Renee “Ren” Miller was five when her Dad left to go to the shops and never came back.
Left to grow up with a cancer riddled mother, things have never been easy for a teenager who had to be wise beyond her years. Then one day they lose the battle and she’s all alone.
Now twenty-two, Ren reluctantly goes to find her estranged father. He owns the down and out boxing studio, Beat, and Ren finds herself drawn to the ring. She thrives on learning a new way of fighting a life that kept kicking her down…instead of struggling against the current, she kicks it right between the legs.
Then one day, Ash Fuller, her Dad’s star fighter comes back to town. Mysterious, handsome… Dangerous… Everything Ren doesn’t need.
But he’s got other ideas…
…and so does she.
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Renee Miller is not your typical twenty two year old. For much of her life, she’s had to take care of her ailing mother since her father abandoned them when she was five. Through that experience and having to watch her mother slowly die, Ren’s become an angry young woman who doesn’t know what to do with herself since everyone who was supposed to love her has left her. Her mother’s dying wish that Ren go find her father is not something she wants to do, but she also doesn’t feel like she has a choice. So, when she arrives at Beat, her father’s gym, she doesn’t really know what to expect, but what she finds is both the best and worst moments of her life. Her father barely acknowledges her and gives her nothing more than a storage closet to stay in, and her half sister is a major bitch who wants nothing to do with her. But the one silver lining in this new phase of Ren’s life is the fact that she starts to train as a fighter. She now has a way to battle the anger that consumes her and unleash it on her opponents. The gym offers her a chance to get in shape, tone her body, and work through the aggression that doesn’t seem to be going away with every glare from her sister and every brush off from her father. The gym, for the most part, is her safe haven…that is until Ash Fuller walks in and shakes things up.
Ash is a beast, both in size and attitude. His backstory is a bit unclear, but he was at the top of his game for MMA fighting until he disappeared after he lost it all. With his return, Ren’s dad feels like his golden boy is back, but the other fighters don’t know what to make of Ash and his arrival. Ren also doesn’t know what to make of the sexy fighter, but one thing’s for she, her feelings for him set her on fire with both lust and hate, and she doesn’t quite know how to handle it. But the one thing Ash gives Ren is a way to battle the beast inside her – the one that’s full of rage over her treatment by her father, sister, and even Ash himself, and even though it’s illegal, fighting at the Underground gives Ren the release she needs, especially with Ash’s hot and cold treatment of her.
I was sucked into Ren and Ash’s story right from the start. Ren is a kickass heroine who doesn’t allow herself to be torn down by her situation or those around her. She’s fought most of her life to take care of herself and her mother despite the horrendous conditions. She’s definitely strong enough to battle through, not only her father and sister’s mistreatment, but the anger and depression that threatens to make her implode. Fighting gives her the outlet she needs. She and her fists are what will get her through each and every obstacle she faces because she won’t back down from the challenge now that she knows she has a way to beat it. Ash is a complicated man who is still surrounded by secrets. Even though readers get things from his perspective, he still internalizes more than he’s willing to share. There’s a darkness within him, which is clearly illustrated throughout his fighting matches and when he goes a bit rogue, but there’s not a full answer as to why he’s that way or what it takes to set him off. He’s a bit of a loose cannon who develops a much shorter fuse when it comes to Ren and her safety.
I love the MMA atmosphere that’s created in the book. It doesn’t consume the text, but because that environment means a great deal to both Ren and Ash because it’s a way for them to calm the beast within, it definitely needs to be a part of the storyline. In a way, it actually becomes an essential character because a lot happens to both of them due to their Underground fighting habits.
Beat is a fantastic start to what will be one hell of a ride for a series, and with the little insight into Pulse readers get at the end of Beat, it will be interesting to see how it all turns out for both Ren and Ash together and separately.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 poison apples
BEFORE
ASH
People say I have a problem with anger.
You could say a lot of things about me and they all wouldn’t be nice. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of.
People looked at me and only saw what was on the surface.
Money. Power. Talent.
Cash was the driving factor. Mainly because I was winning it out from under everyone’s noses on a daily basis by just being good at punching the shit through people. It’s fucking great to ride high, but there’s always someone right at your heels, snapping like a rabid beast, waiting for the moment you stumble.
Yeah, that’s the thing about getting a little fame and money – it made everyone below you jealous and jealous people were willing to do whatever it took to bring you down. They all wanted the prize and not all of them were up for playing fair to get it. There were lines you never crossed and that line had been obliterated a long time ago.
You hurt the people I love to get to me and I will fucking kill you.
I would destroy myself to save them.
I’ve done it before and I will do it time and time again.
I will beat your ass until you beg for mercy.
Repent or die.
AFTER
REN
I didn’t feel the pain as much anymore.
My knuckles had hardened, my muscles had tightened, and my pain receptors were shot.
Duck. Feign. Punch. Guard.
My Mum would be totally horrified knowing what I made of my life after she was gone. I lived for her, to see her win her battle, but in the end she lost. I wasn’t losing this fight. The fight for my future. How could she argue with that? She always wanted the best for me, even when she was too sick to move and this is my best. It’s just that it involves pounding my fists into the flesh of my opponent until they drop.
The love of a man. The love of an estranged father. The love of a mother… What good did it do if they just abandoned you in the end?
Me and my fists. That’s what would get me through this battle. That’s what would get me onto that podium. Me.
It didn’t start out this way. I, least of all, didn’t see it coming until it hit me square in the face.
The day I stood outside the place that would change my life into something unrecognisable.
The sign over the roller door that was painted in red letters. Red – the same colour as the blood that I drew three nights a week in the cage.
The one word that had become my mantra.
Amity Cross isn’t my real name. That’s no secret.
I didn’t want my Mum and my workplace to find out I wrote about doodles and tongue-in-cheek sexual innuendo.
I live in a leafy suburb of Melbourne writing about screwed up relationships and kick ass female leads that don’t take s**t lying down.
Insert more pretentious c**p here.
AUTHOR LINKS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theamitycross
Twitter: https://twitter.com/amitycross
Website: http://www.amitycrosswrites.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7327371.Amity_Cross
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