Review: Hard As You Can by Laura Kaye

Hard Ink Series:

Book 2:

Hard As You Can: Shane McCallan and Crystal
 



Amazon Link
Goodreads Link 
 
Summary:
From Goodreads.com
Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.
Ever since hard-bodied, drop-dead-charming Shane McCallan strolled into the dance club where Crystal Dean works, he’s shown a knack for getting beneath her defenses. For her little sister’s sake, Crystal can’t get too close. Until her job and Shane’s mission intersect, and he reveals talents that go deeper than she could have guessed.
 
Shane would never turn his back on a friend in need, especially a former Special Forces teammate running a dangerous, off-the-books operation. Nor can he walk away from Crystal. The gorgeous waitress is hiding secrets she doesn't want him to uncover. Too bad. He’s exactly the man she needs to protect her sister, her life, and her heart. All he has to do is convince her that when something feels this good, you hold on as hard as you can—and never let go.
 
Review:
*Warning this review may have spoilers*
Hard As You Can by Laura Kaye is the second book in her sexy series about military men looking to clear their names. These men looking for redemption have congregated under the roof of Nicks brothers tattoo parlor. After the first book I was really looking forward to this book and while I liked it I’m left a bit disappointed. The romance between Crystal and Shane was kind of a hard swallow as they really didn’t spend much time together. Mostly stolen moments here and there. How are we supposed to buy that they fell in love when a slow dance and a breakfast is about all the time they spent together. The steam factor is super low in this book and you kind of felt its void. Kaye is kind of known a bit for her books being a bit higher on the steam factor or at least filled with sexual tension. We didn’t get any real booty until about 80% of the way through the book and I think one make out session before that. This also leads into the lack of truly feeling the romance. **spoiler alert** I also had a couple of problems with the plot line with Shane’s sister. I kept waiting for her to be rescued or found and she never is which leaves the book feeling unfinished for me. There is also a part where the men have to make a hard decision because they are seriously under manned. I really wish Kaye had chosen something else to run where if they couldn’t do anything about it you don’t care so much. **end spoiler**
 
So that’s what I wasn’t too keen on what I did like was Crystals sister! She’s a bit of a firecracker and there may have been a bit of a thing developing between her and one of the guys. We’ll see on that one. Even though she is sick she keeps trucking along and I like that. I like how Crystal and Shane are so protective of their loved ones. Crystal stays in an impossible situation for her sister. Shane goes out of his way to protect his “brothers in arms” in that they are the same. I like that the guys are starting to come together again. Shane and Nick begin to realize that neither at fault and work towards some middle ground. Marz is probably my favorite because he’s so easy going and has such a great outlook well Jeremy is also a favorite how can you not love his t-shirts? We get to know a little more about Easy he plays a bit larger of a role in this book, not a lot but more than the first. We meet one of Jeremy’s tattoo artists in this book I think his name was Ike? Maybe? But he was intriguing. I’d like to see more of him. Despite some of the issues I had with this book I was pretty glued to it and read it pretty quickly. Although this will not be my favorite book in the series I’m still excited to see where Kaye takes us.