Fighter (The Brick Yard 1) Carol Lynne

For Lucky Gunn, the hardest fight of his life happens outside the cage. On the south side of Chicago sits an old gym called The Brick Yard. Ten years ago, on a bitterly cold day, Lucky Gunn wandered into The Brick Yard dressed in a threadbare jacket, looking for refuge. He hadn't expected the owner, Tony Brick, to welcome him with a job and a place to sleep when Lucky's abusive and drug addicted mother made it too dangerous to return home. 

Dray was a gay man living in a world of straight fighters. When his secret was exposed to the media, he dropped out, giving Lucky a piece of advice: if you want to make it as a MMA fighter, bury the part of yourself that won't be accepted. Lucky discovered the cage was the perfect place to keep his demons at bay, but when he learns his trainer and mentor, Brick, is suffering from end-stage cancer, he begins to spiral out of control. 

After eight years, Dray returns to help Lucky and Brick deal with the devastating news. With Dray so close, Lucky's old desires return, and Dray teaches him more than how to fight. Torn between his career and the passion he feels for Dray, Lucky's past demons resurface in full force, threatening his sanity and his budding relationship with Dray. Despite leaving the cage years earlier, Dray finds himself in the battle of his life with the only man he's ever loved. Will he stand and fight, or walk away like he did years earlier?

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

There was something familiar about this book, but it wasn't until I read other netgalley reviews that I realised it was because this book had already been released and this version was an extended re-release. I checked my files and I don't have the original so I mustn't of liked it enough to keep it.

This version was very drawn out and in my mind very depressing. In seemed like instead of being a story of love and inspiration in the face of death it was a story of two guys hooking up in the background of their mentors death. It got to one point where I was over it and just wanted the guy to die already!

The premise was good but i felt like 70% of the book was devoted to the death, 5% was dedicated to fighting, 15% was dedicated to past and present abuse, and the final 10% was the last couple of chapters and featured the 'future' and the 'positive changes'. Everything happened in these last chapters, it jumped forward a couple of months, then a year and then again 3 years into the future. 

Really, the first 90%  of the book should have been dramatically shortened and the final couple of chapters should have been expanded. I like Carol Lynne but I wont be continuing with this series.