BETTING BAD (Reform #1) by Cathryn Fox

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 30, 2018

I just walked away from eight years in state prison, went up against some of the meanest bastards on the inside, but until I rode my bike down the rain soaked street of Middletown, Chicago, I had no idea what real fear was.

Home.

I have to face my family, find a way to make up for a son’s recklessness.

Secrets.

I was forced to keep them all those years. There’d been no choice but to walk away from a football scholarship and…Sara. The girl I’ve never stopped loving.

Reform.

Now I’m back, ready to re-enter a society leery of trusting convicted felons. Ready to face…Sara. I’d broken what was between us, turned her world upside down. I know I need to stay away from the girl who means everything to me. But when danger enters her life, I’m willing to lose it all again to protect her. Except I soon realize the biggest threat to Sara, is me.

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REVIEW: BETTING BAD is the first instalment in Cathryn Fox’s contemporary, adult REFORM erotic, romance series. This is ex-con Tyler Barrett, and twenty-eight year old Sara Ramsey’s story line.

Told from dual first person points of view (Tyler and Sara) BETTING BAD follows the second chance romance between ex-con Tyler Barrett, and Sara Ramsey. Nine years earlier, with a football scholarship in hand, Tyler found himself on the wrong side of the law facing fifteen years in prison, and the loss of the only woman he would ever love. Fast forward to present day wherein a hardened Tyler finds himself back where it all began in Middletown, Chicago in the hopes of recapturing all that he lost. Enter Sara Ramsey, Tyler’s former girlfriend, and the woman he hasn’t stopped loving. What ensues is the rekindling and secret romance between Tyler and Sara, and the potential fall-out as Tyler is targeted by someone from his past.

High school sweethearts Tyler and Sara had their whole lives ahead of them including plans to open their own sporting goods store but for a moment of passion that landed our hero in prison for a crime meant to protect someone he loved. Sara has struggled in the years since Tyler broke her heart including having never moved on from what was or what could have been. With Tyler’s return Sara begins to hope for a future with the man she lost years before, a man who keeps secret the how and why.

The relationship between Tyler and Sara is one of second chances; a rekindling romance that Sara keeps hidden in light of her father’s inability to forgive and forget the heartbreak and destruction nine years earlier. Hoping to reclaim his status as the man in her life, Tyler begins to make amends beginning with Sara’s father, and his offer to help coach the local high school football team. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful secondary and supporting characters. We are introduced to Tyler’s siblings: sixteen year old, sight-impaired Gracie, college student Alex, mechanic Lucas, and their mother Viola: Sara’s father and high school football Coach Ramsey, as well as Tyler’s prison ‘brothers’-Deacon, Justin, Ryder, Jamie and Christian; and college professor Caleb Douglas. I am looking forward to many more stories featuring Tyler’s brothers from another mother.

BETTING BAD is a story of family and friendship; forgiveness and love; struggles and redemption. The premise is engaging; the characters are sassy and charismatic; the romance is hot and spicy.

I did have an issue with the quick conflict resolution, and the four-year jump in time where the reader is not privy to what happened –I am hoping the author will address some of the missing information in future story lines.

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Reviewed by Sandy