FIGHTING LOVE (Love to the Extreme #2) by Abby Niles-a review and guest post

Fighting Love
Love To The Extreme #2
by Abby Niles
Release Date: December 31, 2013
Genre: New Adult, contemporary, romance, erotic, MMA

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO / The Book Depository

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 31, 2013

Talk about kicking a fighter while he’s down.

Former Middleweight champion and confirmed bachelor Tommy “Lightning” Sparks has lost it all: his belt, his career, and now his home. After the devastating fire, he moves in with his drama-free best friend, Julie. One encounter changes everything and Julie is no longer the girl he’s spent his life protecting but a desirable woman he wants to take to his bed. Knowing his reputation, he’s determined to protect Julie more than ever—from himself.

Veterinarian Julie Rogers has been in love with Tommy since she was ten, but would love to get over the man. She’s quiet nights at home and a glass of wine. He’s clubbing all night and shots of tequila. As friends they work great. As a couple? No way in hell. She just can’t get her heart to agree. When she starts spending time with another fighter, the man who’s always treated her like a sister is suddenly not being very brotherly and enflames her body like never before.

Can two childhood friends make a relationship work, or will they lose everything because they stopped FIGHTING LOVE

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REVIEW: FIGHTING LOVE is the latest storyline in Abby Niles contemporary, adult Love to the Extreme series. Although this is the second in the series it can be read as a stand alone. This is Tommy and Julie’s storyline-Tommy is a former MMA champion and Julie is the woman he has loved most of his life.

The premise focuses on the friends to lovers relationship between two people who refuse to acknowledge the obvious-they have loved one another since they were ten years old but life and Tommy’s career as a fighter got in the way. Julie has always been at Tommy’s side-through the good times and the bad-but she refuses to allow herself to be ignored any longer. As the storyline progresses, our couple finally realize that the other one is the one who has always owned their heart but Julie will soon discover that Tommy is quick to forget about everything when his star, once again, begins to shine.

Abby Niles pulls the reader into a storyline about two people who have been friends for as long as they can remember but taking the relationship from friends to lovers is something they have both wanted to do for a very long time but neither one is willing to admit the truth. The reader follows as two people struggle with the push and pull of sexual attraction and the ensuing heat but watch as the friendship will falter when a familiar pattern re-emerges and forces one or both to walk away.

FIGHTING LOVE is a romantic, contemporary storyline where two people who have known each for twenty three years still have issues with trust, relationships and emotional growth as it pertains to one other. The progression from friends to something more is slow and hindered by Tommy’s inability to commit and Julie’s inability to trust. Tommy has always considered himself the protector and Julie needs protecting from the man himself. My only critique is the continuous reminder, throughout the story, about how long our couple has been friends.

If you are a fan of the MMA storyline premise, with a battered hero and a heroine who loves the hero for all of his faults, Fighting Love is the perfect romantic storyline-a little bit of heartbreak; a little bit of love and whole lot of anxious moments before our couple finally realize that two best friends can be lovers at the end of the day.

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

Abby Niles’ Top Ten Favorite Friends-to-Lovers Storylines

I’m about to admit something that will probably have many of you gasping in horror. I’ve never seen the obvious movie that should top this list: When Harry Met Sally. I know, right? When it came out in 1989, I was barely a teenager and it wasn’t on the approved movies my parents would let me see. As I got older, I just never got around to watching it. I really need to do that, don’t I?

So, to say the least, my list doesn’t have that movie on it, but I still have my favs, which consists of a mash-up of movies and TV shows.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Deacon: What? You’ve never thought about the repercussions of sleeping with a chick you’ve known your whole life? What are you, slow?

