Real (#1) – Katy Evans

Synopsis

A fallen boxer.
A woman with a broken dream.
A competition…

He even makes me forget my name. One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting…

Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I’ve ever met in my life.

He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I’ve never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong–but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents . . .

But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.

I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.

If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?

5 / 5 stars

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My Review

Brooke Dumas is dragged to an underground fighting match by her best friend Melanie one night and the eye of Melanie’s crush is aimed at one fighter in particular – Remington Tate.

Remington, or Remy, is the desire of females across the country. But during this fight and one of Melanie’s many screaming fits to Remy, he flicks his eyes over to the place where he heard Mel shout and catches Brooke’s eye. In that moment, he’s hooked.

Following Brooke after one fight, he has a proposition for her. Join him and his team on the last three months of the competition as his sports rehab specialist. Her attraction to Remy is at an all time high and after mulling over it, she accepts. Now shes touring with this sexy beast of a man and no matter how much she wants him, does he want her that way she needs and wants him?

Brooke is going crazy over the music and the little smiles and interactions she and Remy are sharing and it comes to a point where she needs him before she explodes but Remy is much more reserved, wanting to take things slow until she truly knows who he is and then she will always be his.

When everything is spilled about Remy, Brooke still wants him, still cares about him and will do whatever to keep him. But what happens when a fight goes wrong and Remy is put in danger? Her heart is breaking to tipping point and she doesn’t know what to do anymore. This man, this man who she loves with everything is breaking her and maybe now is the time to walk away?

Will Remy let her walk away or will he fight to keep her his?

I had seen the buzz on Twitter about Real and how everyone was raving about this book and about Remy. So I shifted my butt over to Amazon, clicked the 1-Click button and boom-ya. I’ve mentioned how scared I get to read angsty books but reading snippets of Real just made me decided to man up and open the file up. BY JESUS how glad I am that I read this book. I was sucked in, captivated by every sentence and every page. I felt every emotion from Brooke, especially the first half where I was desperately needing Remy to just have sex with Brooke, but I will come to that later on in my review. I laughed, I was frustrated, I cried, I grinned and I cheered and shouted throughout the book.  Make me feel all sort of emotions in your book and make me feel all over the place and it’s an instant love for you and your book – and that is definitely what I feel about Real and Katy Evans.

Real is pure, its raw, it’s dangerous but it’s powerful and you will become hooked with it.

As mentioned, Brooke meets Remy at one of his fights. He catches her eye at the end of one of his fights and when Brooke decides she needs the bathroom; Remy suddenly runs after her and confronts her, demanding to know her name. This is the beginning for both of them.

A few days later, Remy and his team propose to Brooke that she come on the last few months of the competition as Remy’s rehab specialist. This means spending a lot of time with Remy, touching him when all she wants to do his jump his bones. She agrees.

During the months, she becomes closer to Remy, develops deep feelings for him but she wonders if he feels the same way? She thinks he does with the music he chooses for her to listen to, but she doesn’t fully know until one night at a club they all attend. Although Remy wants Brooke, he won’t have sex with her until she knows the real him, all of him and if she still wants to be with him, then she has to be HIS because he doesn’t just want a one-night stand with her, shes stiring emotions in him that he didn’t think he would ever feel.

When she sees and finds out the real Remy, it doesn’t make her leave. She loves Remy and will help him through his illness. As much as she is his, he is definitely hers. But when Brooke does something behind Remy’s back – to try and help her sister out – Remy’s mind is anywhere but on the fight with the snake that is Scorpion and what happens after that causes Brooke to leave. Her heart is broken.

Yet Remy and Brooke are soul mates, they have find the missing piece to their puzzle. Will Remy fight for the love of his life?

I firstly have to say how much I loved that music was an important part of Real – a way that Remy and Brooke could show each other their feelings for one another through the music and lyrics. Each song choice from both of them played a huge part in sharing their feelings without voicing them and music, to me, is a great way to express what you are feelings. Whether happy, sad, angry, there is music for every emotion and Remy and Brooke certainly knew the right songs to play to each other. Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls is one of my favourite songs and every time it was mentioned I would put it on and read that part with it playing. Music really does make a scene more powerful.

Remy is a quiet guy. His life hasn’t been the greatest and music is his release and his way of showing his feelings. No one gets to see this caring, loving side to him apart from Brooke, who brings it out in him. To everyone else, he is primal, animalistic (is this even a word? it is now), protective, a man that women want to sleep with and a man that men want to be (and perhaps sleep with), but despite this side of him, his fighting side, he has a vulnerable side, a caring and a warmth to him. He wants Brooke more than he’s ever wanted anyone and it scares him that he’s feeling these unknown feelings but that is why he is trying to make her see the REAL him, this side that no one apart from his team know about, because he’s scared she only wants him because he is Riptide. He wants her to see him and know all of him, Remy, not Riptide.

