Rebel Hard

Rebel Hard (Hard Play Book 2)- Nalini Singh
Inscribe Digital/TKA Distribution
Release Date: September 18, 2018

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Nayna Sharma agreed to an arranged marriage in the hope it would heal the fractures in her beloved family… only to realize too late that a traditional marriage is her personal nightmare. Panicked, she throws caution to the winds, puts on the tiniest dress she can find, and ends up in the arms of a tall, rough-edged hunk of a man who has abs of steel—and who she manages to mortally insult between one kiss and the next.

Abandoned as a child, then adopted into a loving family, Raj Sen believes in tradition, in continuity. Some might call him stiff and old-fashioned, but he knows what he wants—and it’s a life defined by rules… yet he can’t stop thinking about the infuriating and sexy woman who kissed him in the moonlight then disappeared. When his parents spring an introduction on him, the last woman he expects is her. Beautiful. Maddening. A rule breaker in the making.

He’s all wrong for her. She’s all wrong for him. And love is about to make rebels of them both.

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 Nayna Sharma has spent most of her life being the 'good sister' to make up for her elder sister's mistakes.  In the process she's had a small, quiet life hemmed in by rules and tradition.  Now that she's agreed to an arranged marriage she suddenly realizes that she's living the life everyone wants for her- except her.  One wild night at a party she meets the perfect man- then mistakenly insults him in the middle of a steamy embrace.  Raj Sen was abandoned and abused as a child before being adopted into a loving family, and wants a stable, quiet life based on traditions and setting down roots.  But an encounter with Nayna makes him start to question what he thinks he wants in life.  They may be exactly what the other doesn't want, but exactly what they do need.

We first met Nayna as Isa Rain's best friend in Cherish Hard.  Here we get Nayna's story and it is nothing less than amazing. Nayna is trying to grab a brief moment in life that is hers and hers alone before settling into the married life her parents want.  But even after meeting Raj and knowing there is amazing chemistry between them, she sees marriage as a trap that she discovers she doesn't really want to enter on anyone's terms but her own.  But every time she tries to take a step towards independence, something happens to make her feel guilty about being anything less than the 'perfect' daughter her traditional Indian parents want.  She's seen her sister cast off because of her decisions and is convinced she can only be loved if she is perfect.  Nayna is a delightful and realistic mix of strength and insecurities trying to balance her parent's traditional views with her own more modern ones, and trying to discover who she is in the process.

Raj may be all quiet confidence and strength on the outside, but he's never quite gotten over the pain of being abandoned, knowing he was unwanted and unloved by his birth mother is a scar the loving family he now has can't entirely erase. He wants to protect himself by never giving a woman power over his heart and is sure a traditional marriage with a quiet woman is what he needs.  Nayna makes him question everything he thought he wanted in life.  He knows he wants a chance with her, and is willing to play dirty to get her- including learning to smile, to play, and to text Nayna screamingly sexy pictures that are totally G-rated.  But he's as worried about falling in love as she is worried that he'll never fully give himself to her.    

Nayna and Raj may be my favorite Nalini Singh couple after Gabriel and Charlotte (Rock Hard)- although it's a close tie. You know Raj is something special when he goes out of his way to read Nayna's favorite book, Pride and Prejudice.  And the reader is then treated to the male view of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham- and the men on Raj's construction crew discovering what women really find sexy by Googling "hot men reading".  

Rebel Hard is a wonderful, passionate, humorous, and emotional story of two people learning about themselves and trying to make a relationship work when they are afraid to fall in love.  It celebrates the beautiful, colorful culture of India and Fiji, blended with New Zealand's natural wonders.  This is a book that joyously grabs all of your senses and flings it into the color, taste, sound, texture, and glitter of a Bollywood extravaganza: complete with over the top weddings, meddling parents, villainous sister-in-law, and gorgeous locations. A must read for any romance fan!