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The Hardest Word #1
A Hard Bargain
Over forty-million pounds in the bank, but the one thing she wants to buy is not for sale.
Freya Stone is a Lottery winner. A Euromillions Lottery winner to be exact. The week she won, hers was the only winning ticket. And it was a rollover, seeing her almost forty-five million pounds richer. But with no taste at all for a wealthy lifestyle, Freya bought herself a flashy car and a fancy apartment, then ran out of ideas and stuck the rest in the bank to be carefully invested by her own private wealth consultant.
One passion her wealth will enable her to indulge, however, is her appetite for submission. Or so she thinks. Following a childhood illness, Freya is unable to speak. She gets by pretty well with a combination of British Sign Language and a notepad, but her lack of speech makes negotiating difficult. She can’t tell a Dom what she needs, and she can’t use safe words. None of the Doms she’s played with so far have been especially interested in training a novice sub who doesn’t even squeal.
So Freya decides to buy tuition from a Master who comes highly recommended. Why not? She has the funds at her disposal, and nothing better she’d like to purchase. Twenty-five thousand pounds for a month with the Dom she’s fantasised about for ages seems like a bargain to her.
But experienced and harsh Dom Nick Hardisty has other ideas. Infuriated at Freya’s attempt to buy his services, he turns her down flat, while also demanding that she pay for her temerity by submitting to a punishment which he will administer personally.
Can Freya accept his discipline? Can she convince him to reconsider and provide the help she needs? And Nick Hardisty drives a hard bargain. If he won’t accept her money, what will his price be?
Reader Advisory: This book contains references to age regression scenes and uncomfortable BDSM encounters. It also includes pain play, spanking, restraints, anal play and nipple clamps.
Publisher's Note: This book is best read in sequence as part of a serial.
Freya Stone is a Lottery winner. A Euromillions Lottery winner to be exact. The week she won, hers was the only winning ticket. And it was a rollover, seeing her almost forty-five million pounds richer. But with no taste at all for a wealthy lifestyle, Freya bought herself a flashy car and a fancy apartment, then ran out of ideas and stuck the rest in the bank to be carefully invested by her own private wealth consultant.
One passion her wealth will enable her to indulge, however, is her appetite for submission. Or so she thinks. Following a childhood illness, Freya is unable to speak. She gets by pretty well with a combination of British Sign Language and a notepad, but her lack of speech makes negotiating difficult. She can’t tell a Dom what she needs, and she can’t use safe words. None of the Doms she’s played with so far have been especially interested in training a novice sub who doesn’t even squeal.
So Freya decides to buy tuition from a Master who comes highly recommended. Why not? She has the funds at her disposal, and nothing better she’d like to purchase. Twenty-five thousand pounds for a month with the Dom she’s fantasised about for ages seems like a bargain to her.
But experienced and harsh Dom Nick Hardisty has other ideas. Infuriated at Freya’s attempt to buy his services, he turns her down flat, while also demanding that she pay for her temerity by submitting to a punishment which he will administer personally.
Can Freya accept his discipline? Can she convince him to reconsider and provide the help she needs? And Nick Hardisty drives a hard bargain. If he won’t accept her money, what will his price be?
Reader Advisory: This book contains references to age regression scenes and uncomfortable BDSM encounters. It also includes pain play, spanking, restraints, anal play and nipple clamps.
Publisher's Note: This book is best read in sequence as part of a serial.
210 pages, Paperback
First published April 3, 2014
3 people are currently reading
309 people want to read
About the author
Ashe Barker
144 books806 followersUntil 2010, Ashe was a director of a regeneration company before deciding there had to be more to life and leaving to pursue a lifetime goal of self-employment.
Ashe has been an avid reader of erotic romance for many years—historical, contemporary, fantasy—you name it. Now, at last in control of her own time and working from her home in rural West Yorkshire, she has been able to realise her dream of writing sexy and compelling stories herself.
She draws on settings and anecdotes from her previous and current experience to lend colour, detail and realism to her plots and characters, but her stories of love, challenge, resilience and compassion are the conjurings of her own imagination. She loves to craft strong, enigmatic men and bright, sassy women to give them a hard time—in every sense of the word.
