Hard Night is penned as a romantic suspense, but tends to lack any real connection between the primary characters. There is definitely danger and suspense that throw this somewhat unwilling couple together, but the constant push/pull of their relationship quickly becomes tiresome. As a lover of both BDSM, contemporary and erotic romance, I feel slightly hypocritical in saying that I found the domination and coarseness of their couplings to be confrontational and exhausting. Basically, their connection was superficial at best, with no real love or emotional bond developed; so for me, the story just didn’t completely work and was just OK, but I'm sure there will be many readers who love this book.

Awesome book! Faith and Jacob are two of the strongest characters I’ve ever met in a story, yet each is also vulnerable. I loved watching them spar, both physically and mentally. This is a really gritty book packed with action from go to whoa. It’s sexy too and just a little bit dirty because you just can’t have characters like these two without some serious action. I was drawn in emotionally from the first and hooked to the end.

I am not sure if it is the authors writing style or the story but Hard Might just doesn't click together making it a somewhat hard and boring read. As readers we always suspension of belief but at times even this story was too over the top and didn't make any since.
The story throws two people together and bam lots of sex. Which then leaves very little times for the story to evolve.
The author Jackie Adhendenn tried to create a sexual tension with a push pull reaction to things but in the end everything falls flat lacking the desired outcome.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher Kensington Books for the Advance copy of Jackie Adhendenn Hard Night

I really loved this book. The characters had an edge commonly left out of romances. They were not purely rose hued and flowery but gritty, fallible, and human. There was enough action to keep me an the edge on the page, enough romance to keep my heart involved, and enough plot to make me read the book in one sitting. It was a great book and I will definitely be reading more by Ms. Ashenden.

5 Star read - Hard Night ( 3rd book in the 11th Hour Nivels )

ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed below are my own ...

Of the 11th Hour Series - Hard Night is now my favorite !! Let’s start with saying how HOT is this book cover - makes me want to turn Jacob around to see the fascinating tattoos as described by Ms Ashenden on his chest - ok I just had to say that ...🔥🔥

I also love that the heroine Faith Beasley ( aka Joanna Lynn) has amnesia-& no memory at all of who she is ... Jacob rescues Faith but is also not honest about the truth behind his reasons for doing so - mainly to try & find his brother Joshua who he believes is caught up in a major arms trading operation.

Events start triggering Faith’s memory & we find out she is a Military Special Ops kicka#%%><~|\\ss agent part of a mission where she was sent to kill Joshua !! Unfortunately she was double crossed by her own team who decided to take her out - shot at - hospitalized - threatened all not having any idea at all who she is ...

Jacob & Faith are drawn to each other not by just the danger of their mission - but their sexual chemistry is off the charts !! Jacob has lost everyone he loves - parents - his brother - his squad in a mission gone terribly wrong ... Faith in the other hand has never believed in live since she never had stability in her life growing up or was meant to feel valued -she is carrying some very deep emotional scars ....

I can tell you this book held my interest so much that I read in one sitting - few twists & turns I did not see coming but in typical Jackie Ashenden fashion there is an amazing epilogue with one of the best HEA she has written - in this case Faith goes after her man ❤️❤️❤️

Also very interesting concept of giving up on ❤️❤️ because you feel unworthy ur have lost hope !!

Really loved this book - it can be read as a stand-alone but I highly recommend this author & series

Rated 3.5 Stars

Hard Night is a suspenseful, sexy and enjoyable read. I've been looking forward to reading the mysterious Mr. Night's book ever since I read the first book in the series. The previous books gave glimpses into him leaving you with more questions than answers but Hard Night tells his story.

In a nutshell it's a boss/employee type of story with broken characters but there are other dynamics to their relationship that add a forbidden/taboo element to it. While I enjoyed it, it didn't fully work for me for a few reasons, it took me a while to get into it, I didn't really connect with the characters and the hero's nickname for the heroine had me cringing. I'm not sure why it engendered this response in me since it's not creepy but every time I saw it it elicited that response.

I liked it but didn't love it.

I thoroughly enjoyed  Raw Power & Total Control, the first 2 books in the 11th Hour series by Jackie Ashenden. After reading Hard Night, book 3, I have a new book to put on my all-time favorite. This story is heartbreaking and raw, about broken people who find the love and acceptance they need in each other & make each other whole.

