When I saw the cover and read the blurb for Hard Cover, I knew that I had to read it. So when I got approved for the ARC, I was pretty pumped. I have read and reviewed a lot of YA and fantasy, so reading a more adult themed book was what I needed. Hard Cover delivered that to me and then some. It was a welcome change of scenery from angsty teens and magical beings.

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Dawn Nolan ran a bookstore that was either a haven or the devil’s workshop. Depends on who you asked in town. Her bookshop was a safe haven for women who weren’t as accepted as they should be in this day and age. Dawn sold sex toys, incense, occult paraphernalia and erotica in her bookstore. Her shop was not what the town leaders wanted in their community….even if it was needed. So it wasn’t a surprise when Rory Parker, who was redoing the downtown area, makes her an offer. Which she refuses.

Dawn decides to make a movie of her and Rory doing the nasty and plans to threaten him into letting her stay. Only thing, she wasn’t expecting to like him as much as she did. She is also hiding some major secrets from him. Secrets that will come back to bite her in the butt later in the book.

Rory has his own agenda for wanting the downtown area to become more upscale. He is trying to drive out the shadier aspects of the town because of what happened to his younger sister. Which is admirable but it won’t fix his sister. He realizes that. It takes something happening to Dawn for him to realize that there is something more than sex there.

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Dawn was definitely one of a kind and I liked that. She wasn’t afraid to be her own person and didn’t care what other people thought of her. The bookstore was a sanctuary for her as well as the other women who came in. I didn’t blame her for being upset when Rory offered her the check. I loved the whole blackmail idea but that didn’t exactly work in her favor. I do wish that she let Rory know about her secrets sooner. It would have saved her a lot of heartache down the road.

In the beginning of the book, I thought that Rory was a bit of a jerk. When the book went to his viewpoint, there were things that were revealed about him that made me change my mind. I did end up liking him but I also felt pity. His intentions were in the right place with cleaning up the downtown area. He didn’t want anyone else going through what his sister went through. Like I said, his heart was in the right place but having upper-class stores won’t keep out the shady people. I like that he understood why Dawn didn’t want to leave. So he worked on trying to make her store seem more mainstream without losing any of what made it special.

This book wouldn’t be an erotica if it didn’t have sex scenes that were red hot. And did it!! From the moment that Rory and Dawn did the dirty on Dawn’s couch in her store, it was on. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. They were like freaking bunnies. I wish that I had their stamina and sex drive….lol.

The only complaint I have about the book is that Rory’s father got off scott free with his harassment of Dawn. It was mentioned, by Dawn, a few times in the book and then dropped. Same went with Dawn’s relationship with her father. It was stated over and over that they didn’t get along and couldn’t stand each other. But it seemed to me, by the end of the book, everything was water under the bridge. Including that he was in the group of men trying to run her out of her bookstore.

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The end of the book felt a tad rushed to me. But I was glad that Dawn’s secrets were out and that Rory was going to be there for her. I loved the epilogue that was a year later. They might have had a rocky start but they were that couple that will stay together forever.

I do want to add that I loved the author’s note afterward about her cat, Ash. I was in tears when she explained that her cat was not doing well. I thought that it was right that she immortalized Ash in her book.

4 stars

My Summary of Hard Cover:

Hard Cover is a book that will leave you with a smile after you are done reading it. It is full of hot sex scenes and it also has a very good plot. I loved Dawn and Rory, well Rory after a while. I am hoping that this will be a series. Dawn’s friends need their own books!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, mild violence, and sex.

I would like to thank Jamie K. Schmidt, Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Hard Cover.

All opinions stated in this review of Hard Cover are mine. I also received no compensation for this review

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Freshman Dawn Nolan had a crush on Senior Rory Parker when they were in high school, in the town of Haven, Connecticut. Dawn is the daughter of Judge Nolan, who she has not spoken with in over a year and Rory the son of the First Selectmen of the town and a very successful real estate mogul, who had been living in Florida until he was called back by his father to redevelop the area around the docks into chic high end stores and restaurants. Rory is guilty about not paying enough attention to his younger sister Cammy before she overdosed and went into a coma, which is the impetus for redeveloping the area. He has succeeded in buying out most of the old shops, but Dawn loves her bookstore Tantrics and her clients and refuses to move. She was forced by the landlord to sign a 10 year lease and she is holding him to it. The more time the two of them spend together, Rory realizes how much he enjoys his time with Dawn (and the wild sex), how much her shop means to her clients and how much she has grown on him. How can he convince her to get over her trust issues and trust him, his feelings for her and her feelings for him?
I received an ARC for an honest review. The characters are well developed and the story engaging. I enjoyed reading how Rory and Dawn were able to overcome their original prejudices to see each other as someone they could trust, love and believe in.

