One man faces down his personal demons of guilt, but will it be in time to save the relationship with the love of his life?

Matthew Elliott and Kira Takeo Franco have been together for over a year now. Things seem to be going well with their relationship, but everything is about to change. Matt is going undercover to fight a narcotics ring, but he can’t tell Kira. As Matt struggles with living a lie, his relationship with Kira slowly starts to disintegrate.

This is the second book in the series, and it picks up with the same characters. The entire story is told from Matt’s point of view, and he still feels horribly guilty about Kira’s kidnapping. Matt has decided to accept an undercover assignment to discover how a large narcotics ring is working. This requires him to act as if he is leaving the police force to join the underground world of cage-fighting.

Unfortunately, I didn’t understand why Matt couldn’t tell Kira what was going on. Since Matt wasn’t hiding his identity, Kira wasn’t any safer not knowing what was going on. Instead, it created a huge trust issue in their relationship that lasted the entire story. This was not a romantic story, although there were a few sex scenes, nor was it focused on their relationship. The main plot of the story was educating the reader on the training that goes into preparing for cage-fighting, and the turmoil that Matt was going through internally. It also dealt with the aftermath of violence and guilt. Although it was interesting being inside Matt’s head while he deals with these different issues, it wasn’t the romance I was hoping for.

This story is for fans of Matt and Kira, who also enjoy reading about letting go of guilt and the dangerous world of cage-fighting.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

BLURB

A fight for what’s right becomes a fight for his life.
As guilt plagues him, Matthew Elliott’s world begins to spiral out of control. The harder he holds on, the more it slips through his fingers, and he’s helpless to stop it.

Entering into the underground cage-fighting scene, he starts out fighting for what’s right. The deeper he gets, the more guilt consumes him—the more pain he takes for his penance—and he’s soon fighting for more than justice.

He’s fighting for love.

He’s fighting for his life.