3.5 stars

Second chance romances can go either way with me I either love them or I have issues with them and Strong Hold by Sarah Castille is in the latter category. Over all I did like the story, but it wasn’t without some problems making it a challenge for me to finish. Almost 8 years after a special night between them, reunited lovers face challenges as he tries to find a way back into her heart while she keeps him at arm’s length.

Shayla Tanner aka Shilla the Killa is thrown for a loop when the man who broke her teenage heart walks into the gym where she trains as a MMA fighter. Following a successful career in MMA and after a tragedy in his last fight sent him reeling, Zack Grayson can’t believe his eyes when he walks into a gym and sees the woman he’s always loved and never forgotten training like her life depends on it. So guys here’s where the story fell apart for me; broken hearts happen, it is a fact of life and I have real issues with people who can’t seem to let it go almost a decade later especially when they were teenagers when it happened. Yes, I get that these two had a special relationship and I agree that the way Zack ended it s*cked big time, but it took Shayla way too long to realize that she wouldn’t be the same woman she is today if that hadn’t happened in her life. She was really dependent on Zack as a teenager and now she is a kick a$$ and take names kind of woman and yes, there are big time reasons for that but I hated, HATED that in a roundabout way she blamed Zack for those reasons when the choices she made were HER choices. That being said, I did love that they reconnected and despite Shayla continual wishy-washy behavior in regards to their relationship I was happy to see them get to know one another as the adults they’ve become. However, for me there was too much drama, blame game, and living in the past and not enough of living in the here and now. I grew to like both characters during this book but it took me awhile which also made it difficult to keep reading.

While not my favorite in The Redemption series which has been a superior series by Sarah Castille, Strong Hold is still worth the read once you get past…well, the past.

Sarah Castille writes sexually driven stories. There’s no doubt about it. Some more sexual than others, but they are all driven by the sexual chemistry/electricity between the leads. She also packs a punch to the heart …. Every.Single.Time. #TRUST

Zach and Shayla have a second chance to get it right. One of my all time favorite tropes :) I love it because the author doesn’t always have to take up space on the page with the get to know each other. If the author is as a word wizard like Sarah is, they will make you feel it in a very short amount of book space. It leaves more room for the couple’s journey itself. And that’s my favorite part.

Zach and Shayla don’t just have history with each other. There is baggage that comes with their time apart that intensifies the story-line. It is not rainbows and gumdrops. But they come together explosively for a common goal. Each other. There is so much passion and grit and heart and did I say passion? Lol It’s an outstanding story of redemption and growth. Sarah is just one of those authors that is really good at getting it right. #TRUST

A really moving story. Shayla has been through so much in such a short time. Her first true love, Zack, abandons her at 18 to achieve his own dreams of MMA stardom. Heartbroken, she falls for an older man that eventually becomes her abusive husband. She escapes her ex and her former life and eventually spends her days as a part-time amateur MMA fighter. Now her life is the gym she trains in and the people who train her. But her hard won peace is disrupted when Zack shows up in her gym.

I loved how Shayla was written as a strong character that is still vulnerable. She loves Zack, but the past between them has hurt her badly. Zack is a dense guy. He seems to struggle to understand Shayla feelings for him even though he has known her for years. I loved this story because the angst between Shayla and Zach is filled with more love than anger.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher and NetGalley for my honest review.

Shayla has waited 10 years to spend her first night of lovemaking with Zack. They make love and instead of spending the night together, Zack tells her he leaving for Seattle. Leaving her no way they made plans to go to San Diego. Zack was going to train for the MMA and she was going to ballet dance for a small company there. She gave up New York and in the world of ballet New York is the best everything. Will this pain ever stop how can it, he left and took her heart and their dreams for a future with him? She goes to Oakland to a gym called Redemption. Good name seeing now that's what she's looking for redemption. To feel safe, whole find her strength again. Now four years later she a rising MMA star. After a stinging defeat, she is just trying to save face. Which is hard when said face looks like a raccoon. While getting a hard time from everyone in the gym and sparing with her practice partner she gets knocked down again. This time it’s because the three-time winner of the Mega Extreme Fighting Championship middleweight title belt MMA legend just walked in. Zack Grayson yes that Zack, he comes to check on the woman knocked down. It can't be last time he saw her was in New York 7 years ago. He went looking for her found her married she never knew he was there. Will they fight for each other now or throw in the towel. This is an erotic fast-paced fight to the finish and I enjoyed every minute of it.

