| Title | : | Out for the Count (Worth the Fight, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 240 |
| Publication | : | First published December 8, 2014 |
Huntley Wittaker left a lot behind when she moved to Reno—her family business, her overprotective brothers, her psychopathic ex-boyfriend and her Southern Belle persona. In Nevada, she can be whatever she wants to be. And what Huntley wants to be is a fighter. All she needs is the right trainer. The domineering brute of a biker who answers her ad isn't it, but he's all she's got.
Bracken has a job to do and this time, he plans on succeeding, even if that means getting sweaty with Huntley outside of the ring. But as he and Huntley grow closer and Bracken's lies turn into truths, they'll be faced with a different kind of fight—the one for each other.
Out for the Count (Worth the Fight, #3) Reviews
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When I read book two of the series, I remember wanting to pursue a couple guys' stories. Bracken was one of them so I was thrilled to see that this was his story. It was also very cool to see that the MMA fighter was the heroine just to mix things up a bit. I enjoyed the strong dose of romantic suspense to this one and the sass that was a strong part of the romance.
This is book three in a series that can be read as a standalone though it is directly connected to book two.
The story opens with Huntley Wittaker determined to make her own way in life on her own terms. She left behind her southern roots, her broken and grieving family and now she is here in Reno set to pursue a new path if only she can find a decent trainer. Unfortunately, her choices are slim to none with the obnoxious jerk who sneers and calls her 'Creampuff' as her only viable option. But with things back home getting bad and money needed to hold onto the family business, Huntley accepts the dubious help of Bracken.
Bracken has had a rough year. He got pegged as the fall guy for the drug bust gone bad and only the Internal Affairs guy handling him believes in him, he has to go deep undercover with a criminal motorcycle club to pursue what happened with his case, and now the trail leads to an illegal fight club in Reno where he has to take on the training of a woman fighter to get in close and investigate the club for his drug King Pin. Bracken hates using Huntley and he hates his whole situation so he makes things rough and he's a real jerk. It gets more complicated when his attraction to Huntley threatens to be way more than an itch he can scratch. Meanwhile, he has the Russian mob, a motorcycle club, an Internal Affairs prick and Huntley all riding him to make good.
Oys, this one was tough. I struggled with this book because there were elements I liked, elements I didn't like and elements that left me skimming. I think the best way I can say it is that it had a strong potential for more, but didn't quite make it. The pace was good and kept things moving. The worldbuilding was well drawn and took the time describe the MMA training world and cross with the criminal activity going on in the background.
The sporting element was very prevalent which is a good thing since its a sports romance. I really liked that Huntley's training was emphasized so it made sense that she was able to go from unknown inexperienced amateur to a huge bout in Vegas. There was one thing that did push my credulity. Huntley's victories against male featherweights was within the realm of possibility, but there was this one big scene when she fights a huge guy that a heavyweight and experienced fighter like Bracken had to work to take down and here little Huntley is not just holding her own, but beats him. Super cool result and I was totally rooting her on, but not very believable. The Ka-Pow factor and it worked for that.
There are suspense elements in both Huntley's life and Bracken's. As soon as the situations were laid out, I pegged the villains and sat there waiting- and waiting- for the two to clue in. It was hard because it wasn't a matter of me as the reader having extra info that they didn't have. They knew what I knew and yet there we sat until the end when the lightbulbs came on.
In particular, I really found the stuff with Huntley's past distracting more than anything because it felt like drama for drama's sake. There was already the conflict caused by her prep for the fight, involvement with Bracken and the trouble at the Warehouse without all that stuff from her past. Seriously the murder of her mom, sabotage of her family business, and conniving to gain control of said business and stealing of all her mom's stuff pointed only one direction and this had been going on for years. Huntley, her family, the police? Nobody suspects the obvious? Hmm...
