Hard As It Gets: A Hard Ink Novel
Becca Merritt’s brother has gone missing, leaving behind a cryptic note instructing her to contact Rixey at Hard Ink, which turns out to be tattoo parlor. Nick Rixey, who has many reasons for loathing Becca’s father from his Special Forces career, at first refuses to help her but then feels guilty about it. When he checks on her, he finds an intruder in her house, after which she is mugged at work, so Nick relents. While fighting a fierce attraction to Becca, Nick calls in the remaining members of his Special Forces unit, and they’re joined by a Baltimore cop and Nick’s brother in an effort to protect her and find her brother. Kaye leaves enough loose ends for a sequel in what is obviously the beginning of a series about five Special Forces guys getting their reputations back after their unwillingly forced army discharges, thanks to Becca’s father’s corruption in Afghanistan. Kaye’s depiction of sexual tension and her sex scenes are masterful, and this will appeal to fans of Maya Banks’ KGI and Julie Ann Walker’s Black Knight series. --Mary K. Chelton