This is another great story from Jamie K.Schmidt. It is enemies to lovers love story and it is written amazingly. I loved the humor in it but the story is not just about their arguing it has again deeper story between the line. Down and Rory are two individuals who cant bee more different but they have one thing in common and that is crazy attraction and chemistry. The story is complex and has much more layers is not a just superficial story with two persons having sex. I liked Down his way of thinking and the way he can say not to his demanding parents. Rory on the hand is very interesting person stubborn as hell has a few personality flaws but is also caring and has big heart she just did not want pity from anyone, and help. I enjoyed reading another greatly written book.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

Oh where do I begin? Tantric bookstore owner, purple hair, tongue ring Dawn "smile for the camera" and khaki wearing, yacht living, I wanna own your building, "you have the nicest a@@" Rory, son of two disengaged people with too much money and Rory is out to develop the tiny little town where Dawn's bookstore is located. Yes, it's a little offbeat, just like her. That place where the local women can shop without worrying about anyone seeing them or judging what they order a that plain brown wrapper. She's got it all, including Rory wrapped around her panties! These two were priceless.
It's a great story, that has a few twists and a couple curve balls, his sister; the reason behind his parents desire and a shining example of their denial to buy up the strip of stores in Haven and get rid of the "undesirables" because that's what caused there daughter to fall back into her drug dependency and spending the last 5 years in a semi-vegetative state in a health care facility. The way their parents didn't handle things really burned my can. Rory however did the stand up thing. Just like he did with Dawn.
I liked them both and this book was just flat out fun to read. Head nod to Jamie K on this one!!


**arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**

Wow this book needs a serious warning! Blazing, steaming hot! Call the fire trucks! I tried to read this slow because I enjoyed it so much. Tough no nonsense quirky sexy Dawn had me laughing a lot ! Add in her eclectic friends and hotness that is Rory! Awesome book!!!

I loved Rory's character and the transformation he underwent. He went from his entire focus being on the business and money, to wanting something more from life. And him and his sister...just wow.

Dawn's character had me laughing out loud so many times. I loved her sense of humor and determination to overcome everything without letting others see that she might be struggling. I appreciated the way she stood up for those who couldn't.

**Advanced copy provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This book was such a surprise for me! While I was looking forward to reading it based on other books I've read by the author, but also due to the description, I wasn't prepared for how quickly these characters were going to draw me in.

Dawn Nolan owns a bookstore in her hometown of Haven. While she does sell books, she sells other things as well and the store is a place where women in the town feel safe coming. Dawn is about women's empowerment, sexual freedom and standing up for what she feels is right. The latter has estranged her from her family, so she's also fiercely independent.

Rory Parker is a billionaire who isn't used to being challenged. When he is charged with overhauling the stores in the town, he expects that everyone is going to jump at the amount of money that they are being offered. He has several takers, but Dawn is having none of it. She has a lease, she hasn't violated it and she's not leaving. Not only is Rory surprised, he's also drawn to the woman that he's known since high school even though she's the exact opposite of women he normally goes for.

As Dawn and Rory begin spending time together, their chemistry is undeniable and they decide to enter into a fling. The question is will it turn into the real deal or will their pasts and secrets that haven't been shared going to derail the budding relationship?

I really enjoyed these characters and how strong Dawn was. I also liked how Rory's focused changed over the course of the book. He started as someone solely focused on business and the bottom line, but but the time all was said and done his horizons had been expanded. This is a book that I would say you can't judge by it's cover. You have to dive in and immerse yourself in it to experience it's awesomeness!

Enjoyable. There was nothing flashy that made me want to read more by this author, but I didn't hate it.

I love how the charters related to each other...it was a great book.i cryed and laugh all the way though out this book...it really took me away and made me really believe that this was a real life story.. thank you for letting me read this cindy

I really liked this book. Dawn is the black sheep of her little town, with a chip on her shoulder, and out to prove to everyone that she can succeed. She meets Rory via emails when he contacts her trying to strong arm her out of the lease on her quirky bookstore. And the sparks begin to fly. I loved their chemistry and easy banter. There was a lot of sex in this book, I'm not complaining at all because it was hot as hell! I enjoyed watching their relationship deepen and how it changed each one of them. There are some really great side characters that I would love to read more about.

This book made me laugh, had some sexy scenes, and 2 main characters that were likable. I liked that Dawn was rebellious and not your typical young female with a "beautiful body". Purple hair, tattoos, piercings...I like her way better.

