GRR Reviews Men of Inked (3-book collection) by Chelle Bliss

NOTE: This is a 3-book collection, it'll be rated separately, and there's an overall rating.

Throttle Me -- Suzy had mapped out her life: work hard, get her own career established, find a stable man, get married, live happily ever after. Unfortunately, her plan got derailed when "City", a tattooed Harley rider who works in a tattoo shop, came into her life, by rescuing her one night. They had chemistry together, but City had his heart broken at college and is now a rake and a commitment-phobe. But their relationship had both of them question everything they thought they knew about what they wanted... and City is keeping a secret...

Not bad, different worlds novel is pretty obvious, and scars are pretty trope, but there's some good polish on it and multiple layers of tropes, like biker, Italian, and even a bit of disguise. 4/5

Hook me -- Michael Gallo is the MMA fighter who enjoys the physical domination of his opponent, but a fight ended up with him in the ER, and met Dr. Mia Greco. Mia is having nightmares about all the people she can't save in the ER, and she prefers running the neighborhood free clinic. Michael, who's actually quite smart, wanted to woo Mia, and they have chemistry together, but Mia can't reconcile the fighter who damages people with the caring and sensitive man Michael seems to be...

I honestly don't feel the conflict other than she can't see past his gruff tattoed exterior. 3/5

Resist me -- Isabelle "Izzie" Gallo is the baby of the family, and even though she trash-talks just like her brothers, in secret she loves a man who can dominate her, which can be difficult when no one dare get close with so many brothers around. She got one great night with an undercover cop handler James, who was alpha enough for her... But she figured it's one-night, and she snuck off. Later, she went off with one guy "Flash" for a MC weekend in Daytona, and ended up in a MC club, where she was almost claimed by the MC VP... until a disciple stepped in... It was her older brother Thomas, in deep undercover. And Thomas had to call in James to rescue her. She's just too much sass... and he's just too much alpha. But he needs to watch out for her brother Thomas, and she has her own life...

A bit too much sex, as things got a bit kinkier, but other than initial chemistry, and basic inadequacy issues, there isn't much threat to the relationship. 3/5

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5  (average of all 3 ratings)

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews On the Edge by Brittney Sahin

On the Edge has an interesting setup, but the ending was a TOTAL letdown.

Young American Anna wanted to get out of her family farm in Kentucky to get away from her neighbor boyfriend, who is insanely possessive in private, but nice in public. After being choked almost to unconsciousness twice, not even apology would be enough to keep her in town. An internship all the way in Dublin, Ireland is perfect for her needs, and she's on her way across the Atlantic after negotiating a room with Leslie. Finding a hot guy in the house was not a part of her plan... finding out later the hot guy was her boss Adam McGregor definitely made it... weird. // Adam McGregor swore he would never step into the Octagon again, after almost killing a man in a blood rage. But the mob boss, after five years, is pushing him to get back into the ring, by threatening everyone around him; his friends, his rec center for kids, even Anna. Adam must keep everyone near him safe, but is giving in the answer? Can the young vivacious American cool his blood rage instead of spilling someone's blood? How can they get away from the mob boss's grasp?

The ending was a total let down, despite the nice build-up. Anna was a total babe-in-the-woods kind of innocent, a stranger in a strange land and all that. And the attraction to Adam was a star-crossed-lovers kind of slow simmer. The fact that she kept the abuse from her ex quiet only made it worse to deal with later, as everyone sorta wanted them to get back together... Nice character development, as I said. But the ending, argh. Sorry, totally unrealistic, way too lucky, kinda Hollywood ending.

Category: Contemporary / Suspense

Primary Plot: New intern hot for boss found he has a dark side: he's also a cage fighter being forced to fight again after vowing never again

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Review Inked Passions by Amber Burns

Inked Passions is a thorough average romance between a tattoo artist/biker/cage fighter bad boy and an ER nurse / rich / good girl.

