This week’s category of the Sapphic Book Bingo features sapphic books with a tattooed main character.
For this square of your main bingo card, pick up a sapphic story where at least one of the main characters has tattoos. It could be a character whose entire body is a work of art, someone who has a full sleeve, or a character with just one meaningful tattoo that tells a story of its own.
15 sapphic books with a tattooed main character
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic books with a tattooed main character:
Just for Show by Jae
What happens when an overachieving psychologist with OCD tendencies and an impulsive, out-of-work actress start a fake relationship?
Claire Renshaw thought she had it all: a successful career as a couples therapist, a publishing contract for her self-help book, and a happy relationship. But her perfect world falls apart when her fiancée calls off their engagement. Because of that, even her book deal might be off the table. After all, readers don’t want relationship advice from someone who can’t even make her own relationship work.
So Claire sets out to hire herself a fake fiancée.
Lana Henderson, the actress who shows up to audition for the role, is not exactly Claire’s ideal woman. Her frankness and the messes she leaves everywhere drive Claire up the wall. At least she won’t fall in love with someone like Lana.
But soon, Lana starts to win her over with her big heart, tickle fights, and—gasp!—carbs after six. The longer they pretend to be a love-struck couple, the less fake their kisses feel and the more the lines between reality and role begin to blur. Once the book contract is signed, will they walk away or is their relationship no longer just for show?
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Goddess of the Sea by Britney Jackson
Emilia Drakon, pirate, fugitive, and dragon sorceress, loves her captain and her dragons, and she’ll do whatever it takes to protect them—including the will of a sea goddess.
Captain Maria Welles, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to see her enemies bleed. If she wants safety for her crew, that’s only because she’s their captain, and if she longs for the love of her sword-and-magic-wielding surgeon, Em…well, okay, that’s where things get complicated.
Regardless, Maria can honestly say she has no interest in playing this deadly game between gods and goddesses, but when she finds herself in the middle of it anyway, the infamous pirate captain, who likes to think she knows everything, will have to delve into a world unknown to her.
Luckily, she has her dragon-riding surgeon to serve as guide.
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Secret Spark by Kelly Farmer
Sadie Eagan lives a fairly humdrum life in Vector City. Working at a coffeehouse is much safer than opening her own café. If only the local Superheroes and Villains would stop crashing through windows and driving up insurance rates. Then she meets her hot new neighbor: a fit woman with amber eyes, a disarming smile, and an air of mystery. Obviously, this means she’s one of the city’s Superheroes. And dating a literal hero would break the cycle of being with partners who take advantage of her.
Joan Malone does have a secret identity—only she’s Spark, a notorious Supervillain. Shooting fire has always made people afraid of her. She’s been trying to get out of villainy to open a food truck with her twin brother. When her cute and bubbly neighbor assumes Joan’s a Superhero, well, Joan doesn’t correct her. Sadie is the nice girl Joan has dreamt of being with. Though she hates hiding things from someone who understands wanting a better life.
Joan has to keep some rather inept Villains at bay while getting the Supers off her back. And oh yeah, while proving to Sadie not all bad guys are bad and not all heroes are heroic. Not that Sadie’s paying attention—it’s too exciting hanging out with a Superhero.
Only she’s fallen for the bad girl. Again.
A rift with the other Villains forces Joan to choose what she truly wants. Can she be the goodhearted person Sadie thinks she is?
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The Hideout by Melissa Tereze
Juliet Saunders quit her soul-killing law career while she still had her sanity, but she’s not sure yet if buying a private bar qualifies as sane. Determined to make it work, she decides to shake things up with a new menu of signature cocktails.
Juliet never mixes emotions with business or pleasure, but there’s an irresistible spark with her new mixologist, a stunning, flirty blonde who ignites Juliet’s body in a way she hasn’t felt in years.
Paige Harrison Googled her new boss pre-interview, but nothing prepared her for Juliet’s sultry looks and slow, sensual smile. Maybe, after hopscotching through a succession of short-term bar jobs, she’s found a safe place—because in a members-only bar like The Hideout, her past isn’t likely to follow her through the door.
But in the glow of a surprising new relationship, it’s too easy to forget that safety can be an illusion…and the past is never more than a step or two behind.
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Madame Hyde by Thea Belmont
Office worker Lucy Klint is feeling unusually bold when she invites home the sexy butch American with a raspy voice she meets in a Sydney laundromat. It’s one night only…but what a night.
Rock star Persephone “Seph” Hyder can’t get the cute woman from Sydney out of her head. Lucy doesn’t have a clue who Seph really is—like the fact she’s a rich, world-famous singer. Or that she’s at war with herself, her creativity, and her restrictive record label.
