** Part two of a three part serial **
The choice is steep: Stay on the ledge and steal Van’s painting or take the leap and sacrifice her sister. It’s another decision in a long line that she’s had to make in her life, and though it’s easy to make, it’s impossible to execute.
Jade won’t let Cory go until she gets what she wants, but the price for Cory is high. It’s never been hard to steal, to lie, but Van changed all the rules. It was the last thing she wanted to do to him. But as much as that choice is agony, there’s really only one to make.
Betrayal and pain. Love and loss. Decisions and consequences. The edge Cory walks is razor sharp and sky high, but she can’t look down. Not until she makes it to the other side.
Review
“Everything was wrong and right, fucked up and perfect, all at the same time.”
This quote perfectly sums up Cory James’ circumstances in volume 2 of Staci Hart’s serial, Hardcore.
In Volume 1, Cory was able to keep her two worlds separate – as a thief, she does what she needs to do to support her sister, but her sister’s life is never tainted with her methods of assistance. But now that Jade has pulled Cory’s two worlds together by threatening her sister’s life and her new relationship with Van – a man with similar interests and someone she sees herself giving her heart to – Cory has to risk everything to protect her sister when the first thing that means is betraying Van and ending something that she wanted so much to have just for herself.
The biggest aspect at play in Volume 2 is the idea of loyalty. Cory’s allegiance is first and foremost to her sister, but she also has a bond with her group of thieving friends as well as to the man she barely knows but who sets her heart on fire. There’s a conflict of interest in where her loyalty lies because she can’t remain devoted to all of them – they are in direct opposition to each other with what Jade is blackmailing her into doing, so Cory has to make a choice and hope that she can live with the repercussions of her actions.
Staci Hart does a great job of showing readers Cory’s emotional upheaval as she figures out what the best course of action is; it’s a struggle to give up the one thing that she has ever really wanted for herself but she doesn’t see a way out and that’s destroying her.
The idea of someone choosing to do the wrong things for all the right reasons absolutely applies to Cory’s situation, and with where Volume 2 ends, it will be interesting to see the fallout from Cory’s decisions in the conclusion to her story.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 poison apples
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Staci has been a lot of things up to this point in her life — a graphic designer, an entrepreneur, a seamstress, a clothing and handbag designer, a waitress. Can’t forget that. She’s also been a mom; she has three little girls who are sure to grow up to break a number of hearts. She’s been a wife; even though she’s certainly not the cleanest, or the best cook. She’s also super, duper fun at a party, especially if she’s been drinking whiskey. Her favorite word starts with f and ends with k.
From roots in Houston, to a seven year stint in Southern California, Staci and her family ended up settling somewhere in between and equally north, in Denver. They are new enough that snow is still magical. When she’s not writing, she’s sleeping, gaming, or designing graphics.
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