What a fantastic book. I loved Dawn and Rory. The characters were perfect for this story line. Dawn was an independent and hard working woman. Rory had it all, but when they get reacquainted the sparks fly. This book was very entertaining and I didn't want to put it down.

Another great book by Jamie K. Schmidt. Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review by Net Galley and Love Swept.

Billionaire Rory is on a quest to buy up local businesses in town as a way to clean up the drugs in the area which have been a problem for his sister. He attempts to buyout Dawn, but she will not go down without a fight. Through the course of some discussions the two grow close and develop feelings for one another. Rory's quest to buyout Dawn changes as he instead helps change her business model.

This book was good. I liked how Dawn stuck to her guns and didn't change for anyone. I also liked how the author had Dawn be different from other women in that she wasn't the typical gorgeous stereotype, but instead had a punk style. Overall good read.

This one was okay. Dawn and Rory are an odd couple. Dawn is not your typical store owner from a well known political family. Rory is the rich billionaire who comes along with not so good intentions and is the catalyst to what happens next in her life. She has so much riding on her store making it. Rory is put in her path to make her a deal to leave her store behind. There are sparks when they are around each other. They both have family issues. The scenes are good. I wanted just a little more background with Cammy and her life before we met her. Not a bad read.

I received this ARC from the publisher via Net Galley for my honest opinion. Thank you Net Galley!

First off i need to thank the folks at NetGalley for getting me an ARC to read prior to November.  I love getting books early!   

I usually have a big crash of emotions when i'm done with a book that's not part of a series but that's ok this time around since our author did a really good job of giving us a story that's got legs and then wrapping it up well.  

What's interesting to me is the summary - it doesn't really give us a true sense of what the story is by any means - just bits that kind of tie back to one scene or another, but i think that for me, it's not always about the description that gets me hooked.  

We have 2 leading characters who are not nearly as different as they appear to be, both of them having their own family stresses and life struggles, but when they are able to come together, well there's something that's really great that can come out of it. 

Dawn and Rory knew each other in high school but never hung in the same crowd.  Dawn was always trying to be a bit of a rebel while Rory was living up to the expectations of his wealthy established family.  When their paths cross years later when Rory is trying to buy out the story that Dawn owns, you have to expect that it'll get nuts.

From the get go - there's clear chemistry between them - there's no doubt that they are attracted to each other, but the question becomes then if it's a one night stand type thing, or if there's a possibility that real feelings can come together and then what will that mean since they both keep trying to fight it soo hard. 

Add to that the fact that Dawn's got issue with her family - they don't approve of anything that she does (or do they and she's just fighting it?).  Then there's Rory - he's always trying to prove his worth to his father and live the best life possible since his sister is in a coma because of a drug overdose.  

So you can imagine how all that nonsense will lead to some really steamy scenes once these two let their guards down long enough.  And as expected in this genre - just when they think that things are finally going well, someone comes in between them, someone almost dies, and they are now split on opposite sides of the country.  Will they ever find a happy way to be together or was it just meant to be something short lived?  That's what you'll have to find out if you read it.

When I saw the cover and read the blurb for Hard Cover, I knew that I had to read it. So when I got approved for the ARC, I was pretty pumped. I have read and reviewed a lot of YA and fantasy, so reading a more adult themed book was what I needed. Hard Cover delivered that to me and then some. It was a welcome change of scenery from angsty teens and magical beings.

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Dawn Nolan ran a bookstore that was either a haven or the devil’s workshop. Depends on who you asked in town. Her bookshop was a safe haven for women who weren’t as accepted as they should be in this day and age. Dawn sold sex toys, incense, occult paraphernalia and erotica in her bookstore. Her shop was not what the town leaders wanted in their community….even if it was needed. So it wasn’t a surprise when Rory Parker, who was redoing the downtown area, makes her an offer. Which she refuses.

Dawn decides to make a movie of her and Rory doing the nasty and plans to threaten him into letting her stay. Only thing, she wasn’t expecting to like him as much as she did. She is also hiding some major secrets from him. Secrets that will come back to bite her in the butt later in the book.

Rory has his own agenda for wanting the downtown area to become more upscale. He is trying to drive out the shadier aspects of the town because of what happened to his younger sister. Which is admirable but it won’t fix his sister. He realizes that. It takes something happening to Dawn for him to realize that there is something more than sex there.

