Release Day Blitz, Book Review and Giveaway: Hard As It Gets (A Hard Ink Novel) by Laura Kaye

WINNERS!

Shadow Realm, Sue Fahey and Sara Howe - congratulations!

Title: Hard As It Gets

Author: Laura Kaye

Publisher: Avon (HarperCollins)

Release Date: November 26, 2013

Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

From the book:

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...

My review:

My reaction, the second I finished this book was:

Holy. Hell.
That was awesome!! 

(It really was. I posted exactly that online in my Avon Addicts group within a minute of finishing the last sentence.)

Becca Merritt is one determined woman. Her brother, Charlie, has gone missing, and he's left her a single clue - to find Nick Rixey. Becca is driven to find her brother at any cost; he's her only family left, and she's not willing to give him up without a fight.

Nick Rixey is a self-loathing Afghanistan war vet who's shut out everyone except his brother. He was discharged from the military with dishonor, and it was because of his ex-commander...who is also Becca's father (he was killed in Afghanistan). These days, he hangs out at his brother's tattoo place and does some ink art...and he's really, really good at it. The tattoo parlor, where Nick and his super-awesome, best-secondary character ever brother, Jeremy, is also where they live - and where Becca stays when the same guys who have her brother...well, I'll leave that to you to discover. ;)

(Handy tip: Keep an eye out for Jeremy's shirts. They will make you laugh and wonder what he'll be wearing next!)

The chemistry between Nick and Becca is phenomenal. Kaye has a definite talent when it comes to sexual tension; she would Nick and Becca so tight, my Kindle almost imploded. The two of them moved very naturally into a relationship, and I really adored them together. Becca, while a strong female lead, has a genuine softness to her; Nick's shell is so hard, it's nearly unbreakable. 

What unfolds in this book is a crazy, fast-paced suspense that had me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't put this book down if the house was on fire around me - I needed to know who had Charlie, what they wanted, and how it all circled back to Becca's dad.

The world building was amazing, the plotting perfect, and the characters fun, smart and believable. One more thing to make this story one of my top picks of the year? It's a series...and while the issue of Charlie is resolved in this novel, the why of his disappearance - and how it ties back to Becca's father - looks like it'll be tied throughout this series of 5 books:

Hard As It Gets 11/26/13
Hard As You Can 2/25/14
Hard to Hold Onto 8/19/14 (novella)
Hard to Come By 11/25/14
Hard Ink #4 is untitled, spring 2015

Overall - this was a great, smart, fun, sexy, suspenseful read.  Highly recommended - get yourself a copy, you won't regret it!

Giveaway

I have 3 SIGNED bookmarks from Laura herself! All you have to do to enter is comment below. Happy reading!

(Disclaimer: I was provided an digital copy from the publisher for an honest and unbiased review.)