Laura’s Review of Fighting to Forgive (Fighting #2) by J.B. Salsbury

If you loved Real by Katy Evans, Seducing Cinderella by Gina L. Maxwell, and Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire then you will love this book!!!!!!

Basic Summary: What do you when everything you avoid, turns out to be exactly what you need?

          Easy and predictable, just the way he likes it, Blake Daniels flies through life the way he burn through women: on his terms, no regrets.  With his fighting career in full swing, he’s on the threshold of title contention.  But when his training is compromised by injury, the stakes grow impossibly higher.  The rage that fuels his punches also chips away at his focus, and he risks losing everything he cares about.

He won’t let that happen.  Not again.

          Layla’s through with men.  After a marriage that never should’ve happened, she hopes to reclaim the pieces of them woman she lost years ago.  Emotional abuse has left her insecure and terrified.  A master at faking what she’s not feeling, she makes her self-doubt in false confidence. 

She’ll never let another man hurt her.  Not again.

          Chased by shadows of the past, Blake and Layla know what they don’t want, but their hearts have a different plan. As a web of lies and betrayal threatens to destroy them, they’re forced to make a choice. 

Is love enough to heal even the deepest wounds?

Or will they be left Fighting to Forgive?

What I Love About This Book: Loved the beginning, Blake kind of pissed me off in book one by bringing those girls to Jonah’s party with Raven there.  But after just reading the prologue, I kind of fell in love with him instantly, so awesome way to begin a book about a not so lovable character in the beginning! I really like Layla, she’s a person trying to start her life over after surviving a very emotionally abusive relationship, and she does this by leaving everything behind and moving her and her daughter to Las Vegas.  First of all I applaud anyone who decides to move to Vegas because that does not seem like an easy to city to survive so anyone who decides to start over there and not to become a stripper or prostitute automatically get a high five from me.

          Great story, great flow to the story, great everything!! The sex scenes in this book were as great as I knew they would be because Blake Daniels cannot disappoint.  Blake is a more complex character that book one in this series kind of hints at, but you don’t get to really know until you get to this book.  I love that the story switches POV, so you don’t get just one side of the story you get two, making it more dimensional and real.   Layla is a great leading female, and like Blake has a lot going on with her that we learn about as the story goes on.  This book sheds such an amazing light on emotional abuse, and marriage rape more than when I’ve read other books that deal with it.  Physical abuse is so popular and is often seen as the main horror of a relationship, but long after the bruises heal it’s the emotional abuse that stays around, and I think J.B. Salsbury writes about is a great responsible way.  Especially when she addresses the issue of marriage rape and the mainstream thinking that many women have about it, that since he’s your husband it isn’t rape because it’s not a stranger not realizing that legally it is still considered rape.  But to me being held down and raped by someone who is supposed to love and protect can be so much worse in so many different ways.  I applaud J.B. Salsbury for not only addressing the issue but shining a light how it can affect not only the husband and wife but the entire family unit, and how it can tear away at person’s life. 

Cons:  I kind of wish there were maybe some more sex scenes in the book, or that we didn't have to wait so long for it.  The sexual tension in the book was awesome, but damn I don’t like to have to be over half done with the book to get to the first scene!!!!

Overall:  I could not put this book down!!! I was up till 2 o’clock in the morning read this, and then woke up and grabbed my kindle and started reading again!  Such a great story line, awesome characters, and there were so many times that I was on the edge of my seat.  Blake Daniels is hot hot hot!! I love books that involve fighters in them; they are kind of like the bad boys that are so dangerous but soooooo attractive and amazing in bed you just can’t let go!  Then to add the fact that Blake is a musical genius on top of that?!?!  Are u kidding me???  Can’t get enough of him, Blake Daniels has zoomed to the top of my list of favorite book boyfriends!!!!