Given
the fact that the romance genre is one of my top favorite genres of books to
read, and it’s my #1 favorite genre of books to review for my blog; I’m always
looking for new authors who write books that are a part of the romance genre to
check out. Hard Rules is the first
book by Lisa Renee Jones that I’ve ever read, and I’m thrilled to say that I
absolutely loved it. While the romance genre is one of my top favorite genres
of books to read, I definitely can’t deny that the romance genre is a genre that
tends to be full of clichés, and can oftentimes be rather lacking in
originality. That being said, Hard Rules is
in many ways unlike any romance novel that I’ve ever read.
The
one thing that really sets Hard Rules
apart from all of the other books in the romance genre that I’ve read over the years
more than anything else is definitely the overall tone of Jones’ writing. The
overall tone of Hard Rules is
definitely darker than any book in the romance genre that I’ve ever read, and
the tone of the book also has a certain level of mystery and intrigue to it
that I’m not used to seeing when it comes to books within the romance genre.
That definitely made reading Hard Rules
a rather refreshing and enjoyable experience for me. While I’ve never watched Sons of Anarchy before, based on what
I’ve heard about the show, I’m guessing that people are comparing Hard Rules to that show because of the
somewhat dark and mysterious tone of Jones’ writing. Regardless of whether or
not I’m right about why people have compared Hard Rules to Sons of Anarchy,
reading this book definitely made me want to watch Sons of Anarchy. One thing that I think Jones handled very well
throughout the entire book is the way that she maintained the darker, more
mysterious tone of the book without ever letting it ruin the romance and
steaminess between Shane Brandon and Emily Stevens.
The
other thing that makes Hard Rules so
unique compared to all of the other books in the romance genre that I’ve read
over the years is the fact that the element of mystery and intrigue that’s
present throughout the book pretty much revolved entirely around Emily. In the
past, whenever I’ve read a book in the romance genre where one of the
characters is portrayed as being at least somewhat of a mysterious person who
has a secret, it has always been the guy who has filled that role. By having
Emily be the one who’s filling that role in this book, I feel like Jones is
offering people something new and fresh with Hard Rules.
Jones
definitely excels at writing Emily in such a way that she’s a very likable
character, despite the fact that she apparently has a dark secret that instead
of finally revealing it to the reader at the end of the book; Jones reveals a
whole new plot twist that further added to the mystery that surrounds Emily.
While I spent pretty much the entire book feeling very anxious and excited to
learn what exactly Emily’s secret and actual backstory is, I’m honestly not the
least bit upset that Jones doesn’t reveal any of that information in this book.
If anything, the way Jones ends the book got me even more excited to read the
second book in the Dirty Money
series, Damage Control, than I
already was before I even finished reading this book.
