Jacob Esera, star rugby player, and young single father, has worked hard to create a joyous life for his six-year-old daughter. After the death of his childhood sweetheart soon after their daughter’s birth, all Jake wants is safety and stability. No risks. No wild chances. And especially no Juliet Nelisi, former classmate, scandal magnet, and a woman who is a thorn in his side.
As a lonely teenager, Juliet embraced her bad-girl reputation as a shield against loneliness and rejection. Years later, having kicked a cheating sports-star ex to the curb, she has a prestigious job and loyal friends—and wants nothing to do with sportsmen. The last thing she expects is the fire that ignites between her and the stuffed-shirt golden boy who once loved her best friend.
Straitlaced Jacob Esera versus wild-at-heart Juliet Nelisi? Place your bets.
Titles in the Hard Play series include – Cherish Hard – Rebel Hard – Love Hard –
*connection to the Rock Kiss series*
Title: Love Hard
Series: Hard Play #3
Author: Nalini Singh
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: March 10, 2020
Publisher: TKA Distribution
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Although many readers will tell you that Love Hard can stand on its own, and that’s technically correct, you’re about to meet characters at the beginning of Juliet and Jacob’s story who were first introduced in the Rock Kiss series. I happen to love when I get glimpses of old book friends in another book or series, but that’s me. The first quarter of this one is pretty much centered around a wedding, and we’ll meet up with a lot of people. So you can read Love Hard and see those people as secondary characters and move on – or get curious and go back to the Rock Kiss series for the whole story – that choice is yours alone.
On the surface, Juliet and Jacob seem total opposites, even with a shared loved one in their pasts they still appear as more friends who may be enemies than a man who loved and married Juliet’s best friend… and lost her through death. Now raising their little girl, doing his best at his career, and getting through the days of still missing his wife the very last thing Jacob expected when running into Juliet at that wedding was the sparks between them. It’s obvious that she’s not interested, but if that’s true then why the side glances.
Juliet had a wild child reputation in the past, far different from the by the book Jake. She married and discovered that jerk cheated on her so now, less one husband, she’s completely written off all men with any sports connections… including the handsome, and suddenly intriguing Jake. Watching these two fight past their preconceived ideas of each other, begin to take the risk of loving someone again, and rebuilding lives they thought would always be spent alone was an enjoyable, steamy, fun experience.
I completely enjoyed Love Hard, it’s a steamy romance with two stubborn people who really do fit well in spite of themselves. I loved watching Juliet being drawn into Jake’s family as one of their own. I had fun, and that’s the whole point. I’d not hesitate to recommend this story to any reader who loves a good, solid romance, opposites attract, and a couple who have to get beyond what they thought they knew about each other to the point of trusting enough to take a risk on love.
*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available in paperback, audio and for the Kindle
