I’ve had Down for the Count on my Goodreads TBR for a while now. I wanted a short contemporary romance book to read for the summer, and this was the perfect book, especially since the two main characters end up in Puerto Rico. A destination that is on my bucket list to visit one day.

Storyline/My Thoughts: First off, this book starts with the female protagonist, Lacey Garrity, catching her groom with one of her bridesmaids. A big no-no for me in stories is cheating, and I’m so glad that Lacey took off running after catching her so-called groom with her best friend/bridesmaid. If she would have stayed, I don’t think I would’ve kept on reading. Who saves her, but her other best friend’s older brother, Galen Thomas. Thank goodness. Galen offers Lacey a daring situation that she will have a hard time turning down. It involves playing games and running away to Puerto Rico to get her mind off what her so-called groom did to her. Unfortunately, Lacey’s family is not happy about it. Lacey, though, will experience the most memorable moments in her life with someone she thought found her annoying. Galen is going to prove how much he cares about Lacey.

I love these kinds of stories where the female protagonist ends up with someone she’s known her whole life, and he ends up being someone she’s had a crush on for a while. Galen Thomas is considered a bad boy, though, especially with what Lacey knows about him. Since he started in it, she’s followed his boxing career, and she knows he has more experience than her. It’s going to be an excellent vacation for both Lacey and Galen in Puerto Rico. I loved their connection with each other. Although, I didn’t particularly appreciate how Lacey’s family interfered at the end.

There are some steamy scenes in this book between Lacey and Galen. Galen shows how Lacey is to be loved and adored, unlike her jerk of a groom. Don’t worry; truths will be revealed in this book about Lacey’s groom.

This happened to be my first book by Christine Bell, and overall, I enjoyed it. I give it four stars. 🙂

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Dare Me series, but each can be read as a standalone.

HEA: Yes

Steamy: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Trope: Friends to Lovers; Bestfriend’s Brother; Sports (Boxing)

Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend this book to Contemporary Romance readers. I also recommend this if you need something while you are at the beach or are on vacation.

Lacey finds her groom with one of her bridesmaids 2 hours after their wedding. Pissed off and hurt she decides to spend her honeymoon with Galen, her best friend’s older brother. Their relationship growing up wasn’t the best but his solution is the best she has!

Galen was attracted to Lacey for quite some time. With her wedding failing, this is his change to work her out of his system. A fling between them is the best way to do that.

The connection between them is unmistakable. Their escape brings out the lust and possible feelings that’ve been brewing all this time. I really hated Lacey’s mother. She did everything in her power to manipulate her. I was so happy for her when she was finally free!

I really liked the book and I’m planning tp read the rest of the series hopefully soon! If you’re looking for a bad boy with a good heart and a heroine finally finding herself, then this book is definitely for you!!

Good and entertaining story; I liked how Galen is portrayed, as strong and tough, yet he's caring when needed. I'm on the fence about Lacey though; she comes across skittish and fearful, but there's no clear reason why she's like this. Unless you take her mother into account, then that might explain Lacey's behavior.

I pretty much love everything under the Brazen banner! They make wonderful Contemporary Romances. I liked Galen and Lacey! This was a quick, steamy, and funny read! Fans of the genre will enjoy this book.

I thought this was a good, quick read! The writing flowed well, and I liked Galen and Lacey together. Galen was a great H. He was tough, but caring. Lacey could have used a backbone. She let her fears get the better of her constantly, and I'm not really sure why she was that way. It was never explained why she was so scared of everything. Her mother was a shrew, and I really wish she would have stood up to her sooner. The ending was good, and I was happy to see them get their HEA. This was a first for me from this author, but I would read her again.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

Lacey suffers after her wedding, finding her new husband doing the dirty deed! Her best friend's brother, Galen, takes her away to figure out what to do. This is a tale retold but Christine does a fantastic job with her own spin. Loved it!

Not a bad story. Good writing by Ms. Bell. I liked the plot and how the story progressed. Hot in all the right places. Thanks!

From the moment I started reading this book, I was hooked. Lacey Garrity is betrayed in the worst way at her wedding reception. When she turns to her best friend and her best friends older brother, the journey begins. Laughter, crying, and a drunken night starts the beginning of her new life. I was given this book as a arc through Netgalley, it you can bet I'll be purchasing it!

I highly recommend this book!

I found this to be a frustrating read. In part it was good and the first part was messed up for the heroine. She has a lot to learn and realized after marrying that he was not who she thought he was. I was a tad disappointed with how she dealt with her mom. I wanted to slap her a defend her reasoning. Galen seemed hot and sexy! This read like a romance movie. The sex scenes were good and this author painted the perfect picture! Would have like a prologue and epilogue. This was an Ok read!

I received this ARC from the publisher via Net Galley at my request for a honest review. The opinions written are solely my own. Thank you Net Galley!

I didn't expect to like this book as much as I did. Christine Bell has created likeable characters that were fun to read about.

Galen was not your typical jerk to sweetheart romance book hero. Right from the get go he helps Lacey escape her disastrous wedding, and he keeps helping her learn to be more confident.

The plot moves quickly, but the pacing of the story is just right.

This is part of a series but can definitely be read as a standalone.