When she’s not writing, Ashe’s time is monopolised by her role as grandma to a lively toddler. She shares her writing space with a tortoise called Teefer.
Ashe has been an avid reader of erotic romance for many years—historical, contemporary, fantasy—you name it. Now, at last in control of her own time and working from her home in rural West Yorkshire, she has been able to realise her dream of writing sexy and compelling stories herself.
She draws on settings and anecdotes from her previous and current experience to lend colour, detail and realism to her plots and characters, but her stories of love, challenge, resilience and compassion are the conjurings of her own imagination. She loves to craft strong, enigmatic men and bright, sassy women to give them a hard time—in every sense of the word.
When she’s not writing, Ashe’s time is monopolised by her role as grandma to a lively toddler. She shares her writing space with a tortoise called Teefer.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 20, 2014
Title: A Hard Bargain (The Hardest Word #1)
Series: Yes
Author: Ashe Barker
Release Date: April 4th, 2014
Rating: 3.5 "You can call me Girl" stars
Cliffhanger:. Of Sorts
HEA:
Books like this are what I like to call a "Side-read"
My definition of a Side-read:
"A sexy, quick, easy read; that wasn't planned but just sort of happened and your main boo(k) will never know about"
The blurb explains it all but to summarise:
Freya Stone is a 23 year old woman, left until to speak after a childhood illness. Lucky as she might be in being a lottery winner she can't have the one thing she desires most, Dom Nick Hardisty's acceptance to train the inexperienced sub she is.
Reluctantly but eventually Nick relents but it comes at a price, in this first book we see the challenges Freya has to over come not only in her disability but also as a novice submissive.
Was this Side-read good enough to warrant a repeat performance? Yes! I look forward to another quickie with "Hard Lessons"
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April 15, 2014
Freya is a major lottery winner. She’s bought herself a flash car, a new apartment but the one thing she wants is a Dom. Having struck out several times at a local BDSM club to find a Dom to train her she decides that maybe she can pay a Master to train her and she has her eye on Nick Hardisty. Naturally, Nick refuses, is infuriated and demands her to submit to punishment. Of course, things may change once he realizes why Freya’s training is quite challenging. You see, she’s mute.
As a regular reader of erotic and romance books, it’s not often I see something new. Rich, poor, young old, cougars and May-December romances, really what else can you do to take an erotic romance and freshen it up? However, I got to say, Ms. Barker has done it with The Hardest Word series. Freya’s inability to speak adds a whole new twist that I found exhilarating. Now HERE is something new. How will she negotiate her limits? Use her safe word? How will he knew what she needs? It was all so fascinating. This is something new!
Let me say, I loved Freya. She’s not some wimpy college kid. Here we have a woman who is not lacking for anything so now billionaire was going to walk in and ‘take care of things’. Her handicap for the most part didn’t really hamper much. Well, maybe to find a Dom. That’s where Nick comes in. Strong, sexy as hell and OH WOW! I was surprised how inventive he gets to help her learn how to play. Not just play, communicate her wants and needs. The sex is hot between them but really, I was all melty every time they did things the vanilla way. With the undeniable chemistry they have. Clearly Freya and Nick belong together.
Little bit of a spoiler here. I could not help but laugh when Freya was reading THAT book. You know the one with the black and white cover with the tie. I have read all of Ashe Barkers book so this isn’t the first time I’ve seen her slip this little tidbit into her stories. I always think it’s so cute particularly because when I am recommending any of her trilogies I always compare them to THAT series.
In typical style, the author ends A Hard Bargain with a cliffhanger. Luckily, this time it wasn’t one of those ‘OMG what happens next’ ones. I won’t say I’m not feening for the next book, however I’m not ready to toss my Kindle. As always I HIGHLY recommend reading anything by Ashe Baker but if you’re going to pick only one series to read, make it this one.
As for Freya and Nick…I can’t wait to see how things progress.
I received this book from JeepDiva for the express purposes of an honest review. The opinions and rating of this review are solely mine and in no way was I compensated.
