So, wouldn't ya know it- I have found yet another author that I love!! I honestly don't think that I had previously heard of Laura Kaye or any of her work before getting the invite for HAIG's blog tour, but now that I have- I am so thrilled about it!! This book has it all folks- hot alpha, sassy lead gal, tattoos, hot sex, and a tiny bit of danger thrown in for good measure.... Oh and did I mention, that it's the first of a series???? Yep- can you believe that- we are gonna get even more of the Hard Ink's yummy goodness in the near future!!! I for one cannot wait!!
This book is Nick and Becca's story- basically what starts the entire backdrop for the series. Nick, a former military man, meets Becca in his tattoo shop that he co-owns with his brother, Jeremy. Only Becca isn't there for a tattoo- she is there in hopes of getting Nick to help her locate her own brother, Charlie- who has gone inexplicably missing. This, after receiving a chilling and weird message from him, advising her to seek out Nick and the rest of their father's (Nick and the guys former commander) team, as they will be the only ones who can help her. So, Becca goes in expecting Nick to jump into action to help her family since her worked so closely with her father for so many years. But, little does she know, Nick hates him with every fiber of his being- blaming him for ruining his entire life and costing him the career that he so dearly loved. Needless to say, Nick coldly turns Becca away once he finds out who she is, and more importantly- who her father was. Heartbroken, but angry as hell and even more determined than ever, Becca decides that she will find Charlie herself, without anyone's help. What she thinks will be an easy task for her, ends up almost costing her more than just her life more times than she cares to count, and she quickly realizes that maybe her paranoid brother- wasn't wrong for being so paranoid. So, who should come to her rescue? Well, Nick of course!! Strapped with his moral values and personal code of honor- he decides to only observe from afar, just to be certain that she's safe. However, seeing the real danger that she and Charlie are in, he decides to take charge and protect her- protect what will soon become his..........
Excerpt:
Nick sniffed and murmured, and his breathing slowly
changed from the slow, shallow draws of sleep to the deeper pattern of
wakefulness. “What are you thinking so hard about?” he said, his voice a
seductive, raw gravel.
“Nothing,” Becca whispered.
“Bad liar, remember?”
She smiled. Not even awake and he was already a
smart-ass. “You’re laying on me.”
He lifted his head, eyes still soft with sleep and
oh so bright. “Er, oh, God, Bec—”
“Don’t move, please? I wasn’t complaining.”
“Then what—”
“It’s just…” The way he was looking at her, half
concerned, half like he might make her every dream come true, had her spilling
a fast stream of honesty that was about five point two light-years beyond
oversharing. “I’m horny. And you’re hot as hell. And we’re clearly trying to be
good. Although, I’m not sure why, exactly. And, anyway, I don’t want you to
move. Because I like the feel of you. And I—”
His mouth swallowed the rest of the nonsense
spilling from her lips. The kiss was aggressive and needful, his tongue twining
with hers, his hands in her hair, his chest atop her breasts. For a long
moment, she was so stunned by the kiss that all she could do was give in to the
sensual assault. His leg pressed between her legs, hard against her clit, the
bunching and shifting of his muscles shoving her step by step closer to the
edge of restraint. A stream of moans and whimpers worked their way up her
throat until finally she couldn’t stop her hips from dancing against his thigh.
“Nick,” she rasped around the edge of a kiss. “Oh,
God.”
“What?” he said, pulling back. He stroked his nose
over her cheek to her ear. “What’s the matter?” He eased his thigh away.
Her whimper was full of protest for the loss of him.
The sexy bastard chuckled. “Don’t stop,” she managed.
Tracing his tongue around the shell of her ear, he
rocked his hips against her nice and slow. “Don’t’ stop what?”
Becca swallowed roughly, arousal making it hard to
breathe, hard to think. “You’re teasing me.”
He chuffed out another small laugh in her ear,
casting shivers over her skin. “I am.”
Digging her fingers into his hair, she grasped tow
handfuls and held tight. “Well don’t. I want…”
Nick’s tongue was in her mouth again, exploring
every wet corner and stealing her breath. He pulled back, panting. “What? What
do you want, sunshine?”
The nickname tugged her heart into the action, too.
Did he realize he said it? “I like when you call me that.”
He
bit her bottom lip and tugged, his gaze boring into hers, one eyebrow arched.
“What do you want?”
Yes ladies, Nick is one hot puppy!! And Becca is one lucky girl!!
And when we finally get to meet the rest of Nick's team- god- talk about swooning all over again! These are one hot bunch of alphas that we have here!! I feel like they are all going to get their stories told with their own books, so I cannot wait to read them as well! Especially Beckett Murda- something about him just tells me that his is going to knock my pants off!!
I love how the guys, once they got past their anger over what Becca's father had done to them, just accepted her into the fold as one of their own. They knew that she wasn't her father, and more importantly, that she had no clue what kind of man he really was. She was instantly the little sister that they all stepped up to protect and honor. Add to them Jeremy, Nick's little brother, and Becca had a whole new family that she wasn't expecting- since she had lost every member of her own, with the exception of Charlie. The love that these guys all had for one another was amazing- not just a brotherhood, but truly a family!! And Laura Kaye brought all of that out beautifully.
The next book in the series, Hard As You Can, which will be Shane and Crystal's story, is due out in March 2014- and I am already chomping at the bit to read it- so yeah, that tells you how good this series is and is going to be!! You have to go pick up this book now babies, and get started on this amazing author's newest series-- you won't be sorry!!
5 stars all the way!!!!!!
You can read Chapter One of Hard As It Gets here: [ cause Laura is awesome like that ;) ]
http://www.avonromance.com/post/hard-as-it-gets-exclusive-excerpt
And pick up your copies at one of the retailers below:
And, enter the drawing for one of 5 print copies, provided by Avon Publishing, here:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YzE3MDZmOGMxZGJmNjVkZjBmYzI3N2I4MWUzN2U0OjMy/
And, so we can all have a beautiful face with the name of the wonderful gal who brought us this gem, here are some tidbits about Laura Kaye:
Laura
is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in
contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family
believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and
evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and
all things paranormal. She
lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and
appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
http://www.laurakayeauthor.com/
http://laurakayeauthor.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/LauraKayeWrites
http://laurakayeauthor.us2.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=ad624707d982081ab3b484592&id=e3c1aac3f1
