Underground
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- £2.99
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- £2.99
Publisher Description
Getting in is easy—the tricky part is getting out.
Robyn Monroe is the Valkyrie, one of Chrystal Valley's most notorious street fighters, and she never taps out. But she dreams of freedom for herself and her sister--a peaceful life where she can pursue her lost dreams of becoming a ballerina. Working off her late mother's debt to a corrupt bookie is taking a terrible toll, and things are changing in the city's underworld. The stakes keep rising, while her freedom proves more elusive every day.
When first-year resident Dr. Andrew Alexander finds a half-dead Robyn in his ER, the cruel, merciless side of Chrystal Valley opens up before him. He's drawn to the street fighter's fearsome courage, but being near her awakens warring emotions of attraction and long-dormant guilt. Watching the fiercely independent Robyn get pulled deeper and deeper into this world makes only one thing clear: If she keeps fighting, he'll lose her forever.
As a dangerous tournament approaches, Robyn knows she won't survive it by herself. Andrew is more than willing to help, but can she let her guard down enough to let him?
Fight Club meets Flashdance in this vibrant debut novel from up-and-coming talent Cecilia Johanna.
Sensuality Level: Sensual
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Johanna makes a lackluster debut with this plodding, inelegant compilation of implausible tropes. In generic Chrystal Valley (somewhere in the U.S.), where "corruption" and crime are rampant and yet all the cops are honorable, 22-year-old Robyn Monroe moonlights as the Valkyrie, a street fighter with a growing reputation. Stuck fighting until she pays off her dead mother's gambling debts and too poor to pay for proper medical care, Robyn lands in the ER when her self-administered sutures become infected. There she meets the instantly possessive, thoroughly bland Dr. Andrew Alexander. Determined to save Robyn from the dangers of street fighting, Andrew demands that Robyn come to him for private, off-the-books medical care when she's injured. Then he bulls his way into her fighting life, and once enough plot has passed, they decide they're in love. The story is overloaded with shallowly applied wish fulfillment (Robyn wanted to be a ballerina, and Andrew believes she still can!), unfathomably cartoonish villains, and painfully awkward prose. Even dedicated fans of the genre will likely be happier reading anything else.
