HOLDING STRONG by Lori Foster: Review

Holding Strong by Lori Foster
Series: Ultimate #2
Published by HQN Books
Publication Date: March 31st 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 480
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
Goodreads
Buy Online: Amazon ♥ B&N ♥ Kobo

Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.

An up-and-coming MMA fighter wants more than just one night from a woman fleeing her past in New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster’s irresistible new novel

Heavyweight fighter Denver Lewis plays real nice, but he doesn’t share. That’s why he’s been avoiding top-notch flirt Cherry Peyton. But a man can only resist those lush curves for so long. Their encounter surpasses all his fantasies, bringing out protective urges that Cherry’s about to need more than she knows…

Denver’s combination of pure muscle and unexpected tenderness has been driving Cherry wild. Yet no sooner does she get what she’s been craving than old troubles show up on her doorstep. And this time, Cherry can’t hide behind a carefree facade. Because the man by her side is one who’ll fight like hell to keep her safe…if only she’ll trust him enough to let him…

 

So, when I saw the blurb for this book, my expectations were a steamy story of an intense, dominant fighter and the woman who tames him and I wasn’t too far off. But for some reason I could not get into this story. First of all, it took a while to get through and I didn’t know what to think of the story so I read it again! Don’t get me wrong it was an okay story but I’ve always loved Ms. Foster’s books so HOLDING STRONG was quite a letdown.

Denver Lewis has always been interested in Cherry Peyton but her flirty behavior and fun-loving, outgoing personality remind him too much of his past so he’s never followed up on his interest. Cherry also wants Denver, but if the big guy can’t bother to say more than a few words to her, then it’s his loss. Since they share friends, their attraction to each other is hardly secret and they can’t avoid each other and soon Denver makes his move on Cherry. Then Cherry’s past rears its ugly head and Denver steps up to protect her. The only problem is that Cherry is so proud that getting her to accept is help is an almost impossible thing to do. Well, at this point I was quite done with them!

Denver is exactly what I expected – passionate and dominant but also gentle and protective to Cherry’s fun-loving persona but their connection as a couple was missing for me. Obviously they made good music in bed but outside of it, they just couldn’t open up to each other. Too many secrets, too much pride. I’m all for being an independent woman and all, but I ain’t to proud to beg for or in this case accept help and Cherry’s constant rejection of the help her friends offered just annoyed me.

I did not completely dislike the book because I enjoyed the secondary plots and characters and how they rallied around to help Cherry, and Vanity and Stack stole the show with their sizzling chemistry and heavy flirting.

Overall, HOLDING STRONG was okay and I’m looking forward to Vanity and Stack’s story.

 

 

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