Hard Night takes off with a bang, shots fired at Night & his faithful assistant Faith Beasley, a terrific opening that grabbed me and never let go. Tantalized with glimpses of Jacob Night in the first two installments,  I was more than eager to find out more about the mysterious man who founded the 11th Hour mercenary/security company and keeps to the shadows.  From those two books, I could tell Night had ulterior motives for setting up his security firm. (Kudos to Ashenden for creating that tantalizing overarching storyline in the first 2 stories without it interfering with them.) These ulterior motives unfold as Night & Faith try to track down the culprits who shot at them.

Faith suffers from amnesia, no memory of her ID or her life before Jacob Night claimed her in the hospital 6 months previously. Why did he claim her? What does he gain by keeping her close by? Who was the woman now called Faith Beasley?  Jacob is somewhat a beast of a man but Faith sees something in him. He tells himself he only is interested in Faith for her past that's locked inside her memory and lead him to his twin brother Joshua, separated from him under tragic circumstances.

I don't want to give too many details because you need to read and experience the tumult these 2 go through for true love. The love scenes are steamy but so essential to the telling of their story. It's a standalone, but do yourself a favor and read Raw Power & Total Control first.

Arc provided by Net Galley.

WOW! This book just swept me away!!! Every once in awhile you come across a book that you just can't stop thinking about long after you finished the final chapter. This is one of those books. This couple and their journey together....mind blown!!! Talk about delicious tension. These two have an off the chart chemistry....like two feral animals circling one another. I love how they save each other. They accept the best and worst of themselves and each other. I am a huge huge fan.

Eleventh Hour is made up of hard core members whose goal is to help those that need them. Faith - who has no memory is inducted into this group when its founder Jacob Night takes here from the hospital. Jacob's only goal is to find his twin brother who was separated from him in the foster family system at a young age. Enter Faith who holds a key to his search. Found this book full of twists and turns but also with a sprinkling of romance and healing. I read this fine as a stand-alone but will probably revisit this series as the characters, of a secondary nature, are amazing. "A copy of this book was provided by Kensington Books via Netgalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion." Skilled author is what makes this a great read.

Book 3 brings Jacob and Faith into the 11th hour series. Jacob is the head of 11th hour and in search of his brother. He believes Faith in the key to finding him, the problem is Faith has amnesia and doesn't remember anything. The has nightmares, bits and pieces of being attacked and hurt but nothing more. Jacob finds her in the hospital and brings her home to recoup hoping her memory will return.
After 6 months and nothing happening, also working with the group doing some work, Jacob decides it's time to try and flush out her memory. After they are attacked, he takes her to his safe house in Washington where he slowly seduces both her body and her mind. He may have just gotten more than he bargained for with that. This story has some great twists and turns and a hella lot of who do you trust. It flows nicely. I couldn't decide if I liked Jacob or not. Faith I liked. I was a little disappointed with this one, not up to Jackie's usual exceedingly over the top great, but still was a good read. Next book please.

arc from NetGalley and Publisher

Loved this book. Jacob night is a top alpha male with an attitude. He needs Faith to find his brother..

Faith Beasley has no memory past 6 months ago. 6 months ago when she was rescued, by a man claiming to be her cousin, who helped her recover after being beaten, shot and left in a coma in South America. Who was she and why was he helping her?

Jacob Night always had an agenda, rarely did he fly by the seat of his pants but when he finds a lead in locating his brother he jumps in running. He knows his only real chance at finding him is the last person he was with. A person who has no memory of that meeting, he must do whatever possible to get her memory to come back.

Faith is attracted to Jacob and has a feeling he feels the same but is holding back for some reason. When he starts to push her to remember the past she starts to have angst about who he really is. Working for the 11th hour has given her an outlet to become someone new since she has no idea of her past.

Faith and Jacob get pulled into a fight or flight scenario when someone tries to kill them. Are they after her or him, they don’t stick around to find out. When they arrive at his safe house, Jacob tells her that it was her they were after and who she really is.

A great twisting and turning novel going a little deeper into the main characters lives but not overwhelming. I have the first 2 novels in the series but haven’t read yet so this is totally a stand alone in that case. There are mentions of the other main characters with a little background so I never felt lost when reading this one. 4 ½ stars for this newest 11th hour novel, I received an advance copy from Netgalley without expectation for review. Any and all opinions expressed are my own. Another winner from Jackie Ashenden, can’t wait for her next release.

Love this author and her stories, this was no exception. The characters are wounded but understand each other, the themes are a little dark and gritty but it just adds to the story.

