Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh

We saw Danny and Catie meet as teens in Cherish Hard. They are siblings to the characters in that book but are now in their mid-20s. Yes, they are still squabbling like nobody's business but they are comfortable in their relationship and they still look out for each other. Which is evident in the opening scene as Catie sees Danny across the floor at a dance club and realizes he doesn't look right. In fact, he looks as though he's been drugged. She's able, with the help of his friend Viliame, to get him to the hospital. Unfortunately, rumors are now flying about them being a couple. See, Danny is a super famous rugby dude and Catie is famous in her own right for competing in the Paralympics and apparently people have been 'shipping them for quite a while.

Lots of deep discussions in this book about expectations, limb loss, parental relationships, and more. Singh is such a delightful writer though that all of these are handled with a deft touch while going from friends to lovers in a fake relationship is a joy to read.

Hard Play#4

Four and a half stars

This book comes out May 3, 2022

Follows Love Hard

ARC kindly provided by TKA Distribution and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby March 2024

Cherish Hard by Nalini Singh

Though only twenty-three years old, Sailor knows what he wants out of life. Right now, he's working on building a successful landscaping company. Unlike his brothers, rugby isn't his life. He likes it well enough but it's not going to be what he shoots for every day. So, when he finally sees the woman that has been haunting his dreams for the past seven years, he's excited to finally get his chance but worried he's not going to be able to make room for her in his life when he's got so much going on.

Isa knows what she wants in her life. She wants to teach. But both her mother and her father are trying to get her to take over as the Vice President of one of their companies (yes, they each have one.) In fact, Isa's mother has blackmailed her into working at her mother's company for the summer. Someone she's going to be working closely with? The five-years-younger Sailor. 

This was a nice story for Isa and Sailor but there was a lot of world building going on that pulled back from their love story.

Hard Play #1

Three stars

This book came out November 14, 2017

Connected to Rock Hard 

Followed by Rebel Hard

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby February 2024

Rock Wedding by Nalini Singh

Sarah and Abe were married young. But he was still mourning the loss of his sister and then his father and couldn't explain that to Sarah. Instead, he buried his feelings in drugs and alcohol until the day he chased her off. 

It has been two years since then. Sarah has just gotten out of a bad relationship (that we read about in the last book) but she has also built up herself and her business. Now that she's available, Abe is ready to grab onto the chance to get her back with both hands. 

I like the (generally) good use of condoms in this series and how Singh covers a significant amount of time in each relationship. It's not like "Oops, we just met and now we're getting married." I liked both Abe and Sarah in this book. They both admitted their mistakes and have matured in a way that makes them truly compatible.

Rock Kiss #4

Three and a half stars

This book came out July 19, 2016

Follows Rock Redemption

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible audiobook February 2024

Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh

There was a time when Kathleen "Kit" Devigny had hopes for her relationship with Noah St. John. They were friends with the crackle of something more. But then he went and crushed her heart in a very deliberate manner. Now she's just concentrating on getting her acting career going and trying to avoid her stalker.

Except now she needs Noah's help with the acting. She's up for a major role but the director is concerned that Kit doesn't have enough of a social media presence. Well, that changes when one shot of a photographer's camera, taken at a function Kit is attending with Noah so he doesn't have to face his family alone, means that the actress and the rock-star-drummer are now seemingly the newest "It" couple.

We get to see behind both the facades of Noah and of Kit. The faces they show to the world are not their true selves. Kit grew up with famous and distant parents while Noah was trauamatized as a child. The ending felt a bit unfinished for me in regards to Noah's "recovery" and parts of the book felt semi-repetitive but overall I liked this book and am looking forward to reading the last in the series.

Rock Kiss #3

Four stars

This book came out October 6, 2015

Follows Rock Hard

Followed by Rock Wedding

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible Plus audiobook February 2024

Rock Hard by Nalini Singh

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise of mousy Charlotte "Charlie" Baird hooking up with big time businessman and former rugby star Gabriel Bishop sounded fun. And the glimpses of their relationship we got in the first book was fun. But the way the story played out... Ufda. 

Gabriel can tell that Charlotte is hiding and he figures out pretty quickly why. And that's why I'm so confused that he's pushing her so fast. All of the thoughts that we get from him are that he doesn't want to push her but... he's pushing her. And I feel like I missed broad strokes of their story. Things bounded ahead quickly and we missed parts where they grew closer. The first book and then the novella were so good, I was hoping for better for this one.

Weirdly, this is one of my favorite books in this series to re-read. I honestly skip over the flashbacks and the end and I like the book much more. 

