Based on the synopsis Hard Ride could have easily become my favourite MC romance. Unfortunately, the whole thing was just way too fluffy and predictable for my taste. With every MC romance that's been coming out I'm starting to become less and less excited, much like NA, there seems to be a lot of recycled plot lines just with different characters. I wouldn't have been so harsh on the book if the final showdown wasn't so underwhelming. The whole book we hear about how much of a monster her father is and that was it? I just did not find it believable at all.

Overall, It's one I would recommend reading if you've read Hard Ink as we do get to see those characters again, but I doubt i'll be re-reading it in the future. ( )

Haven's father is the head of a criminal organization that works out of Georgia. He uses her as though she is a commodity that belongs to him, so Haven and her best friend Cora escape and run until they land at Hard Ink where the Ravens MC has just helped destroy the Church Gang. Part of the Ravens' mission is to help those in need, especially those who have been abused, to get a fresh start someplace new, so they take Haven and Cora to their compound and make plans to start them in a new life with new identities. Haven is grateful, but shy and hides in her room until outgoing Cora forces her to interact with their new friends. Haven begins to find a place in the MC and is attracted to their president, Dare Kenyon. At 32, Dare is too old for 23 year old Haven, but finds himself falling for her. They both dread what will happen if her father comes looking for her and he has to send her away to a new life without him.
Ride Hard is the beginning of the Raven Riders series, which is an offshoot of the Hard Ink series. Haven and Dare are likable characters, but the story doesn't really offer anything new to the damsel-in-distress/MC story line. Overall, a decent read, but nothing surprising. ( )

Dare is as alpha as they come. A fearless leader who knows how to break rules but has the smarts to realize, not every fight is a physical one. Mental ones, can be just as dangerous. Fear is a hard enemy to let go of. Haven quickly learned that trust leads to pain and she is unwilling to endure the hurt again. Can a woman on the edge, open her heart to a dangerous man? Heat and danger are in the driver's seat of this enigmatic suspense. ( )

1.5 stars

I read romance because, typically, it's written by women for women. For every time I throw my fist in the air and yell "Preach!" while reading a Dahl heroine and for every time I become a sobbing mess feeling the pain of a Milan heroine, I'll keep coming back because in some way my issues and emotions are laid bare, acknowledged, and discussed.

I want to call this a New Adult but with a hero who is 37yrs old, can I? The heroine is 22yrs old and she was definitely not written for me. There's reason for her to be shy and guarded but the whole lost little girl thing did not play well with my 33yrs old self. Haven loves to cook, is so sweetly shy, but wait, also craves sex. Now, of course, a woman can have these traits but the way it is written here, kind of shallow character depth with just these traits front and center and maybe you could see why I feel like this heroine was written for some shitty ideal for what men want? She's an angel, so pure, and sweet but, without a lot of interaction, emotional depth, and relationship building becomes some sort of highly driven sexual being with the hero. It just doesn't work without depth, building blocks, and growth. I felt like I was reading a play where a dude takes a Barbie doll and a Ken doll and smashes them together over and over and declares it a romance.

Maybe I'm just getting too old for these types of romance but dang it, give me emotion and depth. ( )

Unfortunately I DNF this one. The heroine just felt unreal and niece to me. I'll give Laura Kaye's other books a try...she is good at building tension. ( )