Fighting Dirty

Worth the Fight Series

By: Sidney Halston

Narrated by: Lacy Laurel

Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

If you love the MMA romances of Vi Keeland and Kendall Ryan, Sidney Halston's Worth the Fight series will knock your socks off! In Fighting Dirty, a geek-chic cage fighter proves that appearances can be deceiving...and oh-so-tempting.

With his preppy clothes and horn-rimmed glasses, Enzo Silva is the last dude anyone expects to find in a mixed martial arts gym. A wealthy Brazilian banker who never had to fight for anything, Enzo's stuck in the amateur circuit - but he burns to make the pros. Maybe that explains the heat he feels whenever he's around Jamie Lynn Calhoun. The pint-size, magenta-haired bartender with the Texas drawl is everything he's not...and everything he craves.

Tough as nails and independent to a fault, Jamie Lynn - JL to her friends - works hard to pay her bills and keep life simple. Enzo is doing his best to complicate that. Even though she likes to bust his balls, he's got some kind of a nerdy-hot vibe that makes JL wonder if she might finally be able to let her guard down. It might do the boy some good to spend some time in her world, where blood, sweat, and victory are as sweet as the first taste of real love.

©2015 Sidney Halston (P)2017 Sidney Halston

Critic Reviews

"A sexy across-the-tracks romance...full of hot chemistry and some serious wooing!" ( Heroes and Heartbreakers)

"If you love cracktastic drama and sexy times, this is for you!" ( RT Book Reviews)

Great read

Story: This was an easy book to love. I enjoyed the characters, the story, and everything else. I love when characters learn and grow just from knowing each other. This was a sweet story with the lesson of take charge or your own life and live it for yourself!

Narration: I always enjoy Lacy's narrations. This was a new accent from her that i had not heard. She did a fab job :) Loved it!

Opposites Attract Brining Out The Best In Each Other

Enzo, Brazilian, sent to Florida by his father after his divorce and to work, he meets JL a tattooed waitress with purple hair. He is a very straight arrow the antithesis of JL. But she makes him feel free and happy.
JL is leery to go out with the billionaire who has had a very different life and she has been hurt.
With the backdrop of amateur MMA, street art, children and addiction the story is interesting and kept me drawn in the entire time. I liked the characters, main and secondary...all likable and a nice variety. The writing was very well done.
My only issue to lower the stars was the narration of the two main characters, everyone and the rest was great, but I didn’t care for the accent or lack of, once I got accustomed to it it was better, but I would have liked purer appropriate accents and voices for JL and Enzo.

 I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Fighting for love, Enzo style

Where does Fighting Dirty rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'm going to answer this in comparison to the other in this series, this was my least favorite of the series as it didn't have as much of the MMA as the others did. It was more focused on the love life and lives outside the ring. It title of the book and the series itself made me think it was going to be like the rest and have more MMA in it but it really didn't have anything until the very end besides a few comments here and there that Enzo wanted to do MMA but didn't have much time for it.

Have you listened to any of Lacy Laurel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to other books narrated by Lacy Laurel before. This one wasn't my favorite by her probably because she had to do some accents that she didn't quite perfect right. The Texan accent wasn't quite right most of the time...it sounded like it was southern not Texan. The rest of the narration is great, her speed, inflections, etc are great...it's just the accent that wasn't quite right. I wouldn't let that stop me from buying this book as it's a small part of the book.

Any additional comments?

I was given this book by the author, narrator or publisher in exchange for my unbiased review through AudioBoom

Gotta love a man who is willing to lose it all

I picked this up on a whim. It's not like me to start with the fifth book in a series, but I thought "series of standalones" and grabbed it.

I'm not disappointed. Sidney Halston weaves the story of Enzo and Jamie Lynn wonderfully. Enzo is fresh off a divorce. Jamie Lynn is the care-free bartender he's had his eye on for a year.

When things finally fall into place for these two, sparks fly! Jamie Lynn is the crazy to Enzo's sanity. They complement each other very well. Explosively well.

I want to go back and read the previous four books. I'm also hoping I get a book for Travis and Penny. That's a story waiting to happen (I'm assuming it doesn't already exist based on their interaction in this book).

Another new-to-me author in the books for 2018.

Good but horrible narrator

What did you like best about this story?

I love the series.

How could the performance have been better?

I think that the narrator they picked was not at all in accordance to the character and it made the book really hard to listen to.

Any additional comments?

If I didn't like the series so much I would not have finished the book do to the narration.

Opposites Attract Romance

This opposites attract romance was sweet and sassy. Jamie Lynn (JL) is a hard working artist who struggles to pay her bills. Reserved, sexy Brazilian Businessman, Enzo Silva, is trying to make his mark as he works for his controlling father. He wants to be a professional MMA fighter and he also wants the tattooed pixie, JL, to be his. She only sees an uptight man, until they start to spend time together. They both find there is so much more to the other than what they could see on the surface. This story was intriguing and frustrating alternately. I had a hard time connecting with either character. I felt their nature was too contradictory at times. The narrator did a good job altho the southern accent felt off and Enzo never had a Brazilian accent, even when others from Brazil did. I found that frustrating and distracting. This is my first experience with this author and narrator. I did find this story to be intriguing, moving, and funny, so I would like to check them again.

Good storyline, Interesting Characters

I received this audiobook free for an honest review. The story was well constructed with interesting characters. The narration isn't my favorite but she did a good job. I enjoyed this story.

It’s an ok listen

This story was hot and sweet. I did have a one problem I love this narrator but her “southern accent” was off it made the Texans sound African American when they aren’t it was very distracting.
This is an unbiased review from a credit through audiobookboom

A wonderful story of these two with some MMA action.

Loved this book! Enzo and Jamie Lynn were superb characters. Her twin brother Travis was a great add. The story drew me in and I ended up loving it and the characters. I loved the whole MMA aspect but in reality it was the story of Enzo and JL that got me.

I did listen to this on audio. The narrator did a good job. Keep an eye out on the Texas drawl (it seemed to change to something else at times)

Loved Enzo!

Narrator Review:
My biggest hang ups on an audible book are 1) how a female narrates a male voice and 2) can I distinguish when they switch between characters. 3) accents. Lacy Laurel did a great job. I have no complaints to her Enzo voice and she did a wonderful job distinguishing between the switch in characters. If I had one critic, it's a small one. She did a wonderful Brazilian accent but I didn't really get a southern vibe to her JL character. Overall, it's not something that affected my enjoyment of the story.

Story Review:
90% of my love for this story rests all on Enzo. I loved him. He was such a sweetheart. He never gave up on JL, constantly asking her out when she kept turning him down. I love his tenacity for when he wanted something but he was not over the top with it. He truly was a sweetheart and he would have charmed me out of everything if I met this guy in real life.

I don't know what the heck is wrong with JL for turning Enzo down for almost a year. She's cray cray. You do learn about her past and the reason she put up walls. It is sad and does explain her hesitancy so I was glad when she finally let him in. For what she has been through, Enzo is the perfect man for her to end up with.

Do to the cover and title of this book, I really expected this to be heavy on the MMA, however it's not. He talks about it being something he loves and he trains at a club but we don't actually get a fight until the very end. It wasn't the main focus of the story if that is what you are expecting. I have not read the previous titles in the series and maybe they are more heavy on the sport.