The one-night stands turns into much more, and restrained Lucy starts exploring light BDSM delights with Seph. Learning to let go is only half the battle for the two, though. What happens when Lucy learns the truth about who her wanderer lover really is?
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A Calculated Risk by Cari Hunter
Detective Jo Shaw has it all worked out. She’s good at her job, she has loads of mates, and she likes being single. She doesn’t need complications, but an emergency call to the stabbing of a young woman brings plenty of those. Jo has to risk her career to save the woman’s life, and a bad night gets worse when the trauma surgeon turns out to be Isla Munro, Jo’s only real love, who walked out on her fifteen years ago and never came back.
With the victim’s children missing and the husband the prime suspect, Jo’s investigation is stonewalled by a community living in fear. As one dead end leads to another, she and Isla are forced to put their differences aside and work together. But the case is far more dangerous than Jo realizes, and her determination to sort the truth from the lies may put her own life on the line.
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Blood Remains by Cathy Pegau
Callie Payne once ran with the Jackson Street Roses, but she left Seattle—left the Roses—to marry a rancher. After his death, she returns to take over the family butcher shop; a fitting career for an out-of-practice blood mage. When the leader of the Roses, Eileen “EJ” Jordan, stops by, Callie knows it isn’t just to buy T-bone steaks. What does the suave gangster really want after all these years?
EJ needs Callie’s magic against rival gangster Paul Underwood, who is horning in on Rose territory. Callie refuses to get involved; she won’t risk violating the Laws of the Covenant forbidding intentional harm. Then EJ tells her Underwood was responsible for the death of one of the Roses years ago. Callie is compelled to get revenge however she can.
A three-day incantation to repel Underwood re-establishes and strengthens Callie’s connection to the Roses, particularly EJ. Old feelings return, but EJ worries a personal relationship will endanger Callie. Their desire, however, proves impossible to ignore.
Days after Underwood threatens them, he’s found dead in an area awash in magic residue. The cops and the Covenant Investigation Office are eyeing EJ and Callie for the crime. Whoever is responsible knows magic well enough to be a step ahead, and they’re setting up EJ and Callie to take the fall.
EJ is determined to find the culprit, no matter the cost, and Callie is willing to bend the Laws for her. Can they catch the killer before more blood is spilled?
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Picture Perfect Christmas by Charlotte Greene
When Nicole Steele left the small mountain town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, she thought she’d never look back. Almost twenty years later, all she wants is to move home. She’s delighted to be hired to take photographs for Glenwood’s new tourism campaign. Instead of her usual week-long visit, she gets to spend the entire holiday season in town. But there’s a hitch: Quinn Zelinski.
Quinn’s working on the tourism project, too, and she and Nicole have a history: high school rivalry, teenage longing, and one memorable kiss. Then Nicole left for college, Quinn stayed, and except for a few fleeting glimpses, they haven’t seen or spoken to each other since.
Nicole and Quinn can’t avoid each other forever, and the magic of the Christmas season might rekindle the romance between them if they don’t let old hurts and rivalry ruin a picture-perfect reunion.
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Snowblooded by Emma Sterner-Radley
As two of the highest-ranking assassins in the eighteenth-century city of Vinterstock, Valour and Petrichor are given the task of hunting down Brandquist, the shadowy leader of the city’s illegal magic trade. Finding the mysterious Brandquist will be a challenge, though: no one knows who, where, or even what he is. However, for Valour and Petrichor, working together will be the real trial. Although both had been plucked from the streets as orphans by the Order of Axsten and trained side by side, the action-driven Valour and intellectual Petrichor hate one another.
To make matters worse, Valour is preoccupied by being asked to keep an eye on the clever and sexy heiress Ingrid Rytterdahl. She needs to keep Ingrid close, and not just because she’s long been carrying a torch for her. Petrichor grudgingly agrees to let Ingrid in on the job when he realizes that Ingrid’s knowledge and connections could be useful in their quest. Now all Valour and Petrichor have to do is make sense of Vinterstock’s criminal underground before the crime lord turns the tables and puts a mark on them.
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Stormy Ink by Diana Jayne
Art graduate Jade O’Connor is on a mission. She needs an intricate tattoo—something elegant and beautiful—to cover her perceived imperfections. Her search for the right artist brings her to a Hawke’s Bay tattoo studio and the surprising discovery that her crush from eight years ago owns it.
Quiet, confident tattoo artist Taylor King is proud of her business and the life she’s built for herself. When Jade walks into her store, a spark ignites that goes beyond skin deep.
