Book Sojourner: Review: In Kelly's Corner by Roxie Rivera

In Kelly's Corner by Roxie Rivera

(Fighting Connollys #1)

September 27, 2013

Genre: Contemporary Romance 18+

Contains: Sex, violence, language

Source: FREE on Amazon

After a stalker breaks into her home, internet entrepreneur Bee Langston decides Kelly Connolly is the only man who can help her—but seeking help from the former Marine isn’t easy, especially after she made a spectacular fool of herself trying to kiss the sinfully sexy bodyguard.

When Kelly spots Bee weaving her way through the Houston nightspot where he’s working security, all those feelings he’s desperately tried to deny for his best friend’s sister come flooding to the surface. He’ll do anything to keep her safe, even if means getting up close and personal with the one woman he simply can’t have.

Soon, Bee’s stalker isn’t his only problem. His gambling addict father is tangled in a mess of debts to two of Houston’s toughest loan sharks. With the family gym on the line, there’s only one way for Kelly to make everything right. He agrees to fight for the Albanian mob in an underground bare-knuckle fighting tournament.

But winning the tournament and saving his family’s legacy comes at a high price—one that just might cost Bee her life.

The Fighting Connolly series is a spin-off series of the Her Russian Protector series. We are introduced to Kelly in that series. When I started 'In Kelly's Corner' I already knew how his fight would turn out, since I read this a bit out order, but that was fine. I was happy to go back in time and finally catch up with the Connolly brothers. Kelly's story was great. Getting to see him in his element, seeing the dynamic between the brothers, seeing the history with their father, getting the history with his best friend - all of it great. And of course, following the full story, the love story, between Kelly and Bee was worth it.

Kelly and Bee were not perfect (and straight up stupid at one point). Kelly was caught up in his family's misery and circumstances. Bee was highly intelligent yet also a bit naìve, so the two of them missed some clues, with each other and their surroundings. But what I loved about Bee and Kelly was how sweet and loving they were when they finally admitted their true feelings. They have a great best-friend's-little-sister love story, but what I especially liked was how it wasn't dragged out. When Kelly sees Bee in trouble, there's not denying where his heart is. I also liked that Bee was the rich one in this instance, not the guy. It was a nice change from the usual wealthy guy scenario. Bee and Kelly had different gifts, and different ways to help each other, regardless of money, and I loved getting to know them. These two were a very special couple.

I also loved seeing some of my old Russian mafia friends. Well, at least they feel like friends to me. Whether small cameos, or more meaningful roles to play, I loved the mixing up of these worlds. Yuri was especially great in this one. Also, while I figured some stuff out, I still liked the little twists thrown in here and there, helping to keep what could be a pretty straightforward story, and making it very entertaining. I'm really looking forward to the other Connolly brother stories.