Author: C.C. Dado
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 61 Pages
At a Glance: What I loved about Say it with Ink was that it was sweet, with some angst thrown in to remind me what it was like to be in love at that age, and I want more about Levi and Jamie!
Reviewed By: Kim
Blurb: Levi can remember the exact moment the projection of his life changed entirely, from homeless dropout to college graduate. It was the day he found Jamie Donovan standing on his front porch—the boy Levi had secretly drooled over from afar would become the best friend he secretly drooled over up close.
When Levi gets a full ride scholarship but Jamie doesn’t, Jamie becomes an exotic dancer to help pay his tuition. Watching Jamie perform is pure torture for Levi, and hiding how he really feels starts to take its toll. And when the hot new guy from his Econ class hits on him, Levi has to decide just how long he’s going to stay devoted to his straight best friend.
Review: A while back, I did the review for an anthology called Grand Adventures, and there were several short stories that I really enjoyed throughout the book. One in particular caught my attention—That Place Across the Hall, written by new-to-me author, C.C. Dado. Needless to say, I was more than willing to read Say it With Ink to see if the author was consistent in writing such interesting stories. Let’s also add that this story is centered in a locale that I’m very familiar with, the Great Northwest.
Levi has been secretly in love with Jamie since he was fifteen, but instead of coming out to his friend, Levi has been playing it straight so as to not scare Jamie off. What’s kind of sweet, unbeknownst to Jamie, is that the tattoos on Levi are of moments that he and Jamie have shared together as friends, and there’s a big one over his heart that shows how Levi feels toward Jamie. Which, of course, Jamie is oblivious to. Now that they are both in college and sharing a room together, though, things really start to heat up for Levi, especially when he learns that Jamie, to help pay for college, has become an exotic dancer.
What helps Levi the most during this time is meeting Sy, an out and proud young man who takes Levi under his wing, when he needs him during a very confusing time. I loved Sy, he had me giggling at some of his remarks, and I wouldn’t mind reading his story–if it’s in the making.
As it is, I don’t want to reveal too much about the storyline and how these two MCs finally come together, but what I loved about Say it with Ink was that it was sweet, with some angst thrown in to remind me what it was like to be in love at that age, and I want more about Levi and Jamie! I don’t like it when I turn to the next page and start making squeaking noises in my throat when I realized it’s the end of the story.
I will also add that since reading Say It With Ink, I bought the other two books by C.C. Dado. I haven’t read them yet, but I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
You can buy Say It With Ink here:
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