TEST
Love Hard is the third book in the Hard Play series, a fact you can’t miss because the book opens by narrating the wedding of previous characters – for EIGHT CHAPTERS. Eventually, you’ll get to the actual plot of this book, and it’s quite nice, but it takes way too long to get there.
As a teenager, Jake Esera was left a single father to his daughter Esme when his girlfriend Callie was stricken with bacterial meningitis. He has since dedicated himself to a squeaky clean, simple family life, which is not so easy when Jake is a member of the New Zealand rugby squad. Meanwhile, Callie’s best friend Juliet Nalisi became a scandal magnet when her cricketer ex-husband dragged her name through the tabloids. She’s the last person Jake should be interested in.
So let’s start with the beginning, which is hands-down the least successful part of the book. Jake and Juliet are reunited at the wedding of Jake’s brother Gabriel and Juliet’s friend Charlotte, and if you’re wondering if Gabriel and Charlotte are in love, don’t worry – Singh will tell you about six hundred times. She will also tell you about Charlotte’s wedding dress, and how it perfectly suits her, and the flowers at the reception, and how they capture Gabriel and Charlotte’s personalities, and we will learn about the careers and love lives of members of the wedding party we will not see again for the rest of the book. It’s like five straight chapters of insufferably saccharine epilogue mixed with advertisements for other books in the series, and I would never have stuck with it if not for the fact I had committed to writing this review. I have read books where the main characters fall in love at someone else’s wedding and the author manages to keep the writing tight and focused on the present protagonists. This is not one of those books.
Once I dragged myself through the first eight chapters to the part of the book that was actually about Jake and Juliet, the story picked up. It’s not ground-breaking, but it’s a pleasant read. Juliet turns out to work for an underwear company that’s hired Kiwi rugby players as models, including Jake, which gives the two of them an excuse to get back together after the wedding. The sex scenes are good – Jake is one of those ‘it’s always the quiet ones’ intense, adventurous lovers, and his former relationship with Callie is handled sensitively. I liked how Jake’s family life was a great fit for the lonely, family-less Juliet, too.
The story is anchored in fame. Juliet’s sleazy ex has talked about her to the tabloids to try to boost his own celebrity, and Jake is a hot commodity in New Zealand but wants to preserve his daughter’s privacy. Therefore, Juliet’s Big Obstacle is ‘I’m too controversial to date Jake, so I should just go.’ It’s just… not realistic. The number of people in this world who are of permanent interest to the media is pretty slim, and a lot of them are in the British Royal Family. If Juliet and Jake got married and then were just boring, it would be fine.
I really liked the New Zealand setting, and once the story ‘proper’ gets going, Love Hard merits a solid B. But the first few chapters were so annoying that I have to bring the whole grade down a step because of it.
Buy it at: Amazon or shop at your local independent bookstore
Visit our Amazon Storefront
Grade: B-
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 28/03/20
Publication Date: 03/2020
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
Related Reviews
Thank you for a great review, you reinforced by reading preferences. I find this is often an issue for me in contemporary romance writers. I’ve noticed that paranormal writers seem to manage this really well. Jennifer Ashley, T.S. Joyce, Heather Long all have series, with interconnected families, multiple characters and they manage to entwine their histories and connections seamlessly, and importantly never losing focus on the leading characters.
I get very impatient with these series that not only have to have previous characters appear, often too long, to show us how happily married they are, and cynically, so you’ll go back and buy their book. Either the series authors recap the important past plot elements (yawn) or they assume you already know and remember the plot. I’m sorry. I have a life, so I do not remember book 4 in a 12 book series, nor do I want to read exposition that goes on for more than one sentence.
Death to series books!