Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Avid Reader – ☆☆☆☆
M/F BDSM
Triggers: Click HERE to see Avid Reader’s review on Goodreads for trigger warnings.

This is the first book in the series that I've read. While I didn't feel that I was really missing anything, I did find it sometimes difficult to remember who was whom, since they didn't use "typical" names.

Penny is sweet. She is just trying to get through her life without feeling so worthless. Since she was young, that is what she heard about herself. While she's working as a legal assistant, Amanda, her boss, is both amazing as a boss and a friend. However, with a smaller firm, Amanda and Penny are forced to take some not so great cases and that puts Penny in a trickier position than she'd like. She needs to learn to love herself first, before she can really let others in.

Jack – "Renegade" – is an MMA fighter. He is part of a group of friends that fight, hangout, and train together. He notices Penny right away, but he has a secret in his past and present that he has tried very hard to cover up. He only allows himself a certain latitude and despite his being okay with who he is, he doesn't want to have to explain himself to anyone again. When he sees Penny at his club, not only does his libido kick in to high gear, but so do his fears. Will it happen again?

Penny and Jack have great chemistry and despite miscommunications, hurt feelings, blackmail, and pig-headedness, they find a great way to come together – to heal each other.

This is a sweet story about loving yourself, reinvention, and overcoming obstacles.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the fourth in the series – and a great addition too. As we watch these men fall in love and fight for the one their heart desires, the level of fight put up by them and their women makes for great stories – I would recommend that you read them in order to get the full picture, but they are all excellent in their own right.

Here we have an unexpected match of Rampage, newly turned pro-fighter and the prim and proper Penny from England. They both have dark secrets and revealing them will cost more than their friendship – yet events transpire to make it impossible to ignore their feelings any longer. As we are drawn deeper into their relationship, there is a wonderful mix of dark when they are alone, and humour when they are with the Redemption family. By getting the story from both viewpoints, we get to reconnect with the men and women of that family. We catch up on the pairings which have already happened, as well as getting clues as to future romances.

I love the way that this story was resolved – it felt very natural as it fitted the plot beautifully and was very satisfying. Thank you once again, Ms. Castille.


Lee’Anne – ☆☆☆☆
Definitely one of my favorite MMA romances ever. I loved every page!

Rampage is a fighter at Redemption whose career in the MMA is just taking off. He’s known as the “nice guy” and it’s literally hurting his MMA image that he’s such a nice guy… what they don’t know is the secret he keeps locked tight. Rampage is into BDSM and one of the most sought after Masters at the local BDSM club. Penny had a rough childhood, which led to her longing for a bad boy and her bad habit of cutting herself just to feel the pain. When Penny is tasked with delivering paperwork to shut down Club Sin, she never thought in a million years she’d see the sweet fighter from Redemption there, but is immediately drawn to the pain that Rampage is delivering to his sub. Penny craves pain and will do whatever she can to convince Rampage to scene with her…

I just love that this book has so much drama. There is literally not a dull moment from page one. I love all of the characters, especially Rampage! The author does an outstanding job with the BDSM scenes, you’ll have no trouble at all picturing the intense scenes. I can’t wait to read more from Sarah Castille!

This book was almost too much for me. I'm not really into the whole BDSM thing, but it doesn't bother me to read it usually. The reason I kept reading was because there was such an emotional connection between the two characters. It was beautiful in its own way.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book wasn't for me. When it came to the sadist parts, I couldn't really read it but the overall story, Penny's back story, the cutting, was well written.

From the moment I met Rhampage aka Jack Caldwell in ‘Against the Ropes,’ he intrigued me. His quiet demeanour, his camaraderie with his friends and his propensity to gossip made him an interesting character. A man shrouded in mystery and it made me curious to learn what made him tick. Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when I had the opportunity to read and review his story.

When I read the blurb, my excitement dimmed somewhat, as I am not a fan of BDSM. However, I must confess I was pleasantly surprised with the way the story unfolded. Yes, it has BDSM theme, but ‘Fighting Attraction’ was more than that. It is a story of healing, self-discovery, acceptance, trust and love. It tells the story two people who suffered betrayal at the hands of the persons they believed they could trust. Be warned this book touched on some heavy themes such as abuse, suicide, and self-mutilation, so if you have triggers where these issues are concerned then skip this title.

The name of the book is fitting as the main characters who, clearly attracted to each other were determined to fight their feelings for each other. They felt they did not deserve each other. Eventually, though they came to realise that they belonged together. They helped each other to realise they were worthy of love. I enjoyed their interaction with each other, which at times were funny, sexy and emotional.

