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Hard Lessons
In his world, disloyalty is punished.
When Serena Ricci fell in love with a mafia bad boy, she knew what she was getting herself into. A man like Luca Morretti expects loyalty, but when she took a risk and it ended with the cops busting in, she let him take the fall. Now he's out of prison, and it's time for her to pay the price.
She will be stripped bare, punished thoroughly, and used in the most shameful ways imaginable. First she will beg for mercy and forgiveness, but before he is finished she will beg for more...
Publisher's Hard Lessons includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.
When Serena Ricci fell in love with a mafia bad boy, she knew what she was getting herself into. A man like Luca Morretti expects loyalty, but when she took a risk and it ended with the cops busting in, she let him take the fall. Now he's out of prison, and it's time for her to pay the price.
She will be stripped bare, punished thoroughly, and used in the most shameful ways imaginable. First she will beg for mercy and forgiveness, but before he is finished she will beg for more...
Publisher's Hard Lessons includes spankings and sexual scenes. If such material offends you, please don't buy this book.
217 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2019
202 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Lily Harlem
250 books688 followersMeet your next sexy as f*ck book boyfriend!
You'll love my Alpha male heroes and the women who (try to) tame them, so dive into my vast selection of steamy romances and be prepared to stay up late into the night being seduced by kinky dukes, hot hockey players, masterful Vikings and badass bikers. (To name a few!)
And to get you started, and my way of saying 'welcome to my world', grab a FREE ebook of your choice from my website www.lilyharlem.com
You'll love my Alpha male heroes and the women who (try to) tame them, so dive into my vast selection of steamy romances and be prepared to stay up late into the night being seduced by kinky dukes, hot hockey players, masterful Vikings and badass bikers. (To name a few!)
And to get you started, and my way of saying 'welcome to my world', grab a FREE ebook of your choice from my website www.lilyharlem.com
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 13, 2019
So, even the Brits are now boarding the mafia train...
I enjoyed this story and recommend it, though, I warn you, you have to suspend a lot of disbelief regarding plot and character motivation. But, if you're looking for a relatively mild, very erotic DD/BDSM story, then this is definitely one to read.
The narrative is part cabin-romance, part lovers-to enemies-to lovers (if such a trope exists) as Luca exacts his erotic vengeance on Serena, the lover who betrayed him by lying to escape justice while he went to prison.
Now this sounds dark, but it isn't. Ms. Harlem's tone (until the end, which gets more serious as the pair contemplate their future) is often humorous; we're never afraid that Luca will really hurt Serena (she really isn't, either); and while I suppose you could label this "dub-con" or "non-con," it's pretty clear that Luca would have stopped any time if Serena really hadn't been into it -- he's really terrified of actually hurting her.
And I so, so appreciate the author's thwarting the very tired, very frustrating trope of "How dare you try to escape me after I've just kidnapped you, terrified you, and given you no reason to trust me" and the fact that Luca wasn't trying to change Serena, keep her safe, or lording it over her by virtue of his anatomy.
Finally, in terms of positives, the book is well-written, with (for this genre) detailed descriptions of space (which, given salient plot points, it needs to have) and few editing errors. As always, Ms. Harlem's erotic scenes are vivid and satisfying.
If I have one complaint -- and it's a serious one, which is why I took away a star -- it's the character of Serena. This novel is one of the very few in which I've found the H more sympathetic than the h -- which is saying a lot since he's mafia-muscle and a murderer. I feel this way, I suppose, because he at least does have integrity: he's loyal to the code he lives by and his feelings towards Serena never lessen (this is one of the places where you have to suspend disbelief since, in his shoes, most people would not forgive her). Serena, on the other hand, really was an opportunist and many of her actions were hard to excuse given her stated love for Luca. The author does try to motivate them, but I don't think she succeeded. On the plus side, though, I was glad Serena got her revenge for all the slut-shaming the men around her subjected her to.
Four stars.