As the women get swept up in each other, disaster strikes. Can Jade and Taylor’s newfound relationship survive the pressure of being forced into each other’s space? Is it all too much? Or is it true there are some things you can only learn in the darkness of a storm?
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Nomads of Zyden by Xine Fury
When a tribe of ghoulish monsters wipes out her mountain clan, a fierce warrior named Marta sets out on a mission of revenge. But while she grew up fighting giant beasts in the frigid wastelands, she isn’t prepared for the culture shock of meeting people from the lowlands.
During her epic journey she befriends a jester, a fairy, and a woman with whom she shares a magical bond. Together they take on a much larger quest in which they must explore ancient temples and fight ruthless monsters, all to retrieve a set of artifacts that will help them defeat an all-powerful evil. Their time is short and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.
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Hate to Love You by Shannon O’Connor
Ryleigh:
When Alana suggested I move into the second house on the Lovers Estate, I took her up on it. Even though that meant sharing the space with Alana’s little sister, who happened to hate my guts.
Wrenn:
Of course my older sister just had to open her big mouth and invite her friend to stay with me. It was bad enough having to see her in my sister’s wedding, but to see her at my kitchen table? I thought after we hooked up that it might be the start of something, until the next morning when I woke up alone. Now all she wants to do is talk about what happened and I just want to avoid her.
Ryleigh and Wrenn are sure they still hate each other but as the summer nights heat up, so do their feelings.
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Hummingbird by Frances M. Thompson
Fourteen years ago I met a woman I’ve not been able to forget.
Her hair was long, her eyes were big, and her gaze kept returning to me from across the room. Her name was Dove. She told me she was straight and I respected that. Or rather, I got grumpy about it and walked away. What can I say? I was young and stupid.
But now she’s back. Sitting in my studio waiting to get a tattoo of the bisexual flag on her foot. I never do such small pieces anymore but this woman is different. I’ve never been able to forget her and I never thought I’d see her again. Nor did I ever imagine she could possibly be interested…
One thing’s for certain, I’m not going to walk away from this opportunity. I want to do everything I can to make sure Dove never forgets me either.
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Under the Arbor by Lark Sullivan
Marry the love of your life and live predictably ever after? That’s the plan. But what happens when you start to wonder if the love of your life might not be the person you’re marrying?
Two years ago, Haley Grayson made a choice. She would follow the expected path, keep peace within her family, and, just maybe, help her mother heal from her own broken past. It didn’t matter that for one night she thought her life could be different. When her boyfriend, Joe, proposes after securing the most sought-after wedding venue, it feels like fate. All she has to do is make it to the altar.
Alex Flores is happy. You know, aside from the fact that she slept with her best friend’s girlfriend and then had to run across the country to escape the guilt and heartache. But that’s all behind her now. She can easily avoid talking to Joey and never has to see or think about Haley again. That is, until news of the wedding turns into a plea to help plan it.
Alex’s reappearance throws Haley’s life into turmoil. How is she supposed to think, to plan her wedding to Joe, when Alex is always in her space with her insufferable smirk and cocky attitude? Alex, for her part, is just trying to fulfill a promise to her friend, and maybe ease the guilt that’s followed her for two years.
But amid picking out wedding dresses and handling an overbearing mother-of-the-bride, those pesky feelings Alex has been running from start to reemerge, and Haley finds herself once more drawn to the woman she turned her back on two years ago.
As the wedding day draws near, Haley must ask herself: Is the life she’s planned really the life she wants?
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All’s Fair in Love & Vegas by M Leigh Morhaime
Two strangers. One bed. A steamy weekend in Vegas & a wedding.
Violet:
All I need is for the damn stick to not turn blue. And for the wedding to go off without a hitch.
But my best friend keeps trying to tell me he’s in love with me and I don’t know how to let him down gently.
When the blue haired goddess catches my attention, I can’t help but wonder if she’s what I’ve been missing.
Dakota:
All I want is for my little brother’s wedding to go well. And maybe a nap.
So when the hotel tells me all their rooms are booked, I’m about to lose it.
That’s when the beautiful maid of honor swoops in to save me.
Now all I want to do, is save her from herself.
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What sapphic book will you be reading for the “sapphic books with a tattooed main character” category? Let us know in the comments!
3 Responses
Two of my favorite books featuring a tattooed character is Susan Smith’s “Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate” and it’s sequel, ” Burning Dreams”. The opening paragraph of Drag Kings is the most beautiful I have read, and I read hundreds of books.
Two books are😜
Queenslander has a tattooed main character!