Stars– 5, Flames – 4
As a regular reader of erotic and romance books, it’s not often I see something new. Rich, poor, young old, cougars and May-December romances, really what else can you do to take an erotic romance and freshen it up? However, I got to say, Ms. Barker has done it with The Hardest Word series. Freya’s inability to speak adds a whole new twist that I found exhilarating. Now HERE is something new. How will she negotiate her limits? Use her safe word? How will he knew what she needs? It was all so fascinating. This is something new!
Let me say, I loved Freya. She’s not some wimpy college kid. Here we have a woman who is not lacking for anything so now billionaire was going to walk in and ‘take care of things’. Her handicap for the most part didn’t really hamper much. Well, maybe to find a Dom. That’s where Nick comes in. Strong, sexy as hell and OH WOW! I was surprised how inventive he gets to help her learn how to play. Not just play, communicate her wants and needs. The sex is hot between them but really, I was all melty every time they did things the vanilla way. With the undeniable chemistry they have. Clearly Freya and Nick belong together.
Little bit of a spoiler here. I could not help but laugh when Freya was reading THAT book. You know the one with the black and white cover with the tie. I have read all of Ashe Barkers book so this isn’t the first time I’ve seen her slip this little tidbit into her stories. I always think it’s so cute particularly because when I am recommending any of her trilogies I always compare them to THAT series.
In typical style, the author ends A Hard Bargain with a cliffhanger. Luckily, this time it wasn’t one of those ‘OMG what happens next’ ones. I won’t say I’m not feening for the next book, however I’m not ready to toss my Kindle. As always I HIGHLY recommend reading anything by Ashe Baker but if you’re going to pick only one series to read, make it this one.
As for Freya and Nick…I can’t wait to see how things progress.
I received this book from JeepDiva for the express purposes of an honest review. The opinions and rating of this review are solely mine and in no way was I compensated.
Stars– 5, Flames – 4
June 23, 2014
From the moment I read the blurb, I was hooked. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a big fan of first person narration. However, it didn’t bother me with this book, as Freya was just so darn likeable and endearing! She’s smart, resourceful, supportive, giving and kind (with delightful shades of witty sarcasm). However, she’s also human and fallible – she’s somewhat naïve and insecure, she makes mistakes and she gets embarrassed at times. And that’s what makes her so relatable and wonderful. Even though she shows a bit of insecurity about certain aspects of her body, she makes it clear that she’s learned to love herself and has become comfortable in her own skin. In the same vein, being unable to speak doesn’t define her – it’s simply part of who she is. She has become accustomed to utilizing other methods of getting her point across. Unfortunately, she has run into people during her life who didn’t wish to put in the time or care to overcome the challenge of fully communicating with her – including those in the BDSM lifestyle she desires. Enter Nick Hardisty, an experienced and sexy Dom whose attention Freya craves. Their chemistry was off the charts, and their encounters were incredibly sensual, intense and scorching hot. Nick is a good Dom. He’s intelligent, honest, strong, compassionate, respectful and patient. Since a lot of what the reader knows about him is filtered through Freya’s eyes, I hope we get to learn more about him in the next book. Ashe Barker crafted a marvelous story that I didn’t want to end. I can't wait to see what happens next!
* I received a copy of this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
* I received a copy of this book for free through the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
re-read
January 23, 2015Need to think......
January 2, 2015
Sweet Zombie Bob, it's a serial!
I do not recall buying this book. I flippin' hate serials. So, I hate that I started, finished, and loved this before I knew that it was the first in a serial. Brand spankin' new, too, so it's the only one out.
*face palm*
My own idiocy aside, this is an awesome story. I'm going to try really hard to not let it's serial-ness influence my opinion, because frankly, if I would have bothered to check it out, it says so right at the top of the blurb.
This is a book that I shelved my reality, right off the bat, for. Pure fantasy is going on here! Freya is mute, and desperately wants to be trained as a sub. She finds it pretty much impossible to find a good Dom to work with her needs. I mean, really, what Dom is going to take on a sub that can't scream for them, or talk over limits, or even safe-word, like a normal sub can?
Freya also won the lottery. Yep, you read that correctly, the lottery! See how my sense of reality ended up on that shelf over there?