Connecting to the characters was easy. Penny Worthington is a damaged heroine. She grew up in an abusive environment and was constantly made to believe that no one loved her. Years of hearing this led to her having low self-esteem issues, which I understood. It is my belief this was one of the reasons she attracted the wrong men. Her struggles with the physical and emotional pain were real and watching her overcome them was admirable. She had many layers, which made her a fascinating character. She is a fiery, strong, prim and proper British woman willing to fight for what or who she wants.

Jack an up and coming MMA fighter is a DOM who gets pleasure through pain. He is this way not because he is damaged, but because it was in his nature. His fiancée betrayed him, and his family disowned him and since then he kept this side of him a secret from his friends and counterparts. He is ashamed of what he is as he is as he was made to believe a southern gentleman would never indulge in such behaviour. His attraction to Penny is evident, but he refuses to seek anything but friendship from her, as he was afraid to cause her pain. However, she broke down his barriers and made him feel things he never expected.

Due to them, thinking they did not deserve each other, there was a lot of push and pull especially on Jack’s side. At times, their behavior got a bit frustrating, but eventually, they got their act together. What I liked about their relationship was that they were friends long before they became lovers. There were many great scenes, but the one that put a smile on my face was seeing Jack grovel to win over Penny when he finally came to his senses.

Verdict
‘Fighting Attraction’ was a great read from start to finish and I am eager to know whose story will be next. I recommend this title to persons who love MMA fighter stories, alpha males, and hot romance.
N.B It can be read as a stand-alone

Emotional and hot! Fighting Attraction is a wickedly good read

Fighting Attraction, by Sarah Castille is an intense contemporary romance book.

Jack "Rampage" Caldwell is a professional MMA fighter, and he trains at Redemption, which is a premier training facility in California. In addition to training top MMA athletes, Redemption is also a primary work out site for the fighters' girlfriends and other friends, including the single Penny Worthington.

Despite being friendly for over a year, Jack and Penny have never been more than acquaintances...until she discovers that Jack is secretly involved with a BDSM club. Due to his continually professed darkness, Jack thinks that Penny is too sweet and innocent for him, even after she decides to join the club. However, she's hiding several secrets. As the story unfolds, Jack and Penny are forced to deal with the ramifications of their pasts affecting their current thoughts and actions in their lives and unofficial relationship.

Since it's the fourth book in the Redemption series, it's recommended to start with the first book, Against the Ropes, yet it's not necessary to read the books in order.

Fighting Attraction is focused on serious issues and dramatic situations, and it's geared toward adults who prefer reading intense modern MMA and BDSM romances.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really like Sarah Castille so I was looking forward to this book. The erotic content is good but I must admit, I didn't love the story.

This is the fourth book in the Redemption MMA series. It is my first time reading a book in the series but you don't need to read the other books. If you are looking for a place to start this series, you can start wherever you want. This is Penny and Jackson's (Renegade) story. Penny and Jacks have been friends via their mutual enjoyment of the Redemption gym where Jackson trains for quite a while. Jackson has recently gone pro and is now somewhat of a celebrity. Penny is a refugee from a life of misery at the hands of her father. As a way of dealing with her pain, Penny has developed some really questionable coping mechanisms. Penny is a sweet thing in sweaters and kitten heels on the outside. On the inside, she's a huge damn mess who is really a bunch of broken pieces.

Penny discovers that Jackson, the nice guy who everyone loves at the gym, is hiding his own dark side. Jackson is "Master Jack" for a famous sex club. Penny works for a law firm that represents a client that is trying to get the club shut down. When Penny visits the club to serve legal documents, the course of her life is drastically altered. Penny discovers there may be another way to deal with the demons she has been facing on her own. What Penny is not prepared for is that her masochism is related to sexual pleasure. When she discovers that about herself, it freaks her out. When she discovers it with Jacks, her relationship with him is strained as she tries to run away from her own self. On the other side of the equation, Jacks was raised as a Southern gentlemen. He is completely horrified by his desire to hurt women but it's there. Jacks has not fully accepted that what he wants his normal and he doesn't want to subject Penny to it no matter how much she might enjoy it.

