I am a first time reader of this author, and although I liked the description of this book I was disappointed. I just felt that there were a lot of loose ends that had no real resolution. I was really enjoying the book but when I came to the end it felt rushed. I wanted more. Where is Dawn at with her new store? What happens to Cammy, does she get better? And will we ever learn why Cammy felt so connected to Dawn? Did Rory succeed in his turnover on the town? What’s with Dawn and her parents, they were only briefly mentioned but I feel they had a big impact on who she became. I finished this book because I enjoyed the romance between Dawn and Rory but the plot of this book had me all over the place with no real resolution.

This is the second book and I must say I liked Stud the first book better. I was thinking this one would really get me because it was about a women who owned a book store. Though I liked Dawn and all of her little quirks, and her attitude. It was really Rory and his parents that I could not get over. Rory being a millionaire thinking he could just buy people out of their leases. Also the first book each of the main characters had issues but they each had structure. In this book every time I thought I was getting a handle on one or both they would switch up. Parts of the story were really good, like with Rory sister. But overall it was just too much back and forth Dawn sticking up for an older person who was selling out, but then forgetting everything because Rory would start in with wanting sex and then the issue she was discussing was forgotten and would never be brought back up. It felt like that throughout the book. The sex scenes were good but at times took away from the story, just my opinion. Will still read her next book.

Hard Cover was another great read by Jamie K. Schmidt. The author creates interesting & strong characters with some super sexy encounters.

I liked the story & thought both Rory & Dawn were fantastic. I did have an issue with those that bullied Dawn (including Rory's father)- there was never any closure or justice for her.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

This was a total surprise for me. It was unexpectedly entertaining and the characters had great chemistry. Recommend!

I received an copy of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There was no beating around the bush in this one. The author got into the nitty gritty right away with little to no preamble/background and I found that refreshing. After all, who reads a book with this type of content for the fluff. This book really surprised me in more ways than one.
1. It flowed really really well and the story actually made sense and was believable.
2. The relationships, character interactions and some of the serious content included discussing drugs, violence, overbearing husbands, and feminism were touched on and represented in a very good way.
3, I just loved the characters. They were witty, charming, badass, and real.
4. The sex was great and not cheesy at all (unlike so many other books of the same genre)
5. I couldn't put it down. I just had to know what was going to happen and I enjoyed how it ended.

My only qualm was that I did find some (not too many, 3 or 4 at most) grammatical and spelling errors. That's just me though, I tend to look for things like that (but seriously, who looks for errors when they're reading a romance?????).

This was definitely one of my guilty pleasure reads and I didn't actually expect to like it as much as I did. I'm going to continue to check out more of this author's books and recommend this to anyone in the mood for a delicious break from reality.

What I loved about this book was the instant red hot attraction between Rory and Dawn. The opposites attract mantra thrives in this book.. This is a well written, fast paced story that holds your attention and keeps you on your toes. The banter and character interaction is refreshing and makes you smile from the inside out.

I enjoyed the story of Rory and Dawn but I wanted more. I felt that some of the back and forth between them felt short and left me with asking too many questions of needing more information from both characters.
the premise of the story had me wanting to read this book but in the end, I felt there was much more that could have been developed in this story.

It took me a while to get into this book as I had a hard time connecting with the characters. To me, they came across as caricatures: the quirky heroine bookstore owner with colored hair and tattoos. The rich-guy a$$hat hero, who really has a heart of gold underneath. The evil landlord. The devious judge/government official. I was able to connect with Rory and Dawn a bit more the longer I stuck with the book. It was an interesting premise and definitely a sexy read, though!

A great steamy romance book that is heartwarming. I feel in love with the characters.

Hard Cover was just not for me. Told in dual POV, the story seems scattered and I didn’t connect with either lead. DNF at 28%

The 'rich man as saviour' theme that dominates so much straight erotica bothers and bores me but this one wasn't as annoying as most of them. Probably because Dawn is kinda awesome.

Dawn was quite a character, although a bit too stubborn over strange things. Rory was an unexpected match for her, but I liked watching them together. Overall, the plot was a little bit loose and unrealistic for me.

Love this book this author always writes awesome characters with pull you in stories. Sweet and funny with some sexy!

Loved Rory and Dawn. The chemistry and sexual tension between them was so thick and delicious you could cut it with a knife. I really enjoyed how solid of a story this was from beginning to end. It was equally laugh out loud funny and super sexy. Perfect if you're looking for a quick, steamy read with true substance.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

I really enjoyed Rory's and Dawn's journey. To say they smoked up the pages is an understatement. Wow, were they hot together. I love a book that makes the heroine a bad a**. And that's exactly what Dawn was. They were two very different people; a billionaire and an eclectic book store owner. But that didn't stop them from being together or changing who they were. I loved that message throughout the story. And the secondary characters were awesome as well. A fantastic romance all the way around. And I must say that I loved the dedication; it totally rocked!

This is one of those books that spiked my interest, based on the blurb, but just was not for me in the novel. Don't get me wrong, this was not a bad book, it was just very intense for me. Much of the romance I read is historical with more subtle actions, whereas this one was quite energetic.

It gives me a bit of a fifty shades vibes, as far as a rich guy and poor girl, but not much further than that, there is little BDSM in this book. Overall this just was not the book for me. I feel I would have liked it more if there were less sex and more emotional connection.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆
M/F Romance
Triggers: Drug addiction

So I was very excited to read this story. Dawn intrigued me because she was so feisty. Rory was interesting because he seemed to be very wealth driven.

However, when you get into the actual story, there is so much more to the characters than what is on the surface. Dawn is kind of the wild child and likes what she does so much because she feels that she's giving a place for women in her community to come and feel safe. Despite some of the other community members being uppity and uptight about her store, she loves it.

Then you have Rory. He just wants what he wants because he's trying to prove himself to his parents. He has a family life that is well hidden from society, but when he opens up about it, it makes his character so much more real. He wasn't always this uptight and kind of entitled.

These two together bring out the best in each other and they both have to decide whether or not what they feel for each other is worth going up against people in their community and their family.


Mary Jo – ☆☆☆
This book had some solid plot points, but flagged in some places. The romance was good, but the dichotomy between Rory and Dawn is huge.

His family issues and her family issues needed to be addressed a little more in my opinion, especially with Dawn and her family.

The ending of the book was a little rushed to me, although the epilogue answered many questions for me.

That was a fun book to read. I don’t think I have read a romance with two different main characters. There were some fun parts in it but sometimes I wasn’t sure they were made for each other.

It's a quick, fun and pretty hot read.
It's not an overly complicated story and that's perfect for readers, who like me, sometimes need something short and sweet.

I have to admit I wasn't too crazy about the characters. It's not that I didn't like them, I did; it's just that I didn't care.
Rory: the billionaire; whatever, not the first time we meet a character like him.
Dawn: the misfit, doing what she feels is right. We don't get too many of her, and maybe it's because we also didn't get to know much of her that I feel pretty 'meh' about her.

I might not have cared too much about the characters (though I wouldn't be opposed to reading more about them); but I did care about their story and what happens to them.
And what they do and where they did it.
This brought out my hopeless romantic; absolute "Yay, they love each other!"

Dawn owns a bookstore where women are allowed to be their freaky selves. Rory believes Dawn’s bookstore needs to go and offers to buy the store from Dawn when she refuses he will need to find another way to convince her. Will he succeed? I really liked this entertaining read. The characters are interesting and I liked their chemistry. The story held my interest and the sex is steamy. I liked it!