Nalini Singh has been an auto-buy author since I read the very first Guild Hunter book many years ago. Her books pull me in from the very first page and I don't want to put them down until I've read the entire book. Rebel Hard was absolutely another winner from Ms. Singh.

I pretty much fell in love with Raj the moment he appeared on the page. Once I found out his family history, it just cemented my love for him. Nayna Sharma was equally as lovable in my eyes. I loved that while neither one of them really wanted to have an arranged marriage happen for them, they both stepped up to allow their parents to try to make one work, both due to different types of family obligations. Raj, being the older brother still being unmarried and Nayna being the younger daughter still unmarried after her older sister's disastrous first marriage. The fact they had actually met at a party before their parents introduced them absolutely had me laughing out loud.

While there was pretty much an instant attraction between Nayna and Raj, I loved they really did take their relationship pretty slowly overall. More love for Raj for seeing Nayna for who she really was and not pushing her into something that would cage her in, no matter how much pressure they received from both sets of parents. Nayna almost broke my heart giving up so many of her own dreams to try and be the perfect daughter for her parents. I was so glad that Raj actually saw all she was giving up for her family and had no issues backing her on each new idea and adventure she had in mind.

Rebel Hard was such a fun story to read. I laughed so much as I read this story and had all the happy sighs as well. This book was like crack from the moment I picked it up and I couldn't put it down. I literally read every single possible minute I had available until I finished Rebel Hard and then I wanted to re-read it all over again. I loved it so much; I can't wait to buy the audiobook so I can listen to it as soon as it is released. Fans of Nalini Singh will adore this book and while it is the second book in the Hard Play series, I believe readers could pick it up with no issues and read it first.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (B+)

I don't think I can express how much I loved this book. It's the kind of book that makes me insecure about my own writing because Nalini Singh is a queen and if I only have a tiny bit of talent she has, I'd be ecstatic. But, at the same time, it inspires me to keep on going, keep on sharing, because these are the books that need to be written - #ownvoices novels from writers of color showcasing people from all cultures as the heroes and heroines in romance.

I've long admired Nalini Singh and although she gained fame through her paranormal series, for me, it's her Rock Kiss series that drew me in. My favorite was Rock Hard, from which this Hard Play series originated. I loved the first book Cherish Hard but Rebel Hard is next level in terms of greatness.

There is so much to love about this book. It's rich, beautiful, emotion-packed, humorous. There's family, friendship, culture, tradition, respect, food, fashion, and lots and lots of love.

Absolutely loved this book! Such a beautiful story with an insightful look into a culture that is not my own. Nalini creates such beautiful worlds, every time she describes a scene I feel like I am there with the characters (and I totally want all of those clothes she describes in this book they sound so beautiful!)

Nayna has always been the good dutiful daughter trying to please her parents to make up for her sisters mistakes, she is the glue that hold her family together. She has agreed to an arranged marriage but she wants to be able to pick from the suitors. She goes to a party with her best friend as her last act of freedom with intentions of losing her virginity.

Raj is looking for “The One” he is tired of his parents setting up meetings for an arranged marriage, he wants to decide who it is he wants to spend the rest of his life with, since almost everyone in his life has abandoned him. He meets a girl at his friends party that he feels a connection too. When she runs away without giving him any information he can’t stop thinking about her.

Nanya can’t stop thinking about the handsome guy at the party, so imagine her surprise when he shows up at her house as one of the suitors her parents have picked for her! Raj told his parents this was the last time he was going to one of these meetings, until he sees Nanya is his mystery party girl!

Absolutely wonderful and compelling story I loved their story and looking at a cultural norm that is so different from mine was fascinating!

Raj and Nanya could not find love on their own so they turned to their families to find them a spouse. They were traditional but at the same time not in how they dated. I adored his text messages to her and how they communicate with one another. What started out as very traditional changes to a modern love affair.

I absolutely enjoyed this look into the Indian culture! Loved all the Bollywood drama references and the fact that Raj respected Nayna's wishes over their traditional beliefs.