Rock Kiss #2
Three and a half stars

This book came out March 10, 2015

Follows Rock Courtship

Followed by Rock Redemption

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible Plus audiobook February 2024

Rock Courtship by Nalini Singh

Dave has been after Thea for a long time. He knows that she went through a bad time with an asshat of an ex. But this band member is in love with his publicist and he thinks she might like him too (and he's a little stalker-y in the beginning. Not so romantic). But then her sister (Molly from the first book) tells Dave to write her a memo. That Thea listens to memos. So Dave composes a memo. And Thea writes one back. Except for the vaguely stalker-ish moment and the reaction to the first memo, it was a nice novella and a good read, quite possibly my favorite story in the series. Can't wait to read the next book.

Rock Kiss #1.5

Four stars

This novella came out September 30, 2014

Follows Rock Addiction

Followed by Rock Hard

Audible book I own

Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible audiobook February 2024

Rock Addiction by Nalini Singh

The Smart Bitches have been raving about Nalini Singh for years. Years. And I never got on the bandwagon. Mostly because I thought all of her books were shape-shifting novels and I've only recently gotten into those as well. I finally picked this book up from the library. And while it wasn't totally my cat nip, I really did enjoy it. 

Zachary Fox, known as Fox, is a big time rock star. Which means that Molly Webster really doesn't want anything to do with him. Her whole life was destroyed when her famous father was discovered not to be the saint everyone thought he was. So, even though there are almost-visible sparks when she sees him across the room, she doesn't plan on doing anything with them. Until he follows her into the elevator. Okay. She'll do a one-night stand. But he wants more. In fact, he wants forever.

I didn't love Zach or Molly but they were pretty well fleshed out and I definitely am anxious to read ab out her sister, Thea, and Fox's bandmate, Dave. (I originally wrote this in 2016 but my feelings haven't changed).

Rock Kiss #1

Three and a half stars

This book came out September 9, 2014

Followed by Rock Courtship

Borrowed as ebook from Libby
Opinions are my own

Reread as Audible Plus audiobook February 2024

Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh

When Nayna Sharma was 14, her sister ran away to get married. This wouldn't be so bad if their family weren't so darn traditional. Seeing how it affected her family, Nayna has since become the perfect daughter. And more and more she's starting to feel like she's in the perfect cage. Now that she's agreed to an arranged marriage, she sees the door to the cage swinging shut. For one night, she just wants to be a "normal" twenty-eight-year-old woman. So she goes to a party and makes out with a guy. At least she does until she sticks her foot in her mouth. And he disappears. Until he shows up at her parents as the next possible marriage match...

Raj Sen is traditional and he wants a traditional life. That means a wife who stays home and takes care of him and, hopefully, his future children. But when he meets Nayna at a party, he decides that he needs to find her again before he can fall into marriage. He is shocked that the dutiful daughter he is meeting is the same woman. But he asks her if they can see where the relationship is going to go. Working around old pains, meddling families, and family health issues makes the path to an HEA rather hard but worth it.

I might have been anticipating this book a little too much. It was very good but I got rather annoyed with the frequent mentions of Nayna being so dutiful and Raj being long suffering. It may also have been different if I had read it rather than listening to it. edited to add: It was different reading it. I liked it so much more as an ebook.

Four stars

This book came out September 18, 2018

Follows Cherish Hard

Followed by Love Hard

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby January 2022

Love Hard by Nalini Singh

Jacob Esera and Juliet Nelisi have known each other since they were teenagers. And they hated each other then. Or, maybe not hate but a strong dislike. But they were in each other's lives because Juliet's best friend was Jacob's girlfriend. At least until the day Juliet suddenly disappeared from school. She had been an indifferent student anyway. And her reputation wasn't the best. Which made Jacob confused as to why his sweet, intelligent girlfriend had kept in touch with her, even after Juliet left. But then his sweet, intelligent girlfriend got pregnant. And they were planning on being young parents together when she suddenly died. Six years later, he's a single dad raising their daughter. And he's shocked to find out that Juliet is back in town, the friend of the woman who's about to become his sister-in-law. A close enough friend that they're paired up in the wedding party. The old animosity explodes. But so does... lust?
Juliet feels the same. Jacob isn't her favorite person but there must be something redeeming about him. And when work throws them into close proximity, they decide to give their relationship a dry run.
This book was So. Good. Regular Singh readers will enjoy that Jacob and Juliet actually talk to each other. They discuss whether their relationship is even "okay" given the context that he once loved her best friend. The flow is steady and the reading was easy. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Four stars

Follows Rebel Hard

Followed by Kiss Hard
This book comes out March 10th
ARC kindly provided by Independent Publishers Group and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

Reread as ebook from Libby January 2022