a tattooed-bad boy-loser addiction, so she is justified in resisting James' advances...or so she thinks.

What she doesn't realize, is that James is a successful businessman who is now discovering he has a protective/possessive steak a mile wide, and that she is pushing those buttons with a vengeance. The sex could not be hotter and her feelings could not be scarier as James becomes a permanent fixture, insisting on helping her with her troubled restaurant. He is outraged and infuriated by her lack of trust when he finds out-completely accidentally-that she is receiving threatening e-mails, which have become increasingly violent in nature.

Can Tate overcome her fear of being left by James? Can James put aside his own feelings long enough for her to do so, or will he run out of patience waiting for something he wasn't looking for in the first place?

With More Than Meets the Ink, Elle Aycart had me hooked from the very first page. The situation from Tate's perspective is nothing short of hilarious. Her continued use of deep point of view from both Tate and James is what sets this story apart. We are able to see James' determination to be a part of Tate's life, even if it means sleeping in a bed, which is in no way comfortable for a man of his size. His willingness to allow her the space to accept his love, not forcing the issue, is a large part of what makes him so irresistible.

Unfortunately, Tate does resist him, to the extent that when the "black moment" arrives, it seems contrived. The fact that she could still think James is cut from the same cloth as her sister's "mistakes" makes the reader want to either shake her until her teeth rattle, or else require that she seek psychotherapy for Borderline Paranoia Disorder! Despite this one flaw, I thoroughly enjoyed More Than Meets the Ink and even though the secondary characters were barely developed (Tate's sister and James' brother), I would jump at the chance to read more about them simply because I was so impressed with Ms. Aycart's writing. I highly recommend this story.

Reviewed by: Lynn