I love this one! Readers of Cherish Hard have alsways been wondering what happened between Isa’s friend Nayma and her arranged marriage plans and now we finally get the whole story. Raj and Nayma’s journey into discovering one another with an initial plan of looking for a marriage partner but also findin out that it’s more complicated than that is absolutely marvelous. Rebel Hard is romcom with a touch of Bollywood that gives me all my catnip in one sitting. Plus it’s sexy hot! This gets a 5 star rating from me.

Rebel Hard is the second volume in the Hard Play series by Nalini Singh. I only have one thing to say when ending my reading: I loved it so read it! What I like in this series is that Nalini offers surprises to the readers. I’m sure she didn’t plan to write Nayna’s story at first. But Nayna and Raj appear in the previous volume: Nayna is Isa’s best friend and Raj is one of Sailor’s close friends. And fans asked for Nayna’s story. I was among those who wanted to read more about her and I must say I was expecting a novella. Finally Nalini made it a full length novel, and she was right to do it as this story couldn’t have been contained in a short format. And as it happens I think the cover doesn’t do justice to the book.

Rebel Hard features heroes of Indian origins. Nalini almost wrote a Bollywood story but not completely. Here the problems won’t be linked to the conflicts felt by the heroes because they’re together (alike most of the time in this kind of movie LOL) but because of the permanent interferences from Nayna and Rak’s kin.
The feelings between Nayna and Raj are clear from the beginning, but Nayna needs to blossom in other ways than marriage and that’s what her and the hero’s families will have trouble understanding.

Rebel Hard takes place at the same time as Cherish Hard. Nalini already did the same exercise in the original series Rock Kiss with Rock Addiction and Rock Hard. And she not only does it again but she manages very well. We have no feeling of repetition for the same scenes, on the contrary.

When Nayna and Raj meet, Nayna wants to have a wild night without pressure (in fact she wants to get laid with a stranger LOL) but nothing goes as planned and finally, well… she flies without having done anything more than a passionate kiss.
Nayna is a heroine I liked a lot. After a traumatic event in her family, she put her dreams aside to be able to comply with her parents’ expectations. To go further in the process, she accepts to play along with an arranged marriage. But the more the marriage eventuality progresses, the more she begins to make herself sick. It’s a precise event (plus the night with Raj) that will open her eyes. In the first part of the book, she’s going to be torn between her duty and her dreams and in the second part, she’s going to be torn between her dreams and Raj’s duties.
However, very quickly, her feelings for Raj are clear and it’s the only thing of which she’s certain in the whole book. It’s the part I loved. Because Raj understands really fast that Nayna to spread her wings and fly, he supports her at the risk of having his heart broken. A the beginning of the novel, Raj has some very set ideas about what he expects in a marriage but really fast he realizes his feelings for Nayna are more important that everything else. I loved this hero too and he offers us a lot of beautiful surprises.

Rebel Hard is very beautiful Bollywood romance. That means that we also have party scenes like I saw in this kind of movies, especially weddings with more than 600 people (LOL), beautiful clothes we imagine perfectly, dramas. But most of all we have an internal conflict between weight of tradition and modern times. All of that with some really subtle humor touches.
The secondary characters are well done, we like some, others frustrate us, or surprise us… in short none of them leaves us indifferent.

To conclude, I loved this book I greatly recommend. And believe me, whether you’re fan of Bollywood movies or not, we’ll have a really good time with Rebel Hard.

