Saturday, April 27, 2013

[Kame's Review]: "Rough Around the Edges"


 
Rough Around the Edges by Ranae Rose
Publisher:  Space Independent Publishing Platform (April 4, 2013)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
 
 Sometimes love is enough. Other times, you have to fight for it.

For Ryan Moore, the choice to fight is like the choice to breathe--necessary. After being wounded in war and discharged from the United States Marine Corps, competitive MMA fighting is the only thing he’s still able to excel at. Every round is a risk he can’t afford to take, but time spent outside of the cage is purgatory, until he meets female fighter Ally Rivera. For the first time since an IED blast destroyed life as he knew it, he wants something--someone. And she wants him, but the lingering effects of war might just tear them apart, if the gang violence that plagues her family doesn’t kill them first.

Rough Around the Edges is Ryan’s side of the love story told in Battered Not Broken. It’s not a sequel, but a separate novel written for those who want to experience the story through Ryan’s eyes. Read Battered Not Broken first or simply dive right in and enjoy an erotic romance novel told completely from a male point of view.
 
 
 









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Kame's Review:

 








 His usefulness to the United State Marine Corps had flatlined in the wake of a single second that had left him absurdly whole and alive while crumbling his life - the parts that mattered most - around him.

 
   

Ryan Moore craved purpose in his life, he shunned his affluent family’s idyllic life and joined the Marines, and then an IED ended Ryan Moore’s military career. Unsure of how to go on he moved to Baltimore and finds work as a roofer, but not until he walks into Knockout, an MMA gym, does he feel alive.  On that first walk about in the gym, he sees her, the first woman to catch his eye since his injury, Ally Rivera.   
Rough Around The Edges is the same story as Battered Not Broken but from Ryan’s point of view.  When I read Battered I craved Ryan’s point of view, I wanted to know the why, and I wanted to know more background of his character.  Ranae Rose did not disappoint, Rough is Ryan.  Rough has moments of raw emotion, and some sweet moments.  We see Ryan really struggle with the effects of TBI, and where in Battered we might get the impression that he is being stubborn when Ally offers help, in Rough we see how the effects of TBI are on his self-worth and my love of Ryan grew.  His internal battle to make his life matter was wonderful, and I could feel his love for Ally on each page.
   

 

 “Fighting is the only damn thing I’m still good at. And besides you, it’s the only thing I give a damn about anymore. Giving it up would be like lying down and waiting to die."

 
 

Rough Around The Edges is not a sequel, it does not continue the story of Battered Not Broken but it does enhance it.  And actually either book can be read first, but both should be read to get the full story of Ryan and Ally’s love.  It is rare to see both sides of a story.  Often authors do give us multiple points of view, but rarely do we get to see a scene from both main characters.  Even though I knew the main plot points of this story since I had read (and reviewed) Battered Not Broken I was still drawn to read – I finished this book in under a day! I found myself longing to see what Ryan thought during a particular scene and was very pleased to read scenes that were not in Battered such as the Epilogue that takes place after the Epilogue in Battered.
 

I received both books from the author for my honest review.  If I had to pick a favorite among the two it would be Rough Around The Edges by a glove!  I hope Ranae Rose gives us glimpse at Ryan and Ally’s wedding one day. 4 stars and a little more…


4 STARS!





 
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Kame received both books from the author for my honest review.
 
*Note: Quote used belongs to Ranae Rose; Kame and TBQ's Book Palace do not claim it*
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Meet Kame:

Kame is part of a family of readers; one day she picked up the Nook she purchased for her husband and discovered her love of e-books. A few months later he purchased one for her so he could have his back! Kame’s Nook is never far, and she is hard pressed to pick a favorite book, genre or author. As long as there are characters that make her want to sit down and have a chat and a plot keeps the pages turning, she’ll read it.

Kame's GoodReads 
 



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Great review, thanks for sharing today, Kame! :) I really must read both of these books.

Do you like when a book is rewritten from another characters' POV like this? Have you read any of Ranae Rose's books?
 


Enjoy!



Until Next Time,
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*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

4 comments :

Colleen Isolde said...

Great review, Kame! I agree completely, as you know. :) Ranae Rose captured the struggles of dealing with TBI through Ryan's perspective, something that is rarely seen regardless of the large number of soldiers, veterans, and athletes who struggle with TBI. Between the realism of the MMA fighting and training scenes and the accurate portrayal of the symptoms of TBI, Ranae Rose has quickly become one of my favorite authors and is on my auto-buy list. :)

Ranae Rose said...

Thank you very much for the review, Kame. So glad you enjoyed Rough Around the Edges. :)

Kame said...

Thank you! I know...I just wanted to hug him! Hmmm do you have a scene that you liked better when your read it from Ryan's point of view?

Kame said...

My pleasure I look forward to more like it!