Tuesday, August 18, 2015

HARD AS YOU CAN by Laura Kaye



Hard Ink Series #2
Harper Collins, February 2014
Paperback
Obtained via:  publisher
ISBN:  0062267914
ISBN13: 9780062267917
Romantic Suspense
***


 
The second offering in Laura Kaye’s Hard Ink series, HARD AS YOU CAN, centers on super sexy soldier Shane McCallan and dance club hostess Crystal Dean’s unlikely romance in the middle of a mission. 

Shane is one of a group of Special Forces soldiers trying to clear their names after they were double crossed by their commanding officer.  He runs into Crystal on an off-book recovery mission to the club Crystal works at while she bides her time until her autistic sister graduates and she can get them out of danger and into a better life.

Laura Kaye’s HARD AS YOU CAN was an interesting story with a lot of action.  The characters were multifaceted and a good fit for each other.  Crystal has had a difficult life and is stuck with a thug for a boyfriend that she has to keep happy until her sister can graduate and she can get them both out of that life into something better.  The sacrifices that Crystal makes for her sister throughout the book are endearing.  Shane is sexy, alpha and more than capable of coming to Crystal’s rescue.  It was easy to cheer for Shane and Crystal, if only to get Crystal and her sister out from under Crystal’s thug boyfriend’s thumb.  However, this reader found it difficult to really empathize with Crystal.  She just came off as a bit too rough around the edges and not quite ready for the relationship that instantly formed between these two characters.  On the plus side, the background story of the soldiers working on clearing their names continues in this book and presumably into the next book in the series.  And it is this hook that will keep readers coming back for more.  This is where the suspense comes in and where the real story takes place.

Still, as the second book in the Hard Ink series, HARD AS YOU CAN introduces two more characters and quite a bit more storyline in the soldier double cross plotline that readers will really enjoy.  Fans of military romance and romantic suspense will most likely find something here that they can enjoy.

Reviewed by T. Barringer
tammyLRM@gmail.com

"This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book."

 

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