Real Review

A fallen boxer.
A woman with a broken dream.
A competition…

He even makes me forget my name. One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting…

Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I’ve ever met in my life.

He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I’ve never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong–but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents . . .

But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.

I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.

If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?

So there’s contemporary romance books and then there’s SIZZLING HOT contemporary romance books, REAL by Katy Evans being the latter.  Let me tell you that reading this book in a heat wave, as I did, is definitely NOT recommended as my God if I didn’t need a cold shower to begin with, I certainly needed one after!  To say I loved this book would be a massive understatement and it’s become one of my all time favourites in this genre.  At the time of writing this review, I may have already re-read it twice *clears throat*.  I think you can probably guess that this book contains adult content but I still feel the need to point that out to you just in case it’s not your thing.

REAL is told from the perspective of Brooke, a young woman whose Olympic dreams were dashed when she sustained a particularly nasty sports injury and after she picked herself up and dusted herself off, she redirected her interests towards sports rehabilitation.  One night, she is dragged to an underground boxing match by her best friend Melanie, who is desperate to show off her newest crush: Remington “Riptide” Tate.  Feeling out of place and looking oh so demure in her work gear, Brooke really doesn’t want to be there – until she sets eyes on HIM.  And after Melanie screams something suggestive at Remy, he turns and locks eyes with Brooke.  Sparks fly.  But Remy’s on the road a lot so how can he get to know this girl that’s captivated him?  Why, offer her a job of course but does business mix well with pleasure?  And what happens when your badly behaved sister threatens everything you’ve been striving for? You’ll just have to read to find out.

I’m going to be honest and say that when I first heard that the guy was called Remington, I laughed because every time I say it, I immediately think of Pierce Brosnan as Remington Steele.  Thankfully, he was referred to as Remy most of the time and this made it easier for me to accept.

What I like most about this book, besides the fact that the sexual chemistry between the two main characters is OFF THE CHARTS, is that it’s about more than that.  I’m frightened to go into more detail because I don’t really want to spoil it for you but I appreciated the fact that it was about more and that’s what sets the book apart for me.  It makes it more REAL.  Because real people have real problems.  Speaking of the characters, I’m not sure Remy will ever be ‘Brain of Britain’ but who cares, he’s hot as hell and a REAL alpha male.  He’s primal, animalistic, protective and possessive but not in a ‘I’m going to tell you what you can wear’ kind of way, rather a ‘You’re mine and no one else can have you’ kind of way which is HOT, HOT, HOT.  Unsurprisingly, Remy is a bit of a tortured soul who doesn’t come from a great background but I admire his discipline and control with regards to his fitness, and also with Brooke.  He’s not the best communicator in the world but I love how he and Brooke talk to each other through music, which is something that really touched me.

Brooke’s past career means she understands Remy’s discipline and the competitive edge to his personality.  What I liked about Brooke is that she’s definitely got personality but at the same time, she could be you or me and that’s a clever thing for a writer to pull off. 

REAL is a fantastic debut novel that is quite frankly unputdownable and hot as hell.  There are a lot of books out there about alpha males and MMA fighters but trust me when I tell you that this is one of the best, most refreshing books in that category and it comes highly recommended by me.

REAL was published on 28th May, 2013.  To find out more about Katy Evans and her books, please click here to visit her website.