3 stars just because it's so short. It was a perfectly good intro though to these characters and the start of the story.

This novella has been sitting on my kindle for a while. I remember being really excited about the buzz about this series so I grabbed it when I saw it on NetGalley and then life got in the way and I promptly forgot that I wanted to read it--definitely a hazard of being a teacher and blogger and mother. So this summer I vowed to go into my NetGalley backlist and read some oldies but hopefully goodies. This novella definitely had me intrigued and excited that I had more novels in the series to read --so that's exactly what I did.

Good first start of the series.

I love these characters. A really engaging read. There’s a reason this series has so many fans.

Due to downloading difficulties, I was not able to read this book.

Novellas are always hit or miss but I'm happy to report Cupcakes and Ink was a hit. It's partly because it's well written and partly because this is a prelude of sorts - a little glimpse into the lives of the characters of this series. And I'm intrigued, y'all. Intrigued.

Hayden is this big guy - tall, wide, and built - who has a thing for tattoos - as in he's got quite a few - and metal. I mean piercings and he has quite a few of those as well. He's the owner of a tattoo shop as well as a tattoo artist and he gives a certain vibe. But he's also this kind and caring guy.

Tenley is on the run, from what we don't yet know. She's beginning work on her Masters and it seems tattoos might figure into her thesis. She's smart, attractive, and lonely. Oh, and she can't speak coherently to save her life when she's around Hayden.

These two have chemistry galore but they're both dealing with some apparently heavy things. Things we're left to speculate on for now.

As for the writing, Hunting provided just enough detail in this novella to hook me, make me anxious in my need to know more. She's obviously created characters that are complex and compelling and the story was dual POV - which I love.

Cupcakes and Ink hit the mark for me despite being a mere 60 pages. Lucky for me, I have Clipped Wings in my possession already. :)