Member Reviews
This is my first book by the author and will by means be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed the bad ass 11th hour team though most of the story is focused on Jacob and Faith. While this is the 3rd book in the series I had no problem diving in and enjoying this story even as I plan to go back and get the earlier books in the series.
Faith has no memory of her past but has settled into a role with the 11th hour team after Jacob Night rescues her. Of course his rescue is hardly altruistic since Faith's lost memories are a link to Jacob's brother whom he has been separated from since the age of 10. When an attack on Jacob and Faith leaves his limo driver dead, Jacob steps up the dangerous game and attempts to force Faith's memories.
Faith as it turns out is lethal and well trained possibly a CIA asset. She quickly turns the tables on her mentor and goes out to seek answers that her fragmented memory is still keeping hidden. Jacob and Faith or her alter ego Joana the bad ass CIA agent give readers a run for their money even as their back stories add an emotional depth to the story that takes it from simply good to outstanding. From sexual chemistry, emotional intensity, to suspenseful twists and turns and enough action to keep the adrenaline going this story is a winner.
I'm glad to have found a new author to add to my reading list.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. I believe this is part of a series, but not sure. It reads well as a stand alone. Interesting premise. Faith/JoAnne has amnesia. She was an operative and now is very feminine.Jacob wants to use her to find his brother. Their world's and lives.collide and change. Neither of them are unaffected. Not an easy read for me but more of a challenge. I didn't call in love with the characters but did want to know what happened. I give this 3.5 stars.
Hard Night follows two characters, Jacob Night and Faith Beasley, through an intense period of just a few days. The book begins six months before the present, as we discover that ‘Faith’ is actually an amnesiac with no idea of who she really is. The only thing Jacob knows about her is that she has some sort of connection to his long-lost brother, and on the strength of this he manages to get her released into his custody by claiming he’s her cousin.
What grinds my gears about this is that Faith knows pretty much right from the beginning that Jacob’s lied to her. She’s trying to build a life predicated on a lie. Her work, her name, everything; she knows it’s a lie and yet she doesn’t care.
When someone takes a potshot at Faith, Jacob whisks her off to a secret hideaway where surprise surprise, she recovers her memory and discovers she’s a former special forces soldier named Joanna. Now… I don’t know about you, but if I got my memory of who I really was back, there’s no way I’d keep using the temporary name someone else gave me. Especially when that person is known to have been lying all along. Yet for most of the rest of the book, Joanna keeps thinking of herself as Faith, and Jacob keeps gaslighting her by insisting that she IS Faith.
(Also he refuses to let her escape, practices BDSM on her without her explicit consent and other icky things).
If you were hoping for Jacob to get a resolution to his issues with his brother by the end of the book, you’ll be disappointed. The book turns away from resolving the suspense plot in favor of exploring Jacob’s endless angst, of which I was frankly really tired by that point. This is one of those books I waded through basically so that in order I can critique it with full knowledge, rather than DNFing when I realized the hero was a despicable liar using the heroine for his own purposes, and she’s so spineless she knew about it all along and went along with him anyway.
So much nope. One star.
Book 3 in the 11th Hour, Hard Night was a likeable read. Not my favorite of the series I didn’t feel a connection between the characters and other parts causing me to pause and reread. I will continue to read this series and will recommend it as I am sure it will be a great read for some
This was a fantastic first book in this new series. This is the first book I"ve read by Jackie Ashenden and can't wait for the next book in this series. Jacob is definitely an alpha male to the max. And will stop at nothing to find his brother. At least before Faith came into the picture. Their connection was on fire and the sex scenes were hot and hotter. There are a lot of twist and turns had to stay up to finish did not want to put it down.
Hard Night is book three in the 11th Hour Series of former military personnel who take on the missions no one else will do. This time Jackie Ashenden gives the reader the owner of this security company story. Jacob Night has done well helping other in unimaginable circumstances now his goal is a personal one.
At times the story of looking for a lost family member becomes cloudy as the brother’s ex becomes Jacob’s love interest. The amnesia afflicting Faith hinders Jacob’s search, but makes it easy for him to become involved with her. This couple like the other in the previous stories have a power struggle going on between them. The 11th Hour series is different from many romance suspense stories. It is darker and edgier with characters that are harder to like, sometimes impossible to admire. However, it is interesting reading, never dull which keeps me coming back for more.
