Review: 4.5 stars
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2014
Review of ‘UNSTOPPABLE’, by Scott Hildreth.Review by Jaycee, for Books ‘N Cozy Spots Book Reviews. www.Talon-ps.comPurchased at Amazon.comBear with me here, and don’t take my first lines of dialogue as my final assessment. Read on, MacReader…When one begins a read with a running inner dialogue telling one to “give it time”, it’s generally a death knell for said story. I spent the first chapter or two thinking the male MC, uber-fighter Mike “Ripp” Ripton was, at best, a narcissistic fool of a character, unworthy of my time in a real person or a book character. At worst, he was simply a big, dumb tool! And his “women”, all of them, were the female equivalent…Then I recalled having read another of Mr. Hildreth’s books, called “Baby Girl”, and truly appreciating the unapologetic nature of both main characters. I believe I used the words, “attractive” and “enviable”, in my review to describe them and their self-awareness. So I said to myself, “Self. Have faith. Persevere”. And it was so, and it was…really, really awesome!I will pass over the myriad women who lead up to Ripp’s Waterloo, except to say: I will never, never, EVER, discount the relative worth of a pair of “Chucks” again. And you thought they were just shoes made for walking…well (insert Amazon-approved word here) no! And if some tatted, pierced and deadly dude offers the opportunity to get up close and personal with his Chucks??? SAY. “YES”! Do not hesitate. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.Now then, if I may get to the main event and do my “job”, let me say it’s not often that when eyes connect across a crowded room, I am likely to invest in the story-to-come. Particularly when the H is a bit of a man-whore, believability is stretched a tad. However, considering Ripp never doubted himself about anything, and considering Vivian “Vee” Simon, Attorney-at-Law was a woman who knew her own mind and knew she needed a Ripp in her life…well, herein lies both the strength and the lesson of Mr. Hildreth’s stories…By conventional standards, Ripp was a shallow human being, aggressive, full of himself and incapable of relating to anyone beyond the moment. By conventional standards, Vee would be the focus of censure from all sides: on one hand, she was a professional tour-de-force which made her unattractively aggressive for a female, and on the other hand she was an acknowledged sexual submissive, which made her…a paradox, at the very least.In reality, these actually very strong characters are truly self-aware, and very comfortable in their own skin. There is no artifice in their make-up and no drama in their conduct. This story chronicles these two very strong and admittedly unlikely characters coming together, learning how to make each other happy, making themselves happy in the doing, and, without changing themselves fundamentally, flipping convention the proverbial bird. I admire that in people and I love that about this story. I heartily recommend Scott Hildreth’s “voice”.Now about that ending, Mr. Hildreth…**Previously Posted on Goodreads**