Against the Ropes was entertaining and enjoyable but a bit frantic and left me wanting more time with the hero and heroine and less time worrying about who is out to put an end to the Marine boxing team. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
As a troubled teen, Gregory Higgs channeled his energy into boxing instead of breaking the law. The ring gave him purpose and something to strive for. So did the Marines. Combining the two seemed like a natural fit.
Another natural fit? Reagan Robilard, the sweet athlete liaison who keeps all the fighters out of trouble and manages their PR—a job that gets more challenging when someone digs up the truth about Greg’s not-so-shiny past after equipment is vandalized at the gym.
Even if it wasn’t her job, Reagan can’t let Greg take the fall. Because passion doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to matters of the heart…
Review copy provided for an honest review
Author Jeannette Murray created a fantastic backdrop for her First to Fight series in Below The Belt and introduced us to an interesting and diverse group of characters as well as giving us one heck of a romance. The series continues in Against the Ropes and I liked this book quite a bit but for me it didn’t have the same sparkle as the first one. While I liked both main characters, enjoyed seeing the secondary characters I didn’t feel the big connection between the hero and heroine like I did in the first book and I think it was because the ongoing “suspense” part of this series was to present and the relationship got lost. At times the story seemed a big disjointed like it was heading in one direction and then boom the scene changed leaving feeling almost as frustrated as the heroine felt for the first half of this book. That being said; Against the Ropes was entertaining and enjoyable but a bit frantic and left me wanting more time with the hero and heroine and less time worrying about who is out to put an end to the Marine boxing team.
Gregory (Greg) Higgs is no stranger to fighting but he’ll be the first to admit that he was happy to make the Marine Corps boxing team. Boxing has been his outlet for a long time and the Marines the only family he’s ever really known and the men he’s met and befriended since his journey to make this team are the closest friends he’s had. Meeting the teams PR athlete liaison has left him feeling a bit unsteady and a lot like he’d like someone special in his life just like his roommate has in his.
There’s nothing Reagan Robliard would like better than to make a good impression and do the best job she can do for the Marine Corp boxing team but the team has been plagued by vandalism and while they are trying to find the culprit it is her job to keep it quiet and get the team some good publicity. Focusing on the team’s three unofficial leaders seems to be the way to go but one in particular makes her nervous and it’s not because she feels threatened it’s because of the way her body stands up and takes notice the minute he’s around.
There was much I liked about both Greg and Reagan including the fact that they both were kind of running from their pasts; they wanted to be better than their former selves yet because of Greg’s resistance to share they never really talked about it. They really had so much in common but throughout this whole book Reagan shared so much of herself and her fears with Greg but he would only dole out bits and pieces as he saw fit. While I understood his reluctance and the fact that trust was hard for him, it was frustrating because I really couldn’t see them building a relationship. I appreciated that Greg held back and didn’t move to a physical relationship right off the bat that he wanted to build something more with Reagan, but the fact that what he was building was superficial because he refused to let her see the real him made the “I love you” stage seem very unbelievable. There was no doubt they had some feelings for each other and I applauded Greg for his efforts in really getting to know Reagan and for being a support system for her but he didn’t let her reciprocate which in my opinion made for a really one-sided relationship. Greg was a nice guy, he was a good suitor and a great boyfriend in that he was supportive, made time for Reagan and wanted to do things right in their relationship yet he really had no clue what a relationship really entailed. Reagan was kind of a mess but given that she was in over her head with a job she wasn’t really qualified for, she was barely making it financially and she had no family support I believe she was doing the best she could. I admired her for taking chances and for the way she tried to handle her professional life but it was evident she had a lot to learn about life and business and she was really lucky to find the friends she did and to have Greg there for back up.
There were some really great moments between Greg and Reagan but there weren’t enough of them nor did they spend enough time really talking. I felt that often Reagan was either in business mode or thinking about what she needed to do or they were cleaning up one mess after another and the romance/relationship aspect of this book was pushed onto the back burner. So in that ways this book fell flat, but the times where Reagan spent time with Marianne and Kara and the times Greg spends with Brad and Sweeny were fantastic, often funny and in truth really made this book special.
While Against the Ropes didn’t quite live up to its predecessor I still enjoyed it and I am very much looking forward to the next book in this series.
3.5 stars
Thanks Slick for the review
Looking forward to starting this series. Thanks for the review.