Edward “Easy” Cantrell knows better than most the pain of not being able to save those he loves—which is why he is not going to let Jenna Dean out of his sight. He may have just met her, but Jenna’s the first person to make him feel alive since that devastating day in the desert more than a year ago.
Jenna has never met anyone like Easy. She can’t describe how he makes her feel–and not just because he saved her life. No, the stirrings inside her reach far beyond gratitude.
As the pair are thrust together while chaos reigns around them, they both know one thing: the things in life most worth having are the hardest to hold on to.
Have you read the rest of the Hard Ink Series? Check out this Love Note from Nick to Becca
Title: Hard As It Gets (Hard Ink Series Book #1)
Author: Laura Kaye
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Suspense
Tall, dark, and lethal…
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey’s tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome–pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He’s left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander’s daughter. Loyalty won’t let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn’t expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge…
Title: Hard As You Can (Hard Ink Series Book #2)
Author: Laura Kaye
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Suspense
Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.Ever since hard-bodied, drop-dead-charming Shane McCallan strolled into the dance club where Crystal Dean works, he’s shown a knack for getting beneath her defenses. For her little sister’s sake, Crystal can’t get too close. Until her job and Shane’s mission intersect, and he reveals talents that go deeper than she could have guessed.
Shane would never turn his back on a friend in need, especially a former Special Forces teammate running a dangerous, off-the-books operation. Nor can he walk away from Crystal. The gorgeous waitress is hiding secrets she doesn’t want him to uncover. Too bad. He’s exactly the man she needs to protect her sister, her life, and her heart. All he has to do is convince her that when something feels this good, you hold on as hard as you can—and never let go.
And get ready for the next novel in the Hard Ink Series – Hard to Come By!
Title: Hard As It Gets (Hard Ink Series Book #3)
Author: Laura Kaye
Release Date: November 25, 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Suspense
Caught between desire and loyalty…
Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team—sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there.
When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the brother she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he’s become. Derek’s easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting the desire between them and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn’t trust.
As the team’s investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let slip away…
Easy ripped out of the nightmare as if the images in his subconscious were about to wrap their bony fingers around his throat. He was as disoriented as he was surprised he’d fallen asleep in the first place. Ass numb, back screaming, neck kinked, he shook his head in an effort to beat it all back.
A distressed whimper. Then another.
The sound worked where the physical motion hadn’t. Easy was immediately and clearly awake.
He was off the cement and beside her in an instant.
Blue eyes flashed up to him with such fear and pain that it reached inside his chest and squeezed his heart.
Easy crouched by the bedside and held up his hands. “Jenna, it’s Easy. Remember? You’re all right. My guys—the ones you met the other night—we got you back. You’re at a safe place. Sara’s here, and she’s okay, too,” he rushed out in a soft voice.
Her eyes narrowed and darted from focusing on his face to a quick survey of her surroundings and back again. “E-E-Eas,” she rasped, her voice a dry scrape.
Relief shot through his veins. “Yeah.”
“Eas-y,” she whispered. And then she threw her upper body off the edge of the bed and caught him around the neck. “Th-thank you,” she said in a strangled tone.
Moisture where her cheek pressed against his. Trembling shoulders. Thick swallows. Jenna’s crying both gutted Easy and built him up—because she didn’t fear him. Instead, she’d turned to him for comfort. Yet she cried so quietly that he might not have heard it had her mouth not been so close to his ear.
“Don’t you worry about a thing,” he managed as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Slowly, he rose until his hip rested on the edge of the mattress.
Jenna pulled herself closer until she was sitting in a ball in his lap, her arms so tight around his neck and shoulders it was like she was holding on to him for dear life.
“Shh,” he whispered as he stroked sweaty red hair off the side of her face. “You’re okay now.”
“Okay,” she whispered against his throat. “Okay. Okay.”
“Maybe I should go get Sara—”
“No!” A quick shake of her head against his. “Don’t leave me.”
No. He wouldn’t. He’d left a friend once and knew all the ways that could go wrong. “I won’t,” he whispered.
Easy wasn’t sure how long he sat there holding her, he only knew that at some point the tremors in her body stopped, her hold loosened, and her breathing evened out. She’d fallen asleep. In his arms.
That she’d found solace in him—a man who had no solace for himself—was the sweetest fucking thing he could ever remember experiencing. And it made him feel strong in a way he hadn’t in what seemed like forever.
Laura Kaye is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary and paranormal romance. Laura’s hot, heartfelt stories are all about the universal desire for a place to belong. Laura grew up amidst family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses, cementing her life-long fascination with storytelling and the supernatural. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day. Check out more info on her website.
Thank you, ladies!
Awesome series!!
I love the men of Hard Ink. I’ve gotta wait to get this one in paper though.