I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised. I ended up finishing the book in just a few sittings and really enjoyed the story and characters.

This was a wonderful book! If you are looking for a closed door boxing romance look no further! This book is packed with cute banter and so many swoony moments!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for a honest review. I promise my review is 100% accurate to me.


I found this to be a funny and sweet read. A strong independent female lead is always a plus and I love a clown

This is my first book by this author and i really enjoyed it! I loved the relationship between the two main characters and i cannot wait to read more

This felt like a book that was written just to say you wrote a book. The writing was choppy and unpolished. The storyline was poorly times and disjointed. I debated DNF'ing the book every 10% but wanted to complete it to count toward a current reading challenge. The romance was forced, banter poor. I will not be recommending this book to anyone.

Janna is a boxer who runs her own gym. She is struggling to make it work financially, so agrees to help train Blake for his fight. A fun read, and I liked how it was told from both points of view.

Love Against the Ropes is my first read from author Karen Landry. Entertaining storyline, narrated by both main characters Janna and Blake. Janna was a hard nut to crack trying to be successful in a primarily male dominated sport, but I liked her. She loved her sister and she loved her sport. She was a straight shooter. Needing money for her gym, she agrees to helping larger than life influencer Blake, who got himself into a pickle. At first Blake was hard for me to pin down. Literally he was bouncing all over the place throughout the book and only settled down 75%ish in. I get that he’s an influencer and is expected to always be “on” for content, but for me it got old. I liked the evolution of their love story and hard won HEA, just wish Blake’s personality was more my style.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in lieu of my opinions.

Now that sports romances have grown to include every sport (chess! lacrosse! Formula One!), it shouldn't be a surprise that boxing is getting a turn. What is a surprise is that Love Against the Ropes is such a cozy example of the genre. Youtube star Blake (who feels borrowed from a far, far kinder version of Jake Paul) thinks it would be great content to record him training for a boxing match, isolated at his trainer's rural gym in Ohio...until he falls in love at first sight with his trainer, ambitious boxer Janaa.

I read a lot of golden retriever MMCs, but Blake has a POV which really emphasises his sweet and goofy nature. I thought it was a particularly well done version of the character type. I also really loved Janaa's ambition. This is a cozy romance which is perfect for relaxing after a stressful day. I'm excited to read the next book in the series.

A former woman boxer agrees to train a social media star to basically survive a boxing challenge. Lots of fun banter and romance shown. Enjoyed this one and would make a fun summer read. Highly recommend

Very fresh and unique romantic story about two very different individuals who just fit together so nicely. A refreshing story of a female boxer who is building a life for herself and a social influencer who has people skills but needs physical training to participate in a publicity stunt. Personalities and banter made this story delightful and each has a sibling that made the dynamics even more interesting.

This is my first Karen Landry book and my first book around boxing, I hate boxing and was slightly put off at first. Absolutely no need to have worried, the story revolves more around the training than the actual boxing itself and is the fight it not as big a part of the story as i thought it would be.
Blake is an internet celebrity/influencer and films 99% of his life, he is always on and has managed to talk himself into a fight that he has no business being involved in.
Enter Janna an ex professional boxer who now lives in a small town running a gym. A lifestyle that could not be further away from what Blake and his brother Van are used to. This is not so much enemies to lovers as I think they are both similar. They are both passionate about everything they do and like to do things properly. Blake just has a more laid-back approach to things which eventually breaks down Jenna’s walls.
I found the first part and the end good, just slightly dipped in the middle but overall, this is a good entertaining read.
I will be looking at Karen’s previous books and look forward to Bea and Van’s story when published.

I would like to thank Netgalley for this advanced reader copy.

#LoveAgainsttheRopes #NetGalley

This is a sweet feel good romance that is a quick easy read.

Blake is a total golden retriever who does crazy things for his internet fame. Well he next crazy thing is accepting a challenge to fight a pro boxer so what is he to do, enlist a boxer to train him. He just so happens to ask Janna for help to at least survive in the ring with a pro.

Janna is a badass former boxing champion who opens her own gym in her hometown. Janna is struggling to keep her gym afloat, the willingness to help Blake could help the business. But the sparks that fly between the two, especially Blake right from the start. It was like insta-love for Blake which made for some of the best moments because he was totally trying to get her just as interested in him. This was a fun read, I definitely need to know what happens next with Bea and Van.

Thank you NetGalley and Sea Foam Press for the advance copy, all my opinions are my own.

Love Against the Ropes by @karenlandrywrites
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5 stars)

Janna is a badass female boxer 🥊 who puts her career on pause to open a gym in her small Ohio hometown—only to find herself struggling to keep the doors open. Enter Blake: viral internet sensation, chaotic goofball, and completely unprepared to step into a boxing ring. 😅📱

When Blake accepts a challenge to fight a pro boxer (yikes), he turns to Janna for a crash course in surviving the ring. What neither of them expects? That sparks will fly faster than a left hook. 💥❤️

As much as I didn’t want to, I loved Blake. His brand of internet celebrity isn’t something I’m generally a fan of, but he has such enthusiasm and good intentions that it was impossible not to fall for him. His insta-love for Janna was adorable, and his attempts to woo her via “crow presents” were endearing. 🐦💌 He is the epitome of golden retriever energy, blending positive energy with real heart.

Janna is my girl. She is a badass champion boxer, something I haven’t seen in romance before, with determination and a whole lot of grit. I love that she is multi-dimensional: tough boxer, serious businesswoman, playful prankster, and loving sister.

