REVIEWED by Anna Lynn
TITLE: The Artist’s Boxer
AUTHOR: Este Holland
SERIES: Yours to Protect #1
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 247 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2019
BLURB:
He won the championship. Now he must run for his life.
Winning the welterweight championship was everything Rake had worked for. Now it’s all come crashing down, and he has no choice but to flee his hometown of Las Vegas.
When he stops in a small town in Utah, Rake meets a man who makes him forget all about the danger he’s in.
Rio has a good life. He loves his family and career, but when Rake blows into town, something stirs in his blood…something like desire.
Rio doesn’t do relationships, not since the last disaster, but Rake makes it impossible for him to say no.
When Rake comes clean about what he’s running from, Rio just might have a way to help.
Now the two of them must fight to free Rake from the man who took everything…and stay alive until the end.
REVIEW:
A boxer, indirectly involved with organized crime. An artist, with so much talent, of mixed heritage, living a quiet life. Two individuals from two totally different life. What could they possibly have in common?
This book is hot, hot, hot!!! I have always loved my novels with some action and mystery in it, not just in the bedroom, but real, bone-crunching, gun-wielding, hair-raising action in my stories. It makes a book so much more interesting, so this story is right up my alley, as they say.
Nothing gets the blood going than being on the edge of your seat anticipating the next gripping part of the story, couple that with hot, steamy sex, you get a ride that is more than what you have been expecting!
Though the plot is a little predictable given the setting and the occupation of one of our MCs, a few twists and turns were provided, and given the background of our second MC, we have a start of an action-packed story of two lives intertwined by circumstances and how they are holding their own against the mob. Vegas is widely known not only for gambling but for organized crime as well. So when you talk about gambling, the mob would most likely be a synonym of sorts. With the mob in the picture, you can expect action, blazing guns, betrayal, and people dreaming big, wanting to become the mob boss!
The book delved right into the heart of the story, and from there we follow Rake and Rio and how they try to outsmart a mobster. A a surprising twist, which to be honest, totally caught me by surprise, provided an additional unwanted dilemma to our MCs, but maybe it will work out better for them in the end?
The conflict is established near the beginning of the story, but the rest of the book was a little too fast and too soon for me, especially the relationship aspect. It felt like the MCs really didn’t have the luxury to get to know each more than on a basic relationship level before they fell for each other. There should have been a longer build up and a little more mystery before the final reveal of sorts.
Overall though, for someone like me who likes my story with chaos, twists and turns, hot sex and mystery, this had enough to keep my interest and was a very good read. Congratulations Ms. Este Holland, I am looking forward to more stories from you!
RATING: 
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