The romantic pair had good chemistry, but then again sometimes I felt like I was reading a situation of sibling rivalry. As romantic leads they were drawn with a heavy hand so that the snarls and growls didn't appeal at times. Bracken antagonized Huntley and she antagonized him. They blew hot and cold and not at the same time so it was really just a matter of them timing it right. Hotness factor was there as they trained together and produced a ton of heat and spice. Bracken in action in the ring and as an undercover cop were lust-worthy scenes and Huntley taking what Bracken taught her and bringing down her opponents were pretty exciting too.
This leads to my take on the characters. Bracken's character probably made it the closest when it came to favorite though I really wanted to throat punch him a few times. He's had a rough childhood, he's been wronged and he's coming off of a deep undercover gig that ripped into his very soul so his gritty, meanness that coated strong honorable motives made sense and worked.
Huntley took me longer to appreciate. It was one of those things where the book is telling me what sort of character she is, but I didn't see her that way so it was hard for me to reconcile the two. I could more believe that Huntley grew into the person I was told that she was because the Huntley at the beginning of the book was more potential than actuality. I saw her as young, naive, and determined not strong and independent, but she does get there.
So, while I had some issues, there was enough to keep me going and excited for the finish. I would recommend this book/series to those who like some grit, darkness and spicy heat to their sports romances.
My thanks to Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. -
I love a heroine who can kick ass and take romantic prisoners. Michele Mannon has created a tough yet sexy heroine...an MMA fighter who is also feminine too. The hero is a tough undercover cop with trust issues and the chemistry between these two burns up the pages. Add a compelling suspense plot and you've got a terrific book!
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This was ok. There were things that did bother me. The scene (small that is was) with the 3 OW and also the heroine though feisty came across as a little to eager at times. I prefer my hero’s to do the chasing. Other than that it was a fair read.
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Slick‘s review posted on
Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
3 STARS
Sometimes reviews are hard to write and this is one of them; I loved many aspects of Out for the Count yet I spent a good portion of this book not completely sold on the hero because to be honest he was kind of an ass. While the heroine was pretty damn kick ass and most of the time I loved her there were other times when I felt she let her hormones overrule her smart and savvy side which bugged me. I have enjoyed all the books in this series and one of the things I loved was the intricate plot lines that kept the tension going and added to the story; in this book I felt the plot was shallow and it was way too easy to spot the “bad guy” from the beginning so for most of the book I was thinking “just get on with it” because it was dragging the love story down not to mention I felt like it made the hero who was a dedicated and decorated police officer look stupid. All of that being said, the fact that the hero and heroine despite all of the obstacles and their baggage formed this strange little quasi-friendship/lust fest that turned in to more and watching them accept what was happening and even realize that having each other in their lives wasn’t the worst idea in the world was pretty awesome. A hero I would have loved to lay out with a haymaker on more than one occasion, a heroine who impressed me with her strength and ballsy attitude, a suspense plot that drove me crazy, and a sexy as hell love story all made for an entertaining story.
In the last book of this series we were introduced to Bracken and I’ll admit I was wondering if he’d get a story of his own however for most of this book I really wanted to hurt him. I understand he was on a job, I get that his life over the last year had been craptastic, and more than that it was easy to see he was tired and ready to clear his name and move on but there were so many moments where I just felt he didn’t treat the heroine with the respect she deserved and earned on more than one occasion. There were moments when I could see the good in him but then he’d turn right back around and act like a complete ass again and not always because he was trying to keep his distance from the heroine to protect her. I kind of got the feeling asshole was his middle name in all things. Yes, towards the VERY end he showed the support and love she needed but by that time I was kind of over him.
I wish more heroines were written like Huntley; women who can take care of themselves, who believe in their abilities, who aren’t afraid to be whom they are around men, and who don’t let men run their lives (or they don’t any more). Life wasn’t always like that for Huntley it took her brother’s overbearing nature and a really bad boyfriend incident to make her stand up and take charge of her life but I admire her so much for doing so even though at times she let Bracken run over her.
There was a suspense angle to this story that for me just really didn’t work. It was predictable and at times a little over blown with characters that instead of being scary made me laugh because they were so stereotypical.
As much as I enjoyed the first book in this series, and loved the second book, this book fell a little flat and left me disappointed because I’ve grown to expect more from this author. Had the heroine not been awesome and their relationship so intriguing this book would have had a lower rating from me. -
~*~My Thoughts~*~
A 5 star rating
Wow this book was great. I have to say that I read the first book in this series when it first came out and I think I gave it a 3 star rating. I was really hoping to like this one more and boy did I. Michele's writing has officially rocked my world. This book had an amazing storyline and I didn't want to put it down for a second. This book had a little bit of everything for an alpha male, a kick butt heroine, romance, comedy, and suspense. It definitely wasn't lacking in any department. Huntley was an awe-inspiring female lead by far one of my favorite leading ladies from here on out. Bracken HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THINGS ALPHA. This man was amazing I want him gift wrapped and sent to my door ASAP. All I can honestly say is read this book and read it now!
Received a complimentary copy from NetGalley for an honest review. -
I admit, I seem to have a turbulent relationship with Michele Mannon's Worth The Fight series. In the first book, I simply couldn't click with the premise, in the second, though I stumbled at the beginning, I caught up and loved it, and this one, I find it hard to explain how I felt. Which is why I'm going smack in the middle in my rating.
Bracken Kelly is an undercover cop. We met him in the previous book as the brother of the hero, MMA fighter turned model, Caden Kelly. Since he was still undercover and going through some tough stuff, we never got a chance to know him.
We've watched all the cop shows, we know what we're dealing with when it comes to undercover cops who get involved with gangs who fight and deal drugs and god knows what else. So, by the time we meet him again, Bracken is not in a good place psychologically. He left behind a job that went wrong, and now is trying to finish off another one to clear his name. I liked the fact that no matter he was the hero, because of his past with his previous gang, he was no gentleman. He wasn't a beastly caveman, mind you, but he didn't do sweet either. And I do admit, at first it bothered me a little that he was so cold-even though I like the cold ones. But the way he respected Huntley and her determination at wanting to win an MMA title for herself was admirable. He could've treated her just like any other male fighter and underestimated her, but he chose to take her and her efforts seriously and gave her the respect she-and all the female fighters- deserved. Wise man.
In a world where women can still be undermined in certain aspects of life, Huntley was a woman on a mission. Having suffered her own trauma years before, she left her hometown to reinvent herself to be able to fight her own battles, both physically and emotionally. Being a female MMA fighter must be a challenge, I gather. Especially in such a male dominated sport. But Huntley, being the fighter that she was, handled herself pretty good. She was determined and strong, never letting anyone walk over her, and she most definitely earned her respect from her male counterparts. There will always be those who'll only see her in her tiny outfit exposing skin, sweating and wrestling with another woman, but a good chunk of the spectators in the book looked past that. I liked it. And I liked the parts where her fights and her technique was described also-sometimes in books of this genre the sports they talk about can be overlooked a bit but it wasn't much the case here.
Aside from Huntley's quest for title in MMA, and Bracken's struggle to solve his case, there was also a somewhat of a mystery involving Huntley's family. I wished that mystery was explored a bit more, I like a good mystery as much as the next gal after all. I felt like some of it was told in a hurry, the main focus being Huntley and Bracken's romance. The same I felt with Bracken's case. Maybe that's why I'm going for the middle rating. It was a good story, but it lacked something. Perhaps, since they were thrown in, the mysteries could've been more challenging to me as a reader, more attractive, or perhaps it's because in certain scenes, I thought Huntley was being overly offended-even though I could understand that. Or maybe, it was because the romance-though fitting in both chemistry and motivation- simply didn't touch me all too well. I liked that the two had their pain and determination in common, and their desire of course, and they did spend a lot of time what with Bracken signing up as her instructor and all, but it felt as if a collage in a movie, complete with inspirational background music. I couldn't help but think we missed some quality bonding time between Huntley and Bracken. -
Out for the Count is a part of the Worth the Fight Series. It’s book 3 and each book focuses on a different couple. Out for the Count is the story of Huntley Wittaker and Bracken Kelly. It’s a sports romance with a little bit of a motorcycle crew element and a twist of mystery and crime. Mannon won’t be pigeonholed in her writing, she’ll bring it all to you!
