REVIEW - Extreme Love by Abby Niles

Release Date: April 30, 2013

New body. New clothes. New men.

Used to the average Joe, Caitlyn Moore is overwhelmed when the supremely masculine Dante Jones walks into her life and expresses an interest in her. At first she pushes him away, refusing to encourage the attention of a cage fighter. Then she learns Dante has a love ‘em and leave ‘em reputation. What better way to fine-tune her non-existent flirting skills than with a male who won’t stick around? But Dante has no intention of being a practice dummy; he’s out for all or nothing. Now Caitlyn must accept Dante—violent career and all—or let him go.

Dante “Inferno” Jones has one goal: win the Welterweight Championship. At a time when focus is crucial, the last thing he needs is a distraction. Yet Caitlyn Moore becomes a challenge he can’t resist. When the light-hearted pursuit shifts to a battle to win her heart, his focus is shot. Faced with losing the biggest match of his career, Dante must decide if his extreme life also has room for Extreme Love.

This ARC was given by Entangled Publishing LLC, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I’m going to be completely honest and say I went into the reading Extreme Love by Abby Niles being a bit skeptical. I mean, another boxer/fighter book? Really? With the huge success of Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire and now the rising popularity of REAL by Katy Evans (which are two of my favorite books), I was a little worried this would be some kind of rip-off.

I am very pleased to say I was wrong for my assumptions and was pleasantly surprised by how relatable I found the characters Abby Niles created in Extreme Love.

Most relatable obviously was Caitlyn. While I have never suffered from weight problems, after having two children I certainly don’t feel like my body looks the way it once did and sometimes I find myself very insecure about that. I also had a hard time growing up and being teased and bullied over my appearance, which wasn’t due to any weight issues, but it still sticks with us as adults all the same.

We meet Caitlyn Moore right after she has lost an impressive amount of weight, but still living with all the insecurities and anxiety she’s had her whole life due to always have struggled with her weight.

I honestly don’t see how I wouldn’t have reacted to Dante any differently than the way Caitlyn did. Dante “Inferno” Jones is a MMA fighter that Caitlyn meets do to her roommate and best friend starting to date another MMA fighter.

Having some amazing attractive man with a body to die for aggressively trying to pursue me? I don’t think I would have believed him for a second and thought he was a cruel bastard for trying mess with me. So I couldn’t really blame Caitlyn for pushing Dante away because she was scared.

I enjoyed that it was a duel point-of-view so that we got to be inside of Dante’s head as well. He was sincerely entertaining while he chased after Caitlyn over and over. He was pretty funny when he was thinking about Caitlyn and when he was trying to get advise from her friends about how to go about his pursuit. (Even though he ignored them half the time.) I would have liked to be have been in his head at the end, but maybe it was better to have been in Caitlyn at the point.

You should be warned that this was another sweet torture kind of book. By the time our hero, Dante, and heroine, Caitlyn finally get together you are practically begging for it. The fact that Dante continually tries to get Caitlyn to give him a chance after being turned down at every turn, I don’t know if the word stubborn quite covers it. I don’t even know how realistic his aggressive behavior towards her is, but I hope there really are men out there who know what they want and go after it the way he did.

Overall, it was an enjoyable and relatable read. I couldn’t put it down and was in Caitlyn’s corner the whole time, and I am proud to be team Caitlyn and Dante.

My only questionable part is the ending. I don’t want to spoil anything by talking about it, but I will ask this: Why the f*ck didn’t she call the cops and report it after she got to Dante? I can see getting to him for priority number one, but after that, she should have done something because I was literally shaking in rage and wanted to punch a certain someone! (You'll understand when you read the book...)

His gaze landed on the chocolate-brown comforter with pink accents that covered her queen-sized mattress. His attention lingered there for a moment before he lifted his gaze to the shelves that held an assortment of her favorite books and movies. “What do you like to do, Caitlyn?”

How could a man come across so damned relaxed? Especially when she was wound so tight she felt ready to shatter any second.

“Do?” She actually squeaked her question.

“You know. Read? Watch movies? Shop?”

A conversation? The man walks into her room, disrupts her perfect little world, and he decides to have a conversation? “All of the above.”

Dante’s smile sent her heart into a frantic staccato. He moved closer, and she retreated until her butt touched the wall. Her breath came in short, erratic spurts. His gaze started at her legs and raked upward over her body. “I like all of the above, too.”

Ah! She liked that response. A little too much. Her heart pumped even faster. She had to escape.

As if reading her thoughts, Dante blocked her by bracing his arms against the wall on either side of her body.

She couldn’t swallow, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but stare into gorgeous blue eyes belonging to a gorgeous man. He leaned closer, his chest brushing against hers. Lord, she felt the strength of his body.

“So pretty.” He ran his fingers across her cheek.

The desire in his eyes confirmed his statement. Could this be real? Could this man truly want her? Everything he did screamed yes.

“W-why did you come in here?”

His fingers paused on her skin. “Isn’t it obvious? To be near you. Would you rather I leave?”

Yes. No. Hell, she didn’t know.

“Maybe,” she finally decided on.

“Maybe?” One masculine brow lifted. “A very indecisive answer. Maybe we should kiss and see if it helps you make a firm decision.”

She swallowed, a response completely lost to her. Flustered by her inability to come up with her own flirtatious, witty comeback, she felt greener than ever. “I think that would be a bad idea.”

“Give me one good reason why.”

She opened her mouth, but no reason emerged. Instead, she murmured, “Me and you...we don’t fit.”

“Oh, I think we’d fit very nicely together.”

Her mouth popped opened, shocked and alarmingly delighted by his words. “T-that’s not what I meant.” But now that he’d taken their conversation in that direction, it was all she could think of. She shook herself. “I meant we’re too different. We don’t have any chemistry.”

Amusement filled his eyes. “No chemistry, huh? I’ll have to disagree.” He placed his lips against her ear and whispered, “Do you remember when our eyes met in the mirror this morning? That punch of lust that socked us both? That’s chemistry, Caitlyn.”

Ever since Abby Niles picked up her first Sweet Valley High book in sixth grade and fell in love with Elizabeth and Todd, she’s been hooked on romance. By the time she reached high school, she was devouring meatier romances with pirates, cowboys and knights. She never imagined that those years of reading would one day lead to her becoming a published author.

In her late twenties, after having twins and becoming a stay-at-home mom, she started doodling stories to keep her sanity. Next thing she knew, she was actually submitting to publishing houses. And was immediately rejected. That didn’t stop her though. She found herself some kickass critique partners, honed her craft, and continued submitting.

And eventually sold a short story, then a novella, then a novel, and now a series.

Today, she juggles work, home life, and writing. It’s not always easy, but hey, who said life was easy? In her downtime, which isn’t often, you can find her playing ‘Just Dance’ with her kids or trying to catch up on her never-ending to-be-read list. She also loves Zumba, and refuses to admit she looks more like Animal doing his Muppet flail than a sensual Latin dancer.

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