A variation of the classic Shop Around the Corner, Hard Cover was much better than I expected. This is the first book I had read of author Jamie Schmidt and she truly brought her characters to life. You have to laugh at poor Rory Parker who when meets an old high school classmate Dawn Nolan, is attracted to someone who is totally opposite of himself and his family. While at the beginning, he is on a mission to shut down her sex bookstore, he begins to change his mind.
A cute story with a strong storyline and one I would recommend.

Reminiscent of You've Got Mail, Schmidt's Hard Cover is sexier and hotter!

Jamie K. Schmidt writes a great romance. She's popular at our library.

A tale as old as time. A Rich guy and a girl who hates him. He wants to buy out her store, she refuses to budge. She is a "bad girl" the is the "good guy". Nothing new here... same old, same old....

That was a fun book to read. I don't think I have ever 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.

I want a Tantric book store in my community!!!! What I loved, the cat, Tantric, Cammy and INXS "I need you tonight"!!!!!!!!!!! What a scene that was!!! Top 10 ever!

Rory.... he wasn't what I expected at all. He's a little nerdy sex machine. And there is tons of sex!!!!!!! A little too much but the substance of the story is there that kept me reading. And Cammy was the substance. I want her story!!!!!!!

Dawn... she is one strong cookie!!!! And her harness?!?!? That was hot!

Dawn Nolan and Rory Parker have a history together. They knew each other back in high school when she was a freshman and he a senior. They flirted back and forth, but it never really turned into much of anything. Once Rory graduated and went off to college, that was the end of that. Dawn never seen or heard from him again. Years later, she started receiving flirtatious emails from him. While she thought he was looking to "reconnect, imagine her surprise when the real reason for his emails came out. Rory was looking to buy her out of her lease to her book store. The emails stopped being friendly and this is where the fun begins.

Dawn Nolan is not your average girl. She has purple hair, tattoos and a tongue ring. She has a wild streak about her and she certainly is no pushover. Her book store, Tantric Books, empowered women and promoted feminism and equality. It was a safe haven for all women. While she may not be rich and currently living in her store , she certainly was no sell out. Even with a more than generous offer from Rory, Dawn still would not budge from her lease.

Rory Parker is not your average billionaire. Sure, he is smart and sexy, but he also has a big heart. He is tasked with the job of cleaning up the shops on the Haven docks for a redevelopment project. Wanting to please his father who wanted Dawn and her smut shop gone, Rory thought it would be easy enough to flash around a generous offer and that would be that. Unfortunately for him, things don't always go as planned.

When Dawn and Rory meet again for the first time in so many years, sparks begin to fly. They just can't seem to keep their hands off of each other. Rory just can't keep that little minx out of his bed, and well, she feels the same way. What started out as a summer fling, turned into so much more than either of them bargained for.

Jamie K. Schmidt, author of HARD COVER, has penned one of the hottest erotic romances that I have read in a very long time. You might want to have a fan nearby! Not only was the erotic side very strong, but the romance side was just as equally strong too. I always find, while reading erotica, that the romance always felt like it was on the sidelines. This is not the case here. I can't express just how much I loved this book. Jamie K. Schmidt is a new author for me and I will gladly be searching out and adding her books to my ever growing pile. Do not let this book pass you by.

They say not to judge a book by it's cover; in this case that was absolutely true. I nearly bypassed this book because I wasn't a fan of the cover. The guy on it just looked way too conceited and full of himself; plus he reminded me of a younger version of Hugh Heffner by the way he was sitting on the chair. But, the description got me, so I decided to give it a shot.

Turns out I liked the book! I loved Rory's character and the transformation he underwent. He went from his entire focus being on the business and money, to wanting something more from life. And him and his sister...just wow.

Dawn's character had me laughing out loud so many times. I loved her sense of humor and determination to overcome everything without letting others see that she might be struggling. I appreciated the way she stood up for those who couldn't.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Hard Cover is the first book I’ve read by Jamie K. Schmidt and it won’t be the last.

Dawn’s bookstore, Tantric Books is a safe haven for women in the local town. It also suffers from a case of mistaken identity, in the sense that a group of old conservative men think its drawing illegal activities into town. Nothing could be further from the truth, but that doesn’t try to stop them from closing Dawn’s shop down.

To do this they hire Rory, who from first appearances looks like someone who would agree with their attitudes. He’s a billionaire real-estate developer, with looks that turn out to be deceiving. Because fairly soon he finds himself falling in lust, and then in love with Dawn.

This is their improbable love story. It’s a story about how looks can deceive, about love triumphing over many other emotions. Along the way its hot and sexy, as well as funny, tender and sweet. The plot is pretty original (Rory’s rich, there’s a surprise and Dawn isn’t, but there’s much more going on that gives this classical tale plenty of substantial and vitality).

I highly recommend it.