Sidney is giving away a $50 Amazon Gift Card
Deliciously sexy, humorous and with a little drama to make things interesting Fighting Dirty is a fantastic addition to this series and one of Sidney Halston’s best! ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
With his preppy clothes and horn-rimmed glasses, Enzo Silva is the last dude anyone expects to find in a mixed martial arts gym. A wealthy Brazilian banker who never had to fight for anything, Enzo’s stuck in the amateur circuit—but he burns to make the pros. Maybe that explains the heat he feels whenever he’s around Jamie Lynn Calhoun. The pint-size, magenta-haired bartender with the Texas drawl is everything he’s not . . . and everything he craves.
Tough as nails and independent to a fault, Jamie Lynn—JL to her friends—works hard to pay her bills and keep life simple. Enzo is doing his best to complicate that. Even though she likes to bust his balls, he’s got some kind of a nerdy-hot vibe that makes JL wonder if she might finally be able to let her guard down. It might do the boy some good to spend some time in her world, where blood, sweat, and victory are as sweet as the first taste of real love.
Review copy provided for an honest review
Words cannot describe how much I loved Fighting Dirty by Sidney Halston; from the buttoned up 
suit wearing wealthy hero, to the tattooed smart mouthed heroine from the wrong side of the tracks, to their unconventional dates, to the secrets that threaten their relationship, to the incident that shocks them both, and to the undeniable attraction that turns into so much more this book was flat out fantastic. I have loved this series and most of the books in it have been pretty great stories, this book simply took it up a notch; making it my absolute favorite in this series.
From the moment Lorenzo Silva was introduced in this series I knew there was more to the well educated, well dressed, well spoken man that the world saw. It was evident that underneath there was something primal lurking and in this book we see it in more ways than one. I flat out loved Enzo and the fact that he began to see himself differently and began to want more and different things in his life. I love it when characters grow and change in the course of a book because it shows them in a new light and it also gives off an air of realism to the story.
I’ve always enjoyed Jamie Lynn (JL) Calhoun’s spit fire attitude, rapid wit and no holds barred outlook on life. While there was an underlying vulnerability to her, between her attitude and the way she interacted with her twin brother, Travis, it was hard to see but it was there and I appreciated the fact that Enzo saw it in her and understood he might have an uphill battle in winning her over.
I loved the depth these two characters had and Ms. Halston did a fantastic job of filling us in on their backgrounds giving the readers a chance to really get to know them inside and out. I applauded the way Enzo accepted all parts of Jamie Lynn and never once tried to make her change to fit into his life. That’s not to say he didn’t make some crucial mistakes where they were concerned but I give him a lot of credit for trying to right the wrong when he realized how his actions would affect her. Jamie Lynn’s upbringing and life experiences have been hard and she has a bit of a self esteem issue when it comes to thinking she’s not good enough to be in Enzo’s world. I credit her for trying to fit in (even though Enzo never asked her to), for remaining strong even when she was crumbling on the inside, for realizing that she was worthy of everything in life and most of all for asking for help when she needed it the most. These were two people from very different worlds but it was easy to see how well the complemented each other and how they completed each other as well.
We see the characters from the previous books in a few scenes and a couple of new characters as well, one in particular that throws Jamie Lynn’s world into a tailspin but also makes her see that life is too short to hang on to your insecurities and hostility. We also find out that big brother Travis is more than likely in for a rude awakening and I’m pretty sure JL will be there to give him a hard time when he realizes it.
Deliciously sexy, humorous and with a little drama to make things interesting Fighting Dirty is a fantastic addition to this series and one of Sidney Halston’s best!
Purchase
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Link to Follow Tour: http://www.tastybooktours.com/2015/10/fighting-dirty-worth-fight-5-by-sidney.html
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25058284-fighting-dirty?ac=1
Goodreads Series Link: https://www.goodreads.com/series/135224-worth-the-fight
Interview with Sidney Halston author of Fighting Dirty and the Worth the Fight series
Hi Sidney, I’m so excited to have you with us today. From the beginning of this series I have been a huge fan so excuse me if I get a little over zealous in my interview!
Slick: I’m curious, why did you decide to write a series based on the sport of MMA?
Sidney: Hi there! Thank you for having me here today! The MMA idea came before the romance! My husband is an MMA fighter and I love the camaraderie between the athletes. That’s always been something that fascinates me. These big testosterone-fueled men, can beat themselves up in a cage and then go out for drinks as if nothing happened. I love that and that friendship was the catalyst. Jack and Slade’s friendship (Against the Cage and Full Contact) was the initial story and then I worked the romance around that.
Slick: The name of the gym cracked me up from the beginning, Worth the Fight (WTF), and I know the gym had been around way before the slang but I have to know if you named it that for the comic relief of having a gym with those initials?
Sidney: Initially I did not. I didn’t even notice. Then my agent sent me an email and on the subject she wrote re: WtF. I was like, “Huh?” Then it hit me that those were the initials. I thought about changing it but 1. We were already too far into the edits and 2. I liked it. I thought it was funny and the books have that humor that makes it work, I think.
