Emily McCarthy is living in fear of a dark and dangerous past. A gifted mathematician, she is little more than a hollow, broken shell, trying desperately to make ends meet long enough to finish her degree.
Through an unlikely friendship with the aging, cantankerous owner of an old boxing gym, Em is thrown into the path of the most dangerous man that she has ever met.
Cormac “the Hurricane” O’Connell is cut, tattooed and dangerous. He is a lethal weapon with no safety and everyone is waiting for the mis-fire. He’s never been knocked out before, but when he meet Em he falls, HARD. Unlike any other girl he’s ever met, she doesn’t want anything from him, but just being around her makes him want to be a better person.
They are polar opposites who were never meant to find each other, but some things are just worth the fight.
I really enjoyed this book. BUT, there were a couple of almost deal-breakers. I’ll get to that in a moment.
The connection between these two was heart-warming. It really was two people coming together, and helping each other become the best version of themselves. Em took a long time to be ready for more than friendship, and he was so patient, never pushing her to do more than she wanted. Once they finally moved past friendship, it was explosive!
There were some darker themes in this book. Without dropping in spoilers, Em has been terribly abused in the past. There’s always a danger with these types of story lines that it becomes a gimmick, and isn’t taken seriously. Not in this case. I thought it was dealt with sensitively, but still staying true to the brutality of the experience. That’s a fine line to walk, and it was done well.
HOWEVER. The first niggle is a small one. There were a few typos still in the book, sometimes a word was used when you knew they meant another one. That happens sometimes, and it wasn’t more than three or four times throughout the book. I thought it was forgivable.
The almost dealbreaker? Talking about other women in the book as sluts. There were lots of macho guys, sleeping with a different girl every night, flaunting their muscles, etc. But female characters who weren’t wearing much were bitchy, and out to get Em. They were regularly referred to as sluts.
I am NOT ok with that. Particularly because it’s a double standard. But also because we don’t need, in books that are mostly written for women, yet more describing of good girls vs sluts. Lets just not go there.
The rest of the book was so good, it didn’t quite spoil it for me. In any other book, the slut-talk would have absolutely ruined it.
End result? 3.5/5 stars.
Libby Cole 