Hard Beat
Series: Driven #7
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: K. Bromberg
Release Date: November 3, 2015
From the New York Times bestselling author of Sweet Ache comes a blistering new novel filled with danger, secrecy, and a desire that can’t be sated…
Foreign war correspondent Tanner Thomas is addicted to living on the edge. Needing the adrenaline rush of his job to help him cope with a personal loss, he throws himself back into the game, concentrating all his energy on getting the next big story.
But when he meets his new photojournalist, Beaux Croslyn, he can’t help but feel like he’s losing his focus—and maybe risking more…
With secrets she won’t address, Beaux is far from your ordinary woman. Determined to keep her distance, she’s willing to pull Tanner in closer and hide behind the sparks flying between them. But as Beaux’s past begins to put their relationship—and their lives—at risk, Tanner’s determination to find the truth puts them both in jeopardy.
He’s ready to chase her to the ends of the earth to find out if what they had was real, or if the danger surrounding them was just an exquisite heat fated to burn out…
She’s my little piece of Heaven in the land full of Hell.
It’s been quite a while since I read an all male POV that was this engrossing. Hard Beat was simply unputdownable from beginning to end. It was everything I love, and I really do mean everything. It managed to tick all my boxes.
A reedemable asshole hero.
You may remember Tanner as Rylee Thomas’s older brother. Well now it’s his turn for a HEA and it’s going to be one bumpy road. Tanner is a famous foreign war correspondent. Now back to doing what he does best after a tragic loss that absolutely gutted him, he’s interested in one thing and one thing only; his career. No woman, especially not some newbie photographer that’s still green behind her ears will deter him from that. So when a dark haired beauty approaches him at a bar, he rejects her. But her appeal is just too much for him to fight, so when her flirtation turns into sarcastic insults after his treatment, a few heated words turn into something much hotter
“You don’t have to like me to fuck me,” I say, cutting her off. “You just have to want me.”
“Fuck you!”
I chuckle against her lips before pulling back and looking straight into her desire-laden eyes. “That’s the plan.”
…. until he figures out that she’s his new photographer.
I think that had this been written in dual POV the effect would have been lost. I absolutely LOVED being in Tanner’s head. You get to experience every single emotion right along with him. So even when he’s being a downright asshole, your heart still breaks for him because you know what’s behind every word.
Utterly delicious hate to love trope
The relationship development here was phenomenal. The rocky start, the hate lust, all of which leads to inevitable feelings. But man oh man was it done well. I couldn’t get enough of Tanner and Beaux. These two seriously burn up the pages together. So much so that the tension between them sizzle and crackles so much it practically vibrates your finger with every turn of the page. Ugh. It was perfection.
A sassy and sharp witted heroine that gives as good as she gets
Beaux Croslyn is a mystery for a large portion of the book, but in that lies her appeal. You’re figuring out the puzzle that is her right along side Tanner. But what you do know, is this is a woman that doesn’t give in easily. For every asshole remark Tanner has, she gives it right back. She’s no pushover and she sure has a smart mouth on her.
“It seems to me your mouth needs to be washed out with soap. Not real classy for a lady to keep repeating words like that.”
“Oh, I’m a whole lot of classy. I just reserve all my fucks for assholes like you who deserve them.”
I simply couldn’t envision a better match for Tanner.
An unputdownable story filled with twists and turns
While the romance is emotional, erotic and oh so satisfying, what truly made this a 5 star read for me was the plot that tied it all together. It was fantastic! Then that last 30% happened and I was completely blown away. The twists and turns I never saw coming kept me riveted to the pages. I couldn’t put it down until I finished.
There’s not a single part about this book that I didn’t love. Quick paced, filled with action and even a little suspense, erotic, and emotionally charged made this the absolute perfect read. A must read!
