I was very kindly provided with an ARC of Raging Hard by the author to read and review.
Claire Forester is a hard working, 21 year old virgin who would rather worry about having her head stuck in her studies than about giving up her sexual status. That is of course until the dirty talking SEAL, Nathan Magnus, crosses her path and suddenly what mattered the least quickly becomes all she can think about. But what will happen when two strangers smacked by instant lust, come to discover they're actually family? Is taking what you want strong enough to overcome the feeling of how wrong a situation is?
He probably thought I was some weird cat lady or like an overly emotional clinger or something. But the truth was, having sex had just never felt right. While all my peers were busy humping anything they saw, I kept holding out hope for someone decent to go through that experience with.
Maybe that was naïve. Admittedly, I’d grown up a lot since then. I didn’t think losing my virginity was going to be some earth-shattering experience, or really any huge deal at all, but still. I wanted at least a decent guy for my first time.
Claire was a laugh a minute. She could be strong as steel but weak as a piece of paper at the same moment. If it wasn't for her weakness to dump her best friend then I would of absolutely admired and adored her. Although I'm all for giving people a second chance and standing by them, Lydie, her supposed best friend was shockingly awful to her. Once or twice I prayed Claire would actually hurl her overboard the boat they were on and literally leave her there (I may be a little harsh sometimes!). But where she really came out of herself and became a better character was always around Nathan, he could not only turn her weak points in to strengths but he could turn her in to an utter sex kitten with one flick of his finger. Why can't these male characters ever actually exist?!
Bastards. Pieces of shit. I was going to tear them all apart, limb by fucking limb, until I was drenched in their blood. They’d run screaming, begging for mercy, and as I stood over their bleeding and battered bodies, I’d smile and end them.
What other men saw as a problem, I saw as a fucking challenge.
The real smoke and fire of the book was with a doubt Nathan. You'd be hard pressed to ever find a male lead with more dirty lines than him. How my tablet didn't melt and require an extinguisher I'm not sure I'll ever know. But he wasn't all hotness and no substance, when he turned in to a one man army to protect his family he became a loveable hero. The scenes between him and his mother could be hard to read at times because they were utterly heartbreaking, but B.B. Hamel managed to write them with a great deal of care and sensitivity. Nathan was the complete action man with not just a heart of gold but with a remarkable air of realism.
What's better than a red hot smoking read? Obviously it's one that has a red hot SEAL as one half of the main duo of said book! And this one certainly didn't disappoint in any way.
B.B. Hamel kept up her never ending knack for telling an engaging, fast paced story of frowned upon trysts and pulse pounding dangers. I always admire this authors ability to give each book an entirely new location and scenery and this being based, at times, on the open seas felt incredibly fitting and refreshing. But my favourite thing and what actually gave me a really good feeling was the authors initial message in the book that losing your virginity isn't some unnecessary race. People should be a little more like Claire and be willing to wait until it feels right for them, not the ridiculous notion that exists where we have to do it as soon as possible because everyone else is. It's a great and important message to get out to people based around Claire's age of twenty one.
I managed to devour the whole book in one go and it certainly warmed up my cold winter evening! Thank you to B.B. Hamel for another pleasurable read from start to finish, don't ever quit giving me new reads!