Review: Emotionally Gripping!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 6, 2013
It’s surprising to me how much I love books with an MMA theme to them because I really don’t like fighting and I especially don’t like blood. But for some reason, I can’t stay away from these books. I think it’s because I love seeing these fierce warriors knocked to their knees when the right woman comes along. There is something strangely gratifying when that happens. Knock Out pairs one surly former Marine MMA fighter with one pissed off ex prima ballerina turned ring card girl and delivers sparks that could light up New York City for months!Wow, we have some truly messed up characters in this book. Logan Rettino’s career and personal life was shattered along with her ankle when her dance partner and ex-fiancée dropped her during a competition on national television. Her ex is blaming it on her as well as his reasons for dumping her for her understudy. He’s more than happy to sully her good name in the press and does so on a regular basis. Being a ring girl was never in Logan’s plans but it pays well and she’s hoping she’ll soon have the money to open her own dance studio. Keane O’Shea may be unbeatable in the octagon but his personal life is falling down around him. Suffering from PTSD and his own demons, he’s turned to booze, pills, and women, along with the fighting to try and forget. When he saves Logan from a fall, he discovers that she’s hard to shake especially after does a private dance just for him.The relationship between these two was so wrought with grief, anger, and hurt that at times I really wasn’t sure they’d be able to work through it all. I give Logan so much credit for staying strong even when Keane was trying to push her away. I love how she just wouldn’t give up on him and kept pushing him to face his past. There were several times that I truly wondered if Keane would make it to the end of the story because he just seemed like he was a ticking time bomb. To be honest, I don’t know how long he would have gone on if not for Logan’s help.While I enjoyed this story, it’s not a light and fluffy read. There are some major issues these two have to tackle and I felt they’d get through one battle and two more would break out. That’s not to say Knock Out isn’t a good book because it is a very good book, I just want you to be warned that while we do get a HEA the road to it wasn’t easy.Review copy provided for an honest review.