A very disappointing 2 stars. I was really looking forward to reading this one. I've read several of Kaye's books, and have pretty much enjoyed them. When I read the blurb for this one, and saw that gorgeous cover, I was "all in." 
 Becca Merritt's brother is missing. Clues that her brother, Charlie has left her lead her to Nick Rixey, ex Special Forces who is now a process-server and sometime tattoo artist for his brother Jeremy's tattoo shop, Hark Ink. When Becca first approaches Nick for help, he denies her outright. Becca's father, Frank Merritt was Nick's previous commanding officer, and apparently he was dirty. Frank Merritt's actions caused Nick or "Rixey" and half of his unit to lose their reputation, while the other half lost their lives (including Merritt's). But, you see, Rixey and his team mates all signed non-disclosure agreements, so even if he wanted to tell Becca the truth about her dad, he couldn't 
 After Nick decides to follow Becca, to make sure she is safe (yawn), he stakes out her house and discovers an intruder in her house, when she is just coming home. This solidifies his commitment to helping her. They have an undeniable attraction (yawn), she thinks everything he does is sexy, I mean EVERYTHING makes him the sexiest man she has ever seen (even rejecting her on more than one occasion, apparently). 
 I tried to like this book, really I did. The premise sounded great. The author is married to a veteran, so she has an insiders view of how the military works, and I thought I'd get that insiders look as well. But there were just a couple of deal breakers that I could not get over: 
 -Instalove! I hate instalove.. and this couple knew each other maybe 3 days before they professed their love to each other. It was too perfect, too neat, and actually made me a little mad that the heroine forgave the heroes trespasses too quickly. The fact that Nick behaved so cold after their first encounter should have made Becca run the opposite way - even if it were for at least a DAY! But, nope, she was still puppy dog eyed towards him and even after rejection, she was still the one 
 -Told in 3rd person: I have really never liked 3rd person, unless it is a large, sweeping tale that requires the reader to have insight into more than 1 or 2 individuals. Books in 3rd person POV seem too impersonal to me, and for a romance/mystery, even more so. So, this story told in 3rd person definitely did not work. It would have been nice to be in either Becca's head or Nick's head and not know what the other was thinking and feeling. The actions that each character took would have had more significance. 
 -The Mystery: Okay, so Becca's brother is missing, and how the team was able to figure out who was behind the abduction was interesting, and the reader got to be a part of the reveal process. However, the whole mystery surrounding Becca's dad, and what he was actually up to, after leaving clues behind for Charlie and Becca - well, that was never closed. I get that Kaye is planning on revealing the whole story through plot points within the next several books about the Hard Ink Team, as they donned themselves, but I wish I had known that to begin with. I was left unfulfilled and being that I had so many issues with this first installment, I don't see myself reading future installments of Hard Ink.