I’d like to start of with my one con, to just get it out of the way. It isn’t even really a con but a personal preference that others may feel the same way about. It is very hard for me to read a book written in the 3rd person and I am not sure why. Before I found the romance genre almost everything I read was 3rd person and now after the many first person POV’s I have read my mind seems untrained for the 3rd person. My concentration is all over the place with almost any novel of this sort. Obviously this is not something that will sway my decision to read a book because I read, finished, and gave 4 stars to Out for the Count but it’s just something that is not my preference in the romance genre.
Huntley is one badass woman. She is strong physically and mentally, an aspiring professional fighter (something we usually only see in the males of the books we read) and also has “Witt” inside her head to complete the package. She has lived a rather sheltered life growing up with her father and brothers always watching overhead. She’s ready to explore the things that are important to her in her life, live life for herself, and branch out a little.
Bracken is a good guy wrapped in a broody and dark package. The stress of his job and the not so good things he has to do to keep his cover lead him to think he’s no good and dangerous. Oh hell, who am I kidding… he’s definitely dangerous but not in the way Bracken believes he is.
I am a fan of this series in a whole and I love that Mannon takes a MMA story and makes it anything but typical. It’s not in every novel that we see the female lead as the kick ass fighter character. The element of crime and mystery gives it an edge and keeps your mind wondering while you read.
I recommend you read this series and if you haven’t already start at the beginning with Knock Out, Logan Rettino and Keane O'Shea’s story. Then move on to Tap Out and finally Out for the Count. Each one is great and each is an MMA romance novel. Michele Mannon loves her fighters! -
I love when I completely forget what the book is about before I start reading it and then I’m surprised by something that was clearly spelled out in the blurb. I totally forgot that Huntley was a fighter and a totally kick butt one at that. It was such a great surprise. It was also a great surprise to see Caden’s brother Bracken as the hero in this book cause I totally forgot that part too. I liked what I saw of Bracken in Tap Out and his gruff, biker persona really intrigued me. And boy was I right to be intrigued by him. What an interesting, complex man. I don’t know how he could isolate himself the way he did, going undercover for months at a time in dangerous biker gangs. His childhood definitely propelled him in that direction, but still that life couldn’t have been easy.
Huntley’s story was a little different, she had a great family until her mother died, then everything changed and things went to crap. I really enjoyed her backstory and the mystery that unraveled while the larger mystery that she inadvertently was drawn into was uncovered around her. The suspense in this book was heightened and really got the blood pumping. Then there was the romance between Huntley and Bracken. Holy crap were they hot together. The sex was heated and not always sweet. They fought a lot, but only because they were both so stubborn.
I really enjoyed this book. I think it was my favorite of the three. I don’t know if Michele Mannon plans on writing any more in this series, but I hope she does.
Arc provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review -
My rating: 3.5 of 5 ⭐️
*****
I like Michele Mannon's style of writing and enjoyed the previous books in this series.
What attracted me was the portrayal of the heroine as very feminine yet extremely athletic and fierce as an aspiring MMA fighter. Huntley fits that bill well. She seems to be able to use her sweeter side to softly handle many situations, but when necessary is not afraid to let her fists do the talking. And boy do they talk.
Bracken is a rough and tumble undercover cop who is low on trust. He has good reason since things didn't go so well on his last job. The pretty bartender is supposed to be his next focus, but he has trouble keeping his mind in the game when he is finding himself distracted by her.
