THE TATTOO ARTIST (La Petite Mort 1) by Kassandra Marie Lopez-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 2, 2024

My whole life has been a lie.

I was sheltered and raised in a Catholic household. I was taught to dress a certain way.
Behave a certain way. Never having any free will of my own. But all my Catholic beliefs went out the window when I met him. I was only sixteen at the time.

Deimos…his name sounded so good coming out of my mouth. Rumors were spread that Deimos was just a myth that parents told their daughters to scare them into being obedient or else they would meet Deimos, the GOD of Terror and Dread. I was determined to prove his existence, but I never imagined that the truth would be even more dangerous than lies.

As I dove deeper into the mystery, things got more complicated when I met Alexander, the handsome tattoo artist. My feelings for him became more apparent. I never imagined I could love two people simultaneously. Could I trust my heart? Or would it lead me down a path of destruction? As the stakes increased and the dangers intensified, I had to make a choice: continue my search and risk everything to be with Deimos or lose my chance with Alexander.

•••••

REVIEW: THE TATTOO ARTIST is the first instalment in Kassandra Marie Lopez’ contemporary, adult LA PETITE MORT dark, erotic, Mafia, romance series. This is twenty-four year old, tattoo artist Alexander Hades, Deimos and eighteen year old, artist and student Quinn Connor’s story line.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from three first person perspectives (Alexander, Deimos, Quinn) using present day and memories from the past, THE TATTOO ARTIST follows the building relationship between Alexander and Quinn. Approximately two years earlier, sixteen year old, Catholic school girl, Quinn Connor witnessed the beat down and murder of man outside of her bedroom window. Believing the perpetrator Is the killer known as Deimos, our heroine begins to fantasize about the ‘God of Terror’, a man she would not see for close to another two years. Bored and struggling with a direction in life, Quinn would accompany her best friend Sophia to a tattoo appointment where she will come face to face with her future in the guise of Alexander Hades but all is not as it appears to be, as Alexander’s slow seduction of Quinn is offset by Quinn’s fantasies involving the myth, the killer, known as Deimos.

The world building is complex and multi-layered. Alexander Hades is an enigma; a tattoo artist, an MMA fighter, a killer and a member of the Greek Mafia controlled by the Hades family. Quinn Connor is a naïve, Catholic school girl; a part time librarian with aspirations to be an artist, a young woman whose entire life is predicated on a series of secrets and lies. Protected by Alexander, lusting after Deimos, Quinn finds herself spiralling as the truth is slowly revealed.

The relationship between Quinn and Alexander is a slow building romance as Alexander tenderly seduces the woman with whom he has fallen in love but Alexander has secrets, deep, dark and dangerous secrets that once revealed may destroy his relationship with our story line heroine. The $ex scenes are provocative and intense.

We are introduced to Alexander’s brother: Aristotle and Sebastian: Quinn’s best friend Sophia Sutton; library employee Isaac; as well as Quinn’s ultra religious parents; her friend Owen Walsh, and several members of the Russian, Irish and Greek Mafia. The requisite evil has many familiar faces. There is some history between Sophia and Aristotle.

THE TATTOO ARTIST is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and vengeance, power and control, obsession and madness, forgiveness, acceptance and love. The premise is dark, dramatic, twisty and intriguing; the romance is passionate and intoxicating; the characters are broken, disturbing, desperate and determined.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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