Note: I adhere to the ratings system as laid out by Goodreads: 2 stars = it was okay; 3 stars = liked it; 4 stars = really liked it; 5 stars = it was amazing. I gave this book 4 stars because I liked Luca, the writing, and the sensuality, even though I had problems with Serena. I do not think that every book I read is "amazing;" further, I think that it cheapens the rating system to always assign 4 or 5 stars. If a book really earns the 4 or 5 stars (and I realize that this is, to some degree, subjective), I'll give them -- but it certainly shouldn't apply to every book. YMMV, and everyone should enjoy/rate these books as they wish.
Additional Note: I did not receive this book as an ARC; I'm not another author who hosts or is hosted by other authors in this genre on our websites; and I'm not friends with the authors IRL, "friends" on this site, or friends on any social media site.
I enjoyed this story and recommend it, though, I warn you, you have to suspend a lot of disbelief regarding plot and character motivation. But, if you're looking for a relatively mild, very erotic DD/BDSM story, then this is definitely one to read.
The narrative is part cabin-romance, part lovers-to enemies-to lovers (if such a trope exists) as Luca exacts his erotic vengeance on Serena, the lover who betrayed him by lying to escape justice while he went to prison.
Now this sounds dark, but it isn't. Ms. Harlem's tone (until the end, which gets more serious as the pair contemplate their future) is often humorous; we're never afraid that Luca will really hurt Serena (she really isn't, either); and while I suppose you could label this "dub-con" or "non-con," it's pretty clear that Luca would have stopped any time if Serena really hadn't been into it -- he's really terrified of actually hurting her.
And I so, so appreciate the author's thwarting the very tired, very frustrating trope of "How dare you try to escape me after I've just kidnapped you, terrified you, and given you no reason to trust me" and the fact that Luca wasn't trying to change Serena, keep her safe, or lording it over her by virtue of his anatomy.
Finally, in terms of positives, the book is well-written, with (for this genre) detailed descriptions of space (which, given salient plot points, it needs to have) and few editing errors. As always, Ms. Harlem's erotic scenes are vivid and satisfying.
If I have one complaint -- and it's a serious one, which is why I took away a star -- it's the character of Serena. This novel is one of the very few in which I've found the H more sympathetic than the h -- which is saying a lot since he's mafia-muscle and a murderer. I feel this way, I suppose, because he at least does have integrity: he's loyal to the code he lives by and his feelings towards Serena never lessen (this is one of the places where you have to suspend disbelief since, in his shoes, most people would not forgive her). Serena, on the other hand, really was an opportunist and many of her actions were hard to excuse given her stated love for Luca. The author does try to motivate them, but I don't think she succeeded. On the plus side, though, I was glad Serena got her revenge for all the slut-shaming the men around her subjected her to.
Four stars.
Note: I adhere to the ratings system as laid out by Goodreads: 2 stars = it was okay; 3 stars = liked it; 4 stars = really liked it; 5 stars = it was amazing. I gave this book 4 stars because I liked Luca, the writing, and the sensuality, even though I had problems with Serena. I do not think that every book I read is "amazing;" further, I think that it cheapens the rating system to always assign 4 or 5 stars. If a book really earns the 4 or 5 stars (and I realize that this is, to some degree, subjective), I'll give them -- but it certainly shouldn't apply to every book. YMMV, and everyone should enjoy/rate these books as they wish.
Additional Note: I did not receive this book as an ARC; I'm not another author who hosts or is hosted by other authors in this genre on our websites; and I'm not friends with the authors IRL, "friends" on this site, or friends on any social media site.
