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A review by seshathawk
Hard Knocks by Ruby Lang
4.0
I had a nine-hour flight from Germany to Atlanta and Ancillary Mercy didn't sound appealing. I bought this book a few weeks ago, after it was reviewed on Reading the End, and a nine-hour flight seemed like a good time to try it out. And although I wasn't entirely enamored of the book, it's much better than some of the romances I've read lately.
There was something about this book that felt really fresh and realistic and honest. It was never cheesy. It was even practical! For starters, even though the hero and heroine hooked up pretty quickly in the book, it was treated as a fun sexy time that they both enjoyed (although some quirks followed that hookup), not as an amazing sexy time that has linked them together for life. Even when they keep crossing paths and continue to be intrigued by each other and attracted to each other, they don't instantly want to commit to each other. Their relationship developed over time, which I love, and it developed in a way that felt realistic to me, which I also love. I loved that Helen dealt with her own problems and that Adam let her.
Something else that I loved about this book was Helen, and how the book in many ways felt more like it was about her journey as a character than about the romance itself. She's full of fears and she's in denial. She's angry at everything. Her father is dying and she, as a neurologist, desperately wants to find a way to fix him, or just keeps hoping that the problem will go away, rather than address it directly. She takes out her fear and anger on the people around her--her family, her friends to some extent, and Adam, the hero.
I read it in its entirety on the plane (with plenty of time leftover) and really enjoyed it. I don't think there was anything in particular I disliked about the book that kept me from giving it five stars; something about it just didn't pack quite the punch I wanted. But it was a sweet, realistic romance, which I am always here for.
There was something about this book that felt really fresh and realistic and honest. It was never cheesy. It was even practical! For starters, even though the hero and heroine hooked up pretty quickly in the book, it was treated as a fun sexy time that they both enjoyed (although some quirks followed that hookup), not as an amazing sexy time that has linked them together for life. Even when they keep crossing paths and continue to be intrigued by each other and attracted to each other, they don't instantly want to commit to each other. Their relationship developed over time, which I love, and it developed in a way that felt realistic to me, which I also love. I loved that Helen dealt with her own problems and that Adam let her.
Something else that I loved about this book was Helen, and how the book in many ways felt more like it was about her journey as a character than about the romance itself. She's full of fears and she's in denial. She's angry at everything. Her father is dying and she, as a neurologist, desperately wants to find a way to fix him, or just keeps hoping that the problem will go away, rather than address it directly. She takes out her fear and anger on the people around her--her family, her friends to some extent, and Adam, the hero.
I read it in its entirety on the plane (with plenty of time leftover) and really enjoyed it. I don't think there was anything in particular I disliked about the book that kept me from giving it five stars; something about it just didn't pack quite the punch I wanted. But it was a sweet, realistic romance, which I am always here for.