Review: Hard As It Gets (Hard Ink #1) by Laura Kaye

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Title: Hard As It Gets (Hard Ink #1)
Author: Laura Kaye
Series: Hard Ink
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Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.

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...

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My Review:

Ok, so I'm star-struck.  I am totally in love with every single man in this book.  For men who came back from Afghanistan broken, they are strong-willed and bad-ass as hell.  And they are the good guys.

It breaks my heart what they've been through and then the cover-up just adds insult to injury.  And Becca, she's been through the ringer too.  You have two broken people who have great chemistry and need each other.  It took so long for them to get it together, every time I thought they were there, something happened and they pulled back.  It made it so much sweeter (and hotter) when it finally happened.

And Becca is not your typical heroine.  She is a strong character.  She may break down at times but she holds her head up and pushes through, even if she's on her own.

What I love the most is that these men came home on the brink of death and you find them here fighting to clear their names and save lives.  Separately, they may have their own weaknesses but together they are stronger than ever.  They may not be military Special Forces anymore but they damn sure are a force to be reckoned with.

As the first book in this series, Hard As It Gets is a great start.  I can't wait for the next one.  I have a feeling this series is going to be awesome.

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About the Author:

Laura Kaye is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Laura grew up amid family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. A published non–fiction author, Laura's work as an historian and training as an archaeologist help her create vivid and accurate portrayals of other times and places. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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Review: Addicted For Now by Krista & Becca Ritchie

Title: Addicted for Now
Author: Krista & Becca Ritchie
Series: Addicted #2
Pub Date: November 30th, 2013
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Summary:

He's addicted to booze. She's addicted to sex...staying sober is only half the battle.

No. More. Sex.

Those are the three words Lily Calloway fears the most. But Loren Hale is determined to be with Lily without enabling her dangerous compulsions. With their new living situation—sleeping in the same bed, for real, together—Lily has new battles. Like not jumping Lo’s bones every night. Not being consumed by sex and his body.

Loren plans to stay sober, to right all of his wrongs. So when someone threatens to expose Lily’s secret to her family and the public, he promises that he’ll do anything to protect her. But with old enemies surfacing, Lo has more at stake than his sobriety.

They will torment Lily until Lo breaks.

And his worst fear isn’t relapsing. He hears the end. He sees it. The one thing that could change everything. Just three words.

No. More. Us.

My Review:

Lily and Lo grabbed me in the first book.  I was completely taken in my their dysfunction. This time around I was captivated by their bravery and persistence to beat their addictions.  Not to mention, they actually let other people in to help them.

I loved the intensity of the love and friendship they had when they were dysfunctional, but watching them overcome their addictions together was just as powerful.  There is no way either could have done it without the other.  Not to mention, without Rose, Connor, and Ryke.

Now, add Daisy to the mix and you've got one big bowl of dysfunctional soup.  But its great, they all play off of each other and some of their conversations are hilarious.

On a serious note though - I would think bringing the stigma associated with being a woman suffering from a sex addiction to the forefront would be a difficult task, but the authors did a wonderful job.  I don't know how accurate Lily's treatment was compared to the real world, but I did appreciate the realism of how hard it was to find a qualified therapist (its hard enough to find one for more mundane things), as well as the prejudices against someone suffering from sex addiction.

And I can't wait to read Kiss the Sky and Hothouse Flower.

About The Authors:
Becca Ritchie claims she's from Mystic Falls, but really, she lives in Atlanta where humidity is her greatest foe. She loves comic books, blue nail polish and Jonathan Taylor Thomas circa 1995. She frequents Twitter to dish about too many TV shows, and when she's not blogging, she writes novels and has teamed up with her twin sister to collaborate on a New Adult series.

Krista Ritchie has a clone...or someone who looks exactly like her. If she's not writing books with her twin sister, she's pouring over entertainment news and ingesting copious amounts of pop culture. She likes tennis, that thing called the TV, and beating Becca (her clone) on Sega Genesis. She created YA Book Exchange to combat her book buying addiction and started Nawanda Files, a YA Book Blog that features books into movies news, to share her love for all things bookish. Oh, and she does something called science. Whatever that is.

