A review by seshathawk
Below the Belt by Sarah Mayberry
4.0
I have a hard time with romance novels, depending on my mood--they often don't work for me even when I'm bored and don't work for me as comfort reads. The tropes are sometimes too much for me and I can't do it.
I read this after hearing an interview with the author on the SPTB podcast (then the DBSA podcast) and gave it a shot. After having spent most of my life reading fantasy and historical novels, contemporary romance works so much better for me now--they just feel easier to believe, to me.
Started this on Scribd last year, got about halfway through it and then it vanished from Scribd. I recently saw it appear again and basically read this in a day: skimmed the first half to catch myself up, and then read the rest. I really enjoyed this book. It didn't feel tropey to me, and I felt like there were pretty legitimate reasons for the characters to be drawn to each other.
More importantly, to me, the ending did not revolve around the characters getting together or admitting love to each other. It revolved around Jamie's emotional arc, one that had nothing to do with Cooper. He helped her get to where she needed to be, but the resolution of the story involved her resolution of bad feelings. I also loved that it's a story about a female boxer! I loved that she was tough and determined to win.
I thought about giving it three stars, since it wasn't an amazing book, but gave it four because overall, I have no qualms about it. It was a good contemporary romance novel about a female boxer with emotional problems who convinces a male trainer to take her on, and I enjoyed it.
I read this after hearing an interview with the author on the SPTB podcast (then the DBSA podcast) and gave it a shot. After having spent most of my life reading fantasy and historical novels, contemporary romance works so much better for me now--they just feel easier to believe, to me.
Started this on Scribd last year, got about halfway through it and then it vanished from Scribd. I recently saw it appear again and basically read this in a day: skimmed the first half to catch myself up, and then read the rest. I really enjoyed this book. It didn't feel tropey to me, and I felt like there were pretty legitimate reasons for the characters to be drawn to each other.
More importantly, to me, the ending did not revolve around the characters getting together or admitting love to each other. It revolved around Jamie's emotional arc, one that had nothing to do with Cooper. He helped her get to where she needed to be, but the resolution of the story involved her resolution of bad feelings. I also loved that it's a story about a female boxer! I loved that she was tough and determined to win.
I thought about giving it three stars, since it wasn't an amazing book, but gave it four because overall, I have no qualms about it. It was a good contemporary romance novel about a female boxer with emotional problems who convinces a male trainer to take her on, and I enjoyed it.