Fighting for Flight

Fighting, Book 1

By: JB Salsbury

Narrated by: Ryan West, Erin Mallon

Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's Summary

What happens when in order to win, you're forced to lose?

The only daughter of an infamous Las Vegas pimp, Raven Morretti, grew up an outsider. Liberated from the neglectful home of her prostitute mother, she finds solace as a mechanic. With few friends, she's content with the simple life. Flying under the radar is all she knows and more than she expects.

Until she catches the eye of local celebrity, UFL playboy, Jonah Slade.

Weeks away from his title fight, Jonah is determined to stay focused on everything he's trained so hard to achieve. Undefeated in the octagon, he's at the height of his career. But resisting Raven's effortless allure and uncomplicated nature is a fight he can't win.

Jonah trades in his bad-boy reputation and puts his heart on the line. But when her father contacts her, setting in motion the ugly truth of her destiny, Jonah must choose. In a high-stakes gamble where love and freedom hang in the balance, a war is waged where the price of losing is a fate worse than death.

Will the hotheaded Jonah be able to restrain his inner fighter to save the woman he loves?

Or will Raven be forced into a life she's been desperate to avoid?

©2013 JB Salsbury (P)2014 JB Salsbury

Very good start to the series :)

4 stars

This was a very good story. I liked Raven and Jonah and their story was one I enjoyed. This is the first story I've read by this author and based on this I'm likely to try more of her work in the future.

Raven rather sweet woman that works as a car mechanic that does great work in restoring classic cars. She's a few weeks away from turning 21 years old. She had a prostitute of a mother who never showed her any caring or touched her if she could help it. Raven's father wasn't around and is a big crime boss that everyone in Vegas fears.

Jonah is an undefeated UFL fighter that's getting ready to fight the championship fight. He's a good guy but is a man-whore who never sleeps with the same woman twice (it's a rule). He loves fast cars and gets in to restoring cars in his spare time. It's this hobby that introduces him to Raven.

Jonah has an old (non-running) Impala that he wants to get running and restored. He goes to Guy's garage and Guy just happens to be Raven's boss. He assigns her to work with Jonah at his place restoring the Impala and there's an attraction right off the bat. After a few sessions of working on the car at Jonah's place, he's decided he likes Raven and wants to see more of her. This is something big for him because he's never dated anyone, he just sleeps with them and never sees them again. Jonah invites Raven to a BBQ at his place (along with a bunch of his friends) and she's unsure about his intentions. Everyone else does pretty good at figuring out that Jonah's attention has been well a truly caught though and an jealous wannabee tries to cause some trouble for Raven. Thankfully, Jonah stops this before it goes too far and makes it very clear to Raven that he's in to her. She is in to him as well and so when he invites her to stay she does.

Raven hasn't really dated much and is...well, lets just say she's very innocent when it comes to guys. The first night they spend together is no sex but Jonah still pretty much moves her in with him right off the bat. Raven is actually ready for more quickly but Jonah ends up holding back, worried that once they have sex he'll lose interest like with all the other women. Before too long Jonah realizes he's being an idiot and things escalate between them, solidifying them as a serious couple pretty quickly (within about a week). Around this time is when her father, who hasn't been in her life at all, suddenly drops the bomb that since he made Raven, he owns her and is now going to claim her to live out her life as a high class hooker for him. He basically threatens everyone she cares about and since he owns the local cops she doesn't have many options. Jonah is faced with some hard choices and he's willing to do anything needed to save the woman he loves. They go through some tough times and don't get through unscathed but they come out alive and together and end the story starting their HEA.

I enjoyed this story very much. Jonah was really good hero, pretty much everything a alpha male should be...protective and tough yet totally gone on his woman. Raven was a pretty good heroine but she had her moments. There were times I'm almost term as TSTL but yet at times she came through brilliantly (usually at the last moment) so overall I found I liked her. This was a really good story and I'm planning to read more of the series in the future. I'd recommend this book. Thumbs up. :)

WOW! THIS AUDIOBOOK WAS A PERFECT KNOCKOUT!

