Title: Beat
Series: The Beat and the Pulse #1
Author: Amity Cross
Release Date: October 6, 2014
Renee "Ren" Miller was five when her Dad left to go to the shops and never came back.
Left to grow up with a cancer riddled mother, things have never been easy for a teenager who had to be wise beyond her years. Then one day they lose the battle and she’s all alone.
Now twenty-two, Ren reluctantly goes to find her estranged father. He owns the down and out boxing studio, Beat, and Ren finds herself drawn to the ring. She thrives on learning a new way of fighting a life that kept kicking her down…instead of struggling against the current, she kicks it right between the legs.
Then one day, Ash Fuller, her Dad's star fighter comes back to town. Mysterious, handsome… Dangerous… Everything Ren doesn't need.
But he's got other ideas…
…and so does she.
Left to grow up with a cancer riddled mother, things have never been easy for a teenager who had to be wise beyond her years. Then one day they lose the battle and she’s all alone.
Now twenty-two, Ren reluctantly goes to find her estranged father. He owns the down and out boxing studio, Beat, and Ren finds herself drawn to the ring. She thrives on learning a new way of fighting a life that kept kicking her down…instead of struggling against the current, she kicks it right between the legs.
Then one day, Ash Fuller, her Dad's star fighter comes back to town. Mysterious, handsome… Dangerous… Everything Ren doesn't need.
But he's got other ideas…
…and so does she.
Beat by Amity Cross is the first book in The Beat and the Pulse Series. This book had a story line unlike any other MMA book that I have read in the past and I am a huge fan of the muscle guy, sweaty & training for his next fight and how he falls in love with some female that happens to stumble upon his path. This book was a 3.5 star read for me and what an ending! Amity Cross writes the cliff hanger that has you begging for the next book as soon as you turn the last page. I would definitely recommend this book to others, every knock-out punch is worth the read!!
Renee Miller's father walked out on her and her mom when she was 5 years old never to be seen or heard from again. To say that Ren had resentment towards her father would be the understatement of the world. After losing her life-long battle with cancer, Ren's mother's dying wish was that she find her father, so that is exactly what she did. She found the man that had abandoned her all those years before, training fighters at his gym Beat; barely recognizing his own daughter.
After a few less than loving words; her father agrees to let her stay in the storeroom at that gym, since he new family; wife and daughter Monica, want nothing to do with Ren. Ren thought staying at the gym, rent-free would be a means to an end, but she never anticipated meeting Ash Fuller. Ash, full of rage and anger, with a talent that rivaled no other but was banned from the sport, will make your panties wet with the words he spews from his hot body! He sure makes Ren want things from a man that she decided upon first glance that she would despise. The hateful banter between Ash and Ren only grows more intense as you turn each page and the reader anticipates the moment when all of that hatred will be turned into a blind passion that will over-take them both.
It's the secrets that Ash carries and the black-out rage that he exhibits on more than one occasion that have Ren wondering what demons Ash is burying. And while trying to get him to open up, he mistakenly introduces her to the world of underground MMA, a place where she begins to fight herself and win more often than she loses. But its the warning that Ash once gave that will come back to bite them both in the ass, that they will use her to get to him. And that is exactly what happens. The circumstances surrounding the crumbling of their relationship are heartbreaking and make the reader want to reach through the pages and shake some sense into Ash. And the truth that he finally reveals at the end...WOW never expected him to say that! I cannot wait to find out what happens with this couple!
The story of Beat is told in a dual point of view and it starts out in
Ren's. Her mother's last dying wish was for her to get to know her dad. The one
who walked out on them when she was just 5 years old and her mom became ill with
cancer. She is now 22 years old and going to try to make a go of it. It was her
mother's last dying wish. Her father owns a down and out boxing studio, Beat
that he allows her to live at. Shortly thereafter she becomes drawn to the the
ring and starts singing up for the classes. What can it hurt and she's there any
way.
One day, Ash Fuller, her Dad's star fighter, comes back to town and gets Ren's
attention. He's a bad boy, but oh so irresistible. He watches her train and
steps in to teach her one late night as she's punching and kicking the boxing
bag. He gives her pointers and eventually one thing leads to another.
Ash has a bad temper and just one little thing can set him off into a rage like
you've never witnessed. He knows he is no good for Ren. She is everything he's
wanted but being with her can put her into danger. He knows that one day it will
come back to haunt him. He must let her go but will she let him?
Noteworthy Quotes/Thoughts
Did I love Ren? Could I love her? Is that what this think was? Every time I saw
her, my heart did this....thing. I didn't know what the fuck it
was, but it hurt. I wanted to protect her, keep her safe from this place, from
anyone that would see her harmed. I wanted to keep her for myself. -Ash
"Stay with me, Ren. Once I start fucking your sweet little cunt, I'm not
stopping." -Ash
I should of been mortified that he had me on my knees, ass in the air, his
hulking body mounting me like an animal, saying all kinds of explicit things,
saying the c-word, but it awoke something in me I didn't think existed in the
real world. Lust, desire, eroticism. Once, these were just words in a
dictionary, stories in a book, but now I knew they were real and I wanted them.
I wanted them for Ash. -Ren
"If I can't see you at your worst, then who am I really falling for? If I'm
falling for you, Ash, then I want to fall for all of you, not some poor
imitation." -Ren
"No, you listen to me. I'm not a toy to be played with, Ash. You
can't come here and screw with me, then run off and fuck my heartless bitch of a
sister behind my back. You can't sleep with me, you can't touch me and you sure
as fuck can't kiss me ever again. Ever. I'm a human fucking
being and I've been through enough shit in my life without having you fuck it up
beyond recognition. This is my time and my space.
Get the fuck out of it." -Ren
I really enjoyed reading this book and I'd definitely read the second one!
Ren's. Her mother's last dying wish was for her to get to know her dad. The one
who walked out on them when she was just 5 years old and her mom became ill with
cancer. She is now 22 years old and going to try to make a go of it. It was her
mother's last dying wish. Her father owns a down and out boxing studio, Beat
that he allows her to live at. Shortly thereafter she becomes drawn to the the
ring and starts singing up for the classes. What can it hurt and she's there any
way.
One day, Ash Fuller, her Dad's star fighter, comes back to town and gets Ren's
attention. He's a bad boy, but oh so irresistible. He watches her train and
steps in to teach her one late night as she's punching and kicking the boxing
bag. He gives her pointers and eventually one thing leads to another.
Ash has a bad temper and just one little thing can set him off into a rage like
you've never witnessed. He knows he is no good for Ren. She is everything he's
wanted but being with her can put her into danger. He knows that one day it will
come back to haunt him. He must let her go but will she let him?
Noteworthy Quotes/Thoughts
Did I love Ren? Could I love her? Is that what this think was? Every time I saw
her, my heart did this....thing. I didn't know what the fuck it
was, but it hurt. I wanted to protect her, keep her safe from this place, from
anyone that would see her harmed. I wanted to keep her for myself. -Ash
"Stay with me, Ren. Once I start fucking your sweet little cunt, I'm not
stopping." -Ash
I should of been mortified that he had me on my knees, ass in the air, his
hulking body mounting me like an animal, saying all kinds of explicit things,
saying the c-word, but it awoke something in me I didn't think existed in the
real world. Lust, desire, eroticism. Once, these were just words in a
dictionary, stories in a book, but now I knew they were real and I wanted them.
I wanted them for Ash. -Ren
"If I can't see you at your worst, then who am I really falling for? If I'm
falling for you, Ash, then I want to fall for all of you, not some poor
imitation." -Ren
"No, you listen to me. I'm not a toy to be played with, Ash. You
can't come here and screw with me, then run off and fuck my heartless bitch of a
sister behind my back. You can't sleep with me, you can't touch me and you sure
as fuck can't kiss me ever again. Ever. I'm a human fucking
being and I've been through enough shit in my life without having you fuck it up
beyond recognition. This is my time and my space.
Get the fuck out of it." -Ren
I really enjoyed reading this book and I'd definitely read the second one!
BEFORE
ASH
People say I have a problem
with anger.
You could say a lot of
things about me and they all wouldn’t be nice. I’ve done a lot of things I’m
not proud of.
People looked at me and
only saw what was on the surface.
Money. Power. Talent.
Cash was the driving
factor. Mainly because I was winning it out from under everyone’s noses on a
daily basis by just being good at punching the shit through people. It’s
fucking great to ride high, but there’s always someone right at your heels,
snapping like a rabid beast, waiting for the moment you stumble.
Yeah, that’s the thing
about getting a little fame and money - it made everyone below you jealous and
jealous people were willing to do whatever it took to bring you down. They all
wanted the prize and not all of them were up for playing fair to get it. There
were lines you never crossed and that line had been obliterated a long
time ago.
You hurt the people I love
to get to me and I will fucking kill you.
I would destroy myself to
save them.
I’ve done it before and I
will do it time and time again.
I will beat your ass until
you beg for mercy.
Repent or die.
AFTER
REN
I didn’t feel the pain as
much anymore.
My knuckles had hardened,
my muscles had tightened, and my pain receptors were shot.
Duck. Feign. Punch. Guard.
My Mum would be totally
horrified knowing what I made of my life after she was gone. I lived for her,
to see her win her battle, but in the end she lost. I wasn’t losing this fight.
The fight for my future. How could she argue with that? She always wanted the
best for me, even when she was too sick to move and this is my best.
It’s just that it involves pounding my fists into the flesh of my opponent
until they drop.
The love of a man. The love
of an estranged father. The love of a mother… What good did it do if they just
abandoned you in the end?
Me and my fists. That’s
what would get me through this battle. That’s what would get me onto that
podium. Me.
It didn’t start out this
way. I, least of all, didn’t see it coming until it hit me square in the face.
The day I stood outside the
place that would change my life into something unrecognisable.
The sign over the roller
door that was painted in red letters. Red - the same colour as the blood that I
drew three nights a week in the cage.
The one word that had
become my mantra.
Coming Soon