This was an amazing book!! I have loved this entire series and I'm so glad that Shayla got her story. This was one of the best second chance romances I have read in awhile. Even though there is hurt there, they still love each other. The feelings burn hot and the emotions are scorching.

Shayla has loved Zach her entire life, she made plans with him and gave him her virginity. Then life went to hell for her and her world fell apart. She is fighting every day to try and get her life back but given her last few failures in the ring, she is beginning to doubt herself.....and then in walks Zach.

Zach has loved Shayla just as long but in trying to do the "right" thing, it cost him the girl. He became very successful but once he sees Shayla again he begins to wonder if it was all worth it.

I would highly recommend this book and this entire series!!

This second chance romance is so raw and gritty, but also fun and sexy! Zack was Shayla's first and only love. When he left her to become a successful MMA fighter, she was heartbroken and afraid. Now years later she is an aspiring MMA fighter and determined to never be vulnerable again. I loved the scene when Zack walks into Redemption, and back into her life. It was so perfect, setting up their journey back to each other. Their story is not an easy one, and was so terribly heartbreaking at times. Shayla has a horrendous path that lead her to Redemption and that she keeps secret from the protective, alpha fighters there. Zack had his reasons for walking away, believing he was doing what was best for Shayla. But now that he has found her again, he is helpless to walk away from the woman who owns his heart. I really loved Shayla, she was so strong, resilient, yet vulnerable. She is a perfect match for the deliciously protective, cocky, sexy Zack. They really challenge each other and their chemistry leaps right off the page. All the friends and fighters from Redemption added so much fun and excitement to this story as well, including the gossip train! I loved this story of love, loss, betrayal, and forgiveness.

The MMA world that Sarah Castille creates in her Redemption series is gritty, dangerous, and violent, which is a fitting setting for the characters who reside in it because not only are they fighters in every aspect of their lives, but their pasts and perhaps even their presents dictate their successes and their struggles

The background and insights into this fighter environment illustrates Castille’s desire to paint a realistic backdrop for the series and it’s those intricacies that allow readers, who may be unfamiliar with this kind of surrounding, the necessary verbiage and information that will make them feel comfortable with this unknown scene.

Zack and Shayla’s story is a second chance romance with angst, heartbreak, and sexual tension. It’s clear that these two share a past - one that ended badly for both of them regardless of it being Zack’s decision to break up with Shayla. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication and Shayla’s inability to let her walls down, their reunion is not a happy one, which means that Zack has his work cut out for him if he wants Shayla back in his life in more than just a professional way.

It’s clear that Zack and Shayla still have a strong hold on one another despite the
‘seven years, ten months and twenty-seven days’ that they’ve been apart, the broken people they’ve become, and Shayla’s best effort to hold Zack at arm’s length.

I have to admit that it took me quite a while to warm-up to both the hero and the heroine. Zack’s jealousy and inability to verbalize necessary truths made it difficult to form a connection to him, and Shayla’s actions were beyond frustrating; her hot and cold demeanor always stalled any progress they made, and the feud between her head and her heart didn’t allow her to remain in the present or look ahead at what she and Zack could possibly have.

I love MMA romances; there’s something raw about the world the characters live in and how they fight with everything that they have regardless of the obstacles in their way. I really wanted to love Zack and Shayla’s story, but it felt like they were always working against one another, which gave me a severe case of whiplash and also made some parts of the book extremely frustrating. It’s not that I completely disliked Strong Hold; I just found it sometimes impossible, at times, to understand the characters’ motives, reactions, and actions, which left me questioning just how much they truly loved one another and if they would ever find a way to work through everything because wanting to and being able to are two drastically different ideas.

3/3.5 Poison Apples

Shayla is an amateur MMA fighter and has been burned in the past by men. Zack is a promoter for a MMA company looking for talent. He's also the man that left Shayla seven years ago. The sparks between the couple still burn but can they manage a professional and personal relationship? A real page turner and good read.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley and am leaving a review.

Strong Hold was one fantastic story told by Sarah Castille. Two very strong people who find each other after 7 years apart have so many ups and downs in their relationship you won't think they will ever get together.
The story had a lot MMA action and romance. So many twists happen before they find their HEA.
My favorite line in the book has to be the following, it had me laughing for awhile.
“Good Lord.”Cheryl grabs my wrist, squeezes tight. “I hope you’ve got some ropes, because you’re gonna have to tie me down. That piece of man candy needs some licking, and my tongue is already wet.”
A very good read that you definitely will enjoy.

