Marked by the Wild Orc

A Heat & Ink Standalone

By: Michele Mills

Narrated by: Patrick Zeller, Rachel Leblang

I'm broke and need a job fast.

The best tattoo artist in the Pacific Northwest is hiring a manager for his tattoo shop. So I don't have any experience... A few lies on my resume can fix that. Anyway, how hard can it be?

I get the job and quickly find out that running a tattoo shop is very hard. Especially dealing with my new wild, brooding boss. He's an orc. An orc with a fiery temper. He's not all bad, though, with a deep love for his three black cats. But for me? Not so much.

We fight on a daily basis (usually while I'm taking care of the cats). But it's not long before this huge, hard-working orc with a purring cat snuggled in his hulking green arms instantly softens my attitude.

He starts grabbing all my attention. Those tusks really do it for me, and I can't seem to take my eyes off them. But it would never work. He's much too old for me. And way too grumpy.

He fires me (twice), claiming it's too dangerous to keep me by his side because "orcs claim their brides in the dark of winter." Whatever that means. I find out on the first snowfall when he marks me with his name in a place I'll leave to your imagination.

As the snow falls, so do I... Deeper and deeper into the arms of this hot, wild orc.

Welcome to Heat & Ink, where hot possessive tattoo artists leave their mark in more ways than one. The Heat & Ink series mixes contemporary, paranormal, and sci-fi romance in standalone stories by bestselling steamy authors, Hope Ford, Michele Mills, and Olivia T. Turner.

©2025 Michele Mills (P)2026 Podium Audio

Short

At 2h30m this is mostly a short story, great for when you need short and sweet. I’m not a big fan of Orc books but, while not as polished as most of Mills’ books, it’s still entertaining.

Possible Spoilers:
Krissy lost her grandmother to cancer 2 months ago and has moved to Spokane to start over near her only remaining family. She just found out she has an Orc half brother who wants to help, but Krissy opts for a studio apartment since she doesn’t trust his crazy human spouse. Gran’s medical debts have left Krissy with her last few dollars. Kavin is able to immediately get her a job working for his good friend Talon, another Orc, at his tattoo parlor, which is just across the street. Krissy surprisingly makes immediate friends with Talon’s three guard cats who are notably antisocial.
Kavin believes Krissy is safe from Orc mating habits since human doctors have determined she has major fertility problems. Orc males are only drawn to females who are able to carry their young. It’s only when things heat up between them that Orc healing comes into play with the good friends they have become.
The narration is good. Zeller & Leblang are good choices for these characters.

ahhh perfect orc romp

so, I'm a big fan of Michelle Mills and was so thrilled to see her new books!!! This fun, sweet, and spicy book was perfect. As always, Patrick Zeller is a fantastic narrator and I love how he brings the MC to life and also brings the heat! The female narrator did equally fantastic!! enjoy y'all.

Such A Cute Story

I loved how Michele Mills creates such safe and spicy stories. The narrators are always perfection! I highly recommend this book.