ARC Review: ☆Hard Knocks☆ by Lori Foster

In the stunning prequel novella to her new mixed martial arts series, New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster brings together an elite fighter and the woman he’s determined to win.

Power. Brute strength. Unforgettable moves. It’s no wonder Harper Gates hasn’t been able to get her fling with Gage “Savage” Ringer out of her head. Months have passed since she laid eyes—or any other body parts—on him. Months without a word of contact… until, sidelined by injury, he comes back to town.

Staying focused on his training seemed like a smart move to Gage, even if he thought about Harper every day. Seeing her again only makes it clear how much is at stake. He’s got one night to earn back her trust. One night to show her that behind his breathtaking skill and ripped body is a man who’ll give her everything she needs.

Don’t miss No Limits, the first novel in Lori Foster’s Ultimate series.

3.5 Short but worth it Stars

Ever since I first discovered Lori Foster with my first SBC fighters,
and then binging and reading the entire series back to back, I have been hoping and HOPING that she will write another MMA series. It only makes sense, right? The author is a huge fan of the sport and she writes some of the best steamy contemporary romances, so the combination is golden.

When I saw the title and author of this book, I jumped at the chance to read it. I didn’t even bother to read the book blurb. I had assumed that the novella would be a prequel to the 1st book (with the same couple). Guess I should have read the blurb 🙂

This novella is more of an introduction to the series and the characters. I found it perfect for that. You get to have a small but juicy bit about all the deliciously sexy fighters that are introduced. Ms Foster gives you just a bit and yet not quite enough to practically make you salivate for their books.

But there is also the addition of a romance; one between Gage “Savage” Ringer and Harper Gates. This was a cute and sexy addition to the story, but to be honest, I was more interested in the rest of the fighters. It’s tough to really get invested in the characters in less than a 100 pages. While it was sexy and steamy, I didn’t feel like I had enough background story or information on Harper and Gage to truly appreciate their romance.

That being said, it was a great way for the series and the hero of the next book to be introduced and I’m very happy I read it and would definitely recommend fans of the authors start the series with this novella as well.

Now that is all you’ll be getting from me, since I plan on diving straight into Cannon’s book in
next.

***ARC courtesy of publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review***