Defying the Odds (Battered Hearts #1) by Kele Moon

Rating: 3 stars

Published: December 20th, 2011

Publisher: Loose Id

Available at: Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: When struggling waitress Melody Dylan gives a handsome, lonely stranger a simple gift she has no clue her life is about to take a drastic turn.

The stranger ends up being Clay Powers, a famous UFC heavyweight fighter. Clay’s large build and dangerous fists have always intimidated. People in his hometown keep their distance and Clay is fine with that. Everything changes when a new waitress at the local diner buys him a piece of pie on thanksgiving. Touched by the gesture when it’s obvious she can barely afford to survive, her warm smile and lush body churn up powerful feelings that leave Clay wanting more from her than pie.

Melody is running from her past and the small, country town of Garnet is the perfect hiding place. With an ex-husband after her and scars from her abusive marriage etched deep, the last thing she expects is to fall for a man who makes a living with his fists, but she can’t resist Clay or the tender connection they share.

Finding love in the most unlikely of places, the passion is undeniable, but Clay and Melody know their haunted pasts and unpredictable futures leave the odds stacked against them.

Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: violence.

Review: Melody is trying to make a new life for herself in Garnet, a small country town. A hard worker with a heart of gold, Melody wants to leave her past behind but she fears that the damage has been done and that she will never find love in her life. That is until she meets Clay. A UFC fighter who is physically intimidating, Clay is not what he seems. He is sweet and kind to Melody, behavior she is not used to getting from a man.

Both Clay and Melody were interesting characters, but I could not connect to them at first because their stories were told later in the book. I understood where Melody was coming from but the details of her past weren’t revealed until further ahead in the book and by that time I had already formed an opinion of her. And although I enjoyed Clay, I would have liked him even more if I had known his story from the beginning. As it stands, I like them enough to see them happy, but not enough to be invested in their relationship.

I will be honest with you and tell you that this book was hard for me to get through simply because the relationship between Clay and Melody did not feel real to me. The connection was there as well as the chemistry, but everything happened too fast for me. I would have liked to see more interactions between them before they ended up having sex. Now, I’m not saying that the sex wasn’t good, because it was excellent, but I can’t help but think that it would have been a better read for me if they had gotten to know each other better and communicated more.

The writing was good with emotions thrown in the mix and enough humor to keep it light. I enjoyed the chemistry between Clay and Melody, especially the sex scenes that took place later on in the story after I had gotten to know them better. Kele Moon brought to the page a strong yet conflicted hero in Clay. I appreciated the many layers of him that were revealed to me in the story, which helped me see him as much more than just a sexy man. The secondary characters were a nice addition to the story and each one contributed an integral part to it. I especially enjoyed the camaraderie between Wyatt, Jules and Clay.

This is the first book I’ve read from Kele Moon and it won’t be the last. Defying the Odds is a sexy read with interesting characters and enough emotional undertones to make it a good read for me. I’m looking forward to reading Jules’ story, Star Crossed, which is the next book in the Battered Hearts series.

I received this book from Loose Id through NetGalley in exchange of my honest opinion.