Pumped by Linden Bell (Mars Fitness #3)

TITLE: ⟫ Pumped

AUTHOR: ⟫ Linden Bell

SERIES: ⟫ Mars Fitness #3

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ Love is co-parenting with my worst enemy.

Owen

Everest is an irresponsible, delinquent, attention-hungry man-child.

Ever since my brother married his sister, we’ve hated each other with an unrelenting passion. It was bad enough when I had to see him at occasional family gatherings, but now I’m living in a nightmare and he’s right here with me.

Everest

Owen is arrogant, uptight, snobby, and cold-hearted.

I don’t want to have anything to do with him, but I don’t have a choice. After a tragic accident, we’re forced to raise our niece together, but our grief and mutual animosity is turning the house into a pressure cooker. We have to make peace and learn to work together, if not for our sake, then for the little girl who’s already lost everything.

PUMPED is an enemies to lovers, forced proximity, grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract MM romance between a free-spirited personal trainer and his overbearing veterinarian brother-in-law. Expect reluctant cuddling, teasing as a love language, annoyingly hot backwards caps, pillow chastity barriers, pool wrestling, begrudging I love yous, and a little girl who has them both wrapped around her little finger. PUMPED is the third and last book in the Mars Fitness series, but can be read as a standalone.

REVIEW: ⟫ This was a satisfying end to the Mars Fitness series. Everest and Owen were the epitome of enemies to lovers, although the circumstances were painful in the extreme. I really appreciated the way in which their grief was handled – it wasn’t a one and done, there were times when things were bittersweet, times when there was panic – it was really nicely handled. I enjoyed the writing of Ivy as I know it can be difficult writing age appropriate children but this was handled deftly. The sex scenes were extremely hot – Everest and Owen seriously burned up the sheets – and catching up with the other guys at Mars was lovely.

I enjoyed this series and will be looking into the ones linking to it to join my TBR. I received an ARC from GRR.

Stacked by Linden Bell (Mars Fitness #2)

TITLE: ⟫ Stacked

AUTHOR: ⟫ Linden Bell

SERIES: ⟫ Mars Fitness #2

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ Preston and I have been best friends and roommates since the first day of boarding school. If it weren’t for me, he’d never step away from his precious dissertation, not to eat, not to shower, not for anything.

I might have been in love with him for ages, but Preston has never expressed any interest in anyone other than his research. That's fine, there are plenty of guys at Mars Fitness who can help me get my rocks off.

Then one day, the sexiest man alive walks through the front door and sweeps me off my feet. He's everything I've ever wanted, except there's just one problem. He wants my heart, but how can I give it to him when I've already given it to Preston?

Stacked is a best friends to lovers, gay-awakening, nerd/jock MM romance between co-dependent roommates. It is the second book in the Mars Fitness series and can be read as a standalone. Happily ever after guaranteed.

REVIEW: ⟫ Oh my goodness, has there ever been anyone as utterly oblivious as Preston?! This story made me smile, laugh cry – the relationship between Sawyer and Preston was absolutely beautiful, but I honestly don’t know how Sawyer put up with Preston! He’s literally been in love with him since puberty but Preston is so oblivious to anything that isn’t his research that he had zero clue until it suddenly looked like he might lose Sawyer to someone else.

I loved Sawyer’s Mom and Preston’s childhood sweetheart, Madison, but Preston’s parents were a complete nightmare and those were the bits that upset me the most. In the end, I found myself thinking the same as Sawyer – Preston needed to be kept safe, happy and loved because he didn’t experience that when he was growing up and he deserved all the love. In the end, Preston deserved the love he found with Sawyer and I adored the epilogue!

I received an ARC from GRR.

Ripped by Linden Bell (Mars Fitness #1)

TITLE: ⟫ Ripped

AUTHOR: ⟫ Linden Bell

SERIES: ⟫ Mars Fitness #1

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ Sometimes heartache is a blessing in disguise.

I thought my life was perfect, and then I walked in on my boyfriend sleeping with my best friend.

The only person I can turn to now is Donnie, the silver-fox spin instructor who lets me crash at his place. Donnie’s a lot older and he’s still grieving his late husband. My dreams of being a filmmaker have disintegrated along with my relationship.

The worst of life has brought us together. Do we dare create something beautiful out of it?

Ripped is an age gap, nerd/jock, hurt/comfort MM romance between roommates who cuddle while watching classic movies. Expect low angst steamy shower rooms, teary confessions, disapproving family, and brand new beginnings. It is the first book in the Mars Fitness series and can be read as a standalone.

REVIEW: ⟫ Ripped literally started with one of our main characters getting his heart ripped out and I felt so awful for Connor. That situation was straight out of anyone’s nightmares and I was so relieved when he found his way to Donnie and Donnie not only understood his pain, but could completely empathise.

I really loved the way that this story didn’t try to minimise Donnie’s past relationship – his late husband was shown with love and sensitivity, without taking away from the new romance. His relationship with his late in-laws was so lovely and he completely deserved the way that they viewed him.

I also really enjoyed the fact that Connor was able to realise that how he had felt for his ex wasn’t a patch on how he felt for Donnie. It would have been so easy for there to be some big misunderstanding or belief that it was all a rebound, but both men were mature enough to accept that what they were being given was the real deal, deserving of their time and effort, and I really appreciated that.

The background characters at the gym were entertaining and I have an inkling that some of them feature in other books by the author – if so, I will have to search them out. This was a beautiful love story – with an awfully sad beginning – that made me feel all soft and happy inside.

I very much enjoyed reading this and will definitely read the rest of the series when it’s released. I received an ARC from GRR.