Hard As It Gets

A Hard Ink Novel, Book 1

By: Laura Kaye

Narrated by: Seraphine Valentine

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.

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 . . .

©2013 Laura Kaye (P)2013 HarperCollins Publishers

Hook hard

I love every detail of this book from the story line to the ending and all the words in between. The narration is sublime such a great job done all around super impressive.

HOT AND SEXY MILITARY MEN.. WHOO HOO

I Absolutely LOOOOVE the arsenal of voices from Seraphine Valentine.. She’s one of my favorites because she reads like there are 10 people in the room speaking at the same time and you can tell the differences between each person. She gets me drawn into the story EVERYTIME because her reading is perfectly stitched seam!!!!!

The is my first series with Laura Kaye but not the first book I have listened to her other books and I love her writing. Without any real spoilers I will say this… you can listen to her stories without the previous book because she does a great job with filling in the back story, but it would be worth it to read this series in order. Mixing up this series would do it an injustice and there’s so much that you would miss if you didn’t stay in order. Book 1 is exciting I love the characters and the way the story comes together. The deep feeling is a bit unrealistic and corny being that this book takes place over just a few simple days. It’s my 2nd time listening so its definitely NOT bad at all.. I LOOOVE the hot and sexy group of military men.. whooo hooo.. This is a MUST LISTEN!!!

Charlie is missing Becca & Nick to the rescue…

-Becca Meritt's brother, Charlie is missing and Becca is certain he's been kidnapped. It is not like him to just disappear.

Somehow (I'm still unclear on this) she manages to get Nick Rixey to help investigate. The reader finds out later that Nick was in the service and his commanding officer was Becca's dad. During their last op, something went very wrong and some of his brothers in arms died when there was no reason for it.

Nick helps Becca work out her frustration in the gym and in bed – he also enlists the help of some of his other teammates who made it back alive, in the search for Charlie.

The writing was intriguing but there were a lot of loose ends. That is frustrating for a listener especially knowing that the reason for it is to sell more books. The listener must continue with this series to get complete resolution (I assume). However, the book was not written as a standalone so the listener/reader should keep that in mind. The main plot was resolved regarding Charlie/Nick/Becca.

I found that the narration was a bit slow for my taste. More often than not, I find that speeding the performance up to 1.25x or even 1.5x makes for my listening experience better. This was certainly the case for this book and the performer, Seraphine Valentine. That is not a criticism, only a suggestion for other listeners that may find the story dragging.

This book is full of twists and turns that kept this listener thinking. There is mystery, action and lots of spice (of the adult variety). This listener warns about the adult themes not fit for younger audiences.

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potential loss

storyline was good, but moved too slow. I would have liked less romance and more suspense. Also adding a male narrator would have gone a long way. I will have to stop the series here.

More crime drama than romance

I definitely liked the underlying story. It kept me very interested and I was eager to hear more. There were some eye roll moments, but overall better than expected.

Can't wait for the next book

What made the experience of listening to Hard As It Gets the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the dialogue and characters. Nicks brother Jeremy is great. Of course the growing, hot intimacy and love between the main characters is the most compelling.

What other book might you compare Hard As It Gets to and why?

This does follow the basic romance novel formula and had most of the typical story lines of woman meets man, there's some reason they don't get together at first - or some reason that would keep them apart. It has a bit of the possessive "you are mine" type storyline - but this one differs in that the formula is there, but it's much more palatable than most. (I like romance novels, but wish - oh how I wish most weren't an insult to being an intelligent, independent woman who is also a romantic. I tire of reading formula novels. I think most of these authors all attended the same seminar on how to write romance novels.

In Hard As It Gets, I found the characters to be likeable and the romantic situations to be more believable than most. She does a good job of building characters.

What about Seraphine Valentine’s performance did you like?

Her performance was excellent. She really gave the characters life. I like the way she took her time narrating Becka so you got the feel of her being fresh and honest, but also fun. She was good at changing the pace of the story to suit what was happening.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Well, to be honest, It made me steamy! It's very, very hot and sexual. The dialogue did make me grin sometimes.

Any additional comments?

I wonder how she will handle the second book in the series. If it will continue the story between Becka and Nick or if she will use this world, but concentrate on a different couple as many romance series do. After all, you only Fall in love once — usually! I hope she continues with Becka and Nick. I liked them. I've started listening to it again.

Soooo above my expectations

Could not stop listening. The plot is superior, characters are fleshed out and emotions are more realistic, interaction is believeable. This author knows that a lot of sitting around swearing and drinking an alpha male does not make. These guys were just gritty enough without losing touch with reality. I did not once roll my eyes during this book. I can not wait to get the next book. The narrator was superb. There wasnt one thing I didnt like about this book. Well done, I had been waiting for just this story. It is so TV or movie worthy.

Finally a woman who is strong & feminine.

If you could sum up Hard As It Gets in three words, what would they be?

Strong, steady, and powerful.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Nick was my favorite character, showing a man can be honest about feelings but not seem weak in any way.

Which scene was your favorite?

Too many to pick one. Lets just say there are many in this book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely. I listened to this book all through the night until it ended, and then went back to listen again.

Any additional comments?

This book was a complete surprise and unforgettable. I am was very pleased with this purchase and would have paid more for it.

I CAN BE YOUR HERO, BABY!!

I could not, for the life of me, get the song "HERO" from Enrique Iglesias out of my mind while listening to this audiiobook. Mainly, this book is about a terrible injustice that was incurred on some very strong men in Special Forces who were serving their country in Afghanistan while being sabotaged and attacked as a part of a betrayal. Nick Rixey (2nd in command of that operation), is dealing with the loss and trauma of, not only his honor and military career, but also the lost lives of his brother/men who died in the attack. This story takes place about 1-year after the incident. So, while Nick is licking his wounds and partnering with his brother at his TAT business……Becca Merritt walks into his life, and well, it's not ever the same. (The right kind of woman can do that to a strong man, after all).

I felt that the redemptive qualities were so evident right away, and part of that quality is that beautiful Becca is the daughter of the military leader who sold out the force and left them to die. How ironic it is when innocent Becca appeals to Nick for help in finding her brother who is now MIA. Right in time, Nick assembles his old crew as they come together to join forces and not only save Becca's brother, but also uncover the truth behind their sabotage & ruin.

Through out the action and suspense in the book, it felt like the evil which lurked was tantamount to that in the City of Gotham (you know like in Batman) because the conspiracy and corruption infiltrates, what seems like, all the structures of authority. Although this book does not solve the overarching mystery…that is to be solved at the end of the series ( I would imagine). Yet, as these men fight to uncover the truth, in this book, loves pushes itself through in the fiery, passionate and beautiful love between Nick and Becca. Their chemistry was great and they complemented each other very well. I loved Becca's description of Nick's tattoo's and well, so glad they fit in time for a burgeoning romance in between the sleepless nights of worry and the days of strategizing while busting the riddle to their living nightmare.

In regard to the following book, I'm going to wait till I'm in the mood for a book where the first focus is solving a mystery, and the second is the romance. I tend to prefer books where the romance is front and center and drives the plot and action. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining because overall this book was very well done.

Narrator: I liked Seraphine Valentine, overall. I did need to get used to her slow pace, at times.

Really Great Listen

Came across this series after a long search for a good book. I really love a story where the characters aren't broken or hurt each other in the process of falling in love. This book has it all; kind characters, hot love, and strong female characters who equal the alpha males. Can't wait to start second book.