WOW!! This audiobook really captured my attention and heart because it brimmed with almost everything on my romance checklist. This is one scintillating, emotional and very touching romance between badass, UFL fighter Jonah Slade, and the beautiful Raven Morretti who is sweetness personified. (Might I add that both leads have incredible tattoos---which is another plus!)

This book had so many elements that made this a nonstop listen from start to finish. First, you have this great group of friends who are MMA fighters and simply hilarious and they comprise Jonah's inner circle. I can't wait to read/listen to each of their stories, especially Blake's--That man-whore with the crazy sense of humor…LOL.His story is next! Woot-woot! Jonah is a well-respected fighter and buddy among the group. Everyone wants to party and crash at his house. His friends also know Jonah's pattern with women--he never gets emotionally involved or sleeps with the same girl twice. (I mean we're talking about Vegas lifestyle here….)

THen you have this incredible woman who enters Jonah's life and it all changes from there….Let me say that this heroine, Raven is something else. I LOVED her! She is a survivor of a ruthless father (more like biological contributor) and a cold mother who neglected her. Her sperm donor, Dominic is a cold hearted bastard who is more like a monster than a human being, and he's her mother's pimp. So, imagine how beautiful it was to read about a sweet girl who beams with kindness. A woman who is so special, sweet and innocent despite her unsavory family background. Also, the fact that Raven is a dark-haired beauty with aquamarine/green eyes AND a car mechanic added an interesting twist which was refreshing, and unexpected.

So, you get Jonah and Raven together and you have this amazing couple…..Their romance was built up nicely and moved from sweet to sensual to completely unbridled hot-passion. Let me say, I love it when a man loves a woman like Jonah's loved Raven. He became her Hero, her protector, her lover, her best friend….I mean the man was completely smitten by Raven. The love making scenes were meaningful, and fiery and the challenges they face, as a couple were explosive. There is little angst in the romance. Mainly, the problems are external and initiated by Raven's monster of a father.

The narrators were amazing. Ryan West was a dream…I loved his voice as he really brought Jonah to life. Erin Mallon was simply brilliant as she performed a sweet, vulnerable, sultry voice for Raven that did her justice. The emotional inflections in her voice were just perfect for each circumstance.

In speaking of justice, the villains get what they deserved (I bit off all of my nails in the last 15% of the book due to the suspense and looming danger), YET, the epilogue was so moving and just perfect…..

JB Salisbury---You did an awesome job with this debut novel, and start to what is sure to be a promising series!

Can't finish it

Have you ever read a book and you know it's heading for a train wreck and you just roll your eyes and moan and say "REALLY?!?!?!?!?" That's where I am with this book.

This ticks two VERY bad boxes:
1. Main character does a complete 180 in under 2 pages. He's a love 'em and leave 'em type of guy, never sleeps with the same girl more than once....BUT...as soon as he see's Raven, the hot car mechanic his entire personality goes out the window!
2. Contrived drama for the sake of progressing the plot. I tried, I really did, I wanted to believe that the main character wasn't going to let me down, but let's just say she is the nearly 21 year old VIRGIN daughter of a prostitute and Vegasas most notorious pimp..how could this character not let me down.

So, I'm half way through the book and the bomb of all bombs has been dropped...daddy dearest wants his darling little girl to "work" for him....nope I'm done, Audible will be handing me back a credit for this one, just wanted to warn y'all first.

The narrator was amazing though, I would listen to her again and again!

Couldn't finish

I had to throw in the towel about 3/4 of the way in. Between the completely underdeveloped insta-love, the 180°personality change of the main dude, and the main chick repeatedly running off by herself into situations with the threats there were looming over her, I just couldn't. I really tried, but just could not anymore. Boo.

