This has been on by TBR pile for a while and it seems like an odd choice to do for this challenge considering I have not read books 1-4 of this series, but I won it in a giveaway a long time ago and I’ve been really curious about it.

HARD LOVE (Hackers Book #5) 18+
By: Meredith Wild
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary Romance, BDSM, Computers, Hackers
Rating: 2.5/3 stars
Release: September 15th 2015

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

Synopsis:

Days after their wedding, Blake and Erica Landon embark on their honeymoon-a journey that deepens their bond and promises to fade the scars of their past.

Just when their troubles seem safely behind them, scandal surrounding would-be Governor Daniel Fitzgerald’s election threatens their newfound peace. Back home, Blake finds himself at the center of the controversy, haunted by the transgressions of his hacker past that he has no wish to relive.

With Blake’s freedom at stake and their future in peril, Erica will stop at nothing to clear his name. But when Blake defies the authorities and refuses to seek the truth, their world gradually begins to crumble. Will he let his past win? Or can Erica convince him that their life together is worth fighting for-now more than ever…

My Thoughts

I actually picked this book because I expected it to have a lighter atmosphere than the other two books I was reading for my other challenges since it’s an Adult Romance book, but surprisingly, it was not as light as I thought it was going to be when the backstory of the characters was revealed.

I got through this book really, really quickly and that might seem like a good thing, but it actually isn’t. I found that with each chapter, the narrative began to stall until the point where I realized that I had gone through several pages of non-plot related events and dialogue that I started to feel, lost and bored. Usually, you can’t put a book down because it’s that good, but this book was like stepping through a shallow pound or puddle to get to closer to the exit.

Since this book is part of a series (book #5 —> I won it last year in some giveaway), I was trying to remain objective of the story and the characters for this particular book. However, with the sexual assault the main character is revealed to have had in the past, I found it hard to stay objective and open minded about this story.

Blake [Erica’s husband, whose possessive, arrogant and prideful, is apparently into BDSM (shocking) and a Dom] reveals that Erica is only 22 years old, who’s considering Graduate School while at the same time getting over the loss of her self made and run company that she was forced to let go of just before they were married. Least I forget the fact that this 22-year-old is desperate for children. Honey, aren’t you still a child yourself? Now the ambiguity of her are in book 5 wasn’t really mentioned after we hear from Blake, so perhaps she is older, but in my opinion, it’s the same difference.

Psychologically, Erica’s past experiences do not match up her present character actions and quite frankly, I found her and Blake’s relationship to be imbalanced and the result of her troubled past. I’m no psych major–>farthest from it, in fact, but I began to feel as though their love was the result of a transference.

Erica came across as clingy, desperate, and extremely dependent individual. I feel she is inexperienced and quite possibly clung to the first sexual partner who truly excited her (as I’ve learned she was once involved with a different character, James before Blake) so I was very skeptical of the depth of their love.

I’m sure some would argue that since it has elements of BDSM/Erotica, that the actual plot and sensibility doesn’t really have to matter or that you never find that in books like this, but compared to the only other BDSM related book, FIT by Rebekah Weatherspoon, I found that it IS possible.

Now, I would have really liked it if the author incorporated the abuse aspect more and really give Erica character the chance to visible show or tell the reader about how she was personally grappling with her past. Again, I do not know how Blake and Erica are in the other books, but I rather enjoyed it when they were on the outs with each other and struggling with the issue of trust between them.

I also had a few notes on the hacking frame-up was dragged out longer than it needed to be (thanks to Blake’s pride and reluctance to come clean about what he knew, or whom he suspected was behind it) but I think it’s time to wrap up my book rambling here. 🙂

Thanks for reading, guys.

Until the next time,

Gia.