3.75 stars--REBEL HARD is the second instalment in Nalini Singh’s contemporary, adult HARD PLAY romance series-a spin off from the author’s Rock Kiss series. This is twenty-eight year old, accountant Nayna Sharma, and twenty-seven year old, construction worker/builder Raj Sen’s story line. REBEL HARD can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Some of the events of REBEL HARD run parallel to, and cross-over with book one Cherish Hard.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Raj and Nayna) REBEL HARD follows the building relationship between twenty-eight year old accountant Nayna Sharma, and twenty-seven year old construction worker/builder Raj Sen. Having met at a mutual friend’s party Raj and Nayna were unaware that their traditional, Indian backgrounds were about to collide. For weeks, Nayna’s parents have set up several meetings with prospective grooms in an effort to arrange a marriage for their single daughter. Having born the brunt of shame her elder sister’s affair placed on the family Nayna is having nothing to do with the time honoured tradition but outdated ‘arranged marriage’ her parents are desperate to achieve. Enter Raj Sen, the man she met and accosted on a previous occasion, and the man with whom Nayna will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Nayna and Raj, and the potential fall-out as Nayna battles between head and heart, and her need to remain independent in spite of her love and attraction to Raj Sen.

Nayna Sharma wants to do it all-travel the world, explore new places, experience the life she has always dreamed but her parents have other plans for their daughter, including an arrange marriage to a man of their choice. Raj Sen is a successful contractor and builder, and has always dreamt of marriage, children with a stay at home wife-traditional, old school marriage to a woman who lives to serve her husband and family but times have changed, and so too have the women in his life including the woman with whom he has fallen in love. Neither family is above using guilt or shame in their attempts to force a marriage between our leading couple.

The relationship between Raj and Nayna is one of immediate attraction tempered by their dual virginities and family responsibilities. Making time for themselves, Raj and Nayna will go behind their family’s backs to explore the world of dating, and falling in love. The $ex scenes are sweet, intimate and passionate, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The colorful secondary and supporting characters including Raj and Nayna’s best friends Sailor Bishop and Isa Rain (Cherish Hard #1), as well as both of their meddling but meant well families.

REBEL HARD is a story of family, tradition, understanding and rebellion. The premise is spirited and realistic; the romance is tender and emotional; the characters are charismatic and energetic.

Just a heads up, as the story line focuses on Middle Eastern and Indian values, some of the language and text may be unfamiliar.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

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Thanks to Netgalley for this book here is my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. I like how Mrs. Singh write her male leads. When they set their sights on "their Woman" they go after her with everything. I just fell in Love with Raj. He was so inti Nayna but also he just wanted her happy. The drama in this book was at a low. At times Nayna was a little annoying but bit too bad. I understand where she was coming from, but come on how could she resist Raj?!?!?
I go 4.5 - 5 stars.

Rebel Hard by Nalini Singh is Nayna and Raj's story. It is a fabulous one and one readers have been waiting to read. It does not disappoint. The characters are wonderfully defined and the contemporary world deals with contemporary issues in an insightful manner. Highly recommended to read by itself or part of the Hard Play series.

This book is Ms. Singh's nod to the current popularity of things Indian and Bollywood. Nayna and Raj are modern Indian Australians brought up in conservative Indian families who still believe in arranged marriages and other traditions that they brought with them from their home country.
Nayna is a rebel who feels like a bird in a cage committed to the traditions to keep her parents happy but so fearful of losing who and what she is. Readers! hold onto your hearts as Raj charms his way into your hearts on his way to happily ever after.

Rebellious Nayna is ready for some action before she has to give in to her parents desire for an arranged marriage. At the party where she's hopes to put her plan into action she meets sexy blue collar construction worker Raj who is as far from her parent's ideal groom as it's possible to be. Unfortunately while the kiss between them is sizzling Raj turns out the opportunity for a sexual encounter.
Fast forward to the next night in her parents home and Raj is presenting as a prospective bridge groom on the arranged marriage track. Horrors! her parents actually seem to like him and his family. Poor Nayna, she can hear the cage clanging shut on her. As she tries to evade all his attempts to a conversation with her they meet up again at a community wedding where Raj declares his intentions to her parents and the community as large. Now he just has to win over his elusive bride to be.
Nayna's sister has gone her way with a divorce already behind her which puts a lot of pressure on Nayna to conform and do the right thing. On Raj's side there's his brother who also pursued his own path but seems extremely unhappy and his meddling sister-in-law doing her best to derail Raj's shaky train. Then there's the cute love story between Nayna's grand mother and the next door neighbor. All of these family and relation dynamics add their own spice to the protagonists own love story.
All in all its a sweet romance where the outcome is certain but the journey is an interesting mix of angst, laughter and tears.