January 28, 2020
It makes me very sad that I did not enjoy this particular offering from Ms Harlem as much as her previous works. I guess not everything hit the mark. Maybe it was my mood or maybe it was just that I hated Serena. She was brash, arrogant, full of sass, and disloyal. I think what bothered me the most was the fact that she was utterly self-serving and she sold out Luca in a heartbeat without so much as a blink of an eye. It's hard for me to get past that disloyalty. And she was utterly unrepentant for what she did, blaming Luca for the situation instead. Given the world they live in and what had gone down, they are all culpable. Luca for his jealous rage and explosive temper, Serena for overplaying her part and enraging Luca. It's just plain bad luck for them that the con the tried to pull backfired on them and the authorities got to them rather quickly. I expect Luca deserved his time in jail for what he did, and Serena deserved what was coming to her after Luca was released. Neither Luca nor Serena were particularly nice of likable people. I guess that's the thing with a mafia romance, but I particularly disliked Serena with a passion. They are not exactly upstanding citizens, are they? I have a hard time with Serena's betrayal, Luca's need for revenge though he never truly hurts Serena or goes to any extreme. Of the two of them, I'd say Luca despite his questionable history and affiliations, was the more likable of the duo. Still, overall, this book was a struggle for me. As much as I love Ms Harlem's writing, this was not a fun read. I kept trying and trying. I'd pick it up, read a bit, put it down, and did that a few too many times until I wondered why I was torturing myself over it. Loyalty to Ms Harlem, mostly, because there was nothing likable about Serena. I hope Ms Harlem can forgive me for not enjoying this one. This is a first for me.
See more from Deanna's World
See more from Deanna's World
July 26, 2020
I do love a good mafia romance. As long as they aren’t too dark or graphic, I enjoy the dark-themed ones but, honestly, I would not classify Hard Lessons as dark. Certainly, there was gun violence, and plenty of illegal activities taken part in by the main characters and their famiglia. There were also non-consensual activities the Hero (antihero?) coerced the heroine into. She didn’t like some of them. At first. LOL. Apart from their mob activity and a certain amount of rough force from the Hero, these two main characters were like any other young couple that are in love with and fascinated by each other. The author developed an interesting storyline that I enjoyed very much. I felt the story was believable, and something that might actually happen in a mob family.
The author crafted the Hero to be very attractive and sexy, and capable. As to the heroine, I read the review of another Amazon reader who expressed strong dislike of the heroine, calling her “brash, arrogant, full of sass and disloyal.” It is so amusing to me how different people can read the same thing and come to completely disparate conclusions! I do agree that the heroine was “full of sass.” She was strong-willed and I liked that she didn’t hesitate to express herself. As for the act the reviewer saw as “disloyal,” I think it was more like being PERCEIVED as disloyalty. The heroine had been thinking about her future and what direction she wanted it to take almost from the opening of the book. Long before the split-second decision that got her branded as disloyal. I loved the heroine. She was a strong person who stood her ground, even in the face of the Hero’s uber-dominance.
Throughout the good times and the bad, these two characters knew they loved each other, and they admitted the other was “it” for them. Without giving away too many other details, I will only say the story ending, while still holding some risk for this couple, was very satisfying. For a not-too-dark, but well-written mafia story that included a good serving of sizzling hot scenes, I would give this one 5 stars.
The author crafted the Hero to be very attractive and sexy, and capable. As to the heroine, I read the review of another Amazon reader who expressed strong dislike of the heroine, calling her “brash, arrogant, full of sass and disloyal.” It is so amusing to me how different people can read the same thing and come to completely disparate conclusions! I do agree that the heroine was “full of sass.” She was strong-willed and I liked that she didn’t hesitate to express herself. As for the act the reviewer saw as “disloyal,” I think it was more like being PERCEIVED as disloyalty. The heroine had been thinking about her future and what direction she wanted it to take almost from the opening of the book. Long before the split-second decision that got her branded as disloyal. I loved the heroine. She was a strong person who stood her ground, even in the face of the Hero’s uber-dominance.
Throughout the good times and the bad, these two characters knew they loved each other, and they admitted the other was “it” for them. Without giving away too many other details, I will only say the story ending, while still holding some risk for this couple, was very satisfying. For a not-too-dark, but well-written mafia story that included a good serving of sizzling hot scenes, I would give this one 5 stars.
April 2, 2020
This story wasn't quite what I expected. Hard Lessons is a mafia romance. Serena gets involved with Luca knowing exactly what she is getting into. When the cops end up arresting Luca, she lies in order to get away freely, but now Luca is out of jail.
The summary makes it seem a lot darker than it was. There are definently some darker parts, but overall this book was quick and had me laughing.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The summary makes it seem a lot darker than it was. There are definently some darker parts, but overall this book was quick and had me laughing.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 18, 2020
This book is about the relationship between Luca and Serena, who are both children of mafia families, and is a tale of betrayal and revenge. I recommend This novel with its well developed characters and a mafia plot loaded with unexpected twists, intrigue and suspense, drama, and sizzling chemistry.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
August 14, 2021
A sexy romance for Mafioso fans who like a bit of spice to their romantic suspense.
