After spending 8 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, he learns that the little girl he befriended when he was younger, is no longer a little girl.
Ava has always loved Rush, but knew he would never see her as anything but the little girl he left behind.
She needs his help to bring her mother's real killer to justice. But he just wants to stop having naughty thoughts about her.
Truths become lies. And it seems like Rush and Ava might lose the chance to see where things might lead.
4 stars.

Hot... Sexy, intriguing, and suspenseful.

A cocky hero and a strong, feisty heroine
Loved this story it was an amazing story about finding oneself and redemption. Filled with angst, humor, heartbreak, and redemption with smoking hot scenes.
I feel in love with Jackie Ashenden’s writing when I read her Motor City Royals Series and I can’t wait to devour more of her books. I loved the world she has created the characters show depth and complexity which equals real to life to me.
The chemistry and connection between Rush and Ava was just right. It wasn't forced or rushed which I love! I loved how they brought out different sides of each other and pushed each other as well. The sex is dirty-sweet, with a dark lick of dominance and the tantalizing potential of redemption. I highly recommend this READ to All of Those That Love Romance with a little Taboo Plot.

Loved it! Definitely going to get the rest of the series!

Devilish, humorous and full of sarcasm- adds up to my kind of story! Ava and Rush explode together when they're not chasing trouble, fighting against their feelings, or getting it on.
A great storyline with characters that are witty and pull you in, Ashenden nails it with Take Me Harder.

I would like to thank Loveswept and Netgalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really struggled with this book. I was lucky enough to read the other books in this series and had no problem flying through them but I just had a hard time getting into this book. I did not like Rush and felt like he was a jerk to Ava. Ava I did like and felt that she was too much of an innocent for Rush. In any other book I would probably like the whole cop – excon romance but I just didn’t feel it in this one.

With Ava being the “heroine” and a cop I just didn’t get a bad ass feeling from her like you would with other heroines. I tried to like this one, especially with reading the other books this was a little disappointing.

Awww! I loved Rush. Such a big softie inside and so badly misunderstood. I wanted to strangle his parents, especially his Mum. What kind of freakin' twisted last words were those? She basically set him up to get hurt for the rest of his life. And poor Ava too. There should be something like a parenting school set up, so losers like them could go learn how to treat their kids. Or then it should be illegal for certain people to have kids altogether. Geez!

But I'm so happy that Ava was finally able to crash through those walls and reach him because they are just PERFECT for each other. And I just LOVED that ending.

Take Me Harder is the third novel in Jackie Ashenden's Texas Bounty series, featuring men and women bounty hunters who are fighting the good fight to bring fugitives to justice. The lines of who is a bad guy and who isn't get a bit blurred with this latest story, featuring an ex-con and his one time friend, now a female cop, whose independent missions to undercover secrets from their pasts collide to form a common goal in this sexy and intense story.

Rush Redmond spent eight years in a jail for a crime he didn't commit. Expecting to be sprung by his derelict father, instead he was left to live out his sentence in the harsh environment of prison. Bitter but now free, Rush has joined with his brothers Quinn and Zane to keep their family bounty hunter business afloat but their brotherly relationship is tenuous at best. Rush made enough contacts in prison to have his own version of a black book and he's looking to call in some favors to find out the truth of who his father really is – the man who raised him but was cold and distant, or a con who seduced his mother and now runs an arms business among other shady pursuits.

Ava St. George, a female cop and daughter of the sheriff has known Rush since they were both children, though Rush is several years older. As a child she idolized the teen who empathized with her over the loss of her mother and treated her with kindness. But now, years later, the man fresh out of prison is not the friend that she knew. Still, she is on a mission. She's heard that her mother's killer, the real person behind the crime, is still on the loose and she's determined to find out what really happened. Entreating Rush to help her, when it turns out they are both hunting down the same man he reluctantly agrees. Ava's innocence draws Rush like a moth to a flame even though he knows that she's very off limits. He's not interested in corrupting virgins, no matter how tempting. But in close quarters with a common goal, it's not long before the sizzling attraction between them leads to a fiery affair. Will their happy ending be snuffed out too soon?

If you've seen any of my reviews for Jackie Ashenden titles, you'll know that I'm a big fan of hers for mixing super sexy scenes, interesting and complex characters and intensely suspenseful plots into wholly entertaining stories. That's definitely what we get here. Rush and Ava are such interesting opposites! While they have that tentative childhood connection, Rush has clearly put those days behind him and is not the same (no surprise after 8 years in prison). Yet Ava is able to draw out glimpses of that kind and generous young man. While Ava on the surface appears to be a bit naive, she makes up for it with her determination and confidence. She'll do whatever is necessary to catch the killer and Rush is quick to admit to himself that the young girl he knew is all grown up. Their interactions are fraught with sexual tension and it's a slow burn until things ignite mid way through the story in some steamy scenes.

