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Hard to Hold

by Julie Leto (Goodreads Author)

3.19 of 5 stars 3.19 · rating details · 52 ratings · 17 reviews

New York lobbyist Michael Davoli feels like he's been sucker punched when he meets Anne Miller at a Jeff Tweedy concert. And it doesn't take long for him to realize that he's fallen hard when they wind up living in the same Albany apartment building. After all, Anne's hot, his dog likes her, and she can pick a lock faster than Sydney Bristow can disarm a nuke.

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Paperback, 252 pages

Published September 14th 2010 by Health Communications (first published August 4th 2010)

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Feb 12, 2011 ൠSinful rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: real-life-romance-story-true

It is a brand new day for romance readers as HCI Books launches its True Vows Romance Series based on real life romances as delicious as any of our favorite fairy tales. Bestselling author Julie Leto braves this new frontier as she releases one of the three initial books in the series, and all I can say is Michael Davoli can give any vampire a run for his money in the romance department. Ooh la la.

Hard to Hold is a tightly written, tender story with a gentle and realistic pacing. The character h...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Sarah Eiseman rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book I’ve read in the True Vows series. This is a series that is “reality-based romance.” This book was pretty good, although I’m trying to figure out if I liked it more because it actually happened or if the writing was that great. It probably was a mixture of the two, but it’s a nice concept nonetheless.

We meet our protagonists following a concert in Albany. Anne Miller is a fiercely independent woman and journalist who’s lifestyle is interested in having a relationship, but...more

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Oct 18, 2010 Jacqueline rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-romance, disabled-hero-or-heroine, from-work-borders

This book was enjoyable but slow and lacked conflict. I guess since this is based on a real romance the pacing is in line with the real world and not what is normal in a typical romance novel. The book took place over 2 years. The hero and the heroine had some conflicts to overcome so it wasn't all roses. But a typical novel would have focused on just one or two of them and ratcheted up the drama. The Tourette's for example would have played a much larger part in the story with perhaps a scene o...more

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Oct 13, 2010 Mandi Schreiner rated it 2 of 5 stars

Michael Davoli has just moved to Albany, New York – single, with only his beloved dog to keep him company. He has some friends in the area, but he is ready for a relationship – if he can only find a girl. Out one night with some friends, he literally runs into Anne Miller. Anne is a crime reporter for a local newspaper, and is single herself. They fall into easy conversation, but when Anne asks him to go get a drink at a local bar, Michael refuses.

Besides his allergies flaring up, Michael has To...more Michael Davoli has just moved to Albany, New York – single, with only his beloved dog to keep him company. He has some friends in the area, but he is ready for a relationship – if he can only find a girl. Out one night with some friends, he literally runs into Anne Miller. Anne is a crime reporter for a local newspaper, and is single herself. They fall into easy conversation, but when Anne asks him to go get a drink at a local bar, Michael refuses.

Besides his allergies flaring up, Michael has Tourette’s Syndrome, a condition that makes him blink rapidly, and sometimes when he is in his anxiety situations, his neck and hands twitch. He doesn’t want to push that onto this beautiful woman quite yet, so he politely refuses. It isn’t until a few months later that he runs into Anne again – when he is moving into his new apartment. Which just happens to be in the same building as Anne. Both still interested in the other, Anne finally gets tired of waiting for Michael to ask her out and takes matters into her own hands. From here, they start the dating game and see where things go.

Hard to Hold is part of the True Vows series, a reality series based on a real life couple’s relationship. You can go to their website and see the real life couple and read more about them.

Michael is all around a shy hero. Bordering on beta status, it was hard for him to make the first move in this book. His confidence is hurt a bit with his Tourette’s syndrome, although once revealed to Anne, it does not become an issue as they move forward.

Anne loves the show 24, wants more from her reporting job, but has an optimistic outlook on life. Michael and Anne are opposites in some aspects but compliment each other also. Michael is obsessed with cleaning and order, where Anne could care less where her dirty clothes land. Anne screamed in terror when she found a dead mouse in her apartment, and Michael plays the knight and disposed of it for her – and of course does a through cleaning afterwards.

While this is a light and sweet book, it is also incredibly slow. There is not a lot that really stands out in this story. It is cute and at first I really liked Michael. They do have some ups and downs in their relationship but I needed more. I don’t know – maybe I need a bit of “unreality” in my love stories. It lacked for angst and drama. It lacked any sort of suspense. It also felt as if the sex scenes couldn’t decide if they were going to show the lovin’ or close the door. We got to the bed, but then it was wrapped up really quick.

I get that “normal” romance is not always filled with drama. But to turn it into a romance book where I am going to spend money to read this story, I expect more.

Rating: 2.5/5(less)

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Sep 18, 2010 Lisa Gibson rated it 4 of 5 stars

While this is not a YA book, I wanted to read this book the moment I saw that the male lead character had Tourette's Syndrome. My son also has Tourette's. Like the main character, Michael, my son has a milder case of TS. I've come to know that it is one of the most misunderstood syndromes out there. However, I love seeing characters with differences in books.