Slick: I’ve enjoyed all the book in this series, some more than others but what has surprised me is how much I loved books about characters I really didn’t like or was ambivalent about. For instance I went into Below the Belt not expecting to love it because I really didn’t like Tony or Francesca, but that is one of my favorite books. In Fighting Dirty I was kind of ambivalent about Enzo and while I loved Jamie Lynn I’ll admit I kind of thought you were crazy pairing them together and again I loved the book. Every time you make me not only love the characters but their books as well which is a testament to how well you write, but I’m curious if it is hard to write for characters that aren’t fan favorites?
Sidney: Yay! This makes me happy! I don’t always want you to like my characters right off the bat. It’s a journey and I want you to see them grow. Also, in real life everyone is flawed. If he/she is just too perfect…I don’t know, it just feels unbelievable. It can be hard to write, yes. Sometimes I make them too unlikeable and it’s hard to redeem them later—aka Slade—but if I’m able to pull it off, then the victory is sweeter.
Slick: I really loved the way you took Enzo out of his comfort zone by having JL share her idea of a great first date and by her sharing her secret life with him. Was it fun to put Enzo through all of that and did he surprise you by how well he accepted everything JL threw at him?
Sidney: I think that those first few chapters of FIGHTING DIRTY, that first date, may be one of my favorite scenes of all the books I’ve written. I loved writing it. I loved putting Enzo through that. I didn’t want him to come across like a complete stick-in-the-mud or a complete push-over either and I didn’t want her to come out like too domineering. I wanted both of their vulnerabilities to come out. Also, I didn’t want it to be too much like insta-love even though I still think that happened. But, it works because they really got to know each other those few days.
Slick: I have to applaud you for writing such a strong heroine in Jamie Lynn and you did a great job of showing her strength but also her vulnerability, is she based on someone you know or did you she just come to you?
Sidney: No, not really. I just wanted to write someone who was the opposite of Enzo in every way. But she has traits I wish I had. I’d love to be that fearless. The Walls thing—that is a real thing, though. In Miami (where I’m from) there are artists who have turned an entire section of Miami into this huge art district with their street art on the walls of buildings.
Slick: Can you share who is up next (fingers crossed that it is Travis) and please tell me you plan to torture him a little about his not liking kids statement?
Sidney: Oh!!! You’re going to love it. Yes, it’s Travis and yes he will be tortured big time! And not just by Penny but a certain little girl.
Slick: Thank you so much for being with us here today Sidney. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and really can’t wait to see what happens next especially with cameras running around the gym.
Sidney: Thank you so much for having me here Slick. I hope your readers enjoy FIGHTING DIRTY. There’s only one left in the series after that one!!
“What made you change your mind about going out with me?” he asked as they crossed the parking lot. “Not that I’m complaining. But you’ve been saying no for almost a year.”
“Truth?”
“Always.”
“You always seem so predictable, but you doing this . . .” She shook her head. “I guess it made me see you in a different light.”
He held her car door open for her as she tucked the canvas facedown in the backseat and then got in the car. “I’m glad it took me completely humiliating myself to get you to go out with me. Maybe I won’t kill your brother for this ridiculous bet, after all,” he said. “I’ll make reservations at the Tackle Box and pick you up at eight tomorrow.” When she looked at him for a moment too long, he said, “You don’t like the Tackle Box?”
“Do you work tomorrow?” she asked as she got back out of the car.
“Yes.”
“That was a dumb question. You’re always working. Let me rephrase the question. Can you take the day off tomorrow?”
Enzo quickly thought about all the teleconferences he had scheduled and all the reports he had to do. “I can.”
“Okay, so I’ll pick you up at eight.”
“Uh . . . I don’t understand.”
“Eight in the morning,” she clarified. “I asked you out, so I pick. That’s the deal, okay? It’s my treat. I pick where we go and what we do.”
“I don’t think—”
“You hate giving up control, don’t you?” she asked wryly, already knowing the answer. “Don’t worry so much. Just be ready. It’ll be fun—spontaneous. You’ll like it. I promise.”
He let out a breath. “Fun and spontaneous isn’t something I’m very comfortable with,” he admitted. But then he decided, What the hell? He’d already survived taking the biggest leap of faith of his life by moving from Brazil to Florida, something that was so completely out of character his parents thought he was still mourning the end of his marriage. So, going on a date with a beautiful woman and letting her take the lead . . . what could possibly go wrong?
“Okay, fine. I’ll text you my address,” he said as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. She folded herself into her crappy fifteen-year-old Honda Civic, which was mostly red, except for some patches where the paint had chipped off. The bumper was held together with a hot-pink bungee cord, and there were bumper stickers plastered everywhere. He couldn’t picture her with any other car but this one; somehow it suited her perfectly. But she was absolutely out of her mind if she thought he’d be going anywhere with her in that clunker tomorrow.
About the Author
Sidney Halston lives her life by one simple rule: “Just do it.” And that’s exactly what she did. At the age of thirty, having never written anything other than a legal brief, she picked up a pen for the first time to pursue her dream of becoming an author. That first stroke sealed the deal, and she fell in love with writing. Halston lives in South Florida with her husband and children.
Author Links: Facebook | Twitter | Website | GoodReads
Website: http://www.sidneyhalston.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sidneyhalston
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SidneyHalston
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6916557.Sidney_Halston
Congrats Sidney on an amazing book! This one is the best!
Thanks for the great review Slick
Thank you so much for hosting FIGHTING DIRTY and Sidney! Fabulous Review!
This review is just.. sigh! Thank you!