Nalini Singh has gifted us an incredibly beautiful story full of culture, tradition and strength.

REBEL HARD is one of the best romances I’ve ever read. I love how this is not just a book about two people falling for one another. It’s about families and tradition. It’s about finding one’s path and having the freedom to make your own choices without having to sacrifice your needs for someone else’s expectations. It’s about finding the strength not to strangle your relatives! And it’s about love. Lots and lots of love!

Nayna and Raj are exquisitely beautiful together. They have terrific chemistry, their page time sizzles with heat! Raj is just about the best hero ever created. He’s quiet, reserved and loyal. He says it like it is and doesn’t play games. He’s strong, dedicated and when he loves, he loves true. He’s romantic, not in a traditional sense but with a genuine uniqueness. Raj’s quiet strength, patience and unwavering devotion for his Nayna will have you swooning one minute and reaching for a tissue the next!

Nayna is a strong heroine and I found her easily relatable. She loves and cherishes her family and wants to honor her parents but has dreams of her own and doesn’t want to be forced into a life that’s not of her choosing. It takes courage to forge your own path and Raj and Nayna have it in abundance. Their relationship is one of beauty, their love for one another is beyond compare.

To be perfectly frank, I loved the HELL out of this book! Raj and Nayna’s families are fun, funny, exasperating and fiercely loyal. I loved all the secondary characters. They enhanced Raj and Nayna’s lives and elevated their story to a whole new level! I love, love, LOVE Raj! He absolutely IS the best hero I’ve ever read, and I wanted him for myself! I love how exciting the storyline is. Even the most mundane of tasks are filled with laughter, anger, passion, tears and sometimes a mixture of all four! Nalini Singh writes her ass off giving us her blood, sweat, tears, sadness, heartache, love, humor and everything else she poured into these pages.

If you’re looking for a read that makes you laugh, cry and cuss up a story, I absolutely encourage you to read REBEL HARD. Well, maybe that’s just me 😊 If you want a romance with strong characters, families and emotions then this one is also for you.

Nayna has always felt like she has to be the perfect daughter to make up for the disappointment her parents felt when her older sister became a rebel. She's always done what was expected of her and has never wanted to hurt them by pushing her boundaries which is why she has agreed to an arranged marriage. But as she meets one disastrous match after another she starts to question whether she really wants to let herself be trapped in a life of someone else's choosing and her bet friend talks her into attending a party for a night of fun and dancing. The attraction she feels for Raj is instant but their first meeting goes horribly wrong so she is completely shocked when she realises that he's the next match her parents have found for her.

Raj was abandoned as a child and although he was adopted into a loving and supportive family he continues to crave love and security. He believes in tradition and is looking for a woman who will be the centre of his world, someone who will be a loving wife and mother and who would never abandon him. From the minute he meets Nayna he can't stop thinking about her but knowing how much she hates the idea of being forced into marriage he has to choose between his dream and allowing her the freedom to make her own choices.

Nayna and Raj both made an appearance in Cherish Hard as the best friends of Isa and Sailor so I was already excited about this story but it was even better than I had hoped for. They're both such brilliant characters, Nayna is sweet and funny, a little shy but also becoming increasingly brave as she finds her confidence. She loves her family and wants to do right by them but she also desperately wants to get a taste of freedom before she settles down and marries. Raj is a perfect hero, he claims he doesn't believe in romance but he's surprisingly good at the small romantic gestures that every woman longs for. He cares enough about Nayna to want to help her spread her wings and he stands up for her with both her family and his own when it comes to letting her have the chance to pursue her dreams.

