Breaking a Legend by Sarah Robinson

Breaking a Legend surprised me a bit. I’m not always into MMA books, but wanted to pick this one up because… well, let’s be honest, that cover is not messing around. Like a lot of other MMA books I’ve read, our hero (Rory) is an ALPHA male who dotes on taking care of our heroine, who desperately does need taken care of. I can read these tropes every once and a while, but they’re usually not my absolute favorite. I found myself, however, being enchanted with Rory and the sprawling Kavanaugh clan.

Full disclosure, I’m married to an Irishman. Not a Irish-American, but an honest-to-goodness leprechaun from County Tyrone. Rory Kavanaugh is an Irish-American and his family is, too. Stereotypes abound – from his dad being in the mafia to his brother being in jail to them all being brawlers and a bit brash – but Robinson makes it work. This is not the culture of my husband who settles all arguments with keystrokes and mouse clicks and not fists, but he recognizes it nonetheless.

Clare, our mouse of a heroine, is running from a stalker ex-boyfriend who is about seven shades of crazy. He catches up with her at one point – spoiler – and readers who trigger with kidnapping or physical abuse should look away when he does. Rory, of course, comes to the rescue and all ends happily, but the few bits with the crazy man are harrowing.

Clare was not my favorite, but I totally believed that she and Rory were in love. It was all al little too quick for me, but he’s a man of complete passion and she’s a woman who is desperate to be taken care of, so it worked.

There’s also a lovely sub-plot with animals in this one that animal lovers will gravity towards. Overalll, it’s a charming and hot little story that’s worth the time of anyone who likes the genre. Read it with a glass of red wine and settle in.

~*~