Ehhh okay. See-sawing between just okay and good

Really? You already know who the characters are, so no need to go back over that.....But really?......I DO NOT LIKE wimpy women! Raven started off with a decent backbone and then it turned into a freakin noodle! I agree with one of the other reviewers...Jonah did turn on a dime, from man whore to a very caring hero. I am okay with that. I think Blake and the other secondary characters are good. I really liked Blake. But the finally battle!!!!! Just NO! Spoiler alert: So dear old Daddy tells me he wants me to carry on the family business with him being my Pimp.......soooooo, why in the hell would you ? Nope, I am just going to rely on everyone else to help me out of this situation, because really I just can't even try to do anything for myself. Why would you not carry a freaking gun, knife, taser.....how about a freaking tooth pick with a sharp edge? Nope, to freaking Stupid to Live. And then Mommy dearest steps in at the end to help out.....when she didn't do anything for the first 20 years of her life. Nope, to unbelievable! LOL So during the fight (which remember you couldn't do anything for yourself up to now) you decide Oh but no, I am not going to leave and run....I am not going to leave my man, I am going to go and save him! I am going to pick up the gun and take care of dear old dad myself......SMH

And why the hell didn't Candy get her a#$ kicked? What the heck happen to Karma?

Okay I am through ranting.....Out of all of that it was still a okay listen.

This could have been a better book for me if the Raven was less wimpy!

MMA fighter with integrity falls for whinny virgin

Raven is a big cry baby! Enjoyed her at first when she diffused situations with innocent charm but when the going got tough she curls up in a ball and weeps. She doesn't seem worth it. The female narrators voice ends everything in a high pitch question. It started grading my nerve by chapter 2. The male narrator is yummy. Can totally picture a gorgeous fit fighter with integrity who has visions of a happily ever after! Blake's sense of humor made me download the next story.

AN ENJOYABLE START TO A NEW SEXY FIGHTERS SERIES

Jonah is a tattooed playboy of the UFL Fighting world who has no plans to settle for just one woman when he can have his continual pick..... that is until he sees the beautiful, innocent and sweet mechanic Raven who's about to change his mind.

This was a listen that I wanted to get back to time after time... Raven was a bit sickly sweet but that was the whole reason why Jonah fell for her because of her innocent ways and that she didn't care for material things.... so don't expect a strong heroine. Their chemistry was instant, so too was the romance but the sex was a little slower to develop but when it did it was sexy but it wasn't heavily over descriptive nor strong words to describe them.

I also liked this listen because they shared their secrets, worked together to overcome the villains and had a strong close romantic bond. There were some interesting secondary characters, humor, drama, a shocking twist and a nail-biting vicious kidnapping. Narration was good and there was no cliffhanger.

Worth a credit? This was a sweet, enjoyable, implausible 'instant' love story with a hot, sexy Fighter and his damsel in distress who had a heartbreaking past. Then, when that past caught up with her, she became a victim of a greedy cold infamous Vegas Pimp/Crime Boss and what followed was a roller coaster ride that the H/H had to endure before they finally got their HEA. Creditworthy and I'm looking forward to book 2 which is Fighter Blake's story.

GREAT LOVE STORY

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I was a total goner for Jonah and Raven within the first hour of the story. Their love story was beautiful and tragic, but overall was about the power of the human spirit and overcoming adversity. Oh, and it's super hot and steamy too! 5-star winner in my book.

I cried with happiness

If you could sum up Fighting for Flight in three words, what would they be?

Young hot love

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes, when and why Raven had to commit murder.

Any additional comments?

Can't wait for the next book.

She's a mechanic!

Would you consider the audio edition of Fighting for Flight to be better than the print version?

Have not read the print version, I only listen to audio books. Good Narration for this book which we all know can make or break the review.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Fighting for Flight?

The Kidnapping... OMG, I was bitting my nails ready to punch someone then Jonah saves the day.

What about Ryan West and Erin Mallon ’s performance did you like?

They did a pretty good job with the dual narration.

Loved it!

Second book I’ve listened to by this author (and in this series) and I loved it! Absolutely hooked from the get go, excellent and relatable characters that are easy to fall in love with, a gripping storyline and steamy hot bedroom goodness. This is an all rounder, I would highly recommend it.

great

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

the best so far

What did you like best about this story?

took you from one extreme to the other so good listened to it again and again. so well written.

Which character – as performed by Ryan West and Erin Mallon – was your favourite?

both were fab made it more like a film.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes but made myself listen in several sittings

Any additional comments?

this is such a good book and read so well.

love this series

love the book love the series and naraters are just mega and the female naraters male voice is just awsome could Def listen to her playing both pov must listen series 8/10 will Def be listning to this book again.