HARD NIGHT is the third instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult 11th HOUR erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on the men and women who work for 11th Hour Security. This is ex-Black Ops / 11th Hour owner Jacob Night, and Faith Beasley’s story line. TOTAL CONTROL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Faith and Jake) HARD NIGHT follows the building relationship between ex-Black Ops / 11th Hour owner Jacob Night, and Faith Beasley. Six months earlier Faith found herself in the hospital without any memory of who she was, or anything about her past including the man she would grow to love. Jacob Night suspects Faith knows something about his missing brother Josh but our heroine is unable to recall the how and why of her current dilemma. Fast forward to present day wherein Faith will be targeted by someone from her past. Desperate to protect the woman with whom he is falling in love, Jake ‘abducts’ Faith to places unknown in the hopes of being able to jostle her memory into revealing the truth about the brother he lost.
Faith Beasley has amnesia. For six months our heroine has struggled to regain her forgotten memories but with their return Faith knows it is only a matter of time before Jake discovers the truth about her connections to the past. Jacob Night doesn’t do relationships and a relationship with the woman he believes is keeping secrets threatens all sense of peace for our story line hero.
The relationship between Faith and Jacob is one of immediate attraction; there is a definite palpable sexual energy that may or may not be predicated on the fear of the unknown. Faith is hoping for something more but when her memories return betrayal and heart break become her only companion. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic, aggressive and intense.
The colorful secondary and supporting characters include Callie Hawthorne and Jack King (Raw Power #1), Kellan Blake, and IT specialist Sabrina Leighton (Total Control #2). The requisite evil has many faces but is familiar to our story line couple.
HARD NIGHT is a story of power and control; betrayal and vengeance; family and love. The premise is engaging and energetic; the romance is spirited and dramatic; the characters are broken, flawed and intoxicating. HARD NIGHT is an impassioned and startling story of romantic suspense.
Copy supplied by Netgalley
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I was given an arc in exchange for a honest review.
Jacob Night is the boss of the 11th hour team. His main concern is to find his brother and the only person who can make it happen has no memory.
Joanna Lynn “ aka” Faith Beasley has worked for the past 6 months for the 11th hour but has no memory of her past life. When someone tries to kill her, Jacob decides that it time that she remembers her past life before the persons trying to kill her succeed.
What Jacob and Faith never expected was the explosive chemistry they would have for each other. But the question is can Faith remember who she is and help Jacob find his brother before she is killed?
This is a must read. Jackie Ashenden at her best!!!
I have enjoyed many of Jackie Ashenden’s different series, and looking back I have read the others in this series, but am really having a hard time remembering this series. I recognize some of the characters from Total Control, one of the previous books. All this is to say, I really had a difficult time getting through this story. This could be just not the right time for me to read this particular story, but the relationship part of this book, and the romance in this romantic suspense book did not work for me. I felt little to nothing for either of these two characters. I didn’t understand all of the plot and it felt as if it rambled to me. This book was just not for me at least at the time I read it. The writing as always was very good and I will certainly read more of her books, however, this one just didn’t work for me.
In this third book of the 11th Hour series we finally get to know the elusive founder, Jacob Night. He's on a quest to find his twin brother that he was separated from years ago when they were put into foster care. He's certain the woman in the hospital suffering from amnesia is the key to his brother's whereabouts. Due to this he plans on keeping Faith around until her memory returns. When her life is put in danger Faith and Jacob embark on a journey that will uncover her past and hopefully lead Jacob to his brother. Will they survive what they uncover along the way?
I adore Jackie Ashenden stories and this book is no exception. They are all a bit dark, off the beaten path, a whole lot sexy and always a joy to read. I highly recommend this one.
3.75⭐
Hard Night was a good read and although it was a little hard to get into and quite slow paced, it did keep me engaged. And whilst I didn't necessarily enjoy it as much as the previous story there was still a lot I did like. Including a nice blend of mystery and heat, some pockets of action, and good characters. Although I must admit Jacob Night does come across as a little assholeish at times, but Faith's character does temper that well, especially after her memory returns. And I enjoyed the actual story, which is why I would recommend it to others.