I liked this second chance romance. Shayla is one tough woman but has put up walls around her to keep her heart safe. Zach regrets what he did all of those years ago. Can they find a way to reconnect? This book has loads of drama and lots of raw emotion. I liked the story as well as the characters. An enjoyable read.

Strong Hold by Sarah Castille had all the makings of an all-star MMA romance. There's second-chance romance, a female MMA fighter, a found family group of fighters. I simply couldn't give Zack a chance.

Shayla is known as Shilla the Killa in the ring, but she is having a string of bad luck. Not only against her opponents, but on the personal front as well. Enter previous flame, Zack Grayson. He unleashes feelings better left forgotten. If only it were that easy...

I like Shayla. She is a survivor, plain and simple, and I had mad respect for her. She turned to MMA for protection, but found herself wanting it as her career. I hope to see more stories around female MMA fighters. That leaves us with why this book didn't work for me.

I'm picky with my heroes. They have to be deserving of the heroine for me to love them, and Zack didn't make the cut. He expects a hell of a lot out of Shayla for very little sacrifice and commitment on his part, and I was baffled. He left her without a goodbye, without letting her know his "plan," and then he gets angry when a year later he finally comes back for her and she has moved on. Zack commiserates on it SO MUCH, and I shook my head at him because, really? You expected her to put her life on hold without a word or promise from you? The man who gets a little wild 'n crazy with other women to boot while she's supposed to wait?

No, I have no sympathy for you. I quit pretty early on, but if you can overlook that whole Zack self-made problem, you'll get a heroine to cheer for.

I loved the Revenge & Ruin series and thought I tried something new by this author. Going in I actually thought this would be a lighter version of R&R but I was blown away by the gritty apologetically raw world that is club Redemption.

Shayla is a former ballerina turned MMA fighter. Having been burned by love in the past, she's learned that the only one she can rely on to stay safe
is herself. After getting out of an abusive marriage that ripped to shreds her dance career and almost killed her, Shayla finds herself at Redemption. Now instead of dancing on the stage, she's throwing punches and getting bruises. She carries a lot of emotional trauma from her past and a lot of anger towards Zach for leaving her all the those years ago.

Shayla is definitely a strong character but a bit broken and I definitely felt for her. There is a lot of trauma and emotional angst that stands in her way of success, both in and outside the ring. The few flashbacks we get of Shayla and Zach were so bitter sweet. To say these two have a complicated relationship would be an understatement. Both MCs are in completely different head spaces then they were 7 years ago but their hearts are still very much in love.

Oh Zach! I loved him, he is one of my favorite type of heroes. The protector alpha that will do anything and everything to always provide a safe haven for the people that he loves. Zach is sharp minded and strong bodied, and he uses every resource he has to be what Shalya needs him to be. Yes, he's a bit stubborn and suffers from severe tunnel vision when it comes to Shayla and her safety but his heart is always in the right place.

It's hard to hate an MC that is so devoted to his heroine and Zach is completely 100% devoted to Shayla. He knows he effed up royally in the
past and he takes complete responsibility for breaking Shayla's heart. but they've been separated a long time and neither one is the same person they once were. For Shayla her marriage and the end to her dreams of being a prima ballerina changed her outlook on life and turned everything upside down and for Zach it's the death of a fellow MMA fighter that died by a knockout that he delivered and the years he's been apart from the love of his life that weigh him down with guilt.

This book is emotional, angsty, gritty and raw. It wasn't what I was expecting but still the characters were engaging, their love story was intense and I was really rooting for them to finally embrace their second chance at a HEA. I hated Zach's reason for leaving and the way he did it was not cool but he was young and with his family pressure and his own insecurities about being able to provide for Shayla it fit his character. Shayla running away and latching on to the first helpful/nice person that came along was also a low blow but it shows you just how fragile and sheltered she'd been. This all could have been avoided with a little bit of communication between the two but people make mistakes and this story is how they move past that and learn from it all.

I recently discovered Sarah Castille with her Naughty Shorts series and love them. So, when I saw she was releasing a full length contemporary romance, I was all over that. Strong Hold is the fifth book in her Redemption series, but the first one I read and I loved it! Definitely going back and checking out the previous books in the series.

