Review: Not your typical Romance novel...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 10, 2014
I'm really not even sure to classify A Fighting Chance.  There is a romance aspect but at it's core, this is almost a suspense and adventure type novel with a girl and a little sex thrown in.Jesse Chance is a half white/half black guy growing up in a small town who not only hates his father but resents his own existence.  His only form of acceptance comes from the underground fights he participates in.  And Jesse isn't really your typical fighter.  Yes, he has some anger issues related to his father but he's not really that cocky, arrogant guy that all the girls wasnt to get with.  Don't get me wrong, Jesse is pretty darn hot, his personality just isn't that of a lot of the fighters we have seen in recent books.Jesse wants nothing more than to stop fighting and escape his small town with his high school sweetheart, Drew. Circumstances break them apart and Jesse moves away to another college where he happily leaves his past behind him.  He makes friends and even has a steady girlfriend.But Jesse's past comes to haunt him when his dad shows up begging for help after his youngest son (Jesse's half brother) is threatened due to his father's illegal 'activities'.  Jesse's dad is a real jerk (I'd cuss if Amazon wouldn't remove the post!) but Jesse feels obligated to help his brother.  So after getting back in touch with Drew, who is now engaged, the two take off for Mexico to get into more profitable fighting for the drug cartels.Obviously... this leads to trouble (and a bit of romance).  I won't get into details because I don't want to spoil anything but Jesse and Drew are both pushed to see and do things they do not want to and their struggles become life or death.This is a stand alone with an HEA.  This is a fairly dark book, at times gritty and written from the male POV.I gave this 4 stars because it was so different from the romance novels out there on the market.  This has a fresh spin to it that many readers will hopefully find refreshing.  That being said, this is not a hearts and flowers romance with your typical alpha male hero.  Jesse is a great guy and the hero aspect certainly comes into play but fans of strictly romance novels need to be wary.It took me a while to connect to the characters and to get into the story but once I did, things improved quickly.  The writing is done well and I do recommend this to anyone who loves a good book about the MMA/cage fighting lifestyle.