Krista: Goodreads | Twitter
Becca: Goodreads | Twitter
Website | Facebook | Tumblr | Pinterest

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Review: Lucky Girl (Dear Rockstar #2) by Emme Rollins

As much as I enjoyed Dear Rockstar, this one left me feeling a little flat.

I was excited to head back to the 80's with Sara and Dale and to see what was in store for them.  Part of my problem was that it didn't have that same 80's feel as Dear Rockstar and that is what really drew me in.

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy this.  I just had a few issues.

What made me really, really happy?  The ending.  I am really glad that it turned out this way, because my heart was breaking.  And I really did not see it coming.

My issues:

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Review: Dear Rockstar (Dear Rockstar #1) by Emme Rollins

Wow. Ok, so this book dragged me back to the 80's and it was awesome. I loved it. The whole time I was reading this all I pictured in my head was old school DeGrassi. I was in heaven. Granted, I haven't been alive through many decades but out of the 3-ish I've been around for the 80's were by far the best.

So, while I was in my fabulous 80's flashback I was told the story of Sara and Dale.  They had this undeniable connection and I really liked that.  It was like he was made for her.  But then, they both have their issues.  We know from the start what they mostly are.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what Sara and her step-beast's issues actually were.  I wish she had told Dale (and I) sooner so I could have spent the correct amount of time despising the bastard.  The actual reason she missed graduation broke my heart.  The whole situation all-around broke my heart.  And her obsession with Tyler Vincent.  This girl was cracked!  But, I guess she had every reason to be.

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Review: Death's Lover (Eternal Lovers 1) by Marie Hall

I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about this cover that is making me just stare at it mindlessly.

Eh.  Anyway, review time.

Although I did enjoy this book, it was very hard for me to get through.  I liked the world building, but my brain kept losing focus.

I had a hard time with the beginning, I really wasn't liking Cian and yes, it was because he was death and I guess I wasn't really grasping the point.  Even still, I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Eve falling in love with someone else after she was so obviously in love with her husband.  And even though two years had passed for Eve, it was hard for me to remember that.

Other than that, it was like it would drag at one point and then rush forward really quickly.

Towards the end I was confused by Lise's harshness with Eve.  I mean, I get it because it was explained but really, how did she expect Eve to react.  For me it was really unclear, almost like no matter what Eve did she was going to be wrong.

Poor Cian, I think he was just as confused as I was.

I did like this book and I will probably read the next one.  I am curious about Frenzy and where his story will go.  I'm also curious about some of the other characters.

Amazon:  Death's Lover (The Eternal Lovers Series) | Marie Hall
ARe:  Death's Lover
Goodreads:  Death's Lover (Eternal Lovers 1) | Marie Hall

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Review: The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers (Demon Slayer 2) by Angie Fox

This one is going to be short and to the point.  Yay!

The second novel in the Demon Slayer series was true to form.  It picked up where the first one left off and kept up the campy feel.

While I did enjoy it, it felt like it was dragging a bit.  I thought Dimitri would have played a bigger role in the book, but it seemed this one was more about Lizzie coming into her own in the supernatural world.  Although, in the end she needed help to do so.

Like I said, I did enjoy it.  It was what I needed since I've been reading some pretty heavy stuff lately.  Granted there are parts of this that should feel heavy, but they don't.

Angie Fox has a knack for writing things in a way to keep them light even when they are very heavy.  Kudos to her.  I didn't feel like I needed to crawl in a hole, curl into the fetal position and bawl like a baby at all while I was reading this.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


Amazon Links:  The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, An Urban Fantasy Romance (Biker Witches Mystery, Book 2) | Angie Fox
Kobo Links:  The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers
ARe Links:  The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers
Goodreads Links:  The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers (Demon Slayer 2) | Angie Fox
Angie Fox on Facebook
www.angiefox.com

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