Title: Felix (5th Street, #5)
Author: Elizabeth Reyes
Genre: NA | Contemporary
Romance
Release
Date: November
13, 2014
They
say the only good thing about hitting rock bottom is that it can't get any
worse . . . or can it?
World famous boxing champ, Felix Sanchez, had it
all—the fame, the fortune, and all the women any man could ask for. When the
hours of partying followed by hours spent in court and in rehab begin to
outnumber the hours he spends training, losing his title comes as no surprise
to everyone. The world assumes he deserved to lose it.
Only those closest to Felix know the real truth
behind his sudden downward spiral. And if Felix has his way, no one else ever
will. With an uncertain future ahead of him, he heads back to his roots—5th
Street—the gym that started it all for him. It's where he meets
the humble but mighty little Ms. Ella.
The only times Felix had ever decided to forgo
the usual meaningless fling and try a real relationship he was burned badly.
Now the adorable but tenacious self-defense instructor has him considering this
love thing one more time.
Then just when he begins to worry that his past
is letting his possessive and jaded heart get the best of him, he's blindsided
in the most brutal way—he's brought to his knees—to what could be the one low
in his life he may never recover from.
When I first met Felix Sanchez I didn't think I would want his story. The notorious fighter/manwhore/womanizing-cheater didn't really impress me while reading Gio, Book 2 in the 5th Street series. When he caught his then girlfriend Bianca cheating with one of his closest friends Gio he had the nerve to get upset. After he had knocked up someone he had been with behind Bianca's back. Pot meet Kettle, huh? He was a total douche. Still, my curiosity about seeing one of the biggest pricks in the series fall in love got the better of me so I read....and I read. and I stayed up until 3 a.m. until I had read every single word in the book.
Meeting up with Felix in this book finds him going into a tailspin of bad choices and depression. He lost his championship title and spends all his time blowing through money, booze and women faster than Global Warming can kill the earth. His Publicist gets fed up with him and bails and he is left begging for a rematch to win his title back. Something Felix Sanchez isn't used to. After hitting rock bottom he realizes he needs to get his act together so he comes back to his home, to the 5th Street gym to train again. Upon his return is where he meets Ella, a humble yet feisty woman who doesn't take any of his charming crap seriously and makes him work for it. The way their relationship started out was comical because Felix has never had to work hard to get a woman. Ella not only makes him work for it but she makes him stumble and trip on his words, his pulse race and his tongue swell. Watching Felix get so wrapped up in Ella was hysterical because he didn't understand what was happening to him. Nothing for them is easy though with his sorted past and an ex boyfriend of hers that won't take the hint and leave her alone.
I have to say that the women in this series never surprise me. They are all strong, independent and intelligent women and I have loved all of them. Ella was no exception because her strength and character were just as on point with all the other 5th street ladies. She's been through a lot losing a sister to gang violence at a young age and a mother to breast cancer and not to mention her brother's girlfriend being the victim of a sexual assault. Instead of letting it keep her down she's risen above the pain and even started elf defense classes at the gym for everyone to be able to afford. To be such a young woman, Ella was a force to be reckoned with. She was sweet and humble but she didn't let the men in her life get away with much. Which is what made me love Felix all the more. Call me a bitch but I didn't think there was any more to him than his oversexed libido. I knew it would take someone extraordinary to take him down and although Ella wasn't as gorgeous as the women he had been with, she had an inner strength and poise the others didn't.
Felix didn't really impress me in the beginning especially having started banging his new publicist immediately and not really having much depth outside of all the partying. He wasn't a total lost cause though because he slowly started to change and show growth and like him slowly falling for Ella so I did with him. It's not an easy thing to make me love a guy who basically screws anything that breathes but I didn't understand a little bit better once it was revealed that he carries the burden of guilt and loss after his cheating scandal with Bianca. I knew he got some other woman pregnant while he was with Bianca and I always thought he was a dick for getting mad at her and his friend when he did the same thing. He's only thought he was in love twice in his life but when the real thing comes along it was a game changer for him. Felix really proved to me just how much he changes when he and Ella are faced with a really big obstacle in their relationship and he stands by her and fights for her. I didn't this guy would make me cry but I found myself putting the book down and wiping my eyes several times. It's true what they say, the bigger they are the harder they fall.
This wouldn't be a true 5th Street story if it didn't involve the other guys in the gang and Reyes gives us a lot of Noah, Gio, Abel and Hector goodness. All the women are involved too and befriend Ella and support her and Felix. I love seeing my favorite characters again and knowing they are all happy and healthy in their lives is just another treat added in. I'm so sad that Felix is the last in the 5th Street series but Reyes goes out with a bang wrapping up in such a beautiful and positive happy note. A lot has happened since the start of the series with lots of twists along the way and I am so glad I have been there for every goofy, funny, awkward and beautiful moment. Reyes always ends up making me believe in love again when I read one of her books and Felix may be the biggest one with it's unlikely yet beautiful romance.
Giveaway:
Elizabeth is
offering a signed set of the 5th Street series (Noah, Gio, Hector, Abel &
Felix). The giveaway is open internationally. Giveaway ends Nov 24th at 11:59
PM CST.
Buy Links:
5th Street Series Buy Links:
Author
Bio:
USA Today Bestselling Author, Elizabeth Reyes continues to answer
to her calling on a daily basis. Since releasing her debut novel Forever Mine
(Moreno Brothers #1) in 2010 she has now published 9 full length novels total
and fast at work on the next. The excitement her Moreno Brothers, 5th Street,
and Fate series have garnered has far exceeded her wildest dreams. It is with
as much excitement that she'll continue to put out books related to these
series as well as introduce brand new ones very soon.
In 2014 she will take her
next step in the exciting world of writing and publish her first traditionally
published book with Simon & Schuster/Atria. But she will continue putting
out self published books as well.
Author Social Links:
Oh wow! He sounds like he was a total piece of work. Goodness! But yay for it working in the end :D
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