4.5 stars
Holy cow! This book was so hot. I said in my review of Total Control, in reference to the interrogation scene between Kellan and Sabrina, that this author knows how to write a sexy scene. Compared to the (for lack of a better/different term) interrogation scene between Jacob and Faith in this story the other one is child’s play. I felt like I needed to take a cold shower before these two ever even came close to sealing the deal, so to speak.
Now, I don’t want you to get the idea that there’s no actual story here. That’s the genius of Jackie Ashenden…she can write these amazing intimate scenes while also delving deep into the other aspects of the characters and the story. There were so many aspects of Faith’s story that I wouldn’t have thought of, but the author covered them all. From her sense of self to her worries about who that self really was and who she wanted to be. Would she lose that once her memories returned? So much to think about and such intricate writing. All of which carried over into the second part of the story when those memories came into play.
Jacob has an amazing way of reading the thoughts and feelings of those around him. With Faith, that helped him to switch from tough and unbending to soft and caring as the situation called for. Even when Faith herself didn’t realize what she needed. I loved that they could be rough with each other and still show the softer side, and even show the soft side while being rough.
All the stories of this series converge in this book. While I’m fairly happy with the way things are wrapped up, there’s still definite wiggle room to add to this series if the author so decides. Or to offshoot some of the characters to another series. Whichever makes the most sense. Whatever it may be, I’ll be there ready to read what the author has to write. She keeps me hooked.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the cover of this book since it’s been bugging me so badly. The cover of Raw Power irked me because there was a huge character trait that was left off the model on that cover, but I let it go. The cover of Total Control looked more like I envisioned that character in facial features, but the clothing and the apparent age didn’t make sense. Still, let it go. This one I can’t let go. It’s a great cover with a gorgeous model, it’s just so not a representation of Jacob Night in any way other than the fact that the guy has dark hair. I just don’t understand. I know there are impressive looking men in there 30s and older out there. This in no way sways my review or rating of this story, just one of those things I felt I had to get out of my system.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, just when you think Jackie Ashenden can't possibly write a better, more exciting, sexier and more intense book than the last one, she does, and Hard Night, the third book in her 11th Hour series is proof positive of that. It gets 5 stars from this reader.
The night mentioned in the title is Jacob Night, head of the 11th Hour group of mercenaries, who are the good guys for a change, dark and damaged, former black ops, but working to rescue, right wrongs, and bring the bad guys to justice--sort of the Robin Hoods of the mercenary world. All members of this team were carefully chosen for their skills, and in the first two books in this series, two members of the group have found love, and the women they fell for all had skill sets that made it possible to add them into the group. Of all the member of the group, Jacob Night has been the most closed up, elusive. and hardest to read character and this novel is his story.
The Prologue opens with Jacob in a hospital, looking at a small, emaciated woman who has suffered a traumatic brain injury. He's been trying to track her down because he believes her to be the final link in helping him locate his long lost twin brother, Joshua, from whom he was separated when they were both in foster care. He believes the woman was his brother's lover, and might know his present whereabouts. When the doctor tells him that the woman has no memory of who she is, where she came from, or how she ended up near death in an alley, Jacob pretends to be her cousin, moves her out of the hospital and into his home where he can care for her, and eventually moves her into his employ at 11th Hour, where she's been for the past 6 months, living under the name he gave her, Faith Beasley.
As the novel opens, the enigmatic Jacob is parked and inside his limo with Faith. Jacob is tired of waiting for her memory of who she is to return, and is more than ready to start pushing. She knows what he wants from her, he's made no secret of the fact that he wants her to lead him to his brother, who, from the little information he's been able to gather, is now a mercenary working for the bad guys involved in the illegal arms trade. Their conversation is soon interrupted when the first of many bullets pierces the limo window, aimed at Faith, but wounding Jacob instead, and the chase is on, with Jacob valiantly ignoring his own injury in his haste to get Faith to a safe house that not even members of his team know exists.