Cade likes bikes and tattoos and underground ring fights. When one sore loser jumped in an alley, he met ER nurse Cindy.  Later, when Cade agreed to be his best friend Tommy's best man at the wedding, he found Cindy was the maid of honor. Seeing serendipity, Cade went on to woo Cindy, and work through her disapproving parents...

One will be hard-pressed to find a proper "darkest hour" or much of a grand gesture by either MC to achieve the proper ending. At least the pairing was somewhat fresh, and characters nicely portrayed, but the "smarmy suitor" never was much of a threat, and the family was too much of a drag. It's a romance without the emotional swings other than exasperation, and love never really was under much of a threat.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Tattooed cage fighter meets prim and proper ER nurse with disapproving family

Tropes: MMA, tattoo, clinic, different worlds, kidnapping

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Broken by Simone Scarlet MMA

At 700+ pages, Broken by Simone Scarlet is a saga, not merely a novel, that features Silas Batras, super heavyweight MMA challenger, and his romance with sportswriter Lyssa Meadows.

Silas sold his soul to reach the American MMA circuit by becoming a married woman's plaything. His attempt at championship left him with a defeat then landed him in a wheelchair, penniless, and he had to live with the shame of being a cripple on his Italian family vineyard. with his brother, his wife, and 2 kids, while a hostile neighbor is doing everything, legal AND illegal harassment to force them to sell their farm, until Lyssa Meadows showed up. Lyssa Meadows was a sports reporter doing a story about MMA injuries, and Silas was the perfect subject. She even helped them fight off an attack by the hostile neighbors, which also somehow got Silas out of his wheelchair. Then MMA came with an offer of a lifetime... Silas can earn a lot of money returning to the MMA... which may be enough to deal with their pesky neighbor... or will it be enough?

While the characters are explored in full, plot was juggled quite well, and even the MMA action was nicely described, Silas is, pardon the expression, "all brawn, no brain". He can punch a guy so he flies back a couple feet, but point a gun at him, and he's tame as a kitten. Oh, and he is GREAT in bed, as he's big, and you know, has... uh, big parts! (ugh) So basically, his job in the book is just to fight and (censored). Lyssa is the real main character in this book, as she was the one that actually grew and changed. Silas... is bland.  Overall, I guess I liked the plot twists even though it seems a bit convenient.

Category:  Contemporary ; Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: Sports writer romances MMA champion contender who was put into a wheelchair; couple must fight horrible neighbors intending to take over family vineyard through intimidation

Overall Rating:  4/5  (really 3.5/5 rounded up)

GRR Review: Putting Up a Fight by Samantha Westlake

Putting Up a Fight by Samantha Westlake is a contemporary "bad boy" romance that unfortunately, featured a bad boy that's not that bad, and the "meek" girl who is NOT meek, despite the genre. The plot is predictable, though the fight scenes are quite good.

Cain is the reigning fighter in the underground fighting arena ran by 'the master', and he sees no way out. He took a loan from a loanshark for the family emergency and he really had no way of paying it back, until he met Lucy. Lucy was feeling the results of a disastrous first date when her first date not only took her to a fight, but jumped into the arena himself and promptly got flattened by Cain. When Lucy wanted to leave and her date got rough, Cain intervened and sent the guy packing. Lucy was so grateful, she gave her number to Cain, and setup a date. That date ended with a confrontation between Lucy's psycho ex and Cain, who promptly dispatched the ex as well. Lucy was so smitten, she devised a plan to free Cain from the Master forever... a do-or-die fight for Cain's freedom.

Cain is NOT a bad boy. He's completely meek outside of the ring until he engaged caveman mode to protect the women, such as Lucy. Lucy is the real star of the novel, doing everything, setting up dates, going on dates, including befriending and seducing Cain, and eventually, freeing him.  I find Lucy's ability to figure out who "the Master" is a bit too quickly, and the bargain reached too easily. There really is no reason for the Master to accept the bargain.

Category: Bad boy

Primary Plot: Girl with psycho ex was rescued by cage fighter; she vowed to free him from his obligation for their HEA

Rating: 3/5