Review: An interesting addition to the series.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2013
4.5 Stars***Reviewers Note: I'm sorry this note will give away some of the story line, but I don't feel that I can review and recommend this book without it. In this book the hero and heroine who have been together a long time and married 8 years engage in rape play. Yes, this is a kink and for them it comes from an angry place. It's often violent (from both sides) and there is some very harsh and crude language that accompanies their play. Because I know this can be a sensitive area for some of our readers, I just wanted to note this up front as I never want someone to be caught off guard and possibly hurt by one of my recommendations.I guess by now nothing should surprise me with the stories in the Vegas Top Guns series. The writing duo that comprises Katie Porter never cease to amaze me with their extraordinary story lines. Hard Way really pushes the envelope and it took me a little while to digest, comprehend, and understand what was going on between Liam "Dash" Christiansen and his wife, Sunita (Sunny). We've seen a little of this couple in the previous books but in this one we are front and center as they try to figure out where their marriage began to fail and if they can put it back together again.Dash has always been the jokester among his group of friends but it's a front, a front most people don't see through and one that is slowly killing him and his marriage. However when Sunny informs him she wants a divorce because there is someone else she'd like to be free to date, something unleashes inside him and they both wind up experiencing more than either one of them though possible or ever expected.As I noted above these two engage in an activity that most people could not fathom. I want to be perfectly honest in that they talk about what they are doing and Liam constantly makes sure Sunny is on board. However they use the term rape a lot despite the fact that it is entirely consensual. Yes, I know this is play in the BDSM world so it deals with the "mind f***" but it was still hard for me to understand. Both Liam and Sunny experience a wide range of emotions before, during and after their play including disbelief that they actually engage in it. They both feel guilty for wanting and enjoying what they do together but they really don't talk about it. That's a large part of their problem, they don't talk about much.This book brings up many of the problems and fears that occur in a relationship when someone is deployed many times and the other is left at home to cope. Now Sunny is working at a job that keeps her cross country a lot of the time and Liam is dealing with some of those same issues. They both have had to deal with a lot and often alone so it's not surprising that their marriage is on the edge of collapse. How they deal with it is most unusual but and here's the clincher, it eventually does open the lines of communication and leads them back to one another.I would love to say more about this book because to be honest at times it is fascinating and yet horrific to watch these two people work out their issues. There is no doubt these two love each other but they have both made some assumptions and mistakes in regards to their relationship. While at times difficult to read, Hard Way is an excellent story of two people who lost their way in their marriage but are clawing and fighting to get it back. The road toward their reconciliation was probably the messiest I've ever read; it was harsh, it was brutal, but in the end it was honest and real. I have no doubt these two will make it for the long haul.Review copy provided for an honest review.