It's not surprising that these two characters have amazing chemistry, but for the past six months, Jacob has ignored their chemistry and his desire for her, believing that if Faith is indeed his brother's lover, if and when her memory returns, it would not only complicate matters, as if they weren't complicated enough already. Now that they're in hiding, and now that another attempt has been made on Faith's life, Jacob needs her to get her memory back and fast, and his hands-off policy is about to end, and does it ever, in some of the hottest and most explicit sex scenes Ms. Ashenden has written to date. These two characters are also some of the most vividly drawn among the many characters Ms. Ashenden has created, and they are far more alike and damaged by their childhoods than either character realizes. To say that their backstories are compelling is putting it mildly. During their stay at the safe house, it becomes more than clear that buttoned-up, prim and proper Faith likes her sex hard and dirty, and that certainly works for Jacob. She also has skills that lead Jacob to the firm knowledge that she was once in black ops herself, and when her memory suddenly returns in a flash of insight, she knocks Jacob unconscious and escapes, but once he regains consciousness, Jacob is hot on her trail and not far behind.
Will Jacob catch up with Faith? Will she lead Jacob to his brother? If she does, what will these long lost twins have to say to one another? How will Faith regaining her memory affect her relationship with Jacob? Since I don't do spoilers, you're going to have to read this intriguing novel to find out, and are you ever going to be surprised at its ending.
Hard Night is one of the most gripping of Ms. Ashenden's romantic suspense novels, and has one of the most complicated and compelling plots, and there is no let up of the suspense, action, revelations, surprises, betrayals or sexual chemistry between its two main characters, who will certainly live on in this reader's memory for quite some time. While this novel can be read as a standalone, reading the first two novels in this series in the order written will certainly enhance your understanding of 11th Hour and its characters, and I recommend that you do that, because this is one remarkably addictive and well-written series, and I wouldn't want you to miss a minute of it.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
Awesome!
If ever there were two people who belonged together it is Faith and Jacob. They have a fascinating story that is very well written. I can’t wait to read more by this author.
I voluntarily read an advanced copy.
Wow. Jackie Ashenden needs to be read. Hard Night is outside my usual comfort zone as far as romance novels go because it is a little spicier. But honestly? The spice was not overdone, it fit well with the characters and story and the story in itself was absolutely fabulous! I love Jackie Ashenden and cannot wait to recommend Hard Night to all my romance reading friends.
**My thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books, for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**
This is the third book in the series and focuses on the 11th Hour man in charge Jacob Night and Faith Beasley, the woman who organises all the missions that the members go on.
Jacob wants answers from Faith, a woman he took from the hospital with no memories knowing she may be the answer to where his missing brother may be. Faith however is reluctant to find her memories, scared of losing the carefully controlled world that is keeping her safe.
It takes Faith under fire for Mr Night to take a different approach with Faith in order to get her memories back and the change in Faith as she becomes her former self is quite different and it affects both of them more than they would like to admit in the beginning.
Both of them get answers along with something they thought they would never have, someone else there for them no matter what.
I really enjoyed this book and hope we get to hear more from Joshua.
I could not wait for Jacobs book and I’m so happy I was lucky enough to get an ARC. We finally get to see behind the mask of the owner of 11th hour. Hard Night fulfilled all my expectations especially since I was looking forward to learning about Jacob and Faith. Read this, won’t be disappointed. Five stars!
This is for me the best book that was written by Jackie Ashenden and is now one of the best books I ever read. I loved every page it was such a page-turner. How to write but not to involve spoiler? Hope is a great character she has so good combination of the different side of herself, I loved how strong she is and her backbone that she wasn't scared of Jacob and had always ready a comeback. Jacob is also great his determination to finding his brother is strong but caring for Hope comes first. I love his possessiveness toward Hope and their attraction bammm explosive. I am so grateful for giving the opportunity to read this amazing book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly
Another rocking good story by Ms. Ashenden. Solid plot with a wonderful underlying romance. I liked the story as well as Jacob. GOOD!!!
Hard Night is penned as a romantic suspense, but tends to lack any real connection between the primary characters. There is definitely danger and suspense that throw this somewhat unwilling couple together, but the constant push/pull of their relationship quickly becomes tiresome. As a lover of both BDSM, contemporary and erotic romance, I feel slightly hypocritical in saying that I found the domination and coarseness of their couplings to be confrontational and exhausting. Basically, their connection was superficial at best, with no real love or emotional bond developed; so for me, the story just didn’t completely work and was just OK, but I'm sure there will be many readers who love this book.