I liked this book a lot. On the cover it claims this book is 'The First Reality Based Romance' and I would have to say that's probably fai...more While this is not a YA book, I wanted to read this book the moment I saw that the male lead character had Tourette's Syndrome. My son also has Tourette's. Like the main character, Michael, my son has a milder case of TS. I've come to know that it is one of the most misunderstood syndromes out there. However, I love seeing characters with differences in books.

I liked this book a lot. On the cover it claims this book is 'The First Reality Based Romance' and I would have to say that's probably fairly accurate. We don't often find romance books where characters deal with reality based situations such as living with Tourette's, etc. I felt the building up of Anne and Mike's relationship was about right. The pacing of it all was terrific. It was a fire that started out slow and built up over time. I appreciated the fact that Mike's Tourette's really wasn't the focus of their issues, but merely one facet of the challenges they had to face.

I also totally <3 the fact that she mentioned Red Rocks Amphitheatre (something I pass everyday). I grew up in Morrison, Colorado and it's just kind of a little bonus to see someplace I'm so familiar with in a book. There were even a couple exotic locales travelled to that added some spice.

There were only a couple of little nit picky drawbacks I noticed. One, they discuss on the back copy how Michael is fearful of his tics hurting Anne during the night. That situation is never discussed much in the book. It's mentioned casually as an aside, but made to sound like not an issue. The other very minor point, Anne is a curvy girl in the pages of the book and they put a super slender chicky on the cover (totally not under the authors control, I know that), but it would have been nice to see a curvy girl up there front and center. Like I said, minuscule things and don't take away from the story one bit.

I'm giving this 3 big smooches! What about you, do you like romance novels? If so, what type of romances do you like to read?(less)

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Jul 27, 2011 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book better than Alison Kent's The Icing on the Cake.
Leto's book focused more on the characters and their interactions rather than their feelings in Kent's book, which seemed much less intimate & much easier to read.
Yes, this was still a story based on reality, but it didn't seem as intrusive as Kent's book.
& while the ending bothered me ((view spoiler)) it wasn't so bad as to comple...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Sophia (FV) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Rating 2.5

Micheal Davoli, a lobbyist, has recently moved to New York. While out with friends at a concert one night he is introduced to Anne Miller, a crime reporter. They hit it off immediately, or so Anne thought. Anne invites Michael out for drinks but Michael turns her down leaving Anne totally confused, thinking she must have misinterpreted the vibes she was getting from Michael. But Michael has Tourette’s syndrome and although it’s nothing like the extreme cases most people have probably h...more Rating 2.5

Micheal Davoli, a lobbyist, has recently moved to New York. While out with friends at a concert one night he is introduced to Anne Miller, a crime reporter. They hit it off immediately, or so Anne thought. Anne invites Michael out for drinks but Michael turns her down leaving Anne totally confused, thinking she must have misinterpreted the vibes she was getting from Michael. But Michael has Tourette’s syndrome and although it’s nothing like the extreme cases most people have probably heard of, Michael has a more difficult time managing his tics under stressful situations and so he bowed out of the invitation.

Time passed and although they had mutual friends, Michael and Anne never crossed paths again but both still thought of each other often. Until one day, as luck would have it, Anne discovers Michael struggling with his dog while moving into his new apartment that just happened to be in the same building she lives in. Reunited they discover the attraction is still there. Now they have to see who will make the first move toward developing a friendship and an eventual romance.

Michael is sweet, on the shy side and cautious when it comes to relationships because of his Tourette’s syndrome. He prefers to take things very slow and while I can appreciate that in a real life situation, it’s not really what a want in a romance novel. Anne is cute, and a little quirky and thank goodness willing to step up and make the first move to get ball rolling. They are opposites in so many ways but seem to somehow compliment each other nicely.

Hard To Hold is exactly what it’s billed as; a book based on a true life couple and their road to happily ever after. It’s a sweet romance however if you are expecting a story filled with drama and major relationship obstacles that need to be overcome, you may be disappointed in Hard To Hold. Anne and Michael seemed like just your average everyday couple that had to face everyday issues that arise in almost every new romantic relationship. They faced a few trials that would test most relationships but nothing too far out of the ordinary. It’s a story you might enjoy listening to at a dinner party with friends. However, reading this story as a full length novel, I found it a bit slow, and somewhat lacking in entertainment value and overall enjoyment. I have to admit, I feel uncomfortable admitting that because although I am referring to the story as a whole, these are also the details of someone’s real love story.

Even in contemporary romance, I need a touch of fantasy, a bit of the unexpected and a chance to leave the world behind for a little while. However I didn’t experience that while reading Hard To Hold. Instead it was an average story, about average people living in the real world, which is fine, but it’s not what I read romance for.(less)

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Nov 04, 2010 MaggieReadsRom rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: requests, contemporary

4.25 stars!!

