Fighting The Lure (Fighting For Love) by Katherine McIntyre

In the Fighting for Love mma combined universe we find all sorts of queer people take their shot for love. Katherine McIntyre in Fighting the Lure brings a ff best friend sister trope of two badass females who show its better to be in it together than apart.

From the blurb:

Amelia is the last person Sam should fall for—her brand new client at the gym, a decade younger than her, and her sister’s best friend…. 
Amelia’s starting over. After finding her girlfriend getting hot and heavy with her MMA trainer, she moves into the city to lick her wounds in peace. However, when she steps into what she hopes will be her new gym, her trainer is none other than Sam. Her first crush, her lesbian awakening, and someone she hasn’t seen in ten years—when Sam just up and vanished.

After Sam came out, her family’s rejection broke her. She swore to leave that past behind, but it finds her anyway when her little sister’s best friend shows up at the gym where she works. Ames grew up hot as sin, and her scorching glances only mean trouble. However, Sam’s a professional. She can keep her desires under control. She has to keep them under control. Because if she lets the past back in, it’ll destroy the life she’s built for herself here.

Ames isn’t just hot—she’s pure sunshine that Sam can’t help but crave until they’re both in a chokehold that neither of them wants to escape. However, moments are all they can claim because when Sam’s sister finds out, Ames will need to choose…and the odds are never in Sam’s favor.

Fighting the Lure is a standalone FF romance novella in the multi-author series Fighting for Love. All the stories take place at the shared gym, Knockout MMA Training Facility. At Knockout Gym, happily ever afters are hard-won.

Nedra's Review:

When first hearing about this story being a FF, my interest went out the window. Then Raquel informed me that Katherine’s writing style was unique and she really enjoyed the characters. It wasn’t a shock that Sam was part of the LGBT community, but her partner was so much more!

Ames’ borderline obsession with Sam from such a young age, paired with her boldness, paid off with their outcome. The passion and determination displayed by both of these women was off the charts! Their physical and mental strength were evident throughout, and their relationship evolving organically. Loved the way they healed each other, and how Sam was reunited with her sister!

Molly Otto's Review:

We will start off by saying that ff is not my goto, but these two are perfection. You have two strong females who fight for what they want and believe in even if, in the end, they may be burned. Ames goes for what she wants and supports Sam even when Sam tries to push her away due to her past. Ames shows Sam that she is loved, and it's worth talking to her sister to possibly build what she once lost. A great read cannot wait to see more from this universe of badass queer people who fight for what they believe in.

Angel's Review:

I don't typically read a lot of FF books, but since I've read books by Katherine before I knew I had to read this book. I'm really glad I did! Sam was thrown out of her home and her family when she came out, and has been on her own for years. When she found Knockout, the people who work there became her family, but even with them she still keeps her walls up. If she doesn't let anyone in, she can't get hurt again.

After Ames discovered her trainer sleeping with her girlfriend, she moves and leaves her life in that area behind her. Needing a new place to train she goes to the Knockout gym, and there she finds the woman who she hasn't been able to get out of her head, and the one who inspired her to go into MMA.

This book was so good! It does have angst but it was done so well, and just made the moment when they finally got together so explosive! Katherine knows how to write characters that you can't help but to cheer for and to relate to, these characters were full of personality, and they each had a backstory which I really enjoy from characters. The background this book mostly takes place in is the gym itself, which was well written. Ames's fight scenes were so detailed and so believable! It almost left me breathless in a weird way reading those scenes, they were so full of life and vivid with the details.

I really enjoyed how Katherine wrote the scene with Sam and her sister seeing each other for the first time in years, I thought that scene was handled so beautifully and with such care. It was a really tender moment.

Overall, a really terrific book, and I loved how these two women have each other's backs, and tries to help each other in a multitude of ways.

Fighting the Lure is available in paperback and e-book formats and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription