Tapout Tour Stop! ~ Crystal's Many Reviewers

History brought them together. Circumstances may them apart. Alyson Blake’s past left her with scars. Scars that she tried to fix the only way she knew how—by helping others. But actions have consequences, and Alyson is about to find out that being naïve is no excuse.

Fighting is Jamison Weston’s passion. Alyson is his obsession. Despite the past and a few lingering concerns, their relationship is as solid as ever. Until a shocking lie is uncovered and all of his plans begin to unravel. Now, Jami is rushing to pick up the pieces, but as relationships are put to the test, will he be strong enough to keep it together, or will it all just fall apart?

I have found that I love me some MMA romance/drama. Badass, alpha men who take what they want are soooo delicious!

This book picks up where book one of the series left off. Jami and Ally are completely and utterly into each other, but because of their pasts, it seems like there’s a dark cloud looming on the horizon. Ally finds out something that Jami has been keeping from her at the beginning of this book and flies off the handle. Basically, this book is just one, long, giant test for this couple. There are outside threats as well as internal ones. Can they work it out when they so obviously have what I would consider to be a true and honest love connection?

This book flew by for me as I was reading it. It really starts off with a bang and doesn’t let up until the end. I found Ally, though I understood her insecurities, to be a bit of a drama queen. I mean, she really blew up at the beginning for something that I felt was not as serious as she seems to think it was. Other than that, I think Ally and Jami together are adorable. I kept reading because I just had to know, are they going to make it? Will they get over their collective BS and see what they truly mean to one another? It was a nail biter, folks.

As mentioned previously, this is a MMA style romance, and that is one of my favorite things about it. Jami is a great character as a fighter and as an alpha he rocks my world. I thought it was written very well and flowed. It was a book that I had a hard time putting down and easily could have finished in one sitting if my children didn’t require constant feeding and watering.

Overall, I thought this was a great sequel to another great book. 4 stars.

Tapout picks up shortly after the end of Knockout and despite her dislike of the fights, Ally is doing her best to support her man as Jami pursues his championship dreams. While things appear to be going well for the couple, fate – or should I say Tony and Spence – have different plans for them. Readers of Knockout won’t be surprised to learn that Tony is a vindictive man, but they may be surprised by the level to which he takes it – I know I was. Tony’s quest for vengeance and its fallout left me devastated, so I can say that I was quite relieved that Ms. Valentine didn’t leave me dangling off a cliff as she so easily could have done.

Again, I enjoyed the chemistry between Jami and Ally and loved the relationship development that took place in Tapout, even the heartbreaking moments. That Ally’s character seemed to grow more in this book and within her relationship with Jami was made evident in her increased confidence. There were several times where her snarky comments caused me to laugh out loud. At the same time, Jami came to realize the extent of his feelings for Ally and had to deal with that. As with Knockout, the sex scenes in Tapout were HOT. Because this was a continuation of their story, such scenes occurred early in the book and often.

Tapout is a great resolution to Ally and Jami’s story that began in Knockout. I say resolution rather than conclusion because I hope that Ms. Valentine continues the Wayward Fighters series and we continue to get glimpses in their lives. After all, Jami’s gym, Knockout, is the perfect setting for future installments and I would love to be able to spend more time with the Knockout family. Knockout and Tapout have made it on my re-read list.

Best selling author J.C. Valentine is the alter-ego of Brandi Salazar, whose enjoyment of tales of romance spurred her to branch out and create her own.

She lives in the Northwest with her husband, their wild children, and far too many pets. As a university student, she studies literature, which goes well with her dream of becoming an editor. Brandi entertains a number of hobbies including reading and photography, but her first love is writing fiction-in all its forms.