Demi Crawford was Magnolia Falls royalty.
I was the boxer from the wrong side of the tracks.
She was the epitome of everything good, while I was broody and rebellious.
We couldn’t be more different.
Her family was enemy number one which made her guilty by association.
I despised her before I even knew her.
It was easier that way.
But now she’d moved in next door to me, and she was everywhere I turned.
I couldn’t avoid her no matter how hard I tried.
She was beautiful and honest and sweet.
Everything I knew I shouldn’t want.
Shouldn’t need.
They say there’s a fine line between love and hate—and I don’t know when I crossed over.
I was so wrapped up in this girl I couldn’t see straight.
She was the right hook I never saw coming.
Hating her was supposed to be my end game.
Loving her… well, that was just the beginning.
But the secrets that lived between us threatened to tear us apart.
Lucky for her—I was a born fighter.
And she was definitely worth the fight.
I appreciated the way Romeo and Tia slid into Lincoln’s life because he’s their brother, not because he’s the GOAT of the NFL and crazy rich. So, when I realized Romeo’s book was coming, my expectations were high. I wasn’t sure she could live up to them, but Demi was perfect for him. They started out as enemies, although Demi has no idea why. Her coffee shop is directly next door to his gym, so they run into each other constantly and every interaction is a little more resentful than the last.
Romeo has always hated the Crawford family because he and his best friend were blamed for someone else’s crime and suffered extreme consequences for it. The ordeal transformed their lives and shaped who they are today, so it’s not just something he can drop or forget. But as he gets to know Demi, Romeo realizes she’s nothing like the rest of the family.
The two soon become friends but it quickly leads to more, as he tries to protect her from his career and the media. Demi has problems of her own and they’re multiplying every day. She’s busy fighting her parents about her independence and in support of her brother, who they’ve deemed a lost cause, while starting a business. It’s a lot of pressure for anyone but she’s also juggling the skeevy family friend who tried to force himself on her and won’t go away. Her family dynamics are complicated and as she learns about the past, she has to admit that she doesn’t know her family very well at all.
They’re both going through and dealing with a lot, but they can’t stay away from one another. Too bad their relationship is just something else for his opponents to attack and lie about in the media, not to mention her father’s opposition. He’ll go to seemingly any length to push Romeo out of his daughter’s life. But these two stuck it out to get their well-deserved HEA and I loved every minute of it.
