HARD TO FIGHT
Series: Alpha’s Heart #1
Genre: Erotic, Contemporary Romance
Author: Bella Jewel
Release Date: August 11, 2015
Grace is a bounty hunter who wants to be taken seriously, but her boss refuses to believe that a woman can bring down a dangerous criminal. She finally gets a chance to prove herself when she’s given the case of a lifetime: capture Raide Knox and bring him to justice.
Raide is a dangerous fugitive on the run…and the sexiest man Grace has ever met. Catching Raide won’t be easy. He’s not the kind of man to go down without a fight. Raide is more intense and frustrating than any man she’s ever had to deal with, and the instantaneous attraction that sparks between them is undeniable. One thing is for sure…it’s going to be a case they will never forget.
**Hard To Fight is a full-length standalone romance with a HEA**
I tried to like this book, really, I did. But the plot had more holes in it than a dead guy from The Godfather. I loved the premise of it, unfortunately when I finished, that was also the only thing about it I liked. For once it wasn’t the hot cover the sucked me in (what? Like that hasn’t happened to you? Judge not, my judgey friend, judge not), but the synopsis. I love me a badass heroine and it doesn’t get any more badass than a female bounty hunter. Unfortunately for me, there was absolutely nothing badass about Grace. The only thing that she managed to do is annoy the ever loving hell out of me.
See Grace is supposed to be sassy. You know she’s sassy because she reminds you of it every other bloody paragraph. Nothing like subtlety to drive the point home, right? Sorry Grace, but I think you missed your ship to sassy land, and took a detour there somewhere
So Grace here is a bounty hunter but her boss won’t give her the big cases because she’s a woman and women are weak and blah blah blah
Finally her big break comes in the shape of big bad and uber sexy Raide, who she happened to have met the night before finding out he’s a fugitive and shared some snarky sexual banter with. Raide is wanted for aggravated assault and suspected murder. Grace needs to prove herself so while being on a team of bounty hunters, she’s going to go after him herself because…badass. But since Raide is all big and bad she can’t bring him in physically. So what’s a girl to do? Seduce him, of course. That’s a sure way to prove to your boss and team that you’re a woman to be reckoned with.
Anyway the rest of the book goes something along the lines of this…
I need to seduce him, but oh my, how do I do that when he doesn’t seem interested? I know, I’ll stalk him! He goes to a club, I’ll go to that club. He goes to a coffee shop, I’ll go to that coffee shop. He goes to a gun shop, I’ll go to that gun shop…because badass!
What’s that? He notices me every single time I follow him because subtlety and subterfuge isn’t my strong suit? No worries, because I’ll just use my sassy to get me out of it!
Hi there, handsome.”
“You following me?”
“I like coffee.”
“We done playin’ games long enough for you to have one with me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just here having coffee. What are these games you speak of?”
Subtle, real subtle there, 007.
Hmm..this seduction business isn’t going well. I need to stalk him some more. What’s that? HE followed me home twice and I didn’t notice it? No worries! I’m still badass. Operation seduction is still on. But I have my limits, there will be no kissing. Damn, I just made out with him! No worries, operation seduction is still on. But I have my limits, there will be no sex. Damn, I just had sex with him. But I think he’s innocent. I still need to bring him in though.
Blah blah blah other stuff happens blah blah.
I think I’m falling for him. But now I really believe he’s innocent. Screw my job and proving myself, nothing beats good sex. I’ve known him for a whole month, he’s worth it! What’s that? We’re in danger and being held captive while Raide is severely wounded? What should we do? I know! Have sex!
I mean for fuck’s sake! Don’t even get me started on the fact that Raide’s endearment for her was “lady”. And all I can hear in my head as I was reading it was “hey laaaaddyyyy!”. Or the fact that after a month of knowing each other she tries to get him to give up his revenge (view spoiler) because it’s selfish of him to continue with it knowing he’s putting himself in danger and she’s in his life. All the while she STILL hasn’t come clean with him about her motives.
Then there was an additional random POV toward the end and then everything was wrapped up in a pretty little bow to rival a disney fairytale. Suffice it to say this book did not work for me in any way. The characters were flat and I really didn’t feel there was much character or relationship development. It was all just meh.
Will I read other books in this series? Maybe? This could have been a total fluke since I’ve read and enjoyed a few other titles by this author. Unfortunately Hard To Fight was a book I actually had to push myself to finish and then was kicking myself for not DNFing it at 25% as I had originally wanted to. Ah well. You lose some, you win some. I suggest you read it and see what you think. Different strokes for different folks and all that jazz.
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