Down for the count is a seriously good read i couldnt put down. Its quick and pulling and will have you hooked from the very first punch ;)

Galen is a very likable character. Hes Laceys best friends older brother and you know that can lead to interesting places. Hes the sweet guy who is willing to be there and get Lacey out of her funk and out of this bubble shes been living in. It was just simply a good book.

Down for the Count is an exciting, fast-paced and sexy read. The story has an interesting plot, and believable characters who set the pages on fire. This was my first read by Christine Bell, but it won’t be my last.

This is the first book in the Dare series. It was originally published in 2012 so you might have already read the series. Fun hot romance.

Kinda disappointed by this one.
A bride that finds her husband screwing one of her bridesmaids at their wedding reception, runs away in her honeymoon with her childhood crush, a super awesome boxer, the brother of her best friend.
Things get heated in Puerto Rico, but it all crashes down. Don't worry, it's a classical romance with HEA guaranteed.

Sounds good, right? Well, the main problem for me was the heroine. She looked so strong and brave and funnily sarcastic in the first few pages, but then... Oh! My! God! She got on my nerves by being unbelievable naive, with zero confidence in herself, a doormat of her bitchy mother and the list goes on. I didn't like anything about her. Zero. Nada.

The hero was pretty great, though. He was patient enough trying to infuse some confidence into our heroine, demonstrating that she wasn't "broken" because she never had an orgasm, but her previous sex partners were the actual problem and I got impressed in the end, when he <spoiler>gave her space to figure things out by herself.</spoiler>

I also hated the development of their relationship. Besides the hot sex and physical attraction, there wasn't anything left, but self-doubt (more from her and a little from him), insecurities ("what's this? what's next?" "do you feel the same way?") and so on.

Plus, i wanted a little more in the end <spoiler>like at least a marriage proposal, not just a kiss and "i love you"</spoiler>.

<i>"ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review."</i>

When Lacey Garrity finds her groom in flagrante delicto in the reception hall closet with her bridesmaid, she's saved by her best friend's older brother childhood tormentor, crush, and boxing bad boy Galen Thomas. Galen's solution is both exciting and dangerous.Galen had been counting on Lacey's wedding to put her out of reach and out of his mind once and for all, but their steamy Puerto Rican escape is testing all his boundaries. When I started reading I couldn't put it down.Christine Bell is magnifysent writer.I cannot wait to read more of there books.Keep up the great work.You should definitely read this book.Can't wait for the next book.

Ms. Bell’s racy book Down for the Count begins with a bang… one Lacey Garrity wishes she’d never seen. Because, really, out of all the things a bride hopes for minutes after saying “I do,” finding her fiancé with his pants around his ankles, having sex in a linen closet with one of her bridesmaids, is not one of them.

This however is exactly what Lacey Garrity encounters on her wedding day. Furious and hurt, she grabs a bottle of champagne, strips off her wedding dress, and, dressed in her slip, escapes on the back of her best friend’s brother’s motorcycle. Galen Thomas — the guy on the bike — has been Lacey’s dream man for decades. So when he takes her to his family’s lake house and they share an entire bottle of Jack Daniels, and he dares her to take her already paid for honeymoon with him, Lacey, ready to live a little, says yes.

I enjoyed this book. It’s a fun read with equal amounts of humor and hot sex. Lacey and Galen are appealing leads and their chemistry together is blistering. As is so often the case — the tropes in this book aren’t especially original but they’re done well — Lacey has never found that magic moment between the sheets. Not only is Lacey fairly insecure, she’s always done what her harridan of a mother has told her to, including marrying a dud so that his firm and her family’s firm can merge. The only mildly wild parts of her life are her friendship with Cat, Galen’s wild little sister, and her secret super crush on Galen.

Galen’s had the hots for Lacey for a couple of years now, but she’d been engaged, and of course, she is his little sis’s BFF. When he gets her alone in San Juan and he realizes she’s as warm for his form as he is for hers, he seduces the hell out of her, determined to show her what she’s been missing. Lacey, who never loved her loser fiancé, takes to hot and steamy sex with Galen like there’s no tomorrow. In fact, Lacey is sure that with Galen, there won’t be a tomorrow. Galen, a professional boxer, has always seemed to Lacey to be out of her league. She believes the moment their faux honeymoon is over, Galen will be out of her bed.

Galen, however, isn’t a player. He’s a great guy, sold on Lacey, and determined to make her see her self-worth. He’s also a big fan of burning up the sheets with her — it’s the best sex he’s ever had. I liked Galen a bunch — he’s a man’s man, sexy as hell, and unafraid to show emotion. He’s also funny, principled, honest, and inventive. Ms. Bell does a nice job of showing the reader both Galen’s and Lacey’s perspectives — the relationship between the two and the ways in which they change how they see the possibilities between them are deftly presented.

I enjoyed everything about this book except for the last scene. It’s right out of one of my favorite movies — I’m not saying which because that would completely give away the ending — but unlike that of the movie, the conclusion of this book seemed rushed and rather unbelievable. However, it isn’t that bad nor did substantially detract from the book.

Down for the Count is a steamy read — it’s at the far end of the “Hot” scale. All that passion works in this book; the sex scenes are well-integrated into the story and don’t overshadow the emotional aspects of the novel. Ms. Bell is a nimble writer and her prose is direct, easy to read, and routinely clever. All in all, this is a good book, one I think anyone looking for a sexy, funny modern romance would enjoy.

Buy it at A/iB/BN/K