Zack Grayson, a fight promoter, is looking for his next MMA star, but he never expected it to be the woman he loved and left. Shayla Tanner is a on the rise as a top ranked amateur MMA fighter. Zack never stopped loving Shayla and always thought they would have a second chance. But then life got in the way. All he truly ever wanted was for Shayla to be happy. But in return, while trying to get over Zach, she ends up in a bad relationship that nearly destroys her.

Now Shayla is trying to move forward. She is stronger and more determined. She is not ready to forgive Zach, but neither can deny the attraction they feel for each other. Can they find their second chance or is it already too late?

Strong Hold by Sarah Castille was a second chance romance with all the feels. The characters had history and struggled to find a way back to each other. A story about second chances and redemption.

Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.

Happy reading!

This poor girl can't catch a break and it starts right off in chapter one. Poor Shayla has her heart broken time and time again.

This is the fourth book in the series and follows Zac and Shayla within a second chance relationship. Will Shayla finally find love after everything she's been through?

The attraction is obvious, the pain is visible, what you don't see right away is why they broke up the first time they were together. Can Shayla and Zack both get past the pain the break-up caused each of them?

In this fifth book of the Redemption series we are gifted with not only one MMA fighter but two! "Shilla the Killa" and "Slayer". Shayla, aka Shilla the Killa, was eight when she first met Zack, who was thirteen at the time, and there was just something between them. At first it was friendship that grew to attraction that grew into something more but Shayla's brother didn't like Zack in her life and he made it known that what he thought of him. This is the part that gets me, Zack finally leaves Shayla for what he thinks will be a better life, as a dancer at a prestigious ballet company in New York, but her life is anything but that. She gets married to an abusive man that is much older than she is and her brother has one talk with him? And that's it? Ugghhh, men! Anyway thanks to her ex almost killing her she moves across country and goes to the Redemption gym to start her MMA career because dancing is no longer in the cards for her.

Zack has had his own set of problems and regrets in the seven years since he walked out of Shayla's life, one being that she married...he has no idea that it wasn't a good marriage, and two, in his last MMA fight the fighter he was up against died in the ring. This was a life changing event for him because he took the blame of his oppoinents death on his shoulders even though he was told it wasn't his fault, so now he is a MMA recruiter, which is what brings him to Redemption. Imagine the shock and surprise when he sees Shayla there!

If you enjoy Sports Romances this is a perfect series for you. The book can be read as a standalone but it's more enjoyable if you read the series in the order which it has been released. Happy Reading!!!

I reviewed this title for LASR (Long and Short Review) giving them the right to post my review. That said, I enjoyed this one, and look forward to reading about the other characters at Redemption.

This is the first time that I read anything from Sarah Castille. I really enjoy the writing. The characters are great and I like the couple in the book very much. They are a great couple and you can't wait to see them finally get together after years of separation. The heroine is strong and holds her own. I really like her.

This is the fifth book in a series. I like it so much that I will go and read the first 4 books too! :)

Zack and Shayla they had a love that they thought would last seven long years ago but Zack feels that he may be holding her back professionally and decides to set her free. He wants to make something of himself and come back for her. Shayla is left devastated and heartbroken a year an no Zack she decides to move and marry another. She is now divorced and broken she is certainly not the woman that Zack left all those years ago. He has finally returned but is it too late for a second chance .
~~Michele McMullen ~~

Your heart will break in the first chapter. Shayla just went from one broken heart and soul to another. It wasn't until she was at her lowest that she put her sadness, hurt disappointment and anger into healing herself through MMA. She also finds herself a family.

On a whim, Zack goes to see a new fighter only to find his own ........REDEMPTION.

Strong Hold by Sarah Castille is book Five in the Redemption series. This is the story of Zack Grayson and Shayla Tanner. I have read the previous book but feel this can be a standalone book.
Zack and Shayla once had a relationship but Zack walked away from it. While trying to move on Shayla ended up in a very bad relationship which brought her to the next part of her life. Becoming a fighter in her personal life and moving on to be a Top amateur MMA fighter. Shayla is now called "Shilla the Killa" in the fighter world. Zack is a promoter now looking for the next MMA which leads him to Shayla. Time has changed them both and this is their time to get back what them missed if they can let their emotions go.
Exciting Read!