I adored this novel. It’s a story about being an awkward, misfit girl with big dreams in a man’s world. It made me laugh out loud, and it made me really, really want a tattoo.
- Clare Pooley, New York Times bestselling author of The Authenticity Project
An uplifting, feminist coming-of-age love story about a young woman who dreams of becoming a tattoo artist, and living life on her own terms
Introvert Gina Mulley is determined to become a tattoo artist, and to find somewhere she belongs in her conventional Long Island town. But this is 1985, when tattooing is still a gritty, male-dominated fringe culture, and Gina’s whimsical style is far from the norm. Luck is on her side: Gina’s older brother Dominic owns a tattoo shop, and he reluctantly grants her one year to prove herself.
Gina devotes herself to perfecting her craft, but her world is turned upside down when a mysterious psychic and his striking assistant, Anna, arrive on the scene. Anna’s friendship opens Gina’s eyes to thrilling possibilities: finally stepping out of her brother’s shadow and embracing her own quirky self, both in her art and beyond.
The tattoo shop is rocked by a crisis just as Gina finds herself falling in love with Anna. When Dominic gives Gina an ultimatum, she’s faced with an impossible choice: Is this newfound independence and a shot at romance worth sacrificing her dreams? Or can she find a way to have it all?