Review: Rock Hard by Olivia Cunning

An ultimatum can break your heart...

Every night lead singer Sed Lionheart whips thousands of women into a frenzy of desire with his voice alone.  But no other man can touch Jessica the way he did...

If you're not willing to break all the rules...

It shattered her heart, but law student Jessica broke off her engagement with Sed, determined to be successful on her own terms.  But no other man can ever hold a candle to Sed...

Then a chance meeting and torturously close quarters lead to uncontrollable flares of passion and rediscovery of their unique penchant for public encounters.  Now, in addition to the risk of mutual heartbreak every time they get together, they're in danger of truly scandalous public exposure...

There was more story in Rock Hard, rather than all the sex, sex, and more sex of Backstage Pass. That doesn't mean I didn't want to strangle Jessica and Sed because I did. Many, many, many times.

As Sed is introduced in Backstage Pass, well, he's a bit of an ass.  He's stolen every serious girlfriend Brian has ever had -- given that Brian is a hopeless romantic, every girlfriend is a serious girlfriend, but I digress.  Sed has threesomes and foursomes, then routinely kicks those groupies to the curb rather easily.  He genuinely feels no remorse for his actions ever.  But there was the mysterious Jessica, whom we learned had been engaged to Sed but promptly broke his heart when she ended their engagement.  That little piece of hurt made Sed human.  It's easy to see, after learning even the most minute details about Jessica, that Sed's behaviors are defense mechanisms.  He doesn't want to be hurt again, so he'll continue to play the ass.  Fine by him. 

Sed and Jessica are happy at the beginning of Rock Hard, until Jessica announces her desire to go to law school and Sed tells her he'll pay for it.  Furious because she doesn't want to be a kept woman, she wants to make it on her own and Sed cannot see that, she breaks up with him and walks out of his life for two years.  Sed is, you know, doing his thing, so imagine his surprise when the guys go to a strip club and he spies Jessica plying her wares as it were.  Sed jerks her from the stage, then proceeds to start a fight (or defend himself), and this is where the shizz really hits the fan. 

Both Sed and Jessica could use a dose from the communication fairy.  Each has their own agenda (Jessica wants to sleep with Sed; Sed wants to have Jessica permanently in his life again), so it's obvious things are going to blow up in their respective faces.   

Rock Hard was a fast read, but I really wanted both Sed and Jessica to mature as time went on.  I can understand the pull of a "let's fight and let's make up" kind of relationship, but it's really tireless to watch, especially if neither party seems to learn anything from the arguments.  The relationship of the Sinners, however, is so solid and concrete, I'm amazed any women would strive to become attached to one of them.  Brian, Sed, Jace, Eric and Trey have a real friendship, one of the best I've seen in contemporary romance.  Let's hear it for the boys!  More often than not, the secondary characters overshadowed the main plot.  I would like to read the third book of this series, though I'm really holding out for more on Trey. 


(A very special thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with an ARC of Rock Hard.)