She was too good for this world. I was too much of a bastard to push her away.
I grew up in this life, and now I run these streets. Blood and violence taint everything I touch.
Everything but her. She was my constant through it all.
Just a touch would singe and soothe.
Just a look would tempt and torment.
She became my escape and my addiction.
I only survived because she was by my side.
I should’ve known better than to indulge.
I should’ve known better than to let her fall for me.
It was only a matter of time before the danger bled into what we had.
I was Laura’s downfall. Problem was, she was mine too.
I saw a post about this book somewhere on Facebook. A book blogger claimed that this was the real deal. Dark romance galore! My first thought was ” Tell me something new.”
A book cover with a guy who doesn´t have a shirt on? * holds breath * We all know my thoughts on those cover images. Insert the title and I was ready to forget about this book. It was the hilarious statement that got me interested, though. The post caption said:
“Bitch, PLEASE! Give me more.”
I hopped on over to Amazon. One look at the price for the paperback had me swallowing hard. 14.46 Euros. Well, slap me silly. That´s a proud sum of money for a 197 page read from an author I wasn´t familiar with. Weeell, I ended up buying the paperback. Don´t judge… I was in a good mood that day and turned a blind eye towards the price.
`Hard To Love by author W. Winters has become my favorite 2019 dark romance! Good Lawd, I went through some awful hot-flashes while reading this gripping romance and I loved every minute of it.
Right at the beginning, you get to experience a heartbreaking moment through the eyes of Seth- the Hero. That first scene had tension with a nice build-up. From there on a reader is plunged back to the past, where the story unfolds and you can understand what happened, in the beginning, a little better.
If you´ve been following my reviews you´ve come to know that I´m not a fan of time leaps or dual POVs. Funnily enough- There is a time leap and dual POVs in this one but neither bothered me. I can´t really say why. Maybe because the story was short? Or because the time leaps were reduced to a minimum? Beats me. All I know is that I´m one happy camper.
`Hard To Love` is intense. It´s unforgiving. It´s romantic and sexy. It´s exactly what I´ve been looking for.
I like my romances dark. Darker than dark. While `Hard To Love` is a dark romance I wouldn´t classify it to be shocking in any sense. There is a level of violence in this one but nothing too dramatic. The focus is more on the relationship and what the couple´s environment has done to their relationship.
About the writing: You know, it´s a total surprise for me that the author pulled off a well-balanced story in a little less than 200 pages. The writing was spot on. The dialogue and details were perfect. I lived in their world and suffered with the characters thanks to the writing.
If there is one thing I´m not happy about then it would be the page count & knowing there´ll be a book 2. I flew through this one effortlessly. And even if I loved the story I´m still a little hurt about the price. Other than that…
All in all I´m satisfied and can only second what the book blogger included in her post.
BITCH, PLEASE! GIVE ME MORE!
Would I recommend this book? Sure. To anyone who loves themselves a quick and intense read and for fans of dark romances, absolutely.
Would I reread this book? You can bet your ass on it.
The Cover – 3 Stars: Nope. Not a fan. But I will say that I think it fits the story.
The Story – 5 Stars: I´m a sucker for the violent stuff. I love myself some bad guys/gangster/mobster romances. For me, they somehow make everything more dramatic.
The Characters – 5 Stars: Seth- I loved his character to bits. Laura- She easily made my top 5 fav Heroine list. Strong but still delicate.
My emotional state after finishing this read: Thrilled I can add a new favorite to my list!
Purchase the book!