Sadly, I didn't really like this one.. I LOVED the previous one (Taking Him Down) but here I just felt it wasn't "special" enough. The characters too plain.
On the last book Rich mentions there is a new person to be joining the boxing club - Steph. She signed up to be an instructor after deciding to end her boxing carrier. Steph will be 30 soon, she has being boxing for years and she feels her age is catching up with her - she needs to start thinking about settling down - find someone that doesn't struggle with his income (she had enough financial problems growing up and as a female boxer she didn't earn a lot..) someone who isn't like all the other guys she used to date..
She joins Spark and really hopes she could find someone with all the things she is interested in.. but after a few dates she realizes there is no real attraction there even if the guys meet all her other standards. I totally get it. She is a boxer, a physical person, someone who comes from a quite poor environment growing up, had a lot of hunks around her (other boxers like herself) - what the hell would she find in common with a geek doctor or a banker?! It's so un-realistic in my eyes it's no wonder she is overly attracted to Patrick - the new electrician working on the club. She has too many clumsy encounters with him that leads to great attraction but also to the realization he is not what she is looking for - he is so similar to the guys she used to date - and besides that he had a lot of financial problems due to his recent divorce.
Patrick is sweet, he really is. He is SO into Steph that he is willing to do almost anything to get her, including accepting a convenient relationship which will probably amount to nothing (but hey there's sex included so... ;)) In my eyes there is something very un-sexy about a pushy "stalkery" kind of guy. Someone who is SO into you that he keeps hanging around like an eager puppy. So sadly that ended my attraction to him..
In the end of course Steph finds herself with him after receiving a good advice about why she should give him a chance but actually that advice won't change neither of their financial problems (nothing short of a miracle would..) - it's more of - he's worth it with his problems. I guess it's a good moral to a story but in a romance story I would prefer something a little more. More what I don't know. As I said in the beginning the both of them are so plain. They don't have real layers or something that draws me into liking them or just wanting to know how they conquer their own difficulties.
An issue I had that felt "personal' to me is her rivalry with her cousin. I don't want to spoiler what happens there but it was obvious to me from the start that something will. I could really relate to Steph and her revulsion from her cousin and exactly because of that I felt the way things resulted were a little weak. I wouldn't "buy it" myself and I see no reason for Steph to..
I'm a litter older than Steph, my biological clock is still mute and I hope it will stay that way forever ;) I don't like reading about women who feel obliged to change their lives NOW so they could find a guy to marry RIGHT THIS SECOND and start a family in the VERY NEAR future. It just seems wrong to me. So maybe a lot of my problem with this book is the fact I can't buy the (fictional) biological pressure some women experience that pushes them to obsess about a house with a white fence, husband and kids..
I really enjoy reading Meg Maguire. Her writing is fun, fluent and easy to read. I liked that we had a little more of Mercer, Rich, Jenna and Lindsey. It's nice to see how things changed from the first book and things are good for both businesses. I wonder if there is going to be another book in the series (I could wildly guess who it will be about :)) and even though this one was a little miss for me I would surely read it
Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 219 pages, 9-10 November 2013 / On GoodReads
ABOUT THIS SERIES
Cara McKenna who writes Erotica under her name and Contemporary Romance under this pan name (Meg Maguire) brings us - Willinski - a really sweet series of a strange kinda "combination" between Willinski fighting club and a matchmaking agency.
In the first book we meet Jenna WIllinski who inherited the fighting club from her father. Jenna didn't have any connection to her father after her parents split up and since he had quite the stain in his past she add no sentiment for the fighting club he built, all she wanted is use the space to open a matchmaking agency. That's the setting of all three of the books.
In each installment one of the characters from the matchmaking agency or the fighting club finds their HEA. I really enjoyed each and every one of the character's life story. It was beautifully built and a joy to read especially how it all works out in the end for all of them :)
I also loved the difference between the two places and how it was built into the story. In a way it was Masculinity vs Femininity in the most stereotypical way, and yet it wasn't somehow (especially in the last book). So different, yet somehow people will be people and it's all in the heart in the end :)
Really good series. The second was my favorite, the first was really good as well, the third was OK (though it did have a different note to it that made it special)
Books:
1. Making Him Sweat ("All or Nothing") [Mercer & Jenna] (published 19 February 2013) ★ ★ ★ ★
2. Taking Him Down ("Going to Distance") [Rich & Lindsey] (published 23 July 2013) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
3. Driving Her Wild ("Takedown") [Steph & Patrick] (published 1 November 2013) ★ ★ ★ ½
(Note - The books were re-published under new names).
In the first book we meet Jenna WIllinski who inherited the fighting club from her father. Jenna didn't have any connection to her father after her parents split up and since he had quite the stain in his past she add no sentiment for the fighting club he built, all she wanted is use the space to open a matchmaking agency. That's the setting of all three of the books.
In each installment one of the characters from the matchmaking agency or the fighting club finds their HEA. I really enjoyed each and every one of the character's life story. It was beautifully built and a joy to read especially how it all works out in the end for all of them :)
I also loved the difference between the two places and how it was built into the story. In a way it was Masculinity vs Femininity in the most stereotypical way, and yet it wasn't somehow (especially in the last book). So different, yet somehow people will be people and it's all in the heart in the end :)
Really good series. The second was my favorite, the first was really good as well, the third was OK (though it did have a different note to it that made it special)
Books:
1. Making Him Sweat ("All or Nothing") [Mercer & Jenna] (published 19 February 2013) ★ ★ ★ ★
2. Taking Him Down ("Going to Distance") [Rich & Lindsey] (published 23 July 2013) ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
3. Driving Her Wild ("Takedown") [Steph & Patrick] (published 1 November 2013) ★ ★ ★ ½
(Note - The books were re-published under new names).
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