The couple have fantastic rapport from the very beginning, they spark off each other and argue but the chemistry is there from the get go and you just know things are going to be explosive when they finally give into temptation. I loved the playful banter between them but also how they were always there for each other when anything went wrong. There is very little drama between them because they talk through their issues and are both willing to make compromises which is something I always appreciate in my romances. I also really loved both of their families, yes they have some issues but they all had a deep bond and clearly loved each other. It was really fun to see the families interact with each other and slowly blend into one big loving, supportive group around our couple.

We all know that Nalini Singh is a queen of paranormal romance but she's also just as good at writing fantastic contemporary romance with heroes you're guaranteed to fall for. T-Rex from Rock Hard has long been my favourite of her contemporary heroes but I think Raj may just have taken first place! Rebel Hard was absolutely perfect, great characters, swoon worthy romance, wonderful family dynamics and some huge and OTT Indian weddings! I'm already excited for the next book in this series.

Rebel Hard

**received an ARC in exchange for an honest review**

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Absolutely loved this book. It’s hot, steamy and sweet! Raj is hot, sweet and a romantic who wants the traditional Indian ways but at the same time is willing to also listen to his wife and work as a team instead of telling them what to do. Nayna has always been the good girl but wants to break free of the shell she has been in and live her life. I live their relationship and how it builds as the story continues. They force one another to be patient and understanding but at the same time don’t trap one another. I have been waiting for Raj’s book and was not disappointed.

Nayna wants one night of being wild and carefree. She has always played by the rules but this time she is going to do what she wants. And finding a hot man to make out with is definitely on the list. But just when things begin to get good, he stops them. She thinks that she won’t see him again but is wrong when he ends up being the person her parent have over to see if they fit for an arranged marriage.

Raj can’t get the woman from the night before out of his head. Even though she offended him, she has also intrigued him. And when he ends up at her house for the idea of an arranged marriage he feels like his luck is about to change.

Together the work through a relationship and not in a traditional way. They know there is an attraction but at the same time Nayna doesn’t want to get trapped. But will it work out in the end? And if they do have to decide will she resent him the rest of their lives together?

We first met Nayna as Isa Rain's best friend in Cherish Hard. Here we get Nayna's story and it is nothing less than amazing. Nayna is trying to grab a brief moment in life that is hers and hers alone before settling into the married life her parents want. But even after meeting Raj and knowing there is amazing chemistry between them, she sees marriage as a trap that she discovers she doesn't really want to enter on anyone's terms but her own. But every time she tries to take a step towards independence, something happens to make her feel guilty about being anything less than the 'perfect' daughter her traditional Indian parents want. She's seen her sister cast off because of her decisions and is convinced she can only be loved if she is perfect. Nayna is a delightful and realistic mix of strength and insecurities trying to balance her parent's traditional views with her own more modern ones, and trying to discover who she is in the process.

Raj may be all quiet confidence and strength on the outside, but he's never quite gotten over the pain of being abandoned, knowing he was unwanted and unloved by his birth mother is a scar the loving family he now has can't entirely erase. He wants to protect himself by never giving a woman power over his heart and is sure a traditional marriage with a quiet woman is what he needs. Nayna makes him question everything he thought he wanted in life. He knows he wants a chance with her, and is willing to play dirty to get her- including learning to smile, to play, and to text Nayna screamingly sexy pictures that are totally G-rated. But he's as worried about falling in love as she is worried that he'll never fully give himself to her.

Nayna and Raj may be my favorite Nalini Singh couple after Gabriel and Charlotte (Rock Hard)- although it's a close tie. You know Raj is something special when he goes out of his way to read Nayna's favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. And the reader is then treated to the male view of Mr. Darcy and Mr. Wickham- and the men on Raj's construction crew discovering what women really find sexy by Googling "hot men reading".