So, through mutual acquaintances at the local BDSM club, she discovers that Master Nick might be able to help her. But, what does she do? Tries to buy him. Yep, just like a hooker. A hooker she tries to buy through e-mail.
He's not impressed.
He says no, she gets punished, they have sex, they avoid, then he succumbs, and we end in a cliffhanger.
Seriously though, it's a really good story. The awesome ways that Nick takes care of Freya, keeps her safe, starts to teach her…it's really sweet.
And insanely sexy.
There is insta-love. There is the ever present MWOP. There is even the eye-roll-worthy mind reading Dom.
But, if you just want a fun fantasy to turn you on, this is awesome. I read it in a couple hours, in one sitting. Despite its unoriginality, I found it un-put-down-able.
Fun, sexy, ride.
I do not recall buying this book. I flippin' hate serials. So, I hate that I started, finished, and loved this before I knew that it was the first in a serial. Brand spankin' new, too, so it's the only one out.
*face palm*
My own idiocy aside, this is an awesome story. I'm going to try really hard to not let it's serial-ness influence my opinion, because frankly, if I would have bothered to check it out, it says so right at the top of the blurb.
This is a book that I shelved my reality, right off the bat, for. Pure fantasy is going on here! Freya is mute, and desperately wants to be trained as a sub. She finds it pretty much impossible to find a good Dom to work with her needs. I mean, really, what Dom is going to take on a sub that can't scream for them, or talk over limits, or even safe-word, like a normal sub can?
Freya also won the lottery. Yep, you read that correctly, the lottery! See how my sense of reality ended up on that shelf over there?
So, through mutual acquaintances at the local BDSM club, she discovers that Master Nick might be able to help her. But, what does she do? Tries to buy him. Yep, just like a hooker. A hooker she tries to buy through e-mail.
He's not impressed.
He says no, she gets punished, they have sex, they avoid, then he succumbs, and we end in a cliffhanger.
Seriously though, it's a really good story. The awesome ways that Nick takes care of Freya, keeps her safe, starts to teach her…it's really sweet.
And insanely sexy.
There is insta-love. There is the ever present MWOP. There is even the eye-roll-worthy mind reading Dom.
But, if you just want a fun fantasy to turn you on, this is awesome. I read it in a couple hours, in one sitting. Despite its unoriginality, I found it un-put-down-able.
Fun, sexy, ride.
October 25, 2017
10/24/2017 Re-read, I still enjoyed it but dropped it down to 4 stars, kind of wordy at times
I really, really loved this book. Nick Hardisty is my new favorite Alpha male! The characters and story line aren't like anything I've read before. The understanding shown by Nick towards Freya was so heartwarming, a real love story in the making. This is the first book in the series and I can't wait for the second one to come out.
I really, really loved this book. Nick Hardisty is my new favorite Alpha male! The characters and story line aren't like anything I've read before. The understanding shown by Nick towards Freya was so heartwarming, a real love story in the making. This is the first book in the series and I can't wait for the second one to come out.
January 25, 2015
3 stars from me. While the story was a good one there were some issues with the writing style for me. Too much superfluous detail. I felt that the one night in the club was too drawn out and just couldn't get into the scenes.
I did however like the Nick and Freya characters.
I did however like the Nick and Freya characters.
Read
December 21, 2015That was hot!!!
I really like the first installment of this series. Nick is a sexy Dom that still shows his caring and playful side. I can't wait to find out more about him. I really look forward to the next book to see this relationship develop. Great start to this series!!!
I really like the first installment of this series. Nick is a sexy Dom that still shows his caring and playful side. I can't wait to find out more about him. I really look forward to the next book to see this relationship develop. Great start to this series!!!
Read
February 9, 2016It was good. Wish there would have been story - it's very short. Interesting plot though. I liked it.
Edit - this is the first in a series. That is why is short. It is the first serial installment.
Edit - this is the first in a series. That is why is short. It is the first serial installment.
February 13, 2016
Liked the aspect of her not talking and the chemistry as good. Not sure if willing to pay so much for each one though in the serial.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews