Book excerpt: Survival is only the beginning in a novel that “blends a delightfully nuanced opposites-attract romance with real-world issues of health and healing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Leaving a dependable job to apprentice as a tattoo artist is a drastic step after surviving breast cancer, but Cassie Whiteaker is nearly five years cancer-free. Nearly. She’s not ready to go out on her own until she clears that all-important hurdle. Also off-limits are relationships and sex—something Cassie is sure she’ll never want again. Struggling tattoo shop owner MJ Flores doesn’t give a damn what people think, but losing Thorn & Thistle would mean losing everything. When her former mentor’s protégé arrives at her door, MJ hires her out of obligation . . . at first. Cross-stitching goody-goodies are not her type, but Cassie’s business background might just get the shop back on solid footing. They strike a bargain: Cassie will enact new marketing plans and MJ will teach her to find her inner bitch. Only when clients request to see Cassie—having learned of the beautiful, compassionate tattoos she creates for survivors and their families—does MJ realize all Cassie has endured. And as Cassie’s fears fade, she finds it harder to keep her admiration for her bad-girl boss from reawakening all she’d feared was lost. . . . “Emotionally intense and searingly sensual.” —Booklist “Davids tackles a tough subject with grace . . . and leaves readers curious to find out what will happen next at the Thorn & Thistle Tattoo Shop.” —Library Journal One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!