Review: Hard to Come By by Laura Kaye

Hard to Come By by Laura Kaye
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

NOTE:  This review is for a book with mature content and sexy times!

Hard to Come By by Laura Kaye is the third full-length novel in the suspenseful Hard Ink series. It continues the saga from Marz’s perspective, as well as from Emilie’s, an innocent bystander and the sister of a man on the wrong side of the Hard Ink fight. This installment is essential to the overarching plot, so don’t skip it! If you haven’t read any of the previous stories, Kaye does do a good job of summarizing all the essential background info, but you’ll get a whole lot more out of the experience if you start with book one, Hard as It Gets.

I really liked this one, though to be fair, so far I’ve loved the whole series 🙂 Marz is the goofy, joking computer expert who always knows how to bring smiles to the group. He is also the surviving special forces team member who had to overcome the most severe injury – the loss of a leg. After everything he’s been through, it was a pleasure to read about him finding some deeper happiness of his own. Emilie is an excellent addition to the Hard Ink family, being intelligent, loyal, compassionate, and brave enough to do what needs to be done. I love how she didn’t treat Marz and his prosthetic with kid gloves. They really make an excellent pair.

In terms of addressing complex issues, Kaye did that again here. Not only did she shine some light on life after amputation, she also brought mental health, PTSD, and the complexities of family back into the spotlight. I love that these are suspenseful and romantic books that have both fluff and some serious substance.

Now, about tattoos, Marz has a bunch of them (24 to be exact). The one I loved the most is actually a concept he has for his next piece, which he’s hoping Jeremy can help him out with. It’s a large one on the back of his calf that would depict the inside of his leg as being bionic. There is one other VERY noteworthy tattoo in an… intimate place. I’m going to leave that one for future readers to discover on their own 😉

I’m excited to continue the series with the next novella, Hard to Be Good, and the next full-length installment, Hard to Let Go. I can’t wait for Beckett to get some feisty lady love and to learn how the series plot comes to a close!

PS – Here’s my favorite of Jeremy’s dirty t-shirts from this installment:

His dark red T-shirt had a drawing of a smiling fire extinguisher that said, “I put out.”

 

See my review on Goodreads for Some Particulars, including a steam rating!