Blog Tour, My Review, Excerpt, Q&A with Laura & Giveaway for Hard as You Can (Hard Ink #2) by Laura Kaye
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Hard as You Can (Hard Ink #2)
by Laura Kaye
Synopsis:
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.
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.
Read an Extended Excerpt of Book 1, Hard
As It Gets
Excerpt
It’s
release day! And I’m so excited to share Hard
As You Can, the second book in the Hard Ink series, with all of you here
today! Hard As You Can follows the
surviving members of a disgraced Army Special Forces team as they fight to
regain their stolen honor, and finds their investigation crossing paths with a
waitress willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive and protect her younger
sister. For Shane McCallan, saving Crystal Dean is a mission he refuses to turn
down.
Today,
I’ve got a scene filled with lots of sexual tension and emotion to share with
you, one that I absolutely adored writing! I hope you enjoy this look into the
growing attraction between Shane and Crystal from Hard As You Can:
“I
didn’t mean to criticize you, Crystal. I just cannot abide violence against
women. Period. Especially not someone I know.” A long pause. “And definitely
not someone I like.” After everything that had happened to her, the words were
a balm for her psyche.
Footsteps
came up behind her, slowly, cautiously, like she was a wild animal who would
bolt in an instant. And she supposed there was some truth to that analogy.
Torn
between returning to the danger she knew or staying with the one she didn’t,
Crystal debated. Her heart told her Shane might well be the most dangerous man
she’d ever met because he made her want, wish, maybe even dream.
Not
at all sure it was a good idea, Crystal slowly turned.
Shane
was right in front of her. A rock in the middle of a raging sea, a refuge she
might claim if she had the strength and the will and the nerve to fight for it.
To believe she deserved it. She hugged herself.
“Hey,”
he said, cupping her face in his big hands. His fingers slid behind her neck
and gently massaged.
She
shook her head and glanced toward the treetops in an effort to pinch off the sting
building behind her eyes. Why did she have to meet him now? She’d had a plan, and
all she’d needed to do was follow it for a few more months. “You don’t even
know me.”
“No.
Not everything. But I know more than a little. And that much I like enough to want
to know more.” His fingers rubbed her neck, gently, soothingly.
And
his words, well, his words were perfect. Maybe even too much so. Too good to
be true, she thought. “I already told you I’d share what I’d learned. You
don’t have to play me.”
His
eyes narrowed, and he frowned. “You listen hard and you listen good, sweetness,”
he said, the words firm but the tone urgent, almost desperate, and laced with
his southern accent. “I’m not perfect, and God knows I’ve made a lot of
mistakes in my life. But I would never play with a woman’s emotions to get
information out of her. That kind of manipulation doesn’t hold with me. Ever.”
Sweetness.
She’d
heard everything he’d said. The passion with which he’d said it. The sincerity
that burned from his gaze as the words had poured from his lips. But it was the
term of endearment that reached into her chest and gripped her heart. For a
long moment, they stood there, bodies touching, faces inches apart, his hands
holding her in that firm-but-gentle way he had.
Thunder
rumbled again, closer this time, and her heart was a drum beat double-timing
inside
her chest. If his hands didn’t feel it racing, he’d have to hear it, because the
sound was a loud rush rush in her ears. Beneath the sports bra and tank,
her nipples went hard. If his gaze dropped, she knew he’d see, but she couldn’t
bring herself to feel self-conscious about it. Not when he was looking at her
like he wanted to devour her.
His
gaze dropped to her lips.
She
shuddered, everything inside her but the smallest voice of reason crying out
for him to do it. Just once.
“Tell
me not to,” he said, his voice a raw scrape.
So that’s Shane
and Crystal for you! Did you have a favorite line? Thanks for reading!
~Laura
My 5 Star Review
Five dishonored
soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.
I love this series. Honestly if you like hot ex- military
men, who are total Alpha, protective, sexy, sweet, caring, and loving all rolled
into one, then you need to start this series.