Along with the suspenseful plot and sexy romance, Rush's relationship with his brothers is a key part of the story. Having grown up together with an alcoholic father, they each had their own way of coping, none of which kept them very close. With Rush's stint in prison, and few visits from his brothers, their fractured relationship will need a lot of work to heal. Ava is able to make Rush consider what things are like from Quinn and Zane's perspectives, and also to realize that if he wants to become friends with his brothers, he has to take the first step. I liked seeing the brothers work through some of their issues, leading to a happy ending not just for Ava and Rush, but also Rush's family. The setting is well described and shows the seedier side of life in this area of Texas, with strip clubs and bar hangouts the norm. There are some interesting secondary characters, in particular Rhys, who works for another bounty hunter agency and becomes a friend of sorts to Rush. His story is next, and I'm very much looking forward to it! If you like gritty, sexy stories, you need to put Jackie Ashenden on your to-read list.

This review has been posted at Straight Shootin' Book Reviews and feedback updated with the link. Review has been posted at Amazon, BN, Kobo and Goodreads.

Rush Redmond never expected freedom to taste so bittersweet. He spent eight years in jail doing someone else’s time, and for what? As an ex-con, Rush can’t work as a bounty hunter like his brothers—not in Texas. Better to drown his sorrows with a stiff drink and soft curves. Too bad the temptation he craves is a redhead with a badge: Ava St. George. Once upon a time, Rush would’ve done anything for the sheriff’s innocent daughter. Now he’s fighting the urge to let her sweet-talk him into some trouble he can’t afford.

Even though she’s a cop, Ava knows that sometimes justice means pushing the boundaries of the law. To track down her mother’s killer, she turns to the man with the county’s criminal underworld in his little black book. The boy she knew is still drop-dead gorgeous, with panty-dropping charm as smooth as his smile. But his sculpted arms and the menacing gleam in his eyes scream “Don’t mess with me.” Yet Ava needs Rush more than ever—in more ways than one.

So this was a hard book to rate for me. Usually I like Jackie's books but this one was kind of hard for me. I didn't like the hero...at all. I felt like he was kind of a tool. He could have been nicer to the heroine. Ava had treated Rush as her idol since she was a kid and he treated her now like a male chauvinist. I just didn't feel like they clicked. As a matter of fact I almost didn't finish it when he went to the strip joint and then threw in her face after he slept with her that she wasn't all that. That's a real DNF for me - when a hero treats a heroine like she's a whore and she's not...she just made a bad choice by picking him! It's not a romance, it's not angst because he's tortured - it just makes him a horrible character.

I was given a copy of this ARC from the publisher on Netgalley for a honest review. All of the above comments are my express opinions and no one else's.

What a gritty, quick moving story. Jackie... I love your style!
I can't wait for the next in the series!

3.5 Stars

I loved the other two books in this series, but not so much this one. I liked it, don't get me wrong, but I just couldn't get over Rush being such an ass. I can understand that he's bitter about being innocent but still incarcerated for eight years, but he didn't need to be a jerk to everyone and act like a three year old by bringing it up in practically every single conversation. I loved Rush in the previous books; in this one I just wanted to slap him most of the time. Ava wasn't much better. I couldn't figure out the ages of the two at first. She had only been a cop for a year, but she kept acting as a veteran detective. Their relationship was okay. I'm really looking forward to the oldest brother's book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A great read. He is hurting, bad memories, jail time, Ava is looking for answers on her mum's death. Mystery, romance and more cuteness and giggles than I expected. Loved it

This may be my favorite of the series. I'm looking forward to the next book. I posted a review on Goodreads.

This series keeps getting better and better. This story is about two people Rush and Ava who both lost their mother at a young age. Rush is ten years older than Ava and he used to talk to her and giver her milk and cookies when she was seven. Then he went to the army and came back and went to jail for a crime he didn't commit to protect his father and older brother. He didn't have any contact with Ava for the eight years he was in jail. He didn't want her to see him like that. When he got out he was out of control on women and liquor. Ava went to him finally and asked for his help trying to find out who really murdered her mother. Through helping her they found each other. But they were afraid to show their real feelings. At times I wanted to kill Rush for how he treated Ava and what he said to her. But then his walls crumbled and ahhh...so special. Ava had her trust issues too. This was just an all around good story. Some suspense, sexual tension, and yes steamy scenes. I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy

