HARD NIGHT (11th Hour #3) by Jackie Ashenden-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 27, 2018

It’s their pleasure to serve . . .

Made up of former soldiers, the men of the 11th Hour play by their own rules to protect the innocent, capture the guilty, and stay in fighting shape for whatever–and whoever–comes their way . . .

Jacob Night, ex-Black Ops, owner of a billion-dollar security company, and leader of the 11th Hour, spends his life completing dangerous missions for others. But there’s one personal mission he has yet to complete: Finding his missing brother, who was betrayed by the woman he should have been able to trust. But when he finally tracks down his brother’s ex, there’s one surprise: she can’t remember a thing.

Faith has no memory of who she is. She can’t remember life before she came to work for Jacob Night, and she’s not sure she wants to. But when she and Jacob are ambushed by men who have come to kill her for sins she can’t recall committing, she has no choice but to face the past. Yet once she does, and Jacob’s identity–and her own–come to light, they may not survive with their lives intact, let alone their hearts.

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REVIEW: HARD NIGHT is the third instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult 11th HOUR erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for 11th Hour Security. This is ex-Black Ops / 11th Hour owner Jacob Night, and Faith Beasley’s story line. TOTAL CONTROL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Faith and Jake) HARD NIGHT follows the building relationship between ex-Black Ops / 11th Hour owner Jacob Night, and Faith Beasley. Six months earlier Faith found herself in the hospital without any memory of who she was, or anything about her past including the man she would grow to love. Jacob Night suspects Faith knows something about his missing brother Josh but our heroine is unable to recall the how and why of her current dilemma. Fast forward to present day wherein Faith will be targeted by someone from her past. Desperate to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love, Jake ‘abducts’ Faith to places unknown in the hopes of being able to jostle her memory into revealing the truth about the brother he lost.

Faith Beasley has amnesia. For six months our heroine has struggled to regain her forgotten memories but with their return Faith knows it is only a matter of time before Jake discovers the truth about her connections to the past. Jacob Night doesn’t do relationships and a relationship with the woman he believes is keeping secrets threatens all sense of peace for our story line hero.

The relationship between Faith and Jacob is one of immediate attraction; there is a definite palpable sexual energy that may or may not be predicated on the fear of the unknown. Faith is hoping for something more but when her memories return betrayal and heart break become her only companion. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic, aggressive and intense.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters include Callie Hawthorne and Jack King (Raw Power #1), Kellan Blake, and IT specialist Sabrina Leighton (Total Control #2). The requisite evil has many faces but is familiar to our story line couple.

HARD NIGHT is a story of power and control; betrayal and vengeance; family and love. The premise is engaging and energetic; the romance is spirited and dramatic; the characters are broken, flawed and intoxicating. HARD NIGHT is an impassioned and startling story of romantic suspense.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Raw Power
Total Control
Hard Night

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy