This is a childhood best friends to lovers book and I loved it. The plot itself was a bit predictable, but the way everything unfolds made up for it. The main characters, Kaia and Tristan, are so easy to fall in love with. Their relationship is sweet and I really liked their dynamic. I was able to find a piece of myself in both of them.

The only thing that bothered me was how we don't really see much of them in like public places. I understand that their inner struggles might have been intended to be the focus of our attention, but I would have still liked to see them go on an actual date.

*3 stars

i loved the premise of the story, and was very excited when i read the blurb. when i started, i found myself being intrigued and wanting to know more after reading about the tristan’s inner conflict. i really liked kaia as well, and overall, reading them reconnect and fall in love was very enjoyable. their dynamic and him taking care of her! i love! couldn’t get enough.

one downside that made me struggle a bit was the writing style. while i really liked the characters, the writing did make me drone a bit. in part, it was my fault for reading heavily detailed books before starting this one.

otherwise i liked this book! it was a quick, pleasant read full of a lot of things i love!

Tristan is not living the best moment of his live. He is involved in underground fights. And his adopted parents have decided to move in order to save him from all the chaos around him.
So now he lives in Santa Rosa and attends the community College there.
Kaia is there, too. They used to be friends as kids, until Tristan and his family moved away.
Both are trying to figure out their future. But it's not that easy, right?
Nice book about first loves and taking decisions when you nineteen.
I liked it. It's sweet, although a little bit slow in the beginning.

** Thankyou you Netgalley and Anna Ray for this ARC **

Boy was this an arc I enjoyed reading! It’s more of a 3.75 than a 3 !!

Tristan is an underground fighter, he had a chip in his shoulder and is back in the town where he grew up when he bumps into his old best friend Kaia. Kaia is a loner who loves to paint and needs some confidence that she’s good enough. The two have instant chemistry and the story is about their struggle to find a balance and be able to let each other fall in love with the other.

I loved Tristan’s conflicted heart. He is so hurt and confused. I felt like he really needed a big hug! And I wouldn’t have hesitated to give him one!
Kaia was a bit too quick to judge the fighting for me. I wanted her to fight a bit more for what she wanted.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. I would have liked a little more of the romance side, and maybe a little more depth to Tristan and Kaia’s relationship from when they were kids together. That would have pushed it to a 4 star for me.

Good book. I wouldn’t call it an enemies to lovers book, but a slow burn romance.
I really enjoyed the plot, and characters.
The story didn’t drag, and wasn’t rushed. So you had time to get to know both characters.
I also liked BOTH POV’s / that doesn’t happen often where you get an equal view of both sides. It’s usually one with the other I. There randomly. Really liked this story though.

4.5 Stars

Anna Ray's Fighter is a great new adult read. This Anna Ray story is all bad the bad boy Tristan. He struggles with some family issues and ends up as an underground fighter. And damn, there are some scary scenes.

With Kaia, things get interesting. He finds someone worth fighting for, worth becoming a better person for.

The author deals with some tough issues and does so in a great manner.

This is a story that reminds up that not everything is as they seem. This is a story that reminds us that we are more than just our mistakes.

Everything kept me intrigued and the romance is good. I definitely enjoy the twists and turns. And the character growth is fabulous!

Anna Ray is a new to me author and based on the description of the book (and it being a bad boy college romance, which I love), I was excited to read it.

Fighter was filled with the angst and emotion and for being a college romance it also had a lot of grit to it!

I will definitely be reading more books by Anna Ray.

This is a short book but it had it all. For the first time, I felt a short book felt complete.
The characters were so raw and real, I could relate to the things they were going through.
Tristian finds out things he shouldn’t have found out and that messes with his head and his fight. He returns to the place where he grew up where he finds his long-lost friend Kaia.
Kaia’s life experiences have made her strong and independent. She wants to pursue art but she cannot and that breaks her heart every time. Her art is her solace.
Tristian and Kaia two messed up people, two very different people who find their way to life in each other. They may be messed up people but their mess worked for the other.
I certainly loved this book, it was so real. Every emotion hit real bad. I just wished Kaia didn’t speak sometimes because what she told Tristian, in the beginning, hurt him.
I received a free copy of this book on NetGalley. I am leaving a voluntary review and this review is based on my own thoughts and feelings.

I received this arc for an honest review.
This story has drug use, violence, and the wanting to destroy one’s self through fighting. Tristan finds out that he was adopted before graduating high school and he allows this information to control his path to self-destruction. Starting to fight in underground fights he becomes good and full of himself to the point of beating men older than him. Until one night the man he beat has come back and has beaten him to the point of Tristan is in the hospital.
Needless to say, his relationship with his parents is not good especially with his father, so after leaving the hospital he moves to another town and starts community college. Turns out his family lived in this town when he was younger and he runs into an old friend Kaia. She has her own struggles and though she wants to be an artist she is studying to be an accountant.
Together the story shifts and really becomes more edgy and even dark at times if that is even possible. Really though after reading about it and thinking about it the author has captured life on the streets or even from the fringe where you are barely making it knowing at any moment your world can get worse than it is at this very moment. That is really what makes this story and what kept me going with the characters. You must read this book to see what happens with Tristan and Kaia for the journey the author takes you on with these characters is worth the read.

TW: violence, drug use mentioned, overdose, assault, alcohol use,
Fighter by Anna Ray is a childhood friends turned lovers underground fighting romance told from a dual POV.

Newly graduated from high school, Tristian is the textbook mother cycle riding, brooding, bad boy who thrives on violence and pain to mask the internal turmoil he’s dealing with. Years after finding out he was adopted, Tristian takes up underground fighting to let off some steam. After a fight gone wrong and a short stay in the hospital, his parents decide to move back to Santa Rosa in hopes to counter Tristians self destructive behavior. After moving back to his home town, Tristian runs into a childhood friend that makes him question his life decisions and stirs up feelings he tries to fight back.

Kaia is an aspiring artist that goes to the community college Tristian attends. She’s soft, nurturing, independent, and introverted. Raised by her grandparents after her mother’s overdose, Kaia struggles living up to her grandmothers expectations. Kaia wants to paint and make art, while her grandmother wants her to get a job, make a living, and find her happily ever after. Kaia isn’t so sure she wants a happily ever after. Kaia is strong willed and knows what she wants from life, but will Tristian make her question everything she thought she knew about herself?

I really loved this story. Just within the first few chapters the characters were really fleshed out and unique. They were relatable and realistic. The pace of this book was consistent and didn’t feel rushed or drug out. The fact that this book is written from both Tristian and Kaia’s points of view adds so much to the story and how it made me feel. Tristian is what I like to call the grump character. He’s rough, tough, and closed off, but being able to read his inner thoughts about Kaia gave me butterflies. “Girls shouldn’t be allowed to be so soft.” 🥺🥵

The spicy scene was perfect. It wasn’t kinky or anything, but it was good. Sweet and sensual. And it didn’t feel forced like many I’ve read before. The characters kept their personalities throughout the scene, which was refreshing since some of the books I’ve read, the characters tend to turn into different people completely during sex scenes.

I read other reviews that didn’t understand why Tristian had so much anger towards his parents, but honestly, I get it. He was a teenage boy who had his world flipped upside down when he found out that he was adopted. Being a hormonal teenager is hard enough without finding out everything you thought you knew about yourself wasn’t exactly as it seemed. He felt lied to, betrayed, and it’s clear that his family didn’t exactly deal with his feelings when he found out. Along with that, his parents are trying to mold him into who they want him to be. Who they expect him to be. He’s rebelling and dealing with his feelings in the only way that makes sense to him.

The only complaint, that really isn’t a complaint, I have is that I didn’t agree with some of the word choices the author made. Some words felt out of place, but perhaps the author and I have different vernaculars. Other than that, there were a few grammatical errors. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m definitely going to keep an eye on this author.

Side note, I would be super interested in reading a story about Becca. Her character really stood out.

I received a free copy of this book on NetGalley. I am leaving a voluntary review and this review is based on my own thoughts and feelings.

