Hard as It Gets ( Hard Ink 1) by Laura Kaye

Hello to all,

 March is here... spring not far away but still more far than near when i look  at the windows^^;;. Anyway it's time to share a review with you and i decided to select a romantic suspense to change a little from paranormal romance.... before coming back to my first love of course with perhaps a special theme for this month i still have to decide.
Today i'm sharing with you a prcedent birthday gift i received .. i loved what i had read from the author so far but i had not started this series so another fan kindly offered it to me ( thanks Melissa)... i need to follow it up know because no matter the genre Laura Kaye is really talented.

Happy Reading!

Publisher: Avon

Publication: 2013

ISBN:  0062267884

Genre: romantic suspense
Violence: strong
Language: strong
sex: strong
Public: 18+

Source: gifted ( thank Melissa!)

Short description from goodreads :

 Tall, dark, and lethal...

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome — pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.


Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...

My opinion:

          After reading this story I’m still no fan of tattoos but definitively fan of Laura Kaye writing style! “Hard as It Gets” is really an excellent romantic suspense novel with a lot of tension, steamy scene and big alpha males ready for action.

Becca is a nurse, daughter of a deceased Colonel. When  her  little brother, last living family member alive  disappears she is ready to do anything to find and help him… the police being of no help and following the last message left by her brother Charlie she gos to a Tatoo parlour to meet a named Rixey. It’s starting well when she ask the wrong brother but the one she needs to see Nick isn’t welcoming at all and make her leaves… not deterred she will try by herself and I do love her persistence. She is afraid, exhausted, literally on edge but she does not give up at all and stays as attentive to others needs as always. I loved how she reached to the puppy (what can I say I can’t resist puppy either ^^;;)

If Nick is not receptive at all at first, there is a good reason.  He is a ex military, special force who got badly huirt in an ambush that killed most of team… worse he and the other survivors were cast out of the army , held for responsible for what happened with records falsified to attest bad behaviour…and they can’t speak about it to anyone or they end up in prison. So when the daughter of the one he hold responsible for the death of his “brothers” come asking for help he is not inclined to jump into action no matter how sexy Becca is. .. Really I can understand him, he completely withdrew into himself feeling guilty for what happened and so, so angry at being cast of for wrong reason… I think I would be a lot more bitter than he is if I was in his situation. However he is a good man and his dedication to help other has not disappeared so he will get involved when discovering that she really is in danger…. And when he discover how deeply he goes… he will need to contact his team and ask for their help hoping that in the meantime it will clear their name… after one year without a word the first meeting does not go well but each of them despites the injury is a force to reckon and more importantly they are good men.

I really loved their interaction and I have a special liking to Derek the intel specialist… if only I was so good with a computer^^;; and as courageous than him… he is the one who got the worse injury ( lost a leg) but he is the one who is the least complaining… he is not giving up his life and his courage does force the admiration. I did love the puppy as well ^^;; she is protective so quickly and so, so cute^^ her name history will make you laugh when you need it to lift some tension.

Laura manages to keep the suspense until the end and even longer as not everything comes to a conclusion in this volume so it’s really a series that will need to be read in order but I do recommend it to you if you love steamy romance and suspense filled action… for me it was just a tad too steamy perhaps but since it’s well intertwined with the investigation and action part  it did not stop me to enjoy his story greatly. I will definitively trying to get my hand on the next book soon

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

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