Review: Unlikely Hero (Atlanta Series, #1) by Kemmie Michaels

(Blurb): Erin never would have expected to fall in love. Never. Not with her past, and not with her fear. She never dated; she didn't even allow herself friendships. She didn't trust her judge-of-character skills enough to allow anyone close...until Marcus.

With him, a deep connection happened in spite of the walls she'd so carefully constructed around herself. His self-confessed rage fueled much of his life, with the exception of her. For Erin, Marcus dares to make the step toward love…one with the potential to heal them both.













Review:

Unlikely Hero is the first book in the Atlanta Series and as this book was my first introduction to author Kemmie Michaels, I must say I loved it!

What I liked
I'm a sports fan. So anytime a sports themed book can really draw me in - I know it's going to be a good time! I especially love MMA (mixed martial arts) and being very familiar with the sport, I was impressed with the number of details that the author provided for the characters. That tells me that Kemmie either really loves MMA herself, or she's done her research. A big plus for me when reading is when I can tell some hard thought was put into the events of the story. These details really brought out the characters, especially the male protagonist, Marcus.

Another part of Unlikely Hero that I loved was how the relationship between Erin and Marcus developed. I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that I may just try this out in my work office and see if a gorgeous MMA fighter with a "reputation" comes to my rescue ;-).

I really liked how Erin's intracharacter was developed as well. As someone who has a million red flags that go off when she's around people (and with good reason), the progression of her conflict resolution is well done. With many books use dark past experiences to draw conflict, I end up feeling like the characters are rushed through a resolution. It leaves me feeling like the problem never really existed to begin with because the characters seemed to get over it a little too easily as soon as some  Adonis or Aphrodite walks in their life.

What I disliked
There really was not anything fundamental about the book that I disliked. On that same note, there really wasn't anything that pushed the book over that 4 rating to a solid 5. I reserve 5 ratings for books that have some kind of extra element to it that really leaves me in deep thought about situations/characters long after the book is finished. While I really enjoyed reading Unlikely Hero and I found the relationship between the characters to be beautifully developed, there wasn't an element that left me in awe in the end.

Rating:






Reviewed by Jessi