Dax Davies had one
job to fulfill in the Davies household. Earn money at the family
business. The problem was that the family business was illegal
underground fighting.
From a young age, Dax and his brothers were groomed to become money earners in their father's club. Broken bones and bruises were commonplace. Their father would pit the brothers against each other to 'toughen them up' for the ring. His future is in the cage, not on stage where he dreams of being.
Kate Campbell loves one thing in life. Well, two. Soccer and Dax Davies. Growing up in the poorest part of London, soccer is her personal escape from reality and the fact that Dax doesn't seem to know she exists. Kate figures if she can be good enough at the game, maybe she can get away from Hackney, and leave the poverty behind.
When events force both of them to rethink their futures, their paths cross more than they ever would have thought, throwing them together in a new country with new challenges.
***This is book 2 in the Sphere of Irony Series. It can be read as a standalone. This is a spin-off of the Famous Series***
From a young age, Dax and his brothers were groomed to become money earners in their father's club. Broken bones and bruises were commonplace. Their father would pit the brothers against each other to 'toughen them up' for the ring. His future is in the cage, not on stage where he dreams of being.
Kate Campbell loves one thing in life. Well, two. Soccer and Dax Davies. Growing up in the poorest part of London, soccer is her personal escape from reality and the fact that Dax doesn't seem to know she exists. Kate figures if she can be good enough at the game, maybe she can get away from Hackney, and leave the poverty behind.
When events force both of them to rethink their futures, their paths cross more than they ever would have thought, throwing them together in a new country with new challenges.
***This is book 2 in the Sphere of Irony Series. It can be read as a standalone. This is a spin-off of the Famous Series***
My introduction to Heather Leigh's writing was with her Ricochet series. I love the story and characters so much and I was thrilled when offered the opportunity to read Strike. I didn’t read the first book in the series but I didn’t feel like I am missing any information that took away from enjoying Strike.
Strike is about two young people who start in the ghettos of London and work hard to break out and make something of their lives.
Dax Davies and Kate Campbell go to school together. Dax is the big man on campus, so to speak and Kate loves him from afar. She never thinks that someone like Dax will ever be interested in her.
Dax’s home life is very unusual. On the outside there doesn’t seem to be much love although their father stresses that family is everything. Dax fights for his father’s underground fight club but his heart is with music.
Kate is a success in her own right. She is smart and a good soccer player. This combination takes her to Los Angeles on a college scholarship.
I like these characters. We see them from a young age and watch them grow into young adults. They both have a lot of baggage and end up hurting each other. I enjoyed living through their ups and downs for the most part. There are times that I didn’t get it though. It is hard to grasp that these two highly intelligent people would play some of the games they play.
The “I hate you. Now I want you” romance trope is getting overused in romance books in my opinion. I’m not talking about the basic plot device itself I’m talking about the number of times each character has to push the other away. Once or twice in a book should be enough but lately I notice authors are dragging these on again/off again relationships out for book years. It drives me crazy. Granted a couple of the rejections can be explained realistically but geez Louise. How can you really love someone and constantly push them away? And after so many pushes how does the other person not move on?
Anyway as much as the constant push pull of the relationship rubbed me wrong the characters have a lot of qualities that kept me interested and cheering for them to get it together. The support characters have a lot of substance and I can see where they can be flushed out more in future books.
What I really like about Ms. Leigh’s stories that I’ve read so far is she knows how to create great antagonists. Her bad guys are really bad guys (male or female). It is often the desire to see the villain get his/her comeuppance that kept me reading.
Setting the push/pull of the story aside, there is a lot going for this book...good characters, good writing and a little suspense. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good rocker story or, for that matter anyone who just likes a good story. I’m going to go back and read book one and I’m looking forward to reading the other books in this series.
4 STAMPS
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