Review: Cover Up by L.A. Witt

Title: Cover Up (Skin Deep Inc.: Book Three)

Author: L.A. Wit

Publisher: Swerve/Macmillan

Length: 251 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: Cover Up wasn’t my favorite of Witt’s books, but it was still a good read.

Reviewed By: Jules

Blurb: After ten years of blissful marriage, Navy Pilot Nate Chandler is divorcing his cheating husband. Single for the first time in years, Nate is numb to all emotion and kisses any chance of another relationship goodbye.

Not only is Nate struggling to get through this divorce, but his body is branded with a permanent reminder of his failed marriage: a matching tattoo with his ex. Searching for a place to cover up his old tattoo, Nate finds himself at the Skin Deep, Inc., where he meets the young and charming cover-up tattoo apprentice, Lucas Brandt.

From just flirty glances to steamy hot encounters, Nate and Lucas dive headfirst into a fling of hookups. But worried that he’ll forever be Nate’s “cover up” rebound relationship, Lucas fears that their love won’t be anything more than just skin deep. What was once just a casual attraction, Lucas now hopes to turn into a real relationship. But will he be able to convince the still tender-hearted Nate to fall in love again?

Third installment of L.A. Witt’s Skin Deep romance series, COVER UP is a story of passion, pleasure, and happily ever after.

Review: I could NOT resist this cover, you guys. It’s hot AF, as I’m sure you’ll all agree, and I simply had to know the story underneath. All the covers in this series have been fabulous, but the brightness of this one is what drew me in. Cover Up is the third book in LA Witt’s Skin Deep Inc. series, but stands up perfectly fine on its own. In fact, I haven’t read the previous two books and was able to enjoy this one with no hiccups whatsoever. Though, as you might expect, all the guys from the other books either show up on page, or are at least mentioned here, as Witt weaves them in to enhance Nate and Lucas’s story.

Nate is going through a pretty rough divorce. When we meet him, he is tossing his wedding ring into the James River, and leaning on his best friend Jon for emotional support. Nate caught his husband, Caleb, cheating on him in their own bedroom, so of course there is a certain amount of emotional scarring that goes along with that; even though it was several months ago, the pain is still fresh. The ring isn’t the only memento he wants gone from his life, however. He also has a tattoo that he got with his ex that he desperately wants to get rid of. Enter Lucas, the new apprentice at Skin Deep, the studio where Jon’s boyfriend, Matt, works. The apprentice who specializes in coverups, as luck would have it. Before seeing Lucas, Nate would have sworn that his sex drive had all but disappeared; he told Jon that his libido was as dead as his marriage! At least, that seemed true until he meets Lucas…

I loved Lucas. For someone in his twenties, he has amazing drive and work ethic. He is working three jobs to make ends meet and to get closer to meeting his goal of being hired on full time at the tattoo studio. Even the owners of Skin Deep are impressed by Lucas’s talent and envious of his portfolio, but Lucas is having a hard time shaking off the after-affects of having recently messed up a tattoo. His confidence took a big hit, and he’s really struggling with believing he’s worthy of moving up from his apprenticeship, even though Colin and Matt both think he’s ready. On top of that, his recent sex life seems cursed as well. The string of unsatisfying and awkward hookups seems never-ending, but with sparks flying between him and Nate, he’s certainly hoping that’s all about to change.

I did like these two together. They certainly have lots of fun! Read: lots of hot, dirty, sex. But, I do wish there had been a teeeeeeny bit more UST. They pretty much fall immediately into bed. Repeatedly. Ha! I did ultimately like how their relationship unfolded—it sort of snuck up on both of them, even though they went into it planning on things remaining purely physical—but I wish there had been more story to their story. That being said, I liked where they ended up; the last quarter of the book was fairly strong as they were figuring it all out. I also want to give kudos to Witt for more fantastic bi rep. The way she reveals her characters’ bisexuality is always so authentic. It’s not just having a character say, “Oh, yeah, I’m bi,” so that the author can check off a diversity box.

Cover Up wasn’t my favorite of Witt’s books, but it was still a good read. Perhaps the best way to sum it up would be: I liked it but didn’t love it. If you’re looking for something pretty light, with lots of steam and likeable characters, then go ahead and give this one a shot!

You can buy Cover Up here:

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