This is the third book in this series, and it is about Rush Redmond. He is the middle brother who did eight years in prison for a crime he did not commit. He is still pissed off at that, at his deceased father, his older brother Quinn, and just about everyone. That is accept for Ava, he always had a soft spot for her when she was younger after her mother passed away, and he would sit with her listening to talk while eating cookies and drinking milk that he severed her. Now she is all grown up and a local police officer like her deceased mother and her living father. She has not seen Rush since he has been out for two weeks, and she needs to talk to him. She goes to the one place she knows he is at. The stripper club a place she has been into and one she ends up going back to a few times in the story for different reasons. She wants his help in finding a criminal who she thinks may have a hand in her mother’s murder. At the same time she knows there is something going on with Rush that is much deeper and she wants to help him, but in doing so they become closer than were already even though neither one thought they were. You find out a lot about Ava and her loneliness without a mother and how that affects her now as a women. Who does she go to ask for help about makeup, cloths, or just talk about feelings for a guy? Her father no, she has no friends. The most unlikely source a female at the strip club, and that in a strange way works for this character, and for the story. The person who tells Rush to get his head out of his A-s is Zane, not just like that but it works, and together this is a hot and fun story of two people trying to find themselves and each other if they can get out of the way. A very good book. Some very hot sex scenes as well.

I would like to start off by saying that this has been my favorite so far in the series, don't worry if you haven't read Take Me Deeper or Make It Hurt yet this can be read as a standalone, but I do suggest you read the first two books in the series because they were definitely enjoyable reads.

Rush Redmond is a complex character there is a lot that I cannot share because they would be spoilers to the story but I can tell you that he has spent the last eight years in prison for a crime that he didn't commit and now that he's out he hasn't done much other than getting drunk and spending a LOT of time with Candy, a stripper at Sugar Daddy's.

Ava St. George is a wonderful combination of fierce yet naive, as a police officer she knows what to do to get things done but as a woman...yeah she's a bit clueless. Take her Virgin status out of the equation because all virgins are a bit clueless when it comes to their first time, but this poor girl grew up without her mother, she was killed in the line of duty when Ava was just a little girl, and she has no female friends that she can confide in or even get help from with how to dress like a woman instead of a gender neutral kid. I think it was her naivete that I found so endearing.

There is a bit of an age gap between Rush and Ava, ten years to be exact, so he is wayyyyyy more experienced than she is, obviously since she's still a virgin, but they always had a connection even when they were younger Rush was the one that talked with her and gave her milk and cookies when she and her father were visiting the Redmond family. That may seem a little creepy to some but I believe it added to the story of how they were always there for one another even at a young age.

Ava is on the hunt for the man that she believes killed her mother, this is a total shock to Rush because there is someone already in prison serving time for that crime, but when Ava enlists his help in finding the real killer things get more complicated than either of them expected.

This was a great read, as I mentioned before this is my favorite in the series so far....that may change when Quinn's story is released. During chapter eighteen I was balling so be prepare to have some tissues handy. Jackie Ashenden has a way of spinning a story so that you are so engrossed you feel as if you are right there watching it play out right in front of you.

I just couldn't get into this book. I set aside and will return to it. I wanted to like the characters but I can't feel the chemistry between them.

Take Me Harder is the third book in this series, but each book can be read as a stand alone.... but I have read them all and they are worth the read!

Finally I get Rush Redmond's story!!! I seriously had a love hate fictional relationship with him! He has a bad attitude but I think I would be an *sshole too if I spent 8 years in prison for a crime I didn't commit. He wants nothing to do with anyone....now let's add Ava St. George, she was just a little girl when they first met. Now not a little girl she is a deputy!! But then she starts uncovering some very dangerous things and Rush has no other to choice than to help her.......this is where the fun begins with these two, walls come crashing down, secrets around how Rush was wrongfully charged!!!

Another fantastic book by this author. You are always guaranteed a fantastic read with this author. This is the third book in the series but they can be read as stand alone reads. I fell in love with the characters from the first page. This book has lots of hot and steamy scenes, page melting chemistry and a fantastic story line. I cant wait to read more from this author in the future.

Highly recommended
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book

Gritty and compelling reading, Take Me Harder is the third story in Jackie Ashenden's Texas Bounty series, and it doesn't pull any punches in confronting some tough issues.
Both Rush Redmond and Ava St George are protecting wounded hearts. Neither has felt loved by anyone for a long time and they're not about to drop their guards in a hurry. For Rush, it's all about putting on a "don't give a shit" face, getting drunk and getting laid, with absolutely no strings attached. For Ava survival is about being the best police officer she possibly can be while not engaging with anybody. Both of them have always had a soft spot for each other, however, after Rush comforted Ava when she was a child, and so when Ava needs help to find her mother's killer it's Rush she turns to.
It's clear to anybody reading this story that Rush and Ava come to love each other pretty early on in the story, but it takes an awful lot of confrontation for these two to finally drop their guards and take a chance. While they're working out their feelings, there's plenty of action to keep you turning the pages. Jackie Ashenden is an exceptionally talented storyteller, and this is one of her best.

I have chosen not to review this book. I am finding Ava and Rush's story hard for me to get into.