{Blog Tour} Review+Excerpt+Giveaway: Full Contact

Title: Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2)

Author: Sidney Halston
Genres: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Expected Publication: October 28th, 2014
Publisher: Loveswept

Synopsis from Goodreads:
Sidney Halston returns to steamy Tarpon Springs, Florida, where a hell-raising bad boy prepares to get down and dirty for the woman he loves.

How could she have been so stupid? When Jessica Cross decides to give her violently jealous boyfriend—the otherwise influential and charming Dennis Stavros—a second chance, she very nearly becomes a statistic. After weeks of healing from a broken rib and collapsed lung, and with Dennis behind bars, Jessica finally feels ready to come out of hiding. But will she ever be able to take a chance on love again with someone new?

Mixed martial arts fighter Slade Martin knows he has a bad reputation. Hell, he's probably earned it. So it won’t be easy to convince beautiful, vulnerable Jessica that she can trust him—that from the moment she walked into his life, she’s been the only one he’s wanted. Powerful and confident, Slade knows he can honor his vow to protect Jessica body and soul. Winning her heart will be another matter . . . but a woman like Jessica is worth the fight.

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Excerpt

Slade took her hand and led her out of the Pier toward her car. He leaned against it and pulled her to him. His head came down to her neck and he began to kiss her softly. Jessica tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold. “Thought you never got jealous.”

Jessica whipped her head back in order to look at his face, which was sporting a huge grin. “Jealous? Please. I am not jealous.”

“You are.”

“Slade. Please. I have to go back to work, and you’re still dripping beer from your hair.”

“I think I haven’t made things clear to you yet. I want you to listen.” He nuzzled her neck, placing feather-light kisses in that sweet spot that made her want to concede to any request he could possibly make. The vibration of his voice against her skin made her erupt into goose bumps. His grip was tight around her waist.

“Everything is perfectly clear, Slade. No need to explain” Her voice came out hoarse.

“I don’t have a harem. I don’t have groupies. I’m not a virgin, but neither are you. The past is the past
and I won’t make excuses for it. I don’t like drama, Jessica. I won’t stand for it. I want peace in my
life.”

Jessica snorted, tapping his beer-dampened hair. “Yeah, drama free. Peace.”

“I never lied to any woman I’ve slept with. I don’t normally do relationships. I have fun. They knew that. The problem with women is that they think they are going to be the one that changes me. That is a delusion they made up, and certainly not something I led them to believe.”

“So this is the part when you tell me about all the fun you want to have with me?” She tried to push back, but he wouldn’t loosen his grip.

“No, baby. This is the part when I tell you that with you, little Miss Drama Queen, I don’t just want to have fun. Why do you think I’ve been chasing you all this time? Just for some tail? No. I want more. To be honest, I don’t know how much more. I’ve never really done . . . this.” He drew back slightly and gestured to the space between them. “But I can promise you, if I tell you I want something more with you, I’m not going to be with other women while I’m with you."

My Thoughts

I have been in a slight reading slump for weeks, and I was hoping that Full Contact would be one of the books that will help bring me out of it. Maybe it was because of my slightly high expectations, or that I wasn't able to read the first book. Or maybe it was just some entirely unknown reason, but I felt no connection with both Jessica and Slade. Anyhow, I’d think that this review will be biased because I haven’t read the first book. I mean, it can probably be read as a standalone because the story stands for itself. There are also enough information provided for the characters from the previous book which clears up a lot of things. Still, because I haven’t read the first book, there are a lot of stuff that I don’t know. For all I know, I might be ranting about something, without knowing it had happened in the first book. So, yeah. But this is my thoughts of Full Contact when I read it as a standalone.

The reason why I may not have felt any connection with both Jessica and Slade may be because I felt that their relationship was rushed, and there was only a few built up. I don’t know if it happened in the first book because there are some points in the novel that Jessica remembered things about Slade, which shows that they have indeed met a long time ago (which was also mentioned in the novel). Moreover, I didn’t feel very convinced that Slade is over with his playboy antics. The entire time that Jessica was in a relationship with Dennis, he was a playboy. The moment Jessica is out of a relationship, he stops. I don’t really find it believable that he is able to have a change of character and habits right away because it takes time for a person to change. In my opinion. Also, I would have thought that there would be more convincing or wooing or innocent flirting or whatever it is that Slade would have done to win Jessica’s heart.

I’d admit, though, that Jessica and Slade do have the chemistry because they’re hot and steamy together. (If that makes some sense) In reality, the two of them are working on how to bring themselves to trust others again. They may not show it the entire time, but at least they are able to help each other grow as a person. There are still a lot of things that happened that made me be annoyed at Jessica, though.

Honestly speaking, I had a hard time deciding how many stars I'd give this book, but I love the humor in it, and it is easy to read. For those who wants a steamy, hot romance, this one is for you!

My Rating

About the Author

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USA Today Bestselling author, Sidney Halston lives her life with one simple rule: “Just Do It” Nike.

And that’s exactly what she did. After working hard as an attorney, Sidney picked up a pen for the first time at thirty years old to begin her dream of writing. Having never written anything other than very exciting legal briefs, she found an outlet for her imaginative romantic side and wrote the successful New Adult series, Seeing Red and Seeing Black. That first pen stroke sealed the deal and she fell in love with writing. Currently on sale is the bestselling contemporary romance, Against the Cage and soon to be released Full Contact, the second of the Worth the Fight series.

Sidney lives in South Florida with her husband and children. She loves her family above all else, and reading follows a close second. When she’s not writing you can find her reading and reading and reading… She’s a reader first and foremost.When she’s not writing or reading her life is complete and utter chaos trying to balance family life with work, and writing (and reading). But she wouldn’t have it any other way., she found an outlet for her imaginative romantic side and wrote Seeing Red, among four other novels currently in the works, including the sequel to Seeing Red. That first pen stroke sealed the deal and she fell in love with writing.