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Hard as Steel by Laura Kaye Also by this author: Hard As It Gets, Hard As You Can, Hard To Hold On To, Hard To Come By, Hard To Be Good, Hard Ever After, Ride Hard, Ride Rough
Series: Hard Ink #4.5, Raven Riders MC #0.5, 1001 Dark Nights
Also in this series: Hard As It Gets, Hard As You Can, Hard To Hold On To, Hard To Come By, Hard To Be Good, Hard Ever After
Published by Evil Eye Concepts on September 22, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Erotica, Romance, Romantic Suspense
Character(s): Bad Boys, MC/Bikers, Military Guys, Tattooed & Pierced Bad Boys
Pages: 128
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After identifying her employer's dangerous enemies, Jessica Jakes takes refuge at the compound of the Raven Riders Motorcycle Club. Fellow Hard Ink tattooist and Raven leader Ike Young promises to keep Jess safe for as long as it takes, which would be perfect if his close, personal, round-the-clock protection didn't make it so hard to hide just how much she wants him—and always has.
Ike Young loved and lost a woman in trouble once before. The last thing he needs is alone time with the sexiest and feistiest woman he's ever known, one he's purposely kept at a distance for years. Now, Ike's not sure he can keep his hands or his heart to himself—or that he even wants to anymore. And that means he has to do whatever it takes to hold on to Jess forever.
Erin: It is a good day to be a reader when one of your favorite series by one of your favorite authors has a spin-off/crossover. Right? We all have those characters we love that we can’t quite let go of, and the storylines we want to continue, even if new characters and story arcs are introduced. Thus is the case for the new Hard Ink/Raven Riders novella, Hard as Steel from the very talented Laura Kaye.
Ike Young is a member of the Raven’s motorcycle club and an employee/tattooist/friend of Jeremey Rixey, owner of Hard Ink. Jessica Jakes also works at Hard Ink and when she finds herself in trouble, who does she turn to but hard as nails, bald, tattooed, muscled, bad boy, Ike. Take a deep breath and just imagine that piece of yumminess why don’t you? From the first page, Hard as Steel is a high octane ride, just like the books of the Hard Ink series. Action and suspense with plenty of hot and sexy thrown in, lovers of the men and women of the Hard Ink books will fall in love with Jess and Ike, too.
These two had chemistry like whoa. Forced into close quarters by their circumstances, it definitely doesn’t take long for the sparks to fly with these two.
And then they just stared at each other for a long moment. Jess went from feeling amused to awkward to observed…and that made her hot. Especially as she was standing there in nothing but a towel.
As if he could hear her thoughts, Ike’s gaze slowly ran down her neck to her chest. She wiped at something there and the wetness on the fingers told her it had been a droplet of water from her hair. Ike watched the movement of her hand openly, hungrily, and his desire made her bold, daring, hungry in return.
Without giving herself time to second-guess the idea, she reached out and lightly dragged her wet fingers against his bottom lip.
And it was like she unleashed a beast.
And yes, they steam up the sheets, but they spend time getting to one another, too, and you can tell there is definitely a connection between them. I liked their back and forth. Jess is one tough cookie, and though she’s scared and worried for their friends, she’s strong when she needs to be. And Ike, gah. Who doesn’t love a bad boy with a soft gooey inside? Laura Kaye, as always, did a pretty great job with their backgrounds, giving them both some depth and something real to build on besides just off the charts sexual attraction. It felt genuine, not forced, and that is hard to do in a novella but Kaye handled it well.
Hard as Steel was a fun read, full of intensity, emotion, and enough laughs to be very satisfying. I hope the series continues. Like most everyone, I’m not quite ready to let go of the Hard Ink universe, and spending some time with the Raven Riders sounds like a can’t miss! Check this one out, you’ll love it!
She's a Texan, though she drinks her tea plain and NOT sweet. She loves cheesecake, strawberry limeade's from Sonic and her favorite color is purple. In her books, she loves an HEA, but she never minds if the road is rough to get there, as long as the reward is worth the struggle.
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| Overall: | 4 |
