Defiant: An Enemies-to-Lovers Standalone

By: Sara Cate

Narrated by: Aiden Snow, Kelley Huston

Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's Summary

Rafe 

Hate is easy. A hell of a lot easier than the alternative.

It’s my job to keep Wicked safe, which means getting my hands a little dirty sometimes. After I lost my best friend, I’m not pulling my punches anymore. So it’s hate that helps me win every fight and close every case. 

But now the past is coming back to haunt me, and I refuse to be cornered. As for the girl who just moved in next door, hate is my only option, and I won’t go down without a fight. 

Shelby 

Ten years ago, he ruined my life. Now, it’s my turn to ruin his.

I didn’t plan to move in next door to Rafe Nolan - especially after what he did to me and my brother. But now I have the opportunity to make his life as miserable as he made mine. 

And for a man who is so tortured, this should be easy. 

But there is a dark secret behind all that pain of his that draws me in. He’s trying to hold his power over me, but I can see him losing control. 

I can use his secrets against him, but as I start falling for him, I know this is one fight I am going to lose. 

Welcome to Wicked Beach....

Defiant is a stand-alone, enemies-to-lovers romance. It has a love-to-hate alpha a-hole and feisty heroine with no cliff-hanger and a guaranteed HEA.

©2020 Sara Cate (P)2020 Sara Cate

A pleasant surprise

I was gifted a copy of this book and I wasn’t sure what to expect as I had not heard of the author or listened to the narrators before. I was pleasantly surprised with a nice, easy listen. It has enough of a story to be intrigued without being overly angsty. It also has some steam to it. Although it’s a standalone I would recommend reading the prior books to have the full cast experience.

Second Chances

We all have things in our past we regret. Some regrets are bigger than others, but I love a good redemption story. Coming back from those retreats and getting a second chance to mend relationships melts my heart. This wasn’t just a story of a man and woman re-finding each other. This is a story of two people re-finding themselves and those they consider family.

second chance??

I didn't like shelby and didn't connect with her. She wanted revenge for a crime her brother committed???? She's a hospice nurse so she should have compassion and empathy and a better understanding of right and wrong. Her brother was very wrong and got what he deserved . Where's her sense of honor and integrity. Too little too late imo. I voluntarily listened to a free copy of this and am giving an honest review. The duet narration was great.

Just meh....

2 Stars ⭐️⭐️

Defiant was my first book I read by Sara Cate and I have to say I was disappointed. The blurb sounded really good, but unfortunately it was meh…This book had so much potential, but it just didn’t follow through. Supposedly this was a enemies-to-lovers book, which I’m still trying to figure out how the Author come up with that conclusion? 🤨 because seriously Rafe’s hatred for Shelby was a whopping second and Shelby’s hatred was non-existent.. No joke it was like I blinked and them saying they both hate each was over.

They whole story was so rushed that you never get the chance to connect with the characters. Sara Cate never gives her readers any backstory details. How is this a second chance romance when we know nothing about them? There were too many things that didn’t make sense. For instances why did Rafe have condoms in his side table when he was a virgin? The better question is why was he a virgin at 28 years old still? I get he was traumatize for what his parents did to him when he was a young boy, but to never experience intercourse at all, well that just ridiculous..Plus the reason that we are given why Rafe still has his virginity just made no sense. If you loathe being touch that much then you’re not going to perform oral sex on another person nor let them on you. It just wasn’t believable…

On top of all that, the story jump all over the place. It had too much going on and not enough details. There were laughable situations, one being Shelby learning how to fight…

When fighting was the reason why she removed herself from Rafe and her brother. Sounds Hypocritical if you ask me. The story was just poorly written and unfortunately a waste of time.


Audiobook review: Unfortunately I didn’t get to experience Kelley Huston and Aiden Snow full potential on narrating, due to the poorly written story, but what they had to work with I think they did a good job and for that I gave them 4 stars.

love this couple

WOW ANOTHER HIT!
I LOVED RAFE AND SHELBY!!!!
Is there any book this author cannot write? the answer is no. 5 stars and beyond. The narrators did FANTASTIC!!!!!!

Brilliant

I loved the enemies to lovers vibe that this one had, I also loved that the characters were broken and stuck in a rut. But they slowly found trust and built a solid foundation. A fantastic book with fantastic narration.

I liked this second chance story

I liked this second chance story about a traumatized cop slash boxer and the woman he betrayed–more precisely, he put her twin brother in jail, for reasonable reasons. They start as enemies, but undeniable sparks flare between them and they soon become lovers… almost. Because of his troubled past, Rafe has problems with intimacy. If I thought Shelby was a bit too bossy–and almost disrespectful–trying to get him past his fears, the way he tries and overcomes them for her was beautiful.

The background plots, with Rafe the cop investigating a possible drug trafficking, the illegal bets, Shelby’s work as a nurse for dying people, were interesting but barely used, as the story really focus on the relationship and Rafe’s trauma. Ezra’s revenge was more useful, as it creates the conflict between the two main characters.

The female narrator’s pace and voice did nothing to me, even annoyed me at times, while the male voice did a much better job. So the narration was okay but could have been much better. At least they both knew how to read the sexy scenes.

Brilliant storyline

This is a great storyline. I love a strong woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t act like a victim, however with that strength comes vulnerability in the bedroom! Lots of hot sexy scenes. Likeable characters and a brilliant performance from both Kelley and Auden.