Review – Extreme Love by Abby Niles

Blurb

New body. New clothes. New men.

Used to the average Joe, Caitlyn Moore is overwhelmed when the supremely masculine Dante Jones walks into her life and expresses an interest in her. At first she pushes him away, refusing to encourage the attention of a cage fighter. Then she learns Dante has a love ‘em and leave ‘em reputation. What better way to fine-tune her non-existent flirting skills than with a male who won’t stick around? But Dante has no intention of being a practice dummy; he’s out for all or nothing. Now Caitlyn must accept Dante—violent career and all—or let him go.

Dante “Inferno” Jones has one goal: win the Welterweight Championship. At a time when focus is crucial, the last thing he needs is a distraction. Yet Caitlyn Moore becomes a challenge he can’t resist. When the light-hearted pursuit shifts to a battle to win her heart, his focus is shot. Faced with losing the biggest match of his career, Dante must decide if his extreme life also has room for Extreme Love.

Caitlyn has spent most of her life battling obesity and the social stigma that can go with it.  She never expected a ripped MMA fighter like Dante to be attracted to her. Even though she’s lost 10 dress sizes, she still sees herself as fat when she looks in the mirror and doesn’t understand why Dante wants to be with her. Add in that she hates violence, Dante has a rough road ahead with convincing Caitlyn to give him a chance. Luckily, Dante is used to fighting for everything he wants and he’s never wanted anything more than Caitlyn.

I liked this one. Caitlyn is a heroine with believable flaws. Her insecurities and inexperience with men led to many mistakes on her part but I liked watching her grow stronger throughout the book. And I just plain loved Dante. A hot, sweet, considerate hero that can flip to hot, protective, possessive hero with the right motivation? YUM!

I’ve seen a few references by other readers to some “fat shaming” that occurs in the book but I didn’t see it that way. Most of the weight issues addressed are from Caitlyn and the way she sees herself. The two villain-type characters do use her insecurities to cut her down and, once again (and unfortunately), I found this believable. There are people in the world who are cruel and will attack whatever someone is most sensitive about.

The villainous characters were my one real problem with this book but not for the reason mentioned above. They came across as very one dimensional and almost a caricature of a villain. There was no real depth with any characters outside of Caitlyn. Everyone was either really good and always right or really bad and always wrong. It kept me from investing in the story as a whole.

3.5 stars

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Format: Digital

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