Penny and Jacks are flip sides of the same coin. Neither one of them can accept the truth about their self so it causes them to push the other one away. My problem is how confused things became. Jacks is over the top in his intensity about Penny. When any other guy even glances her way, Jacks flies into a crazy rage. On the other hand, when he has an opportunity to declare to Penny that he wants her, he goes running in the opposite direction. As for Penny, she is just really emotionally unstable. The way Penny's past comes back to haunt her and she fixates on not being good enough was sad but also exhausting. Penny just really need a big gulp of self confidence. I did like Penny and Jacks together but I wish they could have gotten there with just slightly less angst. I also didn't really care for the use of supporting characters in this book. I thought there was too much information about other characters and it got a bit distracting at times.

All in all, this was not my favorite book by this author. It delivers some really great sex scenes and some intense emotion but parts of it felt tedious.

I really like Sara Castille, but Fighting Attraction was a little too much for me. I think a lot of readers will enjoy this dark and dirty sports romance with BDSM, but it is not my cup of tea. This is in no way a knock to Ms. Castille's talent.

Fighting Attraction was a hot and dark 5 star read.

Rampage is an MMA fighter with a secret that he isn’t proud of.
Penny also has some past demons and a secret she’s not proud of either. Every relationship she has been in has been abusive. This makes her feel unwanted and damaged. Worthless. No good…

I’m broken, damaged, and unfixable. And no amount of therapy is going to change that.

Rampage and Penny are friends along with several other great secondary characters. They are members of the gym Redemption. When Penny has to serve papers on a sex club she discovers Rampage’s secret.

Prepare to be punished.

The attraction these two have is off the charts hot. Rampage just may be exactly what Penny is looking for and needs. Can he give her what she wants? Can Penny give Rampage what he needs as well?

There is so much more to this great read. These two knew just how to push each other's buttons. And the sex, WOW. I really loved the secondary characters, they really added alot to the story. This was my first read in the series and feel it can be read as a stand alone. I do plan on going back to the beginning, I want to get to know the rest of the guys and their women. There are some intense scenes that may be triggers for some. Sarah Castille does a great job of pulling you right in with her writing. I highly suggest you 1-click and get started today.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. Reviewed by MAustin from Alpha Book Club

So, while I dabble here and there in BDSM reading I am definitely not all that well informed on it. I know when it works for me and when it doesn't, and here it definitely does.

Jack has some serious conflict about himself as a sadist. He had people close to him turn against him when the truth came out so he's worked hard to keep it separate from his daily life. Unfortunately it is as much as part of him as anything else which means that he feels that he has to avoid any intimacy in his life ... regardless of how sexy he finds sweet Penny. But Penny is hiding secrets of her own and a little glimpse into Jack's world has her curious. Making Jack let her in is a fight she's not willing to lose.

I really liked these two together. They have fun, definitely rock the entertaining banter, and set the pages ON FIRE. There's a whole mess of emotions to go along with it as well, though. They struggle a lot with their feelings, both for each other and about themselves, but with each other's help they might be able to figure things out.

You are definitely going to have to be OK with some sizzling kink with these too, including a seriously strong Alpha with a need to inflict pain. But more importantly, you need to be ready for a lot of difficult times, ups & downs & abouts & arounds, because these two don't make it easy on themselves. Or us :) But it is definitely a ride that I enjoyed! I'm looking forward to seeing what Castille has in store for us next. And I'll be adding those missed books to my TBR pile too ... It just never gets any shorter!

Love, acceptance and know who you are. Those are the demons that plague Jack or Rampage. The MMA fighter is fighting more that just an opponent in the ring, no he is fighting to accept his true self, the person that he is inside. His family rejected that person and he has been hiding in plain sight ever since. Now the one person he has loved from afar, is begging for that person he hides to come to light and bring her along with him.
Penny, the beautiful Britt with a heart of gold, is broken but hides behind her good girl clothes and manners. She is screaming for some one to love her. For that man to love all of her broken soul and painful scars that she craves. Could Jack be that man?
This book is so powerful, and emotional, not just a sexy read. No this book gives us the heart and soul of a man that is trying to lift himself out of the ashes of his past shame and live fully but in hiding. I love Jack, with is dual self battling to win the love he knows he deserves~ Penny.
Love, simple, pure, pain and all.

This is my first MMA fighter book as well as my first book by Sarah Castille and neither will be my last. Sarah has a way of writing that really draws you and keeps you entertained from the very first page until the end.

Penny has secrets of her own, but Jack doesn't know that when she uncovers his big secret. The secret he doesn't want to get out. While Penny and Jack are only friends they have thought about the other in non-friend ways. Penny uncovering Jack's secrets leads to things neither of them were expecting or ready for. We see the struggle (especially from Jack) as he navigates this new path. He doesn't know what he wants but he does know that Penny is his.

I love the dynamic of everything in this book, the friends, other fighters, etc. I love that Penny has people looking out for her, and help her along the way. Overall, this is a great read start to finish. It does have BDSM in it so keep that in mind when picking up this book.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

I've read the first story and this one in this series because I haven't got the other two so reading this I missed some events so with that said you might want to read each on in order.

Jackson 'Jack' Caldwell also known as Rampage is a Tennessee gentleman to everyone but with a dark secret that made his parents disown him and an ex fiancee drop him for his younger brother. He was raised never raise your hand to a women but when he hit puberty he had something wanting to do the opposite of what he was taught. He thrives on giving pain, a sadist.

Penny Worthington 'Pen' left merry old English to come to America after her father abused her and forced her and her sister to compete against each other no matter at what for their father's sick joke. He always told Penny she should have never been born and was worthless. One bad monster of her past. Until she was 16 and meeting Adam, he was the same as her father, treated her as his personal slave with fists, 2nd monster of her past. There might have been others in between Adam and Mr Rock Star, the worst of the worst. But all that time she found out she needs pain to emotionally release her demons of her past.

After becoming friends Rampage and Pen were close friends, she was Jack as the man she would love to love but Jack will see Pen as the women she should have if he wasn't such a sadist.

One glance of Jack in his other comfort will push Penny to see if he is truly the man that will help her, while Jack is mad as hell that Penny found out his secret life.

This friends to lovers story tested my boundaries, challenged my concepts and left me wanting more. When you meet Penny in her feminine pretty clothes, you would believe she was angelic and pure. But behind that sophisticated english exterior were secrets and a darkness she kept well hidden. She became friends with sexy, kind, and thoughtful MMA fighter Jack 'Rampage'. She loved spending time with him and their friends but underneath the nice guy exterior she saw a darkness that spoke to her. When Penny discovers the BDSM club called Club Sin and what it could offer her, Jack was not happy. He was on the cusp of becoming the next big name in the ring and he didn't want his name and reputation to be tarnished. But when she wouldn't stay away, he wasn't going to let anyone touch the one woman who called to him even tho he didn't think he deserved her. This is a raw and emotional story of self discovery, redemption, and learning to love and be loved. Ms. Castille created two complex characters that made me laugh, cringe, cry and even want to slap at times. There are so many funny scenes mixed in with the exhilarating and hot and sexy scenes that I have grown to expect from this author and I wasn't disappointed. I enjoyed reconnecting with friends from past books but this can be read as a stand alone. I really like this series and can't wait to read more from the men of Redemption.

Fighting Attraction is a MMA romance with a BDSM undertone. While I love MMA fighter love stories (I find those guys super-hot) and I do enjoy BDSM stories (on the lighter spectrum) I must confess that the SM part is not really my cup of tea. Although this is part of an ongoing series, it can definitely be read as a standalone…. Though it took me a little bit to get used to who was who especially with the whole cage name thing.

I found myself scratching my head and wondering why would I request an ARC for a book where the H is a sadist and the h has a need for pain? I went back to the blurb and realized the problem was that it talks of domination but never of Rampage’s need for doling out pain. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed reading the story, it just wasn’t the perfect fit for me.

Rampage aka Jack is a southern gentleman, or he is on the outside. When he is not pummeling someone in the cage, he is everyone’s best friend: funny, charming and considerate. From a very bad experience in his past, he hides the sadist part of himself, only letting that show in the sex club he is a member of. His issues with this part of himself and his inability to let go of the past and deal with his unresolved feelings meant that his relationship with Penny was a whip-lash inducing, hot and cold type of deal.

Penny had a very difficult start in life. Coming from a childhood of abuse to then fall into one abusive relationship after another, she’s had to find ways to deal with her emotional turmoil. A kind, witty and thoughtful Britt, she works as a paralegal and works out at Rampage’s gym, Redemption. When work takes her to a sex club, she discovers Jack’s secret but instead of being repulsed by it (as Jack fears) something actually clicks for her.

Fiercely attracted to each other but with tons of issues to overcome, Jack tries to stay away from Penny… unsuccessfully. Penny’s self-esteem issues mean that every time Jack pushes her away there’s a big fallout for her. I must confess that more than the SM aspect of it, what didn’t quite work for me was this back and forward stuff. Add in a very insecure heroine (which drives me nuts) and some other inconsistencies with the plot line and I can’t say this was my favorite book ever.

