Reviewed by Tammy
TITLE: Losing It
SERIES: A Ringside Romance, #4
AUTHOR: Christine d’Abo
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 229 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 19, 2018
BLURB:
Finn Miller doesn’t do social. He works his IT job from home as often as he can to avoid people. If it weren’t for his weekly training sessions at Ringside Gym, he might never leave his apartment. And he only does that because of Leo, the gym member he’s in love with. When Finn gets talked into attending a speed dating fund-raiser at the gym, his greatest wish is to have the courage to try to say something, anything, to Leo.
Justin McCormick has spent most of his adult life being used, whether playing a corporate heavy, or acting as guard dog for his ward. So, when he leaves Vancouver for a fresh start in Toronto, he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself.
The moment Justin sees Finn at a speed dating event, he knows there’s no way he’ll make it without a little help, so he offers to coach Finn on the art of conversation. What he doesn’t count on is his unexpected attraction to this shy boxer, or his fear that if Finn gets his way, Justin might lose out on his best chance at love.
REVIEW:
In Losing It we meet Finn Miller and Justin McCormick. Finn is a friend of Devan and his husband Eli (who we met in Making it) an IT guru, shy, still trying to overcome his traumatic childhood of being bullied, teased and physically abused. We met Justin in Faking It (he worked for Grady Barnes father).
Justin has decided to move to Toronto in his bid to start his life over away from the destructive influence of his previous boss. Finn and Justin meet at the Ringside Gym when Justin realises he has to ask Grady for help in finding a job. Finn is there having his training session with Eli. After Grady helps Justin get a job as project manager for the apartments owner Zack Anderson is having built upstairs from the gym, Justin moves into the old apartment that’s already there.
From the moment Finn and Justin meet there’s an instant attraction there but Finn ignores it because he’s had a crush on Leo, one of the gym junkies, it seems like forever. Whilst they’re at a speed dating fundraiser Justin notices how awkward Finn is around other people, most especially men. This is when Justin offers to help Finn win Leo by giving him coaching sessions! Yet the more time they spend together the closer they get and Justin notices that Finn doesn’t get choked up or nervous whilst they’re talking to each other.
This relationship is fraught with obstacles from day one but as they work through their issues they both discover that, yes, this is something worth working for. Finn go on a date with Leo after Justin spends an inordinate amount of time coaching him n what to say, how to act and react in all possible scenarios, they even go so far as to have Justin wear an in-ear receiver, so he can listen to and then tell Finn how to respond to the conversation! If you’ve read the first three books in this series, you are in for a real treat with Losing It that I have no hesitation in recommending it to all m/m romance lovers.
RATING: 
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