Rock Hard by Nalini Singh

This is a book that Carolyn threatened to un-BFF me if I didn't read and AztecLady gushed over on her blog and well, it sounded awesome and I need to caveat that I really don't do reviews so going from there...

I finished the book this morning and found it extremely well written and so very good in many ways. But I had a really hard time throughout the book because I kept asking myself: When did a hard cock become synonymous with falling in love?

Charlotte Baird is damaged. Very badly damaged. She's a self-proclaimed mouse hiding from the world and then her new boss, Gabriel Bishop (aka: T-Rex) shows up and throws her world in turmoil. He sees how smart and competent she is and despite the fact that she can only squeak when around him, he makes her his PA and sets about changing her life.

There was a lot to like in their relationship but there were some troubling things too. Such as, the book begins and Charlotte is a terror filled rabbit but then a few months later she's holding her own against the mighty man. We're not shown the change, we're told it happened.

And then Gabriel really likes Charlotte. He knows she's damaged but he has all these erotic thoughts and fantasies about her so he pursues her. The flirting is fun and Gabriel is an alpha hero without ever turning into an alpha-hole. The problem I had was that while he flirted and said outrageously sexy things to her and constantly got hard imagining her in sexual situations... I was supposed to understand that they were falling in love.

I understood her falling in love with him. He was understanding, gentle, patient. He was all man and sexy and great in bed. But his POV was consistently about fucking her and fixing her but where was the love?When did his dick become the love barometer?

Carolyn and I talked about it on the phone this morning and she felt that his protectiveness and care showed love and perhaps it did. However, would he have been the same with her if he didn't want to fuck her? Also, where were the thoughts he had of her that were tender and not erotic? I missed those.

He admired her mind as his PA, he wanted to do everything erotic under the sun to her and ultimately he was the perfect hero. But I missed the romance. And then I wondered if my view of romance hasn't changed in all the years and the world's view has. But then, I know how I felt and I just felt the romance was missing. And this book could have used a little more.

Almost Like Being In Love

A high school jock and nerd fall in love senior year, only to part after an amazing summer of discovery to attend their respective colleges. They keep in touch at first, but then slowly drift apart.

Flash forward twenty years.

Travis and Craig both have great lives, careers and loves. But something is missing .... Travis is the first to figure it out. He's still in love with Craig, and come what may, he's going after the boy who captured his heart, even if it means forsaking his job, making a fool of himself, and entering the great unknown.


I saw this book discussed on Dear Author and it sounded like my cup of tea. Told in emails, lists, narrative... it's a charming book. And the characters are awesome.

Travis is a delightful mess. He's neurotic, a theater geek (I so relate), smart as hell and the guy who gets pushed around and called names by the jocks. Which, by the way, is taken care of by Craig in a delightful manner.

They're a delightful pair and their falling in love is sweet. You can't help but root for them.

Then the story fast forwards and the strangest thing happens. Travis decides to go after Craig, the true love who got away. But Craig has been in a 12 year relationship with Clayton and damn it all, I was rooting for the 12 year relationship to survive.

Travis was still an awesome character but there was no way that the reader could want a really terrific relationship to end.

It was the first time I didn't root for the hero even though I loved him. even Travis thought that Criag and Clayton belonged together.

What can I say? Mr. Kluger wrote the characters so well that a happy ending wasn't all that happy.

Still, I'd suggest this book as a fun read and charming as all get out. Just watch the emotional roller coaster when it comes. And I don't mean the characters, I mean yours.