Yes, this movie is crass and it’s not for the faint-of-heart, but it. Is. FANTASTIC! I LOVE Seth Rogan. Like, seriously, I crush on the man. This movie is where that crush started. Zach and Miri are lifelong best friends, who share an apartment. Things aren’t going too well for them financially and they are close to being evicted from their apartment. To fix their problem, they decide to make an adult film to bring in some extra cash. In the process, they realize they feel more than just friendly feelings for each other. Seth Rogan is in it and it’s a Kevin Smith film, so there’s no punches pulled, but if you have not seen this, it is one of those movies you really need to see.

Credit: IMDb http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2509870080/tt1007028?ref_=tt_pv_md_2

The Ugly Truth

Credit: IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1649182720/tt1142988?ref_=ttmd_md_pv

Colin: [Abby is on a date with Colin. Mike is relaying instructions to her via an earpiece] I’m used to women I can figure out in five seconds, but I can’t do that with you.
Mike Chadway: [to Abby via earpiece] He’s an idiot. I figured you out in two.

Mike Chadway. *dreamy sigh* I guess it helps that he’s played by Gerard Butler, huh? This actually has a mix of enemies-to-lovers and friends-to-lovers. Mike and Abby don’t really hit it off when they first meet, but they do become friends while Mike is helping Abby land the man of her dreams: Colin. Mike is your crass rough-around-the-edges sort of guy. (Do you see a pattern with me? LOL.) Abby is an uppity perfectionists. The two of them together is just fun. Great flick.

Silver Linings Playbook

Credit: IMDp: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm308652288/tt1045658?ref_=ttmd_md_pv

Tiffany: You know, for a while, I thought you were the best thing that ever happened to me. But now I’m starting to think you’re the worst.
Pat: Of course you do. Come on, let’s go dance.

I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved this movie. Two broken people finding each other when they are at their lowest. It’s a beautiful movie and there is a reason it won so many awards. Pat has just been released from a psychiatric hospital after months of treatment for bipolar disorder and is determined to win back his ex-wife. He meets Tiffany, who has recently been widowed and she’s not the nicest person in the world either. But she needs a partner for a dance competition. She makes him a deal: if he partners with her, she’ll help him win his wife back. And their journey begins. These two just got to me *thumps my fist over my heart* right here.

Iron Man

Credit: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3656420608/tt1228705?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt

Pepper Potts: I need you…
Tony Stark: I need you too, that’s what I’m trying to…
Pepper Potts: …to leave. Now.

I can’t have a list without my favorite superhero couple: Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I love their relationship. The womanizing billionaire and his unimpressed assistant. It took one and half movies for Tony to realize what Pepper meant to him, but even before that, I loved watching the two of them together. She had a way of being able to handle Tony when no one else could.

Clueless

Credit: IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2184480512/tt0112697?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt

Cher: I am totally butt crazy in love with Josh!

Now this is stretching it some since this is really step-siblings, but still. I think this may be the first close relationship to romantic relationship that I can really remember. And who doesn’t love Paul Rudd? I still love Cher and Josh’s story, brings back fond memories.

Now on to the TV shows:

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Monica and Chandler (Friends)

Monica: “Do you know what’s weird?”
Chandler: “What?”
Monica: “This doesn’t feel weird!”
Chandler: “I know…”

Credit: IMDb: www.imdb.com/media/rm2184480512/tt0112697?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt

When it comes down to it, Monica and Chandler is the best example of a true friends-to-lovers. They’d known each other for years. They’d never had any romantic involvement or romantic feelings for the other. When they got together, it was just something that happened one emotional night. And they became the best couple to come out of Friends, even over Ross and Racheal, who I pulled for until the last episode. There was something magical about Monica and Chandler.

Castle and Beckett (Castle)

Castle: Do you know what Lanie and Esposito were fighting about?
Beckett: Everything, they both want to be together, but neither of them want to admit it.
Castle: Ugg…Why do people do that to themselves?
Beckett: Maybe they just don’t see it?
Castle: How can they not? It’s so obvious.

