A fallen boxer.A woman with a broken dream.
A competition…
He even makes me forget my name. One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting…
Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I’ve ever met in my life.
He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I’ve never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong–but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents . . .But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.
I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.
If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?
★★ Stars - For the book
★★★★- For Remy's character
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Bipolar disorder (also known as bipolar affective disorder, manic-depressive disorder, or manic depression) is a psychiatric diagnosis for a mood disorder. Individuals with bipolar disorder experience episodes of a frenzied state known as mania, typically alternating with episodes of depression.
At the lower levels of mania known as hypomania, individuals appear energetic and excitable and may in fact be highly productive. At a higher level, individuals begin to behave erratically and impulsively, often making poor decisions due to unrealistic ideas about the future, and may have great difficulty with sleep. At the highest level, individuals can experience very distorted beliefs about the world known as psychosis. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes; some experience a mixed state in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time. Manic and depressive episodes typically last from a few days to several months and can be interspersed by periods of "normal" mood.
A couple of months ago when Real was released all I remember was that my GR, Twitter, Facebook pages everything was all about Real and how amazing this super alpha hero Remy is. So naturally I couldn't wait to see what all the fuss was about, well it took me this long but I've finally read it and I wish I could say that I loved it but I just can't.I fear that I may be butchered after this review but before you all decide to kill me hear me out.
I will admit I completely understand the draw towards Remington 'Riptide' Tate, he definitely is worth ALL the hype. The once pro boxer now a fallen star fighting in the underground boxing circuit. He's fit, ripped, sexy as hell and the ultimate issue-ridden-possessive-bad-boy-alpha -male, and really you can't deny the ultimate part even I will not take that away from Riptide, but at times and I think this is maybe because we do not get his POV but he just comes off as dare I say.... too much.
Alright before I get to far ahead of myself in Real we are told the story of Remington Riptide Tate and Brooke Dumas. He is the king of the underground fighting circuit, unbeatable, cocky as hell and the fangirl meter goes through the roof as soon as his name is mentioned
That night he spots Brooke in the crowed clearly uncomfortable but he is immediately drawn to her and they share an instant connection. ( a little too instant for me) Being a man with a team, means, and money behind him he does his research that night and the next day Brooke is hand delivered tickets to his next fight and after that said fight she is asked to meet him up in his hotel room. When she gets there she is handed a job offer, that offer is to travel with Remington and his team and be his sports rehab therapist for before and after the fights. Since Brooke has just graduated and has been anxiously waiting for a call back from anywhere offering her a real job, she decides that she not only can't turn down this three month offer but that she really doesn't want to. I mean she is female and he is THE Remington Riptide Tate, and the unraveling begins.
It doesn't take long to realize that Remy has issues but what becomes a problem for me is when they refereed to him as being "speedy". Okay I won't tell you too much about the story but Remington is bipolar and speedy was the term used when he was having a manic episode or was about to go manic. For me I think that I would have rather the term manic have just been used and not speedy. Even after I knew what the term meant to the characters I just had a hard time picturing him as a man with an illness but more so a drug addict or something.
"Remy doesn't fight he gets speedy"
I roll my eyes, sick of the term already. "Anything not drive him speedy"
Another repetitive phrase I had a problem with and for me this was even more so than being called speedy was the constant use of 'being scented'... The first time I really didn't think much of it but then after when Brooke would continually say that he scented her, I don't want to be mean but at times I couldn't help but laugh and picture this (oh and by scenting they were talking about smelling...just in case you were lost)
This is why this book is a bit difficult for me to rate because I don't just read to get lost in the story so to speak I like it when books make me think and if the characters are dealing with issues I like to see them being dealt with in some way. And with Real after reading it I actually did some research and this is the definition of Bipolar from wikipedia.org
At the lower levels of mania known as hypomania, individuals appear energetic and excitable and may in fact be highly productive. At a higher level, individuals begin to behave erratically and impulsively, often making poor decisions due to unrealistic ideas about the future, and may have great difficulty with sleep. At the highest level, individuals can experience very distorted beliefs about the world known as psychosis. Individuals who experience manic episodes also commonly experience depressive episodes; some experience a mixed state in which features of both mania and depression are present at the same time. Manic and depressive episodes typically last from a few days to several months and can be interspersed by periods of "normal" mood.
When I read this description and thought of Remy and his moods and actions I have to say there is no doubt about it Ms. Evans has captured this in Remy's character perfectly, but the fact that he wasn't getting any real help for this and was not on any medications and the way his team dealt with his manic episodes....well I don't know It just didn't work for me. Now with that being said this is a series and I really hope that in the next book Remy seeks some sort of actual help and not just that of his team and Brooke.
Some parts for me were predictable and some were not, I didn't really gain much of a connection to the characters and I can't say that I was really enthralled with the whole story. I loved all the music references and don't think that I can listen to Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls again without thinking of Remy but that's about all I loved. Brooke for me wasn't that strong of a heroine and I really didn't connect with her at all. I felt bad for her and hearing about her back story of the Olympic tryouts but that's about it. She just seemed like she was more concerned with getting into Remy's pants and then when they got together instead of being the strong one she was so terrified of loosing him or setting him off rather than actually helping him. Ahhhhhh it was just maybe kinda a little bit frustrating.
All in all, I'm not sorry that I read Real, and I definitely understand everyone else's love for this read, but it just fell short for me. Overall I would give Remy's character a solid 4 to 4.5 stars but the book as a whole 2 maybe 2.5 Stars.
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** Copy kindly provided by Gallery Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
All in all, I'm not sorry that I read Real, and I definitely understand everyone else's love for this read, but it just fell short for me. Overall I would give Remy's character a solid 4 to 4.5 stars but the book as a whole 2 maybe 2.5 Stars.
** Copy kindly provided by Gallery Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**