Defying The Odds (Battered Hearts, #1) by Kele Moon

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE

Author's Page:

Goodreads / Blog

Genre:

Contemporary Romance

Summary on Goodreads:

When struggling waitress Melody Dylan gives a handsome, lonely stranger a simple gift she has no clue her life is about to take a drastic turn.

The stranger ends up being Clay Powers, a famous UFC heavyweight fighter. Clay’s large build and dangerous fists have always intimidated. People in his hometown keep their distance and Clay is fine with that. Everything changes when a new waitress at the local diner buys him a piece of pie on thanksgiving. Touched by the gesture when it’s obvious she can barely afford to survive, her warm smile and lush body churn up powerful feelings that leave Clay wanting more from her than pie.

Melody is running from her past and the small, country town of Garnet is the perfect hiding place. With an ex-husband after her and scars from her abusive marriage etched deep, the last thing she expects is to fall for a man who makes a living with his fists, but she can’t resist Clay or the tender connection they share.

Finding love in the most unlikely of places, the passion is undeniable, but Clay and Melody know their haunted pasts and unpredictable futures leave the odds stacked against them.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: violence.

RATING:

***REVIEW***

This book sounded promising, especially after I read 2-3 paranormal romance books in a row and I really needed something more realistic to take a short break from the paranormal stuff. All in all, the book was o.k., nothing special. It was just a bit too poetic, romantic and sweet- not so realistic for my taste. Don't get me wrong- I love romance in books, but the romance here was so instant and it just lacked that *special spark.* And it was full of cheesy lines like "I can't live without you" or "You're so beautiful" etc., so that the last few pages turned to be quite torture for my ears.

The main characters are: a waitress Melody who just moved to a new city in order to escape her ex-husband who was abusing her (both physically and sexually.) She is still kind of broken after the divorce, scared of men, flinches every time someone raises his voice or touches her, until , of course, one day this guy shows up in the restaurant she just started working at, she she buys him a pie to cheer him up and the fun begins. The guy in question turns to be a UFC heavyweight fighter Clay a.k.a POWERHOUSE, the best and most famous UFC fighter out there at the moment (but of course Melody has no idea who he is when they first meet). Clay appears tough and serious making most of the people afraid of him, because of his size and reputation, but he's actually a very sweet guy, ex-womanizer who is looking for some deeper connection instead of his usual one-night-stands and he finds it when this "angelic looking waitress" buys him a pie and calls him- THE Powerhouse, a sweet guy.

Clay was the main reason I picked this book, well, to be more specific- his profession. Just like every other girl, I love to read books where the main character is a athlete, especially boxers, even though this particular heavy fighter was maybe a bit too sweet for my taste. To tell you the truth I found it a bit off and ironic that Melody, after so much fuss about how broken she is and scared every time someone raises his voice or some big guy approaches her, falls instantly and acts so freely around this big, muscled UFC HEAVYWEIGHT FIGHTER. I did't mind, but when you think about it- the chances that to happen are not so promising, but overall, most of the book was o.k., a bit predictable, but a go-for-it for someone who has a soft spot for these cheesy, i-can't-breath-without-you books...and yes- a lot of hot & steamy scenes- how did I forget about those ;)?

XOXO