(4 / 5)

Lori Foster is on my list (and not my good one)! Hard Knocks is a tantalizing taste of her new Ultimate Series, and it is so not enough to tide me over to the next book.

Gage Ringer is un-happy, and that’s putting it mildly. A busted eye has sidelined him from his first major fight. To make matters worse, his girl is ignoring him, or at least he thinks she is. Harper Day is a white hot mess of mixed emotions for Gage: lust, love, and frustration. She wants Gage in the worst way, but he’s definitely sending her mixed signals. Harper’s played it cool since Gage’s return to the local gym, but now her lust cannot be controlled. She’s determined to have Gage whether he loves her or not. Gage is more than willing to take Harper up on her offer, but he’s looking for a lot more than a one night stand.

Usually these kinds of communication problems between characters aggravate me. I just want to yell, “Effing talk to each other!” However, the miscommunication between these two characters seems totally plausible. I get why Harper is trying to play it cool. I get why Gage isn’t figuring it out. Both are so wrapped up in their own feelings (for good reason), they can’t see the forest for the trees. Their chemistry is sizzling (so is their sex scene). I loved this story. In other news about this novella, it introduces who I have to imagine are the characters that will star in their own books for Ms. Foster’s Ultimate Series: Armie, Denver, and Stack. So why is Ms. Foster on my list? This book was less than 1000 lines (as compared to say A Dash of Peril being a little over 6000). I want more more more. Unfortunately, I have to wait until the end of the month for the first official novel-sized installment of the series, No Limits (The Ultimate Series begins with Canon, a crossover character from her Love Undercover Series.) Three weeks feels like three months, especially after reading the taste of the No Limits Ms. Foster left at the end of Hard Knocks.