LOVE HARD - Nalini Singh

3.5 stars

My sister begged me to nab an early copy of Nalini Singh's latest romance featuring her cast of rugby stars in New Zeeland, and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this family sports romance. 

Pacing: ★★★
Romance: ★★★★
Enjoyment: ★★★★

Love Hard comes out on March 10, 2020!

Now, I know I just said my sister begged me to request this and read it on her behalf, but I was also a bit intrigued myself. Nalini Singh is the author of one of my favorite paranormal romance series, Guild Hunter, as well as her first mystery/thriller, A Madness of Sunshine (which I also read and reviewed! You can check out that review here.). So I knew I was a fan of her romances, and of her writing in general. 

But, let's be honest, this series was less intriguing to me—because it's about sports. And I don't really do sports. At all. 

So say "I told you so," sister of mine, because I really enjoyed Love Hard. 

Jake has no time for fun or acting his age. He's an all-star rugby player in a family of all-star players, and his commitment to his family and to his young daughter, Esme, is the sole focus of his life. After losing his childhood sweetheart, Callie, shortly after the birth of their daughter, Jake has grown up cautious and overprotective. 

Juliet's never had a proper family upbringing. Peddled around from family member to family member as a kid left her with scars, and the only saving grace was her best friend, Callie. When Callie passed away, Juliet forgot about Callie's jock boyfriend, Jake, and started making her way in the world—with a few notable bumps in the road, including a nasty ex-husband.

When these two former acquaintances meet at a wedding, what will they do with these brand new sparks?

I thought Love Hard was cute, to the point, and filled with warm fuzzy feelings (and some other, well, feelings too). Jake and Juliet's banter and chemistry was front and center for the entire story. I really enjoyed listening to their banter, and in particular I thought their semi "enemies to lovers" mixed with second chance vibes worked extremely well in this context. I loved how they were both respectful and honest, and miscommunication was NOT used as a plot device. 

However, I did struggle quite a bit with the general pacing. Love Hard didn't take place over multiple months or a long time span, but it felt like it anyway given the copious time spent on paragraphs of explanation of the past, backstory, and internal monologue. In fact, at a few points in the story I forgot that I was still in the same scene as dozens of pages later, we were still there! This might not necessarily be a negative for some readers—the descriptions and backstory added quite a bit of character depth—but for my taste in romance, I prefer dialogue-driven scenes with lots of movement in plot. 

Overall, another winner from Nalini Singh—and a steamy one too. (Wink wink!)

Thank you to Independent Publishers Group via NetGalley for an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.