Credit: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm835169792/tt1219024?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt

Doesn’t that little excerpt above capture the entire Castle/Beckett relationship? LOL. Fans of the show spent the first season watching these two fight, then moving on to form a friendship where they could finish each other’s sentences, then fighting their growing feelings for the other. And now they are together. With any show, fans worry that once you get the two mains together, the show will lose some of its appeal, but it hasn’t, at least not for me. I like how the writers are balancing Castle and Beckett’s relationship with their everyday life. It feels natural.

Nick and Jess (New Girl)

Nick Miller: I realized something. I’d do anything for you, Jess.

Credit: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2035656192/tt1826940?ref_=ttmd_md_nxt

New Girl. I love this comedy and I LOVE Nick Miller. Yes, I do realize a relationship with someone like this in reality would most likely never work, but damn it, I still love this man. I guess that is why Jess is so perfect for him. Jess is an odd duck too. I’ve been rooting for them to get together since Season 2, when Nick really came into his own in the show. These two needed a friendship first, before a relationship would’ve ever worked between them. Yes, I said that. Sometimes, you have to learn a person’s oddness and quirks on a friendship level, learn to love that about them, before you can see past it to the person underneath. That’s Jess and Nick, especially Nick.

Sheldon and Amy (The Big Bang Theory)

Credit: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm644799744/tt0898266?ref_=ttmd_md_pv
Amy: I think a boy likes me!
Bernadette: Doesn’t he know you have a boyfriend?
Penny: She doesn’t have a boyfriend, she has a Sheldon.

Amy Farrah Fowler: Sheldon, what are you doing here?
Sheldon Cooper: The thought of you sitting in a darkened theater with a character like Stuart is repellent.

Sheldon Cooper: I believe I would like to alter the paradigm of our relationship.
Amy Farrah Fowler: I’m listening.
Sheldon Cooper: With the understanding that nothing changes, whatsoever. Physical or otherwise. I would not object to us no longer characterizing you as not my girlfriend.
Amy Farrah Fowler: Interesting. Now, try it without the quadruple negative.

Sorry. I had to include more than one quote to do Sheldon and Amy justice for anyone who may not watch The Big Bang Theory. For the rest of us, who just laughed? Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler. How could I not add these two? Anytime anyone referred to Amy as Sheldon’s girlfriend, he would insist, “Amy is not my girlfriend. She is a girl and she is my friend. But she is not my girlfriend.” I’ve loved watching Sheldon and Amy’s relationship more than I have Penny’s and Leonard’s (and I LOVE theirs). The reasoning is because Sheldon is well…Sheldon. And seeing his growth, while slow, since he met Amy is remarkable. Every time he takes that next step, it’s a cover-my-mouth-with-my-hand-oh-how-sweet moment for me. If you don’t watch the show, you won’t understand. If you do, well, you get what I’m saying.

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So who is your favorite friends-to-lovers?

I wanted to thank The Reading Café for hosting me today!

Abby

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Ever since Abby Niles picked up her first Sweet Valley High book in sixth grade and fell in love with Elizabeth and Todd, she’s been hooked on romance. By the time she reached high school, she was devouring meatier romances with pirates, cowboys and knights. She never imagined that those years of reading would one day lead to her becoming a published author.

In her late twenties, after having twins and becoming a stay-at-home mom, she started doodling stories to keep her sanity. Next thing she knew, she was actually submitting to publishing houses. And was immediately rejected. That didn’t stop her though. She found some kickass critique partners, honed her craft, and continued submitting.

And eventually sold.

Today, she juggles work, being a single mom, and writing. It’s not always easy, but hey, who said life was easy?

Abby is the author of the contemporary MMA romance, Extreme Love, the first book in her Love to the Extreme series. Fighting Love is scheduled to release in December of 2013 and Winning Love is scheduled for 2014. She is also the author of the dark paranormal romance series The Awakening: Aidan and the The Awakening: Liam and The Awakening: Britton. Both series are with Entangled Publishing. She also has a geeky romantic comedy, Defying Convention, with Carina Press.

She is represented by Maureen Walters at Curtis Brown, LTD.