Rebel Hard is a wonderful, passionate, humorous, and emotional story of two people learning about themselves and trying to make a relationship work when they are afraid to fall in love. It celebrates the beautiful, colorful culture of India and Fiji, blended with New Zealand's natural wonders. This is a book that joyously grabs all of your senses and flings it into the color, taste, sound, texture, and glitter of a Bollywood extravaganza: complete with over the top weddings, meddling parents, villainous sister-in-law, and gorgeous locations. A must read for any romance fan!

Let the battle begin!

Nayna Sharma just wanted to make her family happy and have a traditionally arranged-marriage but she wanted to experience a little fun because she had always been the daughter that went along with her parent’s wishes and plans. Nayna and her best friend Ísa go to a party and she gets scared when she almost goes too fat with a stranger. Little did she know that the stranger was contractor Raj Sen who would be the next person that her family introduces her because Raj and his family wanted to arrange his marriage. Nayna tries to get Raj to turn her down but Raj decided that he likes Nayna and wanted to see what she would do when he played the prospective bridegroom.

Rebel Hard shows a view of arranged marriages that was different and Nayna and Raj made that marriage that worked for them without family interference. I will buy anything that Nalini Singh writes because they are so worth reading.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I so loved this book, and for many reasons. I love Nalini Singh’s writing. I think i have read everything she has written for the last couple of years. But I particularly loved this story because it gave me such a background into Hindu life in the 21st century at least in Fiji. It wasn’t a Bollywood story, but a couple I could see myself being friends with! I loved Nanya’s fight for independence from her family while not hurting them. i loved that Raj gave her that freedom but continue to love her all the same. Although I did not know what a lot of the words used in this book were, their meaning came through loud and clear. Thanks for another great book!

Nalini Singh does not disappoint!! This is a sweet story about Nayna,whose parents are arranging her marriage for her. She is compliant with tbis arrangement as her sister ran away to get married and brought shame to the family.
Nayna decides to have one wild night & "hooks up" with Raj at a party. The night ends badly.
Shortly after another husband candidate arrives at Nayna' s parents house to meet her & its Raj.
This book was full of great characters, including Nayna's grandmother who is dating the gentleman next door. There are also many Hindi words used, which was fun.

I am not sure if I have the words to adequately express how much I loved Rebel Hard, but I am going to try. I’m still not over this book. I read this book in one amazing day and resented each and every time I needed to stop for things like food. It is absolutely one of my favorite romances of the year, hands down, and is my new favorite Nalini contemporary romance. If I had all the money in the world, I would buy this book for everyone I know.

I feel a little helpless as a reviewer in the face of such a gorgeous and rich story. Nayna Sharma and Raj Sen agreed to the arranged marriage process for different reasons. Nayna feels pressure to be the perfect daughter after her family was hurt by a previous scandal. Raj has always valued family and stability and an arranged marriage seems practical. When the two meet by chance at a party, neither one is expecting their explosive chemistry. When they meet later as potential spouses, the situation gets even more complicated.

A testament to Nalini’s writing, I want to reread this book as I type. Raj and Nayna are undeniable. Nayna is a woman finally coming into her own and not letting anything get in her way. She loves her family, but her need to spread her wings was exciting and exhilarating to follow along with as a reader. The way Raj supports Nayna unconditionally is one of the best parts of an exceptional novel. Raj is my new dream man. His quiet confidence and willingness to fight for what he wants and what Nayna needs is wonderful.

A stunning cast of supporting, characters and multiple, complete sub story arcs weaved through Raj and Nayna’s journey to happily ever after kept me captivated until the last page. Ms. Singh, seemingly effortlessly, combines family obligation, professional passion, and true love. FYI – I plan on recommending this book to everyone I know.

**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**

I loved this book. The romance was so, well, romantic. It wasn't too cheesy or cliche, just enough to make my romantic side very happy.

I really loved how the Indian culture of the characters was portrayed. It was very real but not too exaggerated. I liked how both, young and older, generations had their say in a way, but specially how Nayna and Raj fought to have their future their own way.

Nalini's writing as always was on point and I just love how it makes me actually forget about everything around me and just be immersed in the story.