Xavier (Cocky Cage Fighter Legacy #1) by Lane Hart-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 7, 2020

Xavier Malone returned to Maryland for his ten-year high school reunion to get away from all the drama in Seattle.

He never thought he would spend the week second-guessing every decision he’s ever made or seriously consider trading in his suit and tie for a chance to get in the cage.

Most of all, he wasn’t supposed to fall for Cassidy, his childhood best friend.

As Xavier makes plans to pursue his lifelong dream, following in the footsteps of his father Jax, a legend in the fighting world, he convinces himself that he needs Cass in his corner more than he needs her in his bed.

But Cass has longed for Xavier to see her as more than a friend for years and is tired of waiting. Now that he’s back, she’s not going to waste her chance to finally tell him how she feels.

There’s only one thing that can stand in the way of Xavier and Cass’s happiness, and that’s Xavier’s unfinished business with his estranged wife.

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REVIEW:XAVIER is the first instalment in Lane Hart’s contemporary, adult COCKY CAGE FIGHTER LEGACY erotic, romance series-a spin off and second generation series from the author’s Cocky Cage Fighter series. This is attorney and son of Jaxson and Page (JAX #1) Xavier Malone, and sport’s store owner Cassidy Brooks’ story line. XAVIER and the Cocky Cage Fighter Legacy series can be read as a stand alone. You do not have to have read the previous series to follow or understand the current timeline.

Told form dual first person perspectives (Xavier and Cassidy) XAVIER follows the friends to lovers relationship between twenty-eight year old attorney Xavier Malone, and sports store owner Cassidy Brooks. For close to twenty years Xavier and Cassidy have been best friends but Xavier had placed our heroine in the friend zone, leaving a heart broken Cassidy to continually pick up the pieces of her shattered heart. College, law school and marriage meant Xavier moved on with his life, only keeping in touch with his best friend a few times per year. With their high school tenth anniversary just days away, Xavier returns to his home town in Maryland, without his wife, considering a future in the MMA. Spending his days and nights with Cassidy forced Xavier to see the bigger picture including a life with Cassidy Brooks, and the pending divorce from his estranged wife Camilla. What ensues is the friends to lovers romance and relationship between Cassidy and Xavier, and the potential fall-out as Xavier’s lies by omission place our heroine in a precarious situation, breaking her heart, all over again.

Xavier Malone is tired of the daily grind of legal proceedings, and hopes to enter the world of the MMA, as his father and uncle, and sister before him but his failed marriage is a problem for his family, and his attraction to his best friend Cassidy Brooks may interfere in his training regimen. Cassidy Brooks has been in love with her best friend for as long as she can remember. Hoping to keep their relationship platonic, Cassidy struggles to keep her feelings for Xavier in the friend zone until a drunken night reveals the truth.

The relationship between Xavier and Cassidy is a friends to lovers wherein Xavier’s current relationship status becomes a bone of contention between our leading couple. Xavier knows that his marriage is over but convincing his soon to be ex-wife is another matter. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters. We are reintroduced to Xavier’s parents Jax and Page (Jax #1), his uncle Jude (Jude #2), his sister and fellow MMA fighter Macy, as well as a number of Cassidy’s ‘friends with benefits’ and her Fantasy Football players.

XAVIER is a story of family, friendships, betrayal and trust. A story of unrequited love, revelations, secrets and struggle. The premise is entertaining and spicy; the romance is arousing and lively; the characters are sexy and inspiring.

If you are interested in reading the original COCKY CAGE FIGHTER series, all nine books are currently available in a boxset for ONLY 99¢ at Amazon.