I had a hard time getting into this book and ended up skimming through much of it. I didn't really like the character of Jacob, He was too rough for me. I like alpha males who have a soft spot for the heroine, but his character never really gets there. Also, the idea that Faith would never question Jacob about anything in six months seems implausible. I can suspend belief on many things, but this was something that confused me. I also didn't like the whole split personality thing (or whatever you'd call it) with Faith. The whole story left me bored and disengaged because I didn't like the main characters. The sneak peak into the next story was interesting and I love the friends to lovers trope so I'm hoping that book will work out better than this one.

I am a fan of this author and usually read anything she writes.

This was the story in this series that I was most looking forward to as the mystery of Mr. Night unravels.

Overall, I enjoyed the book but felt that the ending was a bit rushed. I also would have wanted a preview of what's to come next in the series.

‘Hard Night’ starts off odd and somewhat implausible, with a writing style that takes a while to get used to. 

So odd that it took me a while to grasp the even stranger relationship that Faith has with Jacob that Jackie Ashenden sets out to write: a woman suffering from memory loss whom he takes in because of several conflicting reasons that are given in the search for his brother. 

Mostly, it’s the suspension of disbelief that I had a problem with, which lasted quite a bit of the book at least: that Faith hadn’t questioned very much about Jacob’s intentions and her own circumstances, or that Jacob really couldn’t quite decide if she was the enemy or a tool to use or the time lapse for things to start happening. There’s also the uncomfortable hint of double-dipping, until at least Faith regains her memory, with a sort of split personality coming in here as she finally finds herself at odds with Jacob and his search for his brother.

As far as romantic suspense goes, there’s action from the beginning that thrusts Jacob and Faith in a situation where they are forced to get close despite their living situation, though it quickly dives into erotica after that, with possessive domination and roughness that characterise how sex happens between them. 

Most of all however, I think I was simply left flailing, unable to get a foothold in what Jacob/Faith are supposed to be, in the contradictory ways they react to each other, in the push-pull that says one thing at first then another. With a ‘connection’ so physically superficial that it rides more on ideas of ownership—and fighting each other into bed—than anything remotely resembling caring/love, I was likewise, trying (but not really succeeding) to get invested in this pairing, let alone the plot that stuttered because of the exhausting number of pages of rough-and-clothes-ripping-type-sex. Needless to say, this just isn’t a book that worked for me.

A very dark and extremely attractive hero falls for a heroine who seems all warmth and softness but is nonetheless a hard “warrior princess”.
Jackie Ashenden’s talent delivering compelling and charismatic men, in this case a tortured hero with a dark edge, the slow-building chemistry between Jacob and Faith, Faith’s memories and past entangled with Jacob’s history make “Hard Night” an exciting read.
I also loved the possessiveness, loyalty and mutual trust and to watch (finally!) the unveiling of the mysterious Jacob Night.

When Faith wakes up in the hospital without her memory, the only thing for her to count on is Jacob. Jacob isn't taking care of her out of the goodness of his heart but rather because she has information he needs - he just needs to get her to remember it. After 6 months of rebuilding her life but still with none of her old memories, time runs out and it becomes imperative that she comes to terms with her past.

I love that this book takes time to develop the characters - showing that we all have the capability of doing the right thing for the wrong reason and the wrong thing for the right reason. This author's characters are always deep and well-developed, very realistic and the kind you can get behind and root for even though they have their flaws.

The story has it's twists and turns that keep the reader engaged and eager to read the next chapter. While dealing with the mystery of Faith's life, the book takes the time to work through all sorts of human flaws - from self-confidence to loneliness to family ties and how childhood continues to influence our lives. This is a great addition to my library.

A hard night was a pleasant mix of alpha romance and suspense. This story has an H and h that are both harboring secrets and agendas that lead to a fast paced story. Both characters have dealt with their fair share of pain and guilt so this story also deals with healing, not to mention some steamy times too!

I didn’t know know how I felt about the characters until everything starting to flesh out and things started to make sense and I started to relate to them. Faith/Joanne is a one firecracker/bada$$ heroine! I like the way she stands up to Jacob, mister super alpha.

Did I like this book? Yep
Would I recommend? Yep
Will I read the next one? Yep

Well the elusive Jacob Night, is hotter than I imagined. I was excited to find out that he gets his own story. The wait was worth it. I can't wait to see what happens next for the 11th Hour team.