When your world crashes down...
When they all say you’re out...
When your body is broken...
I will rise.
I will return.
And I will be undefeated.
Nick Renshaw is the golden boy of British rugby. When a serious injury threatens his career, he starts to spiral downwards, a broken man.
Feeling abandoned and betrayed by those closest to him, he fights to restart his life. Maybe there’s someone out there who can help him. Maybe he can find his way back toward the light. Maybe … not.
Dr. Anna Scott might be the one person who can help Nick, but she has her own secrets. And when Nick’s past comes back to haunt them both, the enigmatic doctor is more vulnerable than she seems.
Broken and betrayed, the struggle to survive seems intolerable. Who will give in, and who will rise, undefeated?
Release Date: January 23rd, 2018
It’s been noticed,” she began carefully, “that you’re not engaging with the team or … or with me during my teaching sessions.”
His lips pressed together and his scowl deepened.
“Look, I know this is all kinds of awkward,” she sighed, “but your behaviour is already giving Sim concerns. It’s making him wonder about your commitment to the team.”
Nick exploded, his anger filling the space as he leapt to his feet and began to pace up and down, hands scrubbing over his face roughly.
“He’s questioning my commitment?! I train harder than anyone! I train on my off-days,” he spat furiously, his voice tight with emotion.
“Nick…”
“I’m out there, slogging my fucking guts out harder and longer than anyone else during practices!”
“Nick…”
“I’ve fought to come back from injury. I’m fit! I’m ready! I…”
“NICK!” Anna slapped her hand down on the massage table. “Will you listen to me!”
His jaw snapped shut and his stormy eyes narrowed on hers.
“Sim didn’t see that commitment during my sessions.”
“And we both know why that is,” he sneered. “You don’t want any commitment from me.”
Anna’s eyebrows shot up and Nick looked as though he was already regretting his words. He took a deep breath and looked away while Anna chose her next words carefully.
“You assured me that you could be professional and…”
“Yeah, well excuse me if seeing you again is fucking with my head! Not everyone can be as cold and calculating as you!”
She knew she deserved his anger, but her own frustration was rising to meet his. The volcanic pressure inside started to build, searching for an exit, searching for weakness.
“I cannot have any sort of relationship with a client!” she hissed, her body rigid. “You know that!”
“Didn’t stop you before,” he taunted.
“You weren’t a client then,” she choked. “But you’re right—I should have stopped. Oh boy, am I regretting it now!”
And she tossed her clipboard onto the table, pointing a finger in his face.
“Are you trying to ruin this for me? Is that what this is? Your ego can’t bear it, so you’re going to make sure I lose this contract? Or maybe ruining my reputation forever will settle the score. You tell me, Nick! What do you want from me?”
She was breathing rapidly, and two points of colour marked her cheeks in an otherwise chalky complexion.
He spun around, prowling toward her, his jaw clenched, his hands balled into fists.
“What do I want? I want to fuck you so hard you’ll never forget it’s my cock that’s been inside you. I want you screaming my name. I want you to say it wasn’t a mistake. I want to make you come so hard you pass out. That’s what I want, Anna, and it’s fucking killing me to not even touch you!”
***4.5 ‘I Will Rise. I Will Return’ Stars***
Have you ever finished a book where you were all kinds of swoony happy and yet ragey and irritated??
Well...that’s me right now and it has been about 12 hrs since finishing the book and getting a decent night’s sleep in, so the struggle has been real with getting the words to cooperate. But the bottom line is I really enjoyed Undefeated. It gave me a huge case of emotional whiplash and redefined what hitting rock bottom is, but I loved the slow burn romance between Nick and Anna and experiencing all the highs and lows that they went through to get to their HEA.
Let’s start out with the goodness that is Nick and Anna. Nick is simply a good man. He loves what he gets to do for a living and gives his entire heart and soul to it and doesn’t take what he has for granted because he fully understands what his other option could be. Anna is starting over again and though the reason for the new beginning still hovers around her, she isn’t allowing it to put a damper on the gift she has been given. She’s ready to dive in and show that she is the best at what she does.
Their journey is all kinds of slow burning and all kinds of rocky (total understatement) but it is all worth it when they finally get their HEA. Considering the reason why Nick and Anna were in each other’s orbits to begin with, I really liked how things played out between the two of them. They had no choice but to get to know each other on a deeper level and with each glimpse they found that they genuinely liked what they were seeing. While there was attraction on both sides, there was nothing insta going on. I honestly liked them together, there was a flow to them that was simple and easy, even when the crackle of sexual tension surrounded them.
As for the whole ragey and irritated thing...I know I won’t be the only one who will feel this way about how certain things played out in the story, and as these things are huge parts of the storyline, I can’t get into more detail, but my feels stem from my own “I know life isn’t fair, but still…” belief system. I get why things happened the way they did and I am in no way bashing the authors, in fact I have to applaud them for making me this worked up, but I still want to gut a few people with a spoon and have karma finish the job.
The main reason I pounced on reading this book was because it was set in the rugby world and one of the co-authors is an ex-rugby player. I love watching the sport even though I only know the absolute basics of the game which are: 1) I know what a try is and 2) I know that you can only pass the ball backwards. I know a few other things, but even those may not be right. So to have the opportunity to read a book and experience it all through the eyes of someone who lived and breathed it was something I couldn’t pass up and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Bonus (or should it be the rugby aspect is the bonus?) is the fact that the writing was well done. It was engaging and seamlessly put together. The pacing at times did drag a bit for me, but considering all that was going on it didn’t take away anything for me. All of the characters were well written, even the ones I didn’t care for, and I wouldn’t mind visiting them in future.
So, if you’re a rugby fan, love a slow burn romance with quite a few obstacles tossed in the MC’s path to get through then I definitely recommend you pick this baby up!
~ Copy provided by Ardent Prose PR & voluntarily reviewed ~
Stuart Reardon
Currently he is a Personal trainer living in Cheshire, and has an online fitness program: Fear Nothing Fitness.
Jane Harvey-Berrick
I enjoy watching surfers at my local beach, and weaving stories of romance in the modern world, with all its trials and tribulations.
It’s been the best fun working with Stu on this story. And yes, he did think about joining the Marines once.
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