Cocky Contender
By: JM Kelley
Series: Cocky Hero Club
Genre: MMA Romance
Publisher: Cocky Hero Club, Inc.
Publication Date: July 19th, 2020
Format: Kindle (Advanced Copy)
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Synopsis:
I’ve been throwing punches since I was old enough to remember.
They call me The Lion, a sexy, tattooed beast in the cage.
I gave it all up after my brother’s accident and now I’m just trying to figure out how to save my family’s legacy and get over a broken heart.
I’ve been in love with my friend Soraya since the ninth grade. Too bad she’s in love with someone else. I even have the broken jaw to prove it.
My life is a mess. Until a smoking hot, little firecracker with a zesty attitude walks into my gym and turns everything upside down.
She’s keeping secrets, something or someone she’s running from, and I’m going to find out.
I won’t let her run anymore. I’ll prove she’s worth the fight.
I must pull off the biggest win of my life.
I’m ready to battle in and out of the octagon for her.
I’m ready to save my family’s livelihood and win the woman of my dreams.
I’m ready to battle for my destiny.
Don’t think you know how this fight is going to turn out.
I have been enjoying all of these new to me authors lately!! It’s always a treat being able to dive head first into a new author’s work. You never know what they’re about to bring to the table. And what’s even better is the joy that comes along with falling for a new author’s characters and story line.
If I’m being honest, I’m VERY picky with fighter romances. I don’t know what it is about these types of book boyfriends that causes my critical thinking to come into play. The main thing I look for when it comes to any sports romance, especially fighter (boxing/MMA/Illegal Underground) romances, is game play. I literally live for these moments where the fighter is going head to head with his opponent. I love the raw vibes that lead to the gut wrenching question, is he going to make it out of the cage alive?
So to say I was a bit hesitant to read this novel would be an understatement. I try to be as positive with my criticism as possible. With that being said, I really enjoyed the relationship between Mila and Marcus….but…. I wanted more moments where Marcus thrived in his element. I wanted to see him in the cage kicking ass and taking names. Sadly, I was a bit disappointed there wasn’t more in the cage moments and more detail. I needed and wanted more action. I wanted to see Marcus in his element. I wanted to see the Lion roar.
Now enough with the criticism and let’s get onto what I really enjoyed about Cocky Contender!
Mila and Marcus’s chemistry is sizzling! I couldn’t get enough of their flirtatious vibes and Marcus’s swoony sex appeal! I thought I was going to have to get the fire extinguisher out and spray down my kindle. Cocky Contender definitely gets the sexy as sin award!! I loved these two together!!!!
Mila was definitely my favorite character in this novel. I loved her independence, but her fear gave her the fragile vibes that is easy for readers to connect with. I have a soft spot for women that are on the run from people in their past. Throughout this whole novel I found myself trying to watch out for this girl, like the crazy loon I am! I had to repeatedly tell myself, Alecia, this isn’t real life. This is a romance novel. Mila is going to get her happily ever after in the end, and her abusive ex is going to get what’s coming to him. No matter how many times I tried to talk myself down, I still found my heart beating heavily with suspicion every time a new character walked in the chapter. I knew eventually evil would show it’s form. After all, evil can’t stay hidden for very long.
I felt Mila’s heartbreak as she was telling Marcus all about her horrible past and everything she recently had gone through. I felt the anger Marcus felt when he tried to process the history of Mila’s abuse. This man showed his true strength in this moment. No strength shown in the cage is stronger than the strength it took for him not to hunt the sorry excuse for a man down and beat his ass.
Overall, the romance between Marcus and Mila was off the charts! I loved the sexy banter and the love these two shared. I loved Marcus’s alpha tendencies when it comes to Mila and her protection. I honestly couldn’t get enough of these two. I rated this a 3.5 star because I needed more in the cage moments. I wanted to see this man dominate and live up to the hype that was surrounded around him. There was so much potential for these moments to be great. Bottom line, I wanted and needed more of Marcus in his element.
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Amazon US: https://amzn.to/307oihO
Amazon Universal: http://viewbook.at/CCJMK
Peace Love and Happy Reading,
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