The prologue of Ink Exchange recalls a scene from Wicked Lovely narrated by Irial, King of the Dark Court, in which he walks into a tattoo shop with Leslie, a 17-year-old human.

Having once been drugged and raped by Ren's customers to cover a debt, Leslie fears her family, yet still pays the bills by working as a waitress.

When Leslie reaches school she is suspicious of how well Aislinn, the protagonist from Wicked Lovely, has adjusted to her new life as a faery, a type of supernatural entity.

When confronted with numerous rebellions, Irial decides to pursue an ink exchange with a mortal to provide a constant stream of emotion to feed his court.

[citation needed] Leslie soon starts to feel and perceive her surroundings as Irial would, seeing past faeries' human disguises as an effect of the ink exchange.

[citation needed] Ink Exchange was a New York Times Bestseller in 2008,[2] a 2008 Book Sense Pick,[3] and Locus Recommended Reading for 2009.