As is, Fighting Attraction is a good love story about accepting who you are and letting go of past hurts in order to be able to move forward. It has action, some very hot encounters and if you don’t mind the SM side, some hot scenes as well. With a gym still full of single hunky MMA fighters, I think there’s a lot to come in this series.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Yes, I must admit it: this is one of those books that caught my attention with its gorgeous cover and, after reading the blurb, I’ve had no hesitation: fighter romance with a touch of BDSM? It’s missing only a bike and a leather jacket and, as they say in tennis, for me it’s “Game! Set! Match!”.
No, I didn’t know as author Sarah Castille nor I’ve read her “Redemption” series. I approached recently the fighter romance genre, but sure my explorations will continue to move forward in this direction.
“Fighting Attraction” is the fourth book in the “Redemption” series by this author, but the novel can be considered as standalone and the story is about Penny and Jake/Rampage.
The Redemption is a gym frequented by a group of MMA fighters, but over time this place turned out to be something more for them. It’s the real core of their lives, where friends can harbor the same passion and built a strong bond between them. A group in which they began to enter slowly even women, who love the MMA world and who are able to stand up in front of this amazing alpha men, conquering them, and becoming, then, the most precious and important thing in their lives ; but they are also their toughest “rival” and the hardest to keep up with, given these mates have the rare gift to always elude their control. This of course makes them show even more their dominant side and even the “real caveman” that lurks beneath the surface.
Rampage and Penny’s story is even more special than the others.
Rampage is a great fighter, because of his skills he starts to take his first steps to become a pro in the MMA circuit. Gorgeous, hot, virtually unbeatable in the cage, but absolutely correct during and after his fights: the classic good guy, even funny and cute, who everyone would like to have as a friend.
He’s too perfect in the eyes of Penny, who has always been attracted in the past from bad guys.
What Penny doesn’t know yet is how much the “real” Rampage is well hidden under this facade, locked inside because of his fear of not being accepted for his real nature. He prefers to show this side of himself only in a safe place, within an exclusive BDSM club, where Rampage turns into Master Jack.
The BDSM has become part of Jack’s life, but this isn’t the classic story of this kind of book, in which a Dom finds his sub “and everyone lived happily ever after with a whip and handcuffs”. Things are different and Penny is not a sub.

http://www.feelthebook.com/recensione-inedito-book-tour-fighting-attraction-di-sarah-castille-4-redemption/
The story between Jack/Rampage and Penny is more complex. They both had problems and suffered in the past.
Jack isn’t the perfect Dom who magically gets the rid of all Penny’s problems and she isn’t the woman who can erase Jack’s demons.
It’s a story with ups and downs, in which both of them must learn to know and live with their weaknesses and the ghosts of their past.
The thing I liked the most in them is that, despite the misunderstandings, they were always ready to support one another, always willing to be there.
This way everything was more realistic and I appreciated I could read through the point of view of both of them.
Despite all of her insecurities, Penny is the one with a better view of her life, the one that, over time, has been able somehow to accept herself, and to be ready, now, to get involved with Jack, while he continues to live an inner struggle, which makes him more vulnerable and uncertain about his real capacity to be the right man for her.
I loved how Ms Castille wrote this novel: the Redemption group is very united and present in the story. Rampage and Penny’s friends, as a whole, enrich the novel, they’re funny and hot characters and made me want to find out more about them.
In addition to these attractive alpha male fighters, I really liked how the story was told, showing along with the romance, moments when people fight, written with precise descriptions. I’ve to say sometimes, because of the fighters implicated – two people at random: Penny and Rampage – these workouts are transformed into something very hot to read.
They’re a couple with an explosive chemistry, but what for me always makes a difference in these cases – in addition to reading engaging scenes, full of passion, also very explicit – is also the fact of being in front of something more deep that binds the two protagonists.
Penny and Rampage together have this “something more”.

Sensuality: 5/5

Rating: 4/5

MMA/fighter reads are always some of my favorites to get my hands on. This book isn't disappoint at all. I loved Penny and Rampage!! The secrets and witty moments, it was all so awesome to read. I can't wait to see what is going to come next!

Penny and Rampage are both broken, but they are soul mates, and manage to fix each other. I loved the banter between these characters, and Penny was certainly not a walkover. No spoilers from me though, you really need to read this for yourself!
This story is well written, and is about finding love and being soul mates. This is a scorching sexy story, and the author has done an amazing job in writing this story. I look forward to reading more.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book!