KNOCKED OUT BY LOVE (Love to the Extreme #5) by Abby Niles-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 15, 2016

Brody Minton has loved Scarlett Harris for years. But she’s his best friend’s wife, so he’s worked hard to keep his distance. Hearing the marriage is over shouldn’t change anything. Only an ass would make a move on a friend’s ex… Except Scarlett wants help getting back in the dating game, and Brody’s torn. If he helps her out, he can keep an eye on her and guard her vulnerable heart. But having the woman he’s longed for for years in arms’ reach is hell on a man’s restraint, no matter how iron strong his will.

But loving Scarlett is only half the fight.

All Scarlett Harris wants is to get away for a while and rethink her life after filing for divorce from her lying, cheating bastard of a husband. The gorgeous Bahamas sounds like the perfect escape, except she’s booked in very resort Brody “The Iron” Minton is staying at for his sister’s wedding. Now her ex’s best friend is dogging her every move, and is a witness to her first pathetic attempts at flirting in years. If Brody isn’t going to leave her alone, then she’ll just recruit him to help get her reacquainted with her single self.

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REVIEW: KNOCKED OUT BY LOVE is the fifth installment in Abby Niles’s contemporary, adult LOVE TO THE EXTREME erotic, romance, MMA story line. This is MMA fighter Brody Minton, and elementary school teacher Scarlett Harris’s story line. KNOCKED OUT BY LOVE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Brody and Scarlett) KNOCKED OUT BY LOVE looks at the forbidden romance/ unrequited love between an MMA fighter and his best friend’s soon to be ex-wife. While in the Bahamas for his sister’s ‘almost’ wedding, Brody Minton’s spies his best friend’s wife attempting to flirt and pick up a man who isn’t her husband. When Brody confronts Scarlett about her actions, our heroine pushes Brody away without revealing the truth about that her husband had been having an affair and they were currently in the process of seeking a divorce. What ensues is the building relationship between a woman whose self-esteem has been destroyed by the man she once thought she loved, and a man who has been in love with his best friend’s wife for as long as he can remember.

KNOCKED OUT BY LOVE is a story line that looks at four different relationships all either at the beginning or near the end but the focus of the story looks at Brody’s love for a woman whose husband wasn’t faithful, and the emotional back and forth about one man’s duty to friendship or seeking out the woman he loves. To complicate matters, our heroine isn’t willing to put her heart on the line and offers up a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship that Brody hopes will turn into something more. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive.

The world building focuses on romance, relationships, friendships and love. The MMA action is limited although Brody is in for the fight of his career. As to the family and friends, there are a number of questionable circumstances where meddling becomes heartbreaking and painful when Scarlett’s self-esteem takes another hit for the final knock down. There is plenty of personal drama for all concerned but the maturity level of some of the actions are questionable and disconcerting-Scarlett’s naivete is hampered by her inability to let go. Scarlett’s best friend Delaney, and Brody’s cousin Blake are about to face an unexpected future.

KNOCKED OUT BY LOVE is a passionate story. The premise is engaging; the characters are energetic; the romance is fated. The melodrama and conflict made for some uneasy moments especially when one’s future happiness is determined by a mindset not so easily bent.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Extreme Love
Fighting Love
Winning Love
Healing Love
Knocked Out by Love

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy