Hard Time - Cara McKenna
This book was an experience. I didn’t read Hard Time, I experienced it.
But let’s start with the context. Our main character is Annie. She’s a librarian who ends up working once a week in a prison after an abusive relationship. Eric is incarcerated after committing a crime, and he doesn’t regret it one bit. In fact, he would do it again.
Now, this is an epistolary romance (the characters communicate significantly through written words), and the letters they exchange are just chef’s kiss. It’s one of the things I love the most about this book.
Eric is my favorite character. At 30%, he was already one of my favorite book boyfriends of all time. It’s beautiful how the author refuses to use the expected storylines you usually see in romances that involve inmates. They’re either mean and dark, or good and innocent — as in, they didn’t actually commit the crime. Eric is neither. He’s sweet, he’s kind, and oh so gentle. But he did commit the crime, and he refuses to regret it.
I have to say, it was really hard to focus on being smart and using my brain to analyze the book, because I was too busy falling in love with this man who doesn’t exist. While my husband was sitting right beside me, rs.
Annie is like any real person — she has a good side and a bad one. She’s kind and carries trauma, but she’s not a doormat. The thing is, she’s trying to figure herself out. It’s really annoying that she’s so judgmental and privileged sometimes, and I’m not sure I would have the patience to be her friend. But it’s also understandable. She was raised by a very traditional family, and her father works in law enforcement. Considering that, she’s actually really progressive.
Sometimes I feel like Eric loves her more intensely. But then I guess he has more depth than she ever could. Pain adds to our lives and to our ability to love like nothing else.
This is one of those books that reminds me why romance books are so important. The different realities between Annie’s and Eric’s lives. The relationship dynamics between all the characters involved. They’re basically two people who love each other because they feel like the other fills this empty space inside them. But beyond that, they have nothing in common. So they’re searching for that middle ground where they’ll build a life together.
The author classifies this as an erotic romance, and yes, it’s quite spicy. But all the intimate scenes have a depth that is really hard to find in romance novels nowadays. They’re not erotic scenes thrown in for no reason. They actually build the intimacy between the couple beautifully.
⚠️Spoiler alert: The ending is HFN, and I almost died. It left a lot of loose strings. I get that it’s simply the author’s writing style, but in my opinion, she could have achieved that while still leaving fewer open threads. Some really important topics in the story weren’t clarified, and that’s the sad thing about this book for me.
Hard Time was messy and complicated and deeply human. And even with the frustration I felt at the end, I can’t deny that this book stayed with me. It unsettled me. It moved me. It was a great ride.