This is a cute, fast read about two people who have always had feelings for each other but neither of them ever said or did anything about it. Alyssa is recently from the town’s “it boy”, Jared, and Ray is a professional boxer. The two cross paths when Ray decides to buy an old restaurant in their hometown. What seems like fate, is almost ruined when Jared tries to get between the two. Overall, I liked this book but I would’ve liked more details about Alyssa’s brother Rick’s accident and a little more drama at the end. I would’ve liked to see Jared have more consequences as well.
https://itsybitsybookbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IBBB_2020_logo_sq.png00Daryian Lucashttps://itsybitsybookbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IBBB_2020_logo_sq.pngDaryian Lucas2021-09-02 20:55:562021-09-06 23:11:36Fight for it by Amy L Gale – Review by Daryian Lucas
Reading Fighting Solitude by Aly Martinez in one sitting left me completely and utterly drained. This series has such a special place in my heart as I have watched the Page brothers overcome all of life’s detriments, obstacles, hurts, and deaths. I have cried, laughed, and cried some more.
Quarry’s story was no different for me than Till and Flint’s. It left me feeling raw emotionally and sad that the series has come to an end. The pain that Quarry felt when losing Mia is something anyone who has ever lost someone would know. The hurt, the anger, the betrayal all felt by this beautiful man was understandable.
Quarry Page is a hot, sexy man who for many years has had the heart of a young boy. The demons he has been forced to fight whether it be abandonment, physical ailments, or the feeling of helplessness in protecting those he loves has consumed him. The last thing he wants is to let down the people he loves and he feels he has had a lifetime of doing nothing but that since he seems to never be able to keep them safe.
Liv, has had to endure her own demons thanks to her p.o.s mother. She is strong but fragile. She has always sacrificed her own needs and desires for those around her and staying away from the only boy she ever loved falls into that category. No matter how much she loves Quarry she just can’t forget that with him she is not safe. The pain and anguish she feels realizing that is like a punch in the stomach.
While Liv continuously tries to navigate the balance between hiding her feelings and being a best friend to Quarry you can feel how it destroys her a little bit more each day. For her, having a piece of him, even as a best friend is better than having none of him.
The bond they share over Mia to the naked eye seems to be out of place. Some won’t understand the Mia aspect of the story but what I found was a key paragraph that for me put it all in perspective and became necessary in the catalyst for a part of each of their lives. Mia took two broken people and helped heal them in a way maybe no one else could from the pains of their past.
Can Quarry ever return Liv’s feelings? Will Liv ever share her feelings? As the story progresses and certain things from the past come to light I think it all falls right into place. I think that Quarry and Liv each end up exactly where they are meant to be. I also feel that Aly Martinez did a great job of tying up each of the Page brother’s stories and tying up a few “loose ends”. As usual her writing was fluid, heartfelt, and she never missed a beat.
https://itsybitsybookbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IBBB_2020_logo_sq.png00Colleen Noyeshttps://itsybitsybookbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IBBB_2020_logo_sq.pngColleen Noyes2016-02-29 12:04:562018-10-07 12:07:54Fighting Solitude (On the Ropes, #3) by Aly Martinez – Review by Colleen Noyes
Dear Lord, Fighting Shadows the second book by Aly Martinez in the On the Ropes Trilogy DID NOT disappoint! I had been not so patiently waiting for this books release since I read Fighting Silence and I was truly unable to put it down.
Flint Page, literally just took a bullet for his brother’s wife Eliza whom Flint is in love with. It’s a bullet that changes the course of his life, leaving him with more emotions than he knows what to do with. At 19 years old, he has spent the better part of his life, abandoned by his piece of crap parents to be raised with his brother Quarry, by his brother Till. Flint is convinced he is in love with Eliza and finds himself bitter, angry with rage, and deeply sad that he can’t have her. He knows that the love is real and she should be with him, not Till. “I was lying face down on a hospital bed, drugged out of my mind, and pinning over my brother’s pregnant wife. The same woman, who was the closest thing to a real mother I’d ever known. The levels of messed up could not even be described.” He feels as if he is a third wheel, “Like so often in our lives, Quarry and I were just part of the package.” His anger and hardness comes from such a raw and emotional place that is only enhanced by the troubles his family has had to endure. “I’d had to fight for everything. The same everything that had absolutely never been enough. For God’s sake, hearing and walking weren’t even guaranteed for us.”
Ash Victoria Mabie, was living her own miserable life, being forced to do the dirty work of her father’s choosing. “I hated every single second of robbing people, especially the nice ones who seemed like they genuinely cared about me. It was freezing outside, and he’d offered me his coat. Unlike my father, who had taken my shoes and shoved me out of the car two blocks away.” She was willing to do what she had to though, in the hopes of avoiding yet another move, to another new place. She was never able to settle, never allowed to enroll in school, never able to make friends or connections. “I’d been begging my father for as long as I could remember to let me go to school. But he’d always answered with a resounding no.” In her short 15 years of life she had lived in 22 houses, trailers, apartments, etc. All she wanted was to belong, to be accepted, worthy, and have something stable. When she met Quarry, her life was about to change but would it be for the better or would it leave her alone and gutted.
After Flint and Ash are introduced they begin to see threw the others facades. There are light hearted moments like Ash continuously stealing Flint’s wallet and there are heart wrenching moments like when Flint makes the mistake of telling Ash why he avoids family functions. In their own ways they are each running away when they should be running towards each other. Their lives are filled with hurt, betrayal, insecurities, and most of all fear. The fear of love and not being enough. When the mistakes they make tear them apart and leave each one alone will they be able to find their way back? If they find their way back to each other will they ever be able to forgive? Can Flint ever truly love a woman other than Eliza? Is Ash even capable of sticking around and not running? This story is about so much more than love, it’s about the journey people sometimes have to take to find their true identity and destiny. It’s about not giving up, when the deck is stacked against you and you are lost, hurt, and confused. It’s about realizing that what you think you want and need may not be your true reality. How will I ever make it to the winter for the conclusion of this trilogy?
https://itsybitsybookbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IBBB_2020_logo_sq.png00Colleen Noyeshttps://itsybitsybookbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/IBBB_2020_logo_sq.pngColleen Noyes2015-07-08 13:18:042018-10-07 13:19:53Fighting Shadows (On the Ropes, #2) by Aly Martinez – Review by Colleen Noyes
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