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Dawn was definitely one of a kind and I liked that. She wasn’t afraid to be her own person and didn’t care what other people thought of her. The bookstore was a sanctuary for her as well as the other women who came in. I didn’t blame her for being upset when Rory offered her the check. I loved the whole blackmail idea but that didn’t exactly work in her favor. I do wish that she let Rory know about her secrets sooner. It would have saved her a lot of heartache down the road.

In the beginning of the book, I thought that Rory was a bit of a jerk. When the book went to his viewpoint, there were things that were revealed about him that made me change my mind. I did end up liking him but I also felt pity. His intentions were in the right place with cleaning up the downtown area. He didn’t want anyone else going through what his sister went through. Like I said, his heart was in the right place but having upper-class stores won’t keep out the shady people. I like that he understood why Dawn didn’t want to leave. So he worked on trying to make her store seem more mainstream without losing any of what made it special.

This book wouldn’t be an erotica if it didn’t have sex scenes that were red hot. And did it!! From the moment that Rory and Dawn did the dirty on Dawn’s couch in her store, it was on. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They were like freaking bunnies. I wish that I had their stamina and sex drive….lol.

The only complaint I have about the book is that Rory’s father got off scott free with his harassment of Dawn. It was mentioned, by Dawn, a few times in the book and then dropped. Same went with Dawn’s relationship with her father. It was stated over and over that they didn’t get along and couldn’t stand each other. But it seemed to me, by the end of the book, everything was water under the bridge. Including that he was in the group of men trying to run her out of her bookstore.

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The end of the book felt a tad rushed to me. But I was glad that Dawn’s secrets were out and that Rory was going to be there for her. I loved the epilogue that was a year later. They might have had a rocky start but they were that couple that will stay together forever.

I do want to add that I loved the author’s note afterward about her cat, Ash. I was in tears when she explained that her cat was not doing well. I thought that it was right that she immortalized Ash in her book.

4 stars

My Summary of Hard Cover:

Hard Cover is a book that will leave you with a smile after you are done reading it. It is full of hot sex scenes and it also has a very good plot. I loved Dawn and Rory, well Rory after a while. I am hoping that this will be a series. Dawn’s friends need their own books!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, mild violence, and sex.

I would like to thank Jamie K. Schmidt, Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Hard Cover.

All opinions stated in this review of Hard Cover are mine. I also received no compensation for this review

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Freshman Dawn Nolan had a crush on Senior Rory Parker when they were in high school, in the town of Haven, Connecticut. Dawn is the daughter of Judge Nolan, who she has not spoken with in over a year and Rory the son of the First Selectmen of the town and a very successful real estate mogul, who had been living in Florida until he was called back by his father to redevelop the area around the docks into chic high end stores and restaurants. Rory is guilty about not paying enough attention to his younger sister Cammy before she overdosed and went into a coma, which is the impetus for redeveloping the area. He has succeeded in buying out most of the old shops, but Dawn loves her bookstore Tantrics and her clients and refuses to move. She was forced by the landlord to sign a 10 year lease and she is holding him to it. The more time the two of them spend together, Rory realizes how much he enjoys his time with Dawn (and the wild sex), how much her shop means to her clients and how much she has grown on him. How can he convince her to get over her trust issues and trust him, his feelings for her and her feelings for him?
I received an ARC for an honest review. The characters are well developed and the story engaging. I enjoyed reading how Rory and Dawn were able to overcome their original prejudices to see each other as someone they could trust, love and believe in.

This is another great story from Jamie K.Schmidt. It is enemies to lovers love story and it is written amazingly. I loved the humor in it but the story is not just about their arguing it has again deeper story between the line. Down and Rory are two individuals who cant bee more different but they have one thing in common and that is crazy attraction and chemistry. The story is complex and has much more layers is not a just superficial story with two persons having sex. I liked Down his way of thinking and the way he can say not to his demanding parents. Rory on the hand is very interesting person stubborn as hell has a few personality flaws but is also caring and has big heart she just did not want pity from anyone, and help. I enjoyed reading another greatly written book.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

Oh where do I begin? Tantric bookstore owner, purple hair, tongue ring Dawn "smile for the camera" and khaki wearing, yacht living, I wanna own your building, "you have the nicest a@@" Rory, son of two disengaged people with too much money and Rory is out to develop the tiny little town where Dawn's bookstore is located. Yes, it's a little offbeat, just like her. That place where the local women can shop without worrying about anyone seeing them or judging what they order a that plain brown wrapper. She's got it all, including Rory wrapped around her panties! These two were priceless.
It's a great story, that has a few twists and a couple curve balls, his sister; the reason behind his parents desire and a shining example of their denial to buy up the strip of stores in Haven and get rid of the "undesirables" because that's what caused there daughter to fall back into her drug dependency and spending the last 5 years in a semi-vegetative state in a health care facility. The way their parents didn't handle things really burned my can. Rory however did the stand up thing. Just like he did with Dawn.
I liked them both and this book was just flat out fun to read. Head nod to Jamie K on this one!!


**arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**

Wow this book needs a serious warning! Blazing, steaming hot! Call the fire trucks! I tried to read this slow because I enjoyed it so much. Tough no nonsense quirky sexy Dawn had me laughing a lot ! Add in her eclectic friends and hotness that is Rory! Awesome book!!!

I loved Rory's character and the transformation he underwent. He went from his entire focus being on the business and money, to wanting something more from life. And him and his sister...just wow.

Dawn's character had me laughing out loud so many times. I loved her sense of humor and determination to overcome everything without letting others see that she might be struggling. I appreciated the way she stood up for those who couldn't.

**Advanced copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This book was such a surprise for me! While I was looking forward to reading it based on other books I've read by the author, but also due to the description, I wasn't prepared for how quickly these characters were going to draw me in.

Dawn Nolan owns a bookstore in her hometown of Haven. While she does sell books, she sells other things as well and the store is a place where women in the town feel safe coming. Dawn is about women's empowerment, sexual freedom and standing up for what she feels is right. The latter has estranged her from her family, so she's also fiercely independent.

Rory Parker is a billionaire who isn't used to being challenged. When he is charged with overhauling the stores in the town, he expects that everyone is going to jump at the amount of money that they are being offered. He has several takers, but Dawn is having none of it. She has a lease, she hasn't violated it and she's not leaving. Not only is Rory surprised, he's also drawn to the woman that he's known since high school even though she's the exact opposite of women he normally goes for.

As Dawn and Rory begin spending time together, their chemistry is undeniable and they decide to enter into a fling. The question is will it turn into the real deal or will their pasts and secrets that haven't been shared going to derail the budding relationship?

I really enjoyed these characters and how strong Dawn was. I also liked how Rory's focused changed over the course of the book. He started as someone solely focused on business and the bottom line, but but the time all was said and done his horizons had been expanded. This is a book that I would say you can't judge by it's cover. You have to dive in and immerse yourself in it to experience it's awesomeness!

Enjoyable. There was nothing flashy that made me want to read more by this author, but I didn't hate it.

I love how the charters related to each other...it was a great book.i cryed and laugh all the way though out this book...it really took me away and made me really believe that this was a real life story.. thank you for letting me read this cindy

I really liked this book. Dawn is the black sheep of her little town, with a chip on her shoulder, and out to prove to everyone that she can succeed. She meets Rory via emails when he contacts her trying to strong arm her out of the lease on her quirky bookstore. And the sparks begin to fly. I loved their chemistry and easy banter. There was a lot of sex in this book, I'm not complaining at all because it was hot as hell! I enjoyed watching their relationship deepen and how it changed each one of them. There are some really great side characters that I would love to read more about.

This book made me laugh, had some sexy scenes, and 2 main characters that were likable. I liked that Dawn was rebellious and not your typical young female with a "beautiful body". Purple hair, tattoos, piercings...I like her way better.

A variation of the classic Shop Around the Corner, Hard Cover was much better than I expected. This is the first book I had read of author Jamie Schmidt and she truly brought her characters to life. You have to laugh at poor Rory Parker who when meets an old high school classmate Dawn Nolan, is attracted to someone who is totally opposite of himself and his family. While at the beginning, he is on a mission to shut down her sex bookstore, he begins to change his mind.
A cute story with a strong storyline and one I would recommend.

Reminiscent of You've Got Mail, Schmidt's Hard Cover is sexier and hotter!

Jamie K. Schmidt writes a great romance. She's popular at our library.

A tale as old as time. A Rich guy and a girl who hates him. He wants to buy out her store, she refuses to budge. She is a "bad girl" the is the "good guy". Nothing new here... same old, same old....

That was a fun book to read. I don't think I have ever read a romance with two different main characters. There were some fun parts in it but sometimes I wasn't sure they were made for each other.