Review: Hard to Forget by Bella Jewel
Series: Alpha’s Heart, #3
Contemporary/Erotic Romance
Released: December 15, 2015
St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Reviewed by Sheena
Delaney is a professional bodyguard who’s spent years trying to prove herself in a male dominated industry. Now she’s facing her greatest challenge yet.
Bad boy billionaire Jax Shields has made plenty of enemies on his climb to the top, and now his life is at risk.
When he hires a bodyguard, he never expected to put his life in the hands of a petite woman with a big attitude. Jax demands the best in everything, and he doesn’t think Delaney has what it takes to protect him. He’d rather have her on her back then covering his.
Will Delaney be able to prove herself to the most arrogant—and devastatingly handsome—man she’s ever met?
“You should familiarize yourself with the art of dating.” He traces a finger up my arm, making me shiver.
“Why? I’m an amazing lover, I look good, and I have money.” “Ugh, Jaxson, that’s such a rich manwhore thing to say.”
He chuckles. “You wouldn’t have me any other way…and if you could have gotten a choice, would you change anything?”
I sigh and smile. “God no.”
“My point exactly,” he says, nipping my earlobe.
Hard to Forget is the third and final novel in the Alpha’s Heart trilogy, a series where author Bella Jewel experiments with telling the stories of strong women, in traditionally male roles.Delaney is a professional bodyguard, up against sexist judgment regarding her skills and in search of her first big case. When she finally gets her big break after proving herself to her boss, passion ignites and not only does she have to protect her assignment she has to navigate falling in love with him and not losing everything in the process. Of the three books in the series, this one may be the weakest, given the heroine’s penchant for welshing on her aspirations and failing to believe in herself at every-single-turn. To be a story about a female bodyguard who has to bust her ass and prove herself every step of the way, professional bodyguard Delaney needs a lot of prodding and encouragement from the men in her life (her boss, her partners, her assignment/love interest, etc). To be respected in such a male-dominated field, a woman has to go balls to the wall. Not balls half-way-across-the-room-leaning-against-the-coffee-table-waiting-for-a-rub! My major gripe with Delaney is that she was too unsure of herself when the shite hit the fan, she was always deer in the headlights, caught with her tampon string showing and needing direction from a man. Seriously!? If that is not completely undermining and a shot in the heart at the whole premise of the novel’s theme!
“Delaney, whoa. You need to stop and slow down. What’s going on?”
“Kyle, oh God.”
“What about him? Laney, speak to me.”
“They said someone’s hurt. They meant Kyle, I know it. I have to go to him.”
“No,” Jax says, squeezing his arms around me. “No Delaney, don’t go to him. If that’s who I think it was, it’s probably a trick.”
I stop struggling and his words sink in. He’s probably right, it’s probably a trick.
“What do I do?” I whisper.
“Call the cops, Laney.”
“I nod and pull out my phone, dialing the cops.”
*Bangs head* soooo, high-pressure situation, there is a possible man down annnnd the voice of reason is the man- because obviously the girl is in hysterics without a clue of how to do her job. Perfect. How kick ass of her. snort. Unfortunately, my nasal passages are a little sore as I did a fair share of snorting thorough this novel. Delaney was likable enough. I felt sympathy for her crusade to be taken seriously and I liked that she was fallible, yet had a really pure heart. Jax, on the other hand, was an unappealing enigma. Major disconnect with Jax. There was a huge wall with this hero. Sure, I had an appreciation for his description- super hot, towering, masculine, self-assured, etc. Unfortunately, I needed more from him. I could take or leave Delaney and I couldn’t cling to Jax as a hero so it was like watching a sports game with no investment on either team- sure you can follow the game, but do you really care who wins, if anyone? Meh?
My main point of contention was the nonsensical root of Delaney’s actions and behavior. It really ground my gears that Delaney spent 200 pages telling me how she can do her job, that she has had the same training and has the same drive as her male counterparts, only to bail when things get intense? This was the least satisfying HEA that I have read in a while. Not because she chose a less dangerous path in favor of her budding relationship, but because she chose a less dangerous path when she wanted more. She gets the guy, has a great professional moment where she follows her instincts and saves Jax’s life and wins his heart and poof, she suddenly abandons her ambition? It just didn’t jive. Book 1 in the Alpha’s Heart series had similar flaws due to hypocrisies and poor character decisions. Book 2 was awesome and avoided these pitfalls. It would have been awesome to see the series cap off on a stronger note.
Hard to Break, like it’s predecessors is a standalone novel, with a clear HEA-if you managed to bulldoze your way into connecting with these characters. Overall, Jewel is on to something with a cool and timely thematic series. I totally appreciate the Girl Power ambition, but execution failed in Hard to Forget. I can not overlook the fact that Delaney pushes and fights to get a real case, her first real case, can’t hack it, falls in love and decides to be fulfilled with her boyfriend and what amounts to little more than a desk job with the occasional below low-level risk? In the end her boyfriend came off as more kick ass and self-assured than she could dream to be and he leaves the story as the ‘hero’….errrmm point missed here?? Was the great revelation that Jax is no longer sexist and accepts Delaney? I hope not.
An area where I was not disappointed was with the banter and steam factor. Bella Jewel writes amazing dialogue and uber sexy scenes. The sexy steam and sexual tension, along with a nagging, baffling interest I felt regarding Delaney’s “growth” is what kept me reading. There were supporting characters whom I wish had more back story, her boss Nak, for instance was a scene stealer each time! I also wanted to complete the series on principle. Hard to Forget is certainly not my fav, and I can only recommend book 2 as it is the only one to stay true to the vein of the theme without undermining itself, however, Hard to Forget certainly may appeal to core fans and while it was just okay for me, I have read everything Jewel has released and do not see that changing- ever. This was just a miss for me.
Grade: C-
Previous Bella Jewel Reviews: : ‘Til Death Volume 2, Hard to Fight (Alpha’s Heart #1), Hard to Break (Alpha’s Heart #2)
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