January 14, 2025
Really enjoyed this story for its two strong-willed characters, both filled with passionate love and lust for each other.
March 19, 2020
Truly enjoyed Serena and Luca's story.
Serena has always loved bad boys, so when her and Luca got together she knew he was part of the mafia. She herself comes from a mafia family, but when a job goes sideways and the cops show up she lets Luca take the rap alone. Now that he's out of prison he's looking to teach her some Hard Lessons. While Luca was away Serena figured out she wanted something different in life and she wants to prove to Luca her way is the right way. Who will win in the end? This is a great read and I highly recommend it!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Serena has always loved bad boys, so when her and Luca got together she knew he was part of the mafia. She herself comes from a mafia family, but when a job goes sideways and the cops show up she lets Luca take the rap alone. Now that he's out of prison he's looking to teach her some Hard Lessons. While Luca was away Serena figured out she wanted something different in life and she wants to prove to Luca her way is the right way. Who will win in the end? This is a great read and I highly recommend it!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 18, 2020
Serena and Luca are crazy in love until a job goes wrong and she lets him take the fall. She doesn't want the mafia life they both grew up in. She loves him, his strength, his dominance, his love, but she doesn't love the life anymore and she is done. When he comes for her, she runs, but Luca is determined to be with his woman forever. She won't get away AND she will take her spankings for wronging him. Hand, spatula.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 19, 2020
I had a great time with this book. The characters are well developed and engaging and the chemistry between them through the pages made for a great reading time. The storyline flowed easily page to page.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 19, 2020
This is a mafia romance. Luca and serena come from mafia families. Luca ends up in jail and thinks serena is behind it. when he gets out he wants revenge.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 23, 2019
Sexy Cosa Nostra read full of action….
Luca Morretti and Serena Ricci were both born in to families that lived and died by the sword, being part of the Mafia ensured that neither had particularly pleasant childhoods and yet when they discovered each other and love they realised that they had discovered each other’s soul mates.
When they come to London to work for Luca’s uncle it is no more that twnty four hous before Serena finds herself alone when he is sent to prison for twelve months, she refuses to visit him in prison even though she feels like her heart has been pulled out, all she knows is that she cannot continue to live this life she wants a life away from guns, killers and constant threats and jail but will Luca be willing to follow.
This is a truly wonderful read once started impossible to put down.
I voluntarily received and review an Advanced Reader Copy
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading any future publications; keep up all the great writing.
Luca Morretti and Serena Ricci were both born in to families that lived and died by the sword, being part of the Mafia ensured that neither had particularly pleasant childhoods and yet when they discovered each other and love they realised that they had discovered each other’s soul mates.
When they come to London to work for Luca’s uncle it is no more that twnty four hous before Serena finds herself alone when he is sent to prison for twelve months, she refuses to visit him in prison even though she feels like her heart has been pulled out, all she knows is that she cannot continue to live this life she wants a life away from guns, killers and constant threats and jail but will Luca be willing to follow.
This is a truly wonderful read once started impossible to put down.
I voluntarily received and review an Advanced Reader Copy
I thoroughly enjoyed the book and look forward to reading any future publications; keep up all the great writing.
November 13, 2019
An enjoyable read. The premise wasn’t really unique, as it is another mafia story but I enjoyed Serena’s character more than I usually like the females in these types of stories. Serena was a quick-thinking, strong woman who wasn’t going to end up in jail because of a man. She never changed throughout the story and I liked that about her. Luca was the character that had to rethink his life choices if he wanted to keep his girl. Will he be able to become what she wants?
October 12, 2019
Hard Lessons is a Mafia romantic suspense with an exciting storyline. Luca and Serena are fantastic characters. He’s hot, dangerous, and dominating. She’s sexy, sassy, and stubborn. Their explosive chemistry, steamy sex scenes, and a score to settle, makes this a wonderfully entertaining must read. I couldn’t put it down!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews