Review: Harder by Robin York

In Robin York’s provocative new novel, two young ex-lovers find themselves together again in the shadow of tragedy—and an intense, undeniable attraction.

Caroline still dreams about West. His warm skin, his taut muscles, his hand sliding down her stomach. Then she wakes up and she’s back to reality: West is gone. And before he left, he broke her heart.

Then, out of the blue, West calls in crisis. A tragedy has hit his family—a family that’s already a fractured mess. Caroline knows what she has to do. Without discussion, without stopping to think, she’s on a plane, flying to his side to support him in any way he needs.

They’re together again, but things are totally different. West looks edgy, angry at the world. Caroline doesn’t fit in. She should be back in Iowa, finalizing her civil suit against the ex-boyfriend who posted their explicit pictures on a revenge porn website. But here she is. Deeply into West, wrapped up in him, in love with him. Still.

They fought the odds once. Losing each other was hard. But finding their way back to each other couldn’t be harder.

Kindle Edition, 352 pages

Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by Bantam 

Genre: New Adult

Kristine's Thoughts:

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Bantam in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

Let me start off by saying that this is the follow up book to Deeper and the conclusion to Caroline and West's story. I absolutely loved Deeper, giving it 5 stars, and could not wait to read more about Caroline and West. You can find my review for it here. It left off with the two being separated when West had to leave to take care of his sister and Harder tells the story of what happens next.

I'm not going to get into much detail because this is a sequel and I don't want to give any spoilers. I'll start off by saying that it caught me by surprise. The story did not begin how I thought it would or even how I wanted it to. In fact I found myself angry at times. West was not the same character that I loved so much in the first book and I actually hated him for a good portion of the book. Caroline also made me angry. I wanted her to scream or yell and to stop being so forgiving.

But...

This is a story. It may not have been pretty at times and it angered me a lot but that is life. Love isn't always easy and uncomplicated and sometimes it can be down right messy. That is the case with Harder. Caroline was screwed up in the first book and West was there to save her. This time Caroline was there to save West when he was screwed up and in trouble. This was not your fairy tale love story, it was not even close. It was not clean and tidy and things happen that most of us would find unforgivable. As I was reading I kept thinking of the connection and beauty from the first book and I think that is what saw me through the ugly parts of this book.

It is imperative that you read these books in sequence. If you do not then I can almost guarantee that you won't like Harder. If you do, you will enjoy it so much more. Even with the unforgivable indiscretions you can at least understand the complexities of the relationship and the the things that some people will do or overcome to save someone they love.

About the Author

Robin York grew up at a college, went to college, signed on for some more college, and then married a university professor. She still isn’t sure why it didn’t occur to her to write New Adult sooner. Writing as Ruthie Knox, she is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary romance, including RITA-finalists About Last Night and Room at the Inn. She moonlights as a mother, makes killer salted caramels, and sorts out thorny plot problems while running, hiking, or riding her bike.
  

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