Anne Miller is a journalist, a crime reporter. She’s witty, bubbly, cheerful, and open. She’s in a knitting-group and an avid fan of Jack Bauer. The moment she decides that she’s quite happy being single and not going to search after love, fate bumps into her in the form of Mike Davoli at a music concert. Mike is a campaign coordinator for the Quality Education Initiative. He has Tourette's Syndrome. He’s organized, sweet, honest and a very big fan of a band called Phish.

I really li...more 4.25 stars!!

Anne Miller is a journalist, a crime reporter. She’s witty, bubbly, cheerful, and open. She’s in a knitting-group and an avid fan of Jack Bauer. The moment she decides that she’s quite happy being single and not going to search after love, fate bumps into her in the form of Mike Davoli at a music concert. Mike is a campaign coordinator for the Quality Education Initiative. He has Tourette's Syndrome. He’s organized, sweet, honest and a very big fan of a band called Phish.

I really like this concept of romance novels based on reality. Reading romance in various genres has made me believe in easy, almost magical solutions to hurdles that inevitably surge in a starting relationship and HARD TO HOLD made me see again that building and maintaining a relationship is hard work and the road to a Happily Ever After is paved with struggles, disappointments, conflict and challenges to go with the chemistry, sexual attraction and soul-mate kind of love.

There was one minor thing that bothered me reading this books and that was the conflict/argument between Anne and Michael and Michael's reasoning. This felt a little forced and didn't quite work for me, but I did love that it wasn’t brushed over or easily solved, which made the romance that much stronger in my opinion.

The second half of HARD TO HOLD tells the story where other romance novels end and to me portrayed the real story after the Happily Ever After where most romance novels end. Reading this book was refreshing and I heartily welcome this new brand of romance.

A sweet, warm and funny contemporary was just what I needed and just what I got from HARD TO HOLD. This book proved to me that you don't need hot and heavy dirty sex scenes to write an excellent and poignant contemporary love story and make me a fan. Don't get me wrong, I like hot monkey sex scenes, a lot, but they are not obligatory for me to thoroughly enjoy a book as reading HARD TO HOLD definitely proved to me.

Seeing the attraction build, slowly but intensely was just delightful to read. I smiled and grinned numerous times at the subtle humor that was delivered as easily and smoothly as the love story. And the wedding put the cherry on the cake by making me tear up.

I highly recommend HARD TO HOLD if you love subtle humor, sweet romance dosed with a healthy bit of reality and a HEA that is just perfect. And I am also definitely going to read more of Julie Leto's work as I do have some on my huge TBR and this first encounter with her writing has definitely left me wanting more.(less)

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Sep 28, 2011 Shannon Adamson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: paperback

OMG! I loved this book! Stayed up 'til almost one in the morning reading it. So sweet to hear how one couple can keep their relationship going with all the ups and downs in a dating relationship.... They ask that if you have a cool story with how you met, you can write it and send it into the publishing company. Mine is sorta interesting, so that sounds like a fun thing to do!

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Feb 10, 2012 NTE rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, fluff, just-ok, contemporary, romance

The thing I liked best about this book was that it was a "reality-based" romance, meaning the story was built around the real life story of an actual couple, which I thought was a great idea, and I'm definitely going to check out the True Vows line even more. But the book itself was just ok.

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Apr 23, 2011 Lesley rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a good book. I read one of the other True Vows books, Meet Me in Manhattan, and I liked this one better. The story flowed well, and I enjoyed getting to know the characters.

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Aug 28, 2012 Lauren (Sugar & Snark) marked it as never-read

Another self righteous author who isn't classy enough to accept criticism, verbally abuses reviewers and in my opinion is not worth my time reading.

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Jun 05, 2011 Mommyreview.com rated it 2 of 5 stars

Interesting concept of turning real life love stories into romance novels. While fun to read it just didn't have that sizzle I was looking for.

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Jul 21, 2012 rameau marked it as not-for-me

Shelves: note-to-self-don-t

See comments.

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Sep 11, 2011 Kendra added it

nope not for me...

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Mar 12, 2011 Liz rated it 1 of 5 stars

Recommended to Liz by: Romance Book Club

Didn't bother finishing it.

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May 12, 2012 moran rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-depository

the blurb of the book sounded so much better than the book itself- it wasn't a bad book it just wasn't too intersting.

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May 05, 2013 Jeanne Kisner added it

Apr 22, 2013 Sara Ferguson marked it as to-read

Shelves: hard-copy

Apr 20, 2013 Vickie Knight rated it 5 of 5 stars

Apr 07, 2013 Nikita marked it as to-ponder

Mar 26, 2013 Arena marked it as to-read

Mar 22, 2013 Amber marked it as to-read

Mar 22, 2013 Jessica marked it as to-read

Mar 20, 2013 Celeste rated it 5 of 5 stars

Mar 02, 2013 Davia marked it as to-read

Shelves: my-library

Feb 11, 2013 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Feb 07, 2013 Igraine marked it as auf-gar-keinen-fall

Feb 01, 2013 Gwen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 28, 2013 Michaelairine marked it as to-read

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