The story was a bit confusing to say the least. I couldn't get a good grip on why it was necessary to use Huntley as a means to get into the fightclub, when Bracken is a fighter in his own right. It also wasn't entirely clear to me if this was a standalone or whether I had missed a book somewhere... It felt like at times I was missing parts of the story and I wanted more dialogue, more interaction between Huntley and Bracken and a bit more context for each of them individually.
The chemistry between them was undeniable, though, and that along with the heat they generated, is what carried a lot of the story for me. That, and the kick ass abilities of Huntley..... I love a woman who packs a punch!! Pun intended. -
Another poignant, well informed book from Michele Mannon. What I love about her books is that she writes about MMA in a way that is easy on the reader yet well researched and respectable to the sport. Most people think its about violence and pent up aggression but like all martial arts, it’s about discipline and patience. A way to channel your energy.
Bracken is an undercover detective who has been undercover for so long that it’s chipped away at his psyche. It’s almost like his losing the human part of himself and his interactions with Huntley, slowly pieces him back together. His character starts of gruff and somewhat rude and obnoxious but with all good books, he slowly grew and evolved as a hero. It was done so subtly which made the moments real and convincing.
I love that Huntley was not a butch, vicious fighter but yet a woman who found the sport when she needed to take self-defence lessons as a way to cope with her mother’s death. There was a nice back story from both characters POV, although it was easy to piece together who her mother’s murderer was from the very beginning. The biker back story took me awhile to properly understand because there was so much detail but it all came together in the end.
I love Michele Mannon’s MMA Books. Can’t wait for the next one!
More reviews on
www.bella-mi.co.za -
Copy courtesy if NETGALLEY for review
The female lead was what attracted me to this story. We usually read about the male MMA fighter. Huntley was tough but still feminine. She was also very smart. There were times that was placed in doubt. Bracken was the tough undercover cop. He may have played his role too well. Both characters have their flaws but they worked well for the story. The story line was a little predictable. I thought bracken should have been a little street smart when it came to his partner. I was more interested in the secondary story of huntley's murdered mother. That side story kind if fizzled out.,The ending in general kind of fizzled. I enjoyed other books by this author and will continue to look for more., -
Intelligence and a knock out punch
The first half of this book seemed slow to me. It then picked up speed and you realized why you were given all the information in the first first half. This story of an independent woman, Huntley, who lived under her brothers and father's thumbs. She moves to Reno to start training for an MMA contest. She started taking self-defense lessons after her mother was killed by an intruder and she loved it. She started working as a bartender attached to a MMA venue. She advertises for a trainer and in steps Bracken who is an undercover cop trying to find out if drugs are being sold out of the bar/venue.
I enjoyed the second half of this book tremendously. -
I was pleasantly surprised once I got into the story that the heroine, Huntley, was not just a sexy southern bell running away from her problems. Huntley is a fierce aspirant MMA fighter who knows what she wants and isn’t going to let anyone stop her from getting it, even though she has some pretty deep family issues. It is rare that you see a female lead who is confident in who she is, where she comes from and can handle anything thrown her way. Now don’t worry the male lead will not disappoint you. Bracken is one sexy hunk of a man, being an undercover cop posing as a bad ass biker. The chemistry between him and Huntley will leave you sizzling and wanting more. -
I really thought I would like this book. Not only is there MMA in it, but also an undercover cop. Who could want more? However, sadly I'm just not connecting with the writing. I really don't like Bracken and things aren't moving along quickly enough to hold my interest.
I may give this another chance later on in the year, but for now I'm going to mark it as DNF at 30% and move on. I can feel it's going to be a struggle to get through as I've skimmed ahead and that's not what I need right now. -
It took me a bit to get through the book, it was good but I just wasn't in the mood. Glad I pushed through because, in the end, I completely enjoyed it!
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*NETGALLEY*
