Review – Worth Fighting For by Laura Kaye

Worth Fighting For by Laura Kaye
Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated on March 12, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 198
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Goodreads
Amazon
Apple Books

Getting in deep has never felt this good...

Commercial diving instructor Tara Hunter nearly lost everything in an accident that saw her medically discharged from the navy. With the help of the Warrior Fight Club, she’s fought hard to overcome her fears and get back in the water where she’s always felt most at home. At work, she’s tough, serious, and doesn’t tolerate distractions. Which is why finding her gorgeous one-night stand on her new dive team is such a problem.

Former navy deep-sea diver Jesse Anderson just can’t seem to stop making mistakes—the latest being the hot-as-hell night he’d spent with his new partner. This job is his second chance, and Jesse knows he shouldn’t mix business with pleasure. But spending every day with Tara’s smart mouth and sexy curves makes her so damn hard to resist.

Joining a wounded warrior MMA training program seems like the perfect way to blow off steam—until Jesse finds that Tara belongs too. Now they’re getting in deep and taking each other down day and night, and even though it breaks all the rules, their inescapable attraction might just be the only thing truly worth fighting for.

The Kristen Proby Crossover Collection features a new novel by Kristen Proby and six by some of her favorite writers:

Kristen Proby – Soaring with Fallon Sawyer Bennett – Wicked Force K.L. Grayson – Crazy Imperfect Love Laura Kaye – Worth Fighting For Monica Murphy – Nothing Without You Rachel Van Dyken – All Stars Fall Samantha Young – Hold On

This was a lovely, quick read that reminded me why I love Laura Kaye, even though it’s been a while since I read anything by her. It’s certainly not for lack of quality reads; I’ve just overextended myself with ARCs recently, and it means I’ve had less time for my favorites. Something I’m planning to remedy.

Tara Hunter meets Jesse Anderson one night when they’re both at their neighborhood bar alone. Sparks fly immediately, they have a fantastic, toe-curling-life-changing one-night-stand, after which they go their separate ways. Tara does leave her phone number in Jesse’s phone, but I’m not clear on exactly how he was supposed to know to look for it. She just added herself to his contacts.

Anyway, Tara and Jesse are both shocked the next day to discover that Jesse is the newest member of Tara’s dive team, and they’re now colleagues. (We readers weren’t surprised by this, we were just delighted). I love how Laura Kaye handled this. As the only woman on the team, in a very male-dominated industry, Tara is very aware of the optics of her being seen to suddenly start sleeping with a teammate. She also very nearly died in an awful on-the-job accident, and though she’s physically healed, mentally, she’s still really struggling. And as part of her recovery and coping, it’s vital to her that she be 100% focused on her job and what she and her team are doing at every minute. And she very quickly realizes that not only could Jesse be harmful to her reputation, he splits her focus, and she cannot have that.

Jesse, for his part, was looking for a fresh start after his own mental trauma in the military. He’s still trying to mentally recover from everything he dealt with, and this new city and new job are an important part of that. While he initially thought Tara would be a part of that, when she explains to him why they can’t be together, he respects her decision and does his best to stay away from her in their small team and the small quarters they all share.

But their chemistry isn’t going to be denied, and even letting off steam at the Warrior Fight Club isn’t lessening it. So they have some decisions to make.

I really did love this. Tara and Jesse had real issues that they needed to deal with, and they communicated well. They both respected the decisions of the other and did their best to be sure the relationship wouldn’t negatively interfere with the life of the other. They worked really hard to make it work, and make it great for each other, and they were so lovely together.

And hot. Seriously – really, really hot together. Laura Kaye did a great job of giving us a complete story in a novella. She’s so good at making every word vital and important and conveying feeling and importance in every word. This was a complete story even with its shorter length, and unlike a lot of novellas I’ve read, I didn’t feel like anything was missing.

I know this is part of a crossover with Kristen Proby’s Big Sky series, but I haven’t read any of that series, so I can’t speak to how it fits in. However, even though it’s technically part of 2 different series, it’s easily read as a standalone. And I highly recommend that you do. Worth Fighting For is a lovely story between 2 people who find each other at the exact right time in their lives, over the exact right plate of nachos.

Related Posts