Veena’s review of Rebel Hard (Hard Play, Book 2) by Nalini Singh
Contemporary Romance published by INscribe Digital 18 Sep 18
This book is Ms. Singh’s nod to the current popularity of things Indian and Bollywood. Nayna and Raj are modern Indian Australians brought up in conservative Indian families who still believe in arranged marriages and other traditions that they brought with them from their home country.
Nayna is a rebel who feels like a bird in a cage and committed to the traditions to keep her parents happy, but so fearful of losing who and what she is. Readers! Hold onto your hearts as Raj charms his way into your hearts along with Nayna’s on his way to happily ever after.
Rebellious Nayna is ready for some action before she has to give in to her parents’ desire for an arranged marriage. At the party where she hopes to put her plan into action, she meets sexy blue-collar construction worker Raj, who is as far from her parents’ ideal groom as it’s possible to be. Unfortunately, while the kiss between them is sizzling, Raj turns out the opportunity for Nayna’s desired sexual encounter.
Fast forward to the next night in her parents’ home and Raj is presenting as a prospective bridgegroom on the arranged marriage track. Horrors! Her parents actually seem to like him and his family. Poor Nayna, she can hear the cage clanging shut on her. As she tries to evade all his attempts to have a conversation with her, they meet up again at a community wedding where Raj declares his intentions to her parents and the community at large. Now he just has to win over his elusive bride to be.
Nayna’s sister has gone her way with a divorce already behind her, which puts a lot of pressure on Nayna to conform and do the right thing. On Raj’s side there’s his brother who also pursued his own path but seems extremely unhappy and his meddling sister-in-law doing her best to derail Raj’s shaky train. Then there’s the cute love story between Nayna’s grandmother and the next door neighbor. All of these family and relation dynamics add their own spice to the protagonists’ own love story.
All in all, this is a sweet romance where the outcome is certain, but the journey is an interesting mix of angst, laughter, and tears.
Grade: B
Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh continues her Hard Play series with a sweet, sexy romance featuring big, fat, OTT weddings, a meddling grandma, and a too-serious hero who needs to be unbuttoned…
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.
