Five dishonored soldiers.Former Special Forces.One last mission.These are the men of Hard Ink.Edward “Easy” Cantrell knows better than most the pain of not being able to save those he loves—which is why he is not going to let Jenna Dean out of his sight. He may have just met her, but Jenna’s the first person to make him feel alive since that devastating day in the desert more than a year ago.… desert more than a year ago.
Jenna has never met anyone like Easy. She can’t describe how he makes her feel—and not just because he saved her life. No, the stirrings inside her stretch far beyond gratitude.
When the pair is thrust together and chaos reigns around them, they both know one thing: The things in life most worth having are the hardest to hold on to.
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5 stars – I loved it!
Edward “Easy” Cantrell has been hiding his struggles from everyone. But when he meets Jenna, he feels alive for the first time in over a year and realizes he can get better.
While this is a novella, it was wonderfully written and really packed an emotional punch. Easy has been a very quiet character so far in the series but we really see him open up to Jenna in this one. Being with her makes him realize how far into his depression he has sunk and that he needs help, especially if he wants to be there for her.
“Jenna Dean soothed a very jagged part of his soul.”
Easy and Jenna fall for each other very quickly but they have a very powerful and emotional bond. Jenna and Easy’s relationship while short was also very intimate and bonding. They get to know each other and have intimate moments outside of just sex, like cuddling and just supporting each other during this stressful time.
This whole series shows the power of brotherhood in the military, but this book really emphasises it. The scene with Easy reaching out for help was heartbreaking and so powerful. Shane and the team instantly support him and do whatever they can to take steps to help him. These men are not just teammates, they are family.
While I wish we had had a full novel of Easy and Jenna, this was a wonderful novella and a great addition to the series.
Trigger Warnings:
– References to kidnapping, gangs, human trafficking, and abuse.
– Easy has PTSD and depression/suicidal thoughts.
– Jenna has epilepsy and PTSD from being kidnapped.
Pretty Good For a Novella
I’m generally not a fan of novellas, but this one had good substance and pacing. Easy and Jenna’s story was not as suspenseful as the other books in this series. However, this one touchingly addresses deep issues of the mind and heart. Easy and Jenna had a lot of differences, but a common bond of heartache and hope was a strong connection. This story conveys that well.
Hard To Hold On To, Easy & Jenna’s novella, is absolutely beautiful!
This book is so intense. Not in the way the other books in this series are full of intense action and danger. No, this story has none of that. This story is about emotions and connections. It is a novella and, in this case, a true “filler” story. It really doesn’t further the underlying storyline of this series, but it has an extremely important message and helps the reader to more deeply see the connection of this band of brothers.
Only a couple of weeks have passed since the beginning of the first book in this series, Hard as It Gets, and things have been go, go, go for this group. This book is finally giving them a couple days to recoup, some desperately needed downtime for them all. In this eye of the storm, Easy has time to quiet his mind and all of his monsters and nightmares come creeping back in.
The connection between Easy and Jenna was obvious in the last book, Hard as You Can. This story picks up right from Jenna’s rescue and their connection just gets tighter and deeper. But while Easy is glad Jenna feels comfort in his presence and wants to do all he can to help her come to terms with what she’s been through, he also feels he’s not the best person for her. This goes back to Easy’s military career and that final mission. Easy has PTSD and has not talked to anyone about his issues or his depression. This time of quiet for the group makes Easy finally face his issues and take that first step of asking for help.
While I’ve seen quite a few reviews of this book stating they were disappointed since there is no action, this book is not meant to be that. As I said above, it is a true filler story. It gives a lot of important information about veterans and active duty service members and others who are victims of assault and how they deal with their PTSD. It’s also a beautiful love story. If you’re looking for the usual action and suspense of this author, you wont’ find it here. I don’t see how skipping this story will be a detriment when reading this series as a whole. But I personally highly recommend you read Easy’s story. It’s a short and quick read so it won’t take much of your time.
Fair warning: I cried a lot. Not just runny eyes, but full on sobbing. Easy will touch your heart.
https://allingoodtimeblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/08/hard-to-hold-on-to-hard-ink/
I just discovered the “hard ink” series by Laura Kaye. I just read “Hard to Hold On To”, a novella. I have loved all the books in this series, but this one grabbed by heart. The scene where Easy tries to tell his friends about his mental problems, and Nick steps up and has him talk directly to him – I admit that I cried. And I never do that with a book.
Also read the stats at the end about the suicide rates among veterans. Noted that they seemed to focus on Iraq and Afghanistan. My husband and I are both Vietnam vets (yes we are in our 70’s) and that problem was rampant among many of our friends and fellow vets.
Thank you, Laura Kaye, for shining a light on this problem. And thank you for writing such beautiful characters, and heart-warming stories. I love the action and excitement in your books, but I really love the development of the characters and their relationships. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
This book is so good and it sheds light on very serious issues that our military vets face. I loved it and every other book in the Hard Ink series.
Another AMAZING Hard Ink novel from Laura Kaye! She totally ROCKS!!!
Hard to Hold on To leads to more questions, more intrigue, and more sexy ex-military heroes and their desires to clear their names.
Hard to Hold on To is a novella about Edward Cantrell (Easy) and Jenna Dean. Laura gives us a glimpse into the guy’s lives right after everything went down with Church’s gang and Jenna’s rescue. Hard to Hold on To is a story about Easy, ex-military, trying to survive depression and suicidal thoughts over feelings from the loss of some of his brothers in the line of duty and Jenna who is trying to recover from a terrifying kidnapping and thinking that she should have died without truly every experiencing life.
Although, I have to admit, I wasn’t sure about the age difference at first. Easy is 30 and Jenna will be turning 20 on her birthday, even though I know age don’t matter, it kind of bothered me at first. But seeing how drawn they were to each other and how they made each other feel, how could you not root for them and their happiness.
You cry with them, laugh with them, and pray for them as they are trying to survive this difficult time in their life. When Easy told everyone what he was going through it was hard to read and broke my heart. Easy is drawn to Jenna and she changes everything for him, because he wants to be a better man for her. Jenna is also drawn to Easy and needs him to help her feel safe again and heal from her kidnapping.
I loved every page of Easy and Jenna’s story!
If you haven’t read this series yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? I recommend that you one-click the books in this series and start reading them now. You won’t regret it!
Hard To Hold On To was incredibly moving, inspirational, heartfelt, emotional story! I don’t even know where to begin. You can’t help but feel the emotional turmoil that Easy goes through, and the inspiring way he decides to deal with it.
Easy’s story will be one that stays with me for a very long time.