Rebel Hard
Hard Play, Book 2

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: Audiobook
Source: BC Public Library
Dates Read: 8/21/23 - 8/25/23
Stars: 4 Stars
Narrator(s): Justine O. Keef

The Characters:

Nayna Sharma:
Raj Sen:

The Story:

Why do I wait so long between books from author's I enjoy? I was feeling a slump coming on but not after I picked this up. I wish I remembered more about Issa and Sailor, but I loved getting to know Nayna and Raj. He is so supportive and loving, even if he gripes about it. Nayna’s grandmother is hilarious.

The Random Thoughts:

Oh, and this was hawt! ( )

Rebel Hard is the second novel in the Hard Play series by Nalini Singh.

Plot:
Nayna has always been the good daughter, unlike her sister. Nayna even agreed to a traditional arranged marriage. But now that her parents are starting to set her up with men, Nayna starts having doubts about this. She decides to throw caution into the wind and allow herself one night of adventure with her best friend Ísa. Together, they had to a party where Nayna meets the most gorgeous man ever, Raj. Before their steamy make-out session leads to something more, Nayna inadvertently insults Raj and runs away. Only to meet Raj again the next day when her parents introduce him as a possible fiancé for her. The two of them are sure that they are wrong for each other, and they both have started to have serious doubts about wanting an arranged marriage altogether. But somehow, they can’t stay away from each other.

Rebel Hard was a fine read that I liked a little better than Cherish Hard (the first novel in the series), though not quite as much as I thought I would, given that the glimpses we got of Nayna and Raj were my favorite bits of that book. Still, I enjoyed it.

Read more on my blog: https://kalafudra.com/2022/08/07/rebel-hard-nalini-singh/ ( )

Nalini Singh is such a familiar name in Romancelandia but I’ve never actually read her books, nor have I really wanted to (mostly because it’s her paranormal romances that are popular). But since I got to know about this contemporary romance featuring desi characters almost an year ago, I’ve wanted to read it but just kept forgetting. So, when I suddenly saw it on my library shelf today, I thought why not and immediately picked it up. And it turned out to be quite a lovely read.

As I’m new to the author, the writing style took a little while to get used to. But I can’t exactly point out what I found different in the style. I thought the pacing initially was too fast, especially the meet cute (or meet hot n sexy would be more appropriate), but then it slowed down to a more reasonable pace and then I enjoyed it more. The characters in this book aren’t direct immigrants from India but a couple generations removed, and from Fiji finally settled in New Zealand, so it was actually lovely to see their own version of desi traditions and food and culture. The food itself was probably the most different with a lot of Fijian influence, but all the wedding rituals were familiar and beautifully described, the focus on family and the usual aunty brigade who wants everyone to get married was so relatable and I could totally see myself and my own extended family among them all. And it’s definitely this cultural aspect that endeared me a lot more to this story. And it was also quite refreshing to read a romance set outside my usual Western settings.

Nayna is such a desi character and so relatable, it almost hurt me to see her go through her struggles. She is loving and extremely caring about her family and doesn’t want to do anything to hurt them, but is also feeling caged because she has never had the freedom to follow her dreams. I could totally sympathize with her wanting to find herself before committing to a marriage, and I was really glad when she finally decided to take some steps in that direction. The name Raj is synonymous with loving and charming heroes in Bollywood, and while the namesake here may be a little more on the broody side, he is one of the best swoony book boyfriends I’ve read in recent times. He may have his own ideas about family and marriage but once he falls in love, he is such a sweetheart and does everything he can to ensure that Nayna doesn’t feel trapped in a relationship, giving her time and support to make her own decisions, and even standing up to her parents. He could be a typical alpha male sometimes but I just adored him so much that I could overlook such slight misgivings. Theirs is a great relationship built on trust and communication, there was so much honesty between them and I’m so glad that they always talked it out whenever there was a problem. Definite goals.

All the parents and siblings in the story were as intrusive and lovely and dramatic as desi families can be and it was fun to read. I particularly loved Nayna’s grandmother a lot who was a delight with her own young and hip “good friend”. I can’t say I really liked either Nayna’s sister or Raj’s SIL but they did get some sort of redemptive arcs which were satisfying enough.

In the end, this was a very enjoyable, sweet and sexy romance with not too much angst. If you love a swoony desi hero who makes for a great book boyfriend, a very relatable heroine and their absolutely wonderful love story, you should totally check out this book. It’s part of a series but it works very well as a stand-alone. And if you are a blogger participating in the South Asian Reading Challenge, I would definitely recommend this book. ( )

One of my all time favourite books, and I think listening to it on audiobook made me love it even more. I do wish the characters had been given New Zealand accents as they are NZ locals, but Justine's narration is nonetheless exceptional. ( )

Full disclosure: I should have reviewed this book forever ago but I'm so behind on my advance copies that I'm just getting to this almost three full months after it was released. But oh it was so worth it. I've been overwhelmed for about a week or so because sick again, work, class, life, you know the drill. I've been reading and things have been okay but this book was EVERYTHING I DIDN'T KNOW I NEEDED.

First, takes place in New Zealand. Second, Indian main characters. Third, and this is a bit of a spoiler, TWO VIRGIN CHARACTERS. TWO! That NEVER happens. You can tell from the caps that I enjoyed this book. Fourth, the family relationships in this story were spot on amazing.

One of the things I liked most was reading about the struggle the characters felt between old and new. Arranged marriages are a huge part of their normal and to have that struggle between doing what is expected and doing what you need to do to be yourself, you could feel it right along with Raj and Nayna.

Honestly, I can find zero flaws with this book. I enjoyed every minute and was genuinely sad to see it end. May very well be one of my top books of 2018.

5 out of 5 stars

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

*Cross-posted to my blog: https://thesebooksaremyfriends.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/rebel-hard-by-nalini-sin... ( )