Read the series in order
Driven (Driven, #1)
Fueled (Driven, #2)
Crashed (Driven, #3)
Raced (Driven, #4)
Slow Burn (Driven, #5)
Sweet Ache (Driven, #6)
Hard Beat (Driven, #7)
Coming 1/11/16
Aced (Driven, #8)
The sexual tension between these two is instant and so deliciously thick you can almost taste it. There’s nothing I love more than a good buildup and this book serves that up perfectly. Cari and Taryn know exactly what they’re doing and these two sure know how to tease and entice.
After that ending, I’m not sure whether to rock myself in a corner somewhere in my wait for the next installment or to hunt down Cari and Taryn and beat them until they give it to me. All I know, is I’m hooked and I want it. I need it. I have to have it.
It’s not secret that I love all things Aly Martinez. The woman can do no wrong in my eyes. Between her emotional stories, captivating multi-dimensional characters, and incredible romances, I will never get enough of her books. But this one? This wonderful, beautiful, unforgettable book? She simply outdid herself with this one. It’s not often where I’ll read about a hero that’s neither a manwhore or an asshole, and fall completely head over heels in love. But that’s precisely what happened here. Sam Rivers may very well be one of my favorite heroes this year.
You know when you spend months (or years) waiting for a book for a certain character that you build up in your head and you start to think that no way will the actual book live up to the expectations you built up? But then you read it and not only does it meet each and every single one of your expectations but it blows it out of the water? That was what Seduction Game was for me. This book was everything I’ve come to love about this author’s writing and even more so about this series. I’ve been a huge fan of the I-Team since I first read 
Kate Meader is an author that first hit my radar with her seriously delicious 
I loved these two together. Who doesn’t love a sassy and sharp-witted heroine and a hero with a dominating streak in the bedroom? Rhetorical question, obviously, because I couldn’t get enough of them.
After reading 
Ivy has been the Savage Saints club whore for as long as she’s been there. She’s the anything goes girl and the more you hurt her, the more she’ll want you. Devastated at being cast aside by Kick, the man she believed herself in love with, she turns to the familiar numbness of drugs to make her forget.
Tank is a man to be feared; a hitman for his MC, he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. He’s also determined to be the hands that puts Ivy back together again, whether she wants it or not.
It’s not an easy read. Not even close. I felt this book on a visceral level and I still find myself unable to stop thinking about it days after finishing.
It happens. For people like us, baby. It happens, eventually. Just as long as we hold on.
What an incredibly bittersweet book this was for me to read. I first discovered this amazing series back in 2012 when I read 
You know how I was sure I had a 5 star read on my hands? I didn’t skim even one page. Not. A. One. Not any of the descriptions of the clothes, the furniture, the rooms, the clouds in the sky, nothing. I was enthralled in the characters and their romance from beginning to end and absolutely devoured every page.
No one, and I mean no one gives male POV quite like Emma Chase. The woman is the queen of male POVs and nothing beats her. While Drew from 
Don’t get me wrong, both Chelsea and Jake are far from perfect and I wanted to shake them for their stupidity more than a few times. But at the same time it just worked. I adored these two together. It wasn’t instant and I loved the burn of their sexual chemistry until they finally ignited together.
If I’m being perfectly honest, I was actually hesitant to read this. Last time I read a companion novel, the only thing it managed to do was make me hate the heroine with the fire of the worst kind of venereal disease. Not that I’d know what that felt like, but you catch my drift. What I mean to say, is more often then not you’re getting the same regurgitated novel you already read but in a different POV. Well this wasn’t that at all. Not even a little bit. Not even close. While this is essentially in Jared’s POV it’s a completely different book. So much so, that you can read it as a standalone, which I wouldn’t recommend since you need to see it from Tate’s POV first in 
I fell in love with Penelope Douglas’s storytelling in Bully, and the only thing this book managed to do was completely reaffirm that. Everything and I mean everything that I wanted more clarification and answers on in Bully was addressed here. While I adored that book, I found the reasons that Jared gave Tate for his behavior in it a little…weak. I felt like it had to be something more, something bigger for him to flip that switch and be the way he was with her. Until You delivered those answers in spades. Penelope truly allows the reader inside Jared’s head and you understand him and all his behavior so much more. Plus I loved getting more of him and Madoc and their banter together.