Hard as You Can is book #2 in the series and it follows
where book #1 left off but with a different one of the military men. This is
Shane’s & Crystal’s story.
I would suggest to fully understand the series to start with
book #1 and read them in order, because it does follow a story line, just each
book is about one of the five men.
I loved Shane and Crystal.
At the end of Book #1 we met Crystal. She works as a waitress in a strip
club working on paying off her father’s debt from some bad men. She has no choice but to be where she is
because she promised her father she would take care of her sister, so Crystal
gave up her future she had planned for herself to look out for her sister and
make sure that she does not end up where Crystal is.
Crystal needs help, but can she trust Shane with the life of
herself and her sister?
Shane first ran into Crystal in Book #1 when the men went in
on a mission to save someone. ( I won’t tell you who or say anymore than that
as it will ruin book #1 for you) . Any Who Shane left that night thinking about
Crystal and could not get her off his mind. When he goes back again to do some recon work
he runs into Crystal again. From this point on it is Shane doing everything he
can to figure out why a woman like Crystal is in a place like that.
Shane is fighting some of his own demons with his past and
regrets that he has. He lost his sister when he was a kid and he lives with
that regret everyday.
"God, what
he wouldn’t give for five more minutes with his kid sister. Just five. Did she
know how sorry he was? How much he loved her? That he’d devoted his life to
making things right for others as a penance for getting so much wrong with
her?"
He sees that Crystal
is in a bad spot and he is going to do everything in his power to save her.
The story flows great, Laura definitely keeps you wanting to
read more and find out what happens next. We get a bit of romance and suspense all
packed into one hell of a story.
I can not wait for the next one which will be Easy’s story,
and also to find out more about what is going on with Church and the links to Afghanistan.
About Laura
Kaye:
Laura
is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in
contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family
believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and
evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and
all things paranormal. She
lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and
appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
Q&A WITH LAURA KAYE
HARD AS YOU CAN is your second book in the
“Hard Ink” series (after USA Today bestseller, HARD AS IT GETS). What can
readers look forward to?
Readers can look forward to tons of sexy alpha male
goodness, awesome bromance between the Hard Ink men, more antics from the Hard
Ink puppy, and another great love story between Shane and Crystal. But readers
should also be ready for a book that is darker, more intense, and more
emotional. This book pushed me to emotional places that were tough as a writer,
and might be tough for readers, too. But I think that just makes the payoff at
the end so much sweeter!
Describe Shane and Crystal. What are their
best traits? What are their weaknesses?
Shane and Crystal are such an amazing couple to me.
They’re each exactly what the other
needs. Shane’s best traits are his protectiveness, his fundamental kindness,
and his soul-deep loyalty (his southern accent and humor are also right up
there!). His biggest weakness for sure is a tragedy from the past for which he
blames himself—and it’s something that continues to motivate him in Hard As You Can. Crystal’s best traits
are her courage, protectiveness, and selflessness—she’s willing to do anything
to keep her younger sister safe. Her biggest weakness is also that
selflessness, because the sacrifices she’s required to make are getting bigger
and bigger and bigger.
If you could describe your book in a 140
character tweet, what would it be?
When a woman in trouble assists an ex-soldier's covert mission
to regain his team's stolen honor, he finds a new mission to save her, too
What are you most excited about with this
second book release?
I’m really excited to take readers deeper into these
awesome characters and into the mystery behind the Hard Ink team’s ambush and
discharge!
What books are you reading right now?
I’m almost done with Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander (yes, I’m very late to the
party but OMG JAMIE FRASER!!!). And I’ve recently devoured and loved Juliana
Stone’s Offsides and Shelly Thacker’s
time-travel historical romance, Forever
His.
What can fans of your “Hard Ink” series look
forward to next?
There will be two more Hard Ink books in 2014!
Hard to Hold on To
– August 2014
Hard to Come By
– November 2014
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