This was a quick read, but extremely steamy and full of angst! An artist who is afraid to show her work, a fighter who fights to feel something- long lost best friends seeing each other for the first time in 10 years and finding out they have both inspired the other- it's a great story! Also, it gets really sexy from time to time. Definitely worth the read!!

I received an ARC and chose to give my honest opinion - thank you NetGalley!

"Fighter" is a NA Romance Novel between Tristan (a troubled 19-year-old who loved illegal fights) and Kaia (an artist stuck in a Associate's degree because she didn't believe in her own potential).

The book as a whole was enjoyable. I had a good time reading it, but it wasn't memorable either.
There are some definite pros: underground fights (that I absolute love), great parents and grandparents (though I wish we got to spend more time with them) and amazing descriptions of the art pieces (the descriptions were as abstract as the paintings, but I honestly managed to imagine something that fit right in).
On the other hand, there are also some cons: it all felt extremely rushed, Tristan and Kaia had been together like four times and were already maddly in love. Also, it felt like we barely touched the surfaced (we were told some of the MC's backstory but I could never connect with them deeply).

As I said before, it was a pleasant read but it had so much more potential that I felt a bit let down

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

Rating: 2⭐

I tried so hard to finish this book but I had to DNF it at 83%. I usually like this sort of book but it really dragged for me. It also felt quite immature with the characters which distracted me from the more mature stuff like the steamy parts.

Would I Read It Again? No

This was my first read from this author and I wasn’t disappointed. It was enjoyable, well written and the chemistry between the main characters was super hot! I love fighter romances and I’m looking forward to more of this authors work!

Tristan and Kaia lost touch 10 years ago, but now that they reconnected, they are not the same person they used to know. Kaia is struggling to find her way as an artist. Tristan can't face his demons or stop underground fighting. But when the two start to fall for each other, Kaia and Tristan must learn to embrace their differences and how to be together.

Fighter is a quick and fun read for new adults. Although I enjoyed the book, I felt it was too fast paced, which reflected on lack of character building and superficial conversations. Some of the story seems too forced and doesn't really make sense. For example, it all happens in a span of no more than two weeks, they lost touch when they were 8, but it seems like it was a big deal that they were not the same person they used to be now at 18/19 (of course they wouldn't be). Also, it was like they had this huge crush on each other when they were only kids and Kaia really took it personally when Tristan didn't talk to her once he moved out of town (I honestly don't think it was a big deal as they were still young kids and it wasn't on their control).

Overall, I didn't not like the book, but it also wasn't one of my favourites. 2.5 starts for me.

**This is an ARC. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of this title. All opinions are honest and my own.*

A story about Kaia and Tristan, a childhood friends to lovers romance, an angry young man and a girl that is starving artist.
After being badly injured, Tristan and his family move back to his childhood home to be away from the bad influences. His new friends take him to an underground fight one night and again Tristan gets involved. At the same time he meets his childhood best friend Kaia and they quickly goes from friends to lovers.
The storyline was ok, I liked the plot also. Character building was ok done since she worked on themes like mental health, addiction, anger and assault, but it was just a surface, there is a lot more to do there. All in all I enjoyed reading it and I will definitely read other works by this author.

I loved Kaia and Tristans story. It was nice to see the emotions and struggle within him get resolved in the end. I loved that Kaia was open and honest about what would and wouldn’t be acceptable. Such a sweet ending all around.

This was my first read from this author and I liked it. It was a simple read and it did not have a lot of angst.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read Fighter: A Bad Boy College Romance by Anna Ray, in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start by saying, that this is one of my favorites tropes, so I was quite excited to pick it up from Netgalley.

Having said that, it was just ok. I'm not an fan of "instalove" and would of appreciated a bit more background of Kaia and Tristans childhood friendship. I also didn't feel like Kaias first sexual experience was very true to life.

I did like Tristans protectiveness of Kaia and enjoyed reading about his fight scenes.

This was a very quick and adorable read. I was expecting a little bit more bad boy-ness and not at all the cuteness overload that I got instead. It was a nice surprise, because it was nicely written. But I was in the mood for something HOT and I didn't get that so now I'm a needy lady 😂
This book followed a pretty typical romance novel storyline so there weren't any parts that were in any way surprising. I'm giving this book three stars.