5 Smooches!
Synopsis
I’m not a fighter.
I was born into a fighting family. As the middle child, I was overlooked in favor of my older brother.
He took the negative attention, too. In comparison, there’s nothing special about me.
I’m not as big as Cobra. I’m not as strong as Cobra. He’s the alpha.
I’m a beta.
The second son.
The lesser one.
The one never encouraged to fight, never encouraged to do anything, but stay out of my father’s way.
I’m not a lover either – but I wished to be – that’s why I needed her.
I met a girl in the pouring rain.
Sounds cliché, but it’s true. It changed everything.
Because of love, I learned to fight.
Betas come second, but in this fight, my story is first.
Review
Abel has always been second best in everything; his family, against his fighter brother, the girls, the fights, but now Abel wants to be seen. He wants to make a name for himself. He wants to finally get the girl he has been crazy about, Elma. But Elma has one thing on her mind, to find out what happened when her brother was killed. But will she open her eyes and see Abel the way he sees her? And even if she can, will outside forces, lies and betrayal, mean that this is this one fight that will destroy both of them?
“I’d been fighting the wrong fight. Without realizing it, the thing I needed to fight for wasn’t in the ring. It was in my heart. It was Abel.”
Wow!! What an intense, unique, thrilling and emotional story. So unlike any other fighter story you have ever read, this story will grip you from the beginning until the very end.
“There was a girl I wanted, but she didn’t want me. I took that lack of reciprocated desire and used it to fuel me. I was tired of going unnoticed. I was tired of being put down. It was my turn to fight back. The ring was my answer.”
Both Abel and Elma were such complex characters. Each with their own demons, insecurities and dramas but also each with their own strengths. Elma was destroyed by the death of her brother but after the grief has passed she uses her anger and determination to find out what has happened. She had courage, determination, strength but also had passion and love that she desperately wanted to give to someone. Abel, in my eyes, was always the alpha; his personality shone through. He was brave and strong but he was also so considerate and caring and didn’t care if that made him weak in other people’s eyes.
“Our lips connected and my mouth instinctively opened to breathe her in. I had learned the other night, Elma was my oxygen.”
The story has so many dimensions to it that it will fulfil many different readers likes. Yes it is a fighter story but it is also so much more. There’s love and passion between not only Elma and Abel but secondary characters that play important and intriguing parts, there’s family drama beyond the norm of family drama; intense, deadly and shocking and finally there’s secrets, lies, twists and intrigue galore; all of this guaranteed to keep you captivated.
“I’ve been in love with you, Elma. From the moment I saw you, I’ve been in total adoration of you, but you…you never even noticed me. I just wanted you to see me. Not just someone to see me, Elma, but you to see me. You can’t understand that being who you are.”
~BETHANY