This is a sweet, kisses-only, feel-good romance with just the right touch of silly. Perfect as a palate cleanser between more angst-filled reads. I’ll absolutely be picking up book two featuring Van (Blake’s brother/cameraman) and Bea (Janna’s sister/fellow trainer)! 👀💕

For fans of:
🥊 Female athletes
💘 Golden retriever x tough girl
😂 Internet fame shenanigans
💋 Kisses-only romance
👯‍♀️ Sibling dynamics
🧼 Low-angst, feel-good vibes

#LoveAgainstTheRopes #KarenLandry #RomComReads #KissesOnlyRomance #SweetRomance #BoxerRomance #GoldenRetrieverEnergy #RomanceReview #Bookstagram #FeelGoodReads #RomanceBooks #IndieRomance #FighterRomance #SwoonyReads

This was my first book with boxing!
I loved this book.
I enjoyed the relationship between the two MCs, Janna and Blake.
Blake - always the guy ending up in a wild situation.
Janna - our boxer, who is a major type A. I could relate to her.
I thought both of these characters were so well-developed and relatable. Strong FMCs are one of my favorite tropes, and Janna was written as such a strong woman!
Blake was our sweet teddy bear of a man. Swoon.
The plot was structured well, and the pace was great. No lagging or slow burn - thank goodness!
This was a quick read, well written, and had characters I loved.
A perfect book for your summer TBR! A beach read or poolside read!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!
Happy Reading!

This is very cute, but for me personally, it’s not relatable. The hero’s attitude and internet hijinks were off-putting to me. I’m just not a good fit for the book.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

“Love against the Ropes”, by Karen Landry, is a different and very pleasant story with a charismatic and charming hero and a heroine thriving in a tough, usually male dominated sport.
Blake and Janna are great characters and the evolution of their relationship is so fun to watch.
The hero is an impulsive man child, full of craziness and living the life of an internet celebrity, almost always in exposure mode.
He becomes a compelling character when we, readers, realize that beneath that goofiness lies a gem of a person. And the “blond bane” of Janna’s existence.
Some scenes are hilarious. The sense of humor is great.
Blake is a great crazy and sweet hero, full of mischief, with an “explosive boyish energy”, whose life often seems to be “a series of videos”. He’s a pistol, really.
But Blake is also an intelligent man, aware of the limits between the public/internet persona and the real person.
He’s sensitive and vulnerable, too, with that tendency for falling in love easily and wearing his heart in a sleeve. And he’s not ashamed or afraid of losing his virility by enjoying Janna’s tough, strong side.
I liked the dedication Janna shows to the sport and teaching it. She and Blake are great together.
I appreciated the honesty and compassion in both leads.
I liked the training, the interactions and relationships with the other characters, the caring for the turtle.
I also enjoyed being surprised while reading.
Goodreads - July 8, 2025.
Amazon - Release date.

Janna agrees to train Blake for 3 months before a boxing match against a champion- totally outclassed. For Blake its love at first sight but Janna must keep her professional distance. Will the outcome be what the reader expects? A few twists and turns and even though I know nothing about boxing, a really enjoyable read.

5 ⭐️ 0 🌶️

Janna and Blake’s story was adorably amusing and worth the read. Blake is an interesting character, constantly being the butt of the joke and putting himself in crazy situations while Janna is the calculative boxer who needs to be in control at all times. One of the things that I loved about this story was the strong FMC with a golden retriever MMC which was a nice change of pace from some other books in the same genres as this one.

Karen Landry did a great job showing the differences in characters through her writing style as well as making the reader feel like they were in the story with Janna and Blake! I will admit, I struggled a bit to get into the story at the beginning but the more I read, the more captivated I was with the story overall!

a lovable romance with loveable characters.
the book truly began when Blake started getting some sense knocked into him or (sorry to say) some of HIM knocked out o him. because the previous immature dude was just that a dude. and the social media stuff. nah. gosh is that stuff not illegal yet, or a passed fad?
the character development in this book was done really well. and i liked how she never lost what made Blake,Blake but he did learn a bit from why he was doing the things he did and maybe come at things with a bit more considered maturity.
and i really enjoyed the growing connection with him and Janna. she was such a cool character. and i enjoyed learning about both of them both as individuals and how they played things out together. they were so cute but also really right for each other in so many ways.
this was a sweet story that had such spring in its step and brightness woven through it. liked it a lot.

3.5


Sinopsis en español:

Un luchador. Un amante. Un duelo definitivo donde el amor podría ser el protagonista.


La excampeona de boxeo Janna Fresno cambia su cinturón por un gimnasio de boxeo en su tranquilo pueblo natal. Se enfrentará a cualquiera, pero no sabe cómo conseguir un préstamo empresarial de seis cifras.

Entra Blake Knox, un seguidor impulsivo profesional, el favorito de las apps de vídeo y antagonista de un famoso boxeador irlandés. Su boca incesante le obliga a aprender a boxear para salvar las apariencias. Y rápido. ¿

La única persona dispuesta (y desesperada) a entrenarlo? Janna.

Es amor a primera vista para Blake, un aspirante a su corazón. A Janna no le impresiona su caos ni sus payasadas ante la cámara. Pero asalto tras asalto, descubre que su torpeza y su sorprendente dedicación empiezan a desmoronar sus defensas. ¿

Podrá Blake llegar lejos como boxeador? ¿Bajará Janna la guardia lo suficiente como para dejarlo entrar?

Love Against the Ropes es una comedia romántica conmovedora, golpes de gracia y decisiones hilarantemente malas. Este romance a puertas cerradas se mantiene por encima del cinturón y puede leerse como una novela independiente.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest