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

AMAZING!

Where does Hard As It Gets rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is the first one on my list!!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hard As It Gets?

There are SO many! You can't just pick one!

What about Seraphine Valentine’s performance did you like?

She should be an actress! She is so sofy with Becca's voice and hard with Nick's voice, she is absolutely amazing!!

Any additional comments?

Seeing as my Cousin had brought me to this book (unintentionally) I LOVE this book! It has the comical reliefs, sexual pleasures, and who wouldn't LOVE an army veteran that is protective!?

Easy to love

Intense, suspenseful, detailed and the right about of steam. You get a real feel for what soldiers went thru in deployment.
The narrator did a great job with all the voices.
I look forward to listening to the rest of the series.

One of the best books I've ever heard.

Not only was the story so will written and kept me wanting more but the narration was wonderful. The two blended seemlessly working together. If you want a great romantic suspense novel this is the one.

2 things you should know before you buy...

I wish I had known these two things prior to investing in this series. 1) the narrator, especially in the first book, speaks really slowly. I listened to the whole thing on 1.25 to 1.50 speed which, while annoying, was less annoying than listening at normal speed. Take a careful listen to sample first. Narrator did have good emotion and distinct characters. 2) the over-arching story doesn't come anywhere near getting resolved. I'm guessing you'll have to listen to all 5 or 6 books before you see the head bad guy get his comeuppance -- whoever that is because I still don't know. I think I was expecting that solving this one crime would band the friends together again, and then maybe they'd start their own business. I was thinking each book would be a separate crime and a new relationship. I'm feeling a little mislead but reluctantly pulled in. Felt a little like a bait & switch. I thought I was buying a complete story but what I got was a fairly complete romance and about 1/6th of a crime novel. Grrr...

great story

Any additional comments?

This was a great story - an audio book for me. Had it all, romance, action and heat. I really enjoyed it.

UNEXPECTED PLEASANT SURPRISE

I was blown away with my level of interest and pure delight in this book! Sure, when I purchased it a year ago I'd wanted to listen to it or I wouldn't have bought it, but I think I bought it in a bundle and it's just been collecting 'digital dust' :-) all this time. Shame on me because this was a fantastic listen!

The part of the story that I didn't enjoy as much, at least initially, was the narration; there were some ups and downs in terms of overkill on the dramatics, and at certain points her pace had too many pregnant pauses, but her voice was pleasant if not a little too sweet. All that aside, I loved every minute. I was intrigued and really enjoyed the mystery & suspense with the romance. This band of dishonored soldiers are one sexy bunch on a mission to reclaim their good name and maybe get a little love and nookie while doing so. Nick and Becca will make you swoon, like, eye rolling swoon; I loved it! I have a feeling this is going to be amongst my list of favorite series for sure. Definitely credit worthy!

Loved this book -- Couldnt put it down!!

What did you love best about Hard As It Gets?

The story was great, between the chemistry between Becka and Nick and the back story between the men this book had me hooked.

Amazing Story, Sizzling Chemistry -- Loved!

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

Oh, the smexy times, easily! Suspense, great action, great banter and the brotherhood moments were great, but the the sex! WOW. Hot, delicious, and so, so good. Luckily Valentine was a fantastic choice for the sex scenes, though that may sound like an odd compliment, I assure you it's a good thing. Some narrators are okay when it comes to the smexy times – not great, not bad, just reading it. Often while listening to audio books, the sex scenes do not stick out, since I'm not reading them myself. Not so with Kaye's fantastic writing and Seraphine Valentine's great voice and “expressions”. The sex scenes came off (heh) as very potent, not cheesy in anyway. * SHUDDERS * Trust me, I was very, ahem, happy while listening – not always a good things since 90% of the book was listened to while I was walking the dogs each day, and some neighbors stop me to say hi . . .

Who was your favorite character and why?

I fell in love with all the men, but I have a soft spot for Jeremy -- he had better get his own story!!

Which character – as performed by Seraphine Valentine – was your favorite?

Hm . . . Again, Jeremy sticks out, but she did a *great* job with all of the characters, I thought!

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

If I had the time, I would have done so! As it was, I came back from my walks and usually listened another 30 minutes while doing things around the house before, reluctantly, pausing it for the day.

Any additional comments?

I can't even begin to tell you how much I loved Hard As It Gets. I loved it. A LOT. Happy dance, fan girl squee, loved it! I'm dying to read the rest of the series, and I know that I will be coming back to reread this book many times in the future.

I admit, there were some moments when Valentine paused (where there didn't need to be pauses) that slightly annoyed me, but all in all she did a wonderful job with the story and I will listen to her again, as well as buying a print/ebook copy of the book for my keeper shelf too.

I highly recommend this series, author, and narrator – I'll be coming back for more!

Fantastic

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

No I found the narration too slow.

Any additional comments?

This is my second book by this author and will be far from the last. Laura is a talented story teller. I love her characters and steamy plots.

Mediocre.

Not sure why this book had so many 5 star reviews. It wasn't bad and while the plot had some action I think the narrator made the story drag on. I can normally ignore the narrator but this one about put me to sleep she was so slow, I might have been more interested in the story if there was a different narrator. The story itself gets a bit better after she finds her 3 legged puppy, and I get use to the narrator. Although the hot and cold emotions from Nick was a bit annoying, I know he had his issues but for some reason it just grated on me. I won't be continuing on with the series but with so many other great reviews for this book this one will need to be tried to make your own judgment.