He is the typical Alpha-male but despite what is wrong with him; you can obviously see his protection towards Brooke. See how much he loves her through his attentiveness and his music and how much he needs her. He will do whatever to make sure she is protected, wanted, needed, cared for and make sure she is his. You do see his other side, and while it is scary, having Brooke there calms him down, makes him less’ speedy’ and you can tell she has a positive effect on him that no one in his team have even seen. Brooke truly is the girl for Remy.

I also loved that he always looked for her before a fight and smiled a secret smile for her, a smile that heightened their connection and told her that this was for her, this win was all for her.

I am totally on the Remy bandwagon, you so should you!!

Now Brooke. She is a tough cookie, but also fragile at the beginning. We find out that her dreams of being an Olympian were shattered when she not only tore her ACL one, but twice (and the fall is on Yotube) and so now she is a specialist at a sports rehab centre. If she can’t be an Olympian, she will help out teenagers recover and follow their own dreams. This, in my eyes, makes her admirable.

From the moment she laid eyes on Remy at the fight, something inside her sets alight. She’s never had this feeling before, never been so attracted to someone that they make her feel all these emotions. When she goes on tour with him, she realises that Remy isn’t a big communicator and so their commutation is through lyrics and music, picking the perfect songs to express their feelings. But I did love her spunk. She seems a bit shy, but with Remy and her overpowering feelings towards him shes frustrated that he won’t touch her or have sex with her – yes, it is enough to blow up – and that’s exactly what she does. She fronts him and shouts at him asking him what is wrong with her.

Her confidence in what she wants and loves is brilliant to read and she really is a great heroine.

The more time they spend together, whether it’s prepping his body after his coaching or fights or just listening to music, the higher the sexual tension builds for her (and him). I felt every emotion that Brooke was during this period. I felt the longing, the nervousness of touching him, of wanting him or picking the perfect song for him. I went on a journey with her, wanting him, wanting to protect him, caring for him and falling in love with him. Although she’s got broken dreams, she knows that this is where she is meant to be, with Remy.

You see Brooke love fiercely. Not just love for Remy, but love for her best friend Melanie and her sister Nora. She will fight and protect and do whatever for her friends. Her protection and love pours off the kindle and she truly is a strong character. You’d expect Remy to be protective, but just wait until you see Brooke’s protectiveness coming out. Holy hell!

Got to be said, Remy and Brooke got me so hot under the collar and frustrated for the first half of the book before they had sex. As much as Remy wanted Brooke, he wanted her to know all of him and want to want him, not Riptide and find out about him before giving himself to her and giving her what she so desperately wanted. I have to say I really admired that about Remy. Normally the guy would jump straight in but he wanted her to be sure that she would be his when they finally had sex and that she knew what she was getting into with him before he took anything further even though it was killing him to hold back from her.

Also when they did finally have sex, it got my all frustrated once again and stupid me, I read the first sex scene before bed. Yeah I really needed to be hosed down after that. Katy Evans certainly knows how to keep you on your toes with Remy and Brooke being sexually charged for one another. It literally pours of the kindle and into your body. Steamy is such an understatement that I cant even think of a word to describe how I felt reading the two of them together. If anyone can think of a word, please let me know!

Slight spoiler now!

I have to say, picking a favourite scene is pretty hard but there was one part that completely made my heart swell and that is when Remy is ‘speedy’ and he and the team are in the car and he is resting on Brooke, who is running her fingers through his hair and keeping him relaxed. His team have never seen this happen ever, and it just made me feel so many emotions that Brooke had this effect over Remy, to make him act this way for the first time during his ‘episode’. It truly was amazing to read this part and the part after.

Katy did an awesome job with Real. She portrayed the characters brilliantly, wrote them in a way where you see their journey, from start to finish, see them fall in love, see their vulnerable and protective sides and just see them find that piece that has been missing. They found each other and despite their tribulations, they just know that this is the end game for them both. They found that person who they completely fell hard for and who they need next to them.

I will recommend Real a thousand times over. It’s one book that will stick with you for days after (hence why I needed to be in the frame mind to write this review) and Remy will definitely take a piece of your heart along with him. Don’t skip this book; make it a book you read RIGHT NOW!

Whilst writing this review, a song on my Ipod came on. I’m not sure if you are aware of Emeli Sande and Labrinth (If you are American) but they sing a song called “Beneath Your Beautiful” and this song just made me tear up and think about Remy and Brooke’s relationship and their journey. Take a listen to it below. (So lyrics not fit, but the majority – to me – do)