Christine d’Abo on Ringside Romance’s Finale, Losing It (Ringside Romance #4)  (Riptide Publishing’s Tour and Giveaway)

Losing It (Ringside Romance #4) by Christine d’Abo
Riptide Publishing
Cover Art: L.C. Chase

Read an Excerpt/Buy It here

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to host Christine d’Abo here today on tour for Losing It, the last in her Ringside Romances. Welcome, Christine.

✒︎

Hello, my name is Christine d’Abo and I’m so happy to be here today.

All things, no matter how good and loved, must eventually come to an end. When I originally planned to write my Ringside Romance series, it was only going to be three books. But then my lovely Justin came into being and there was no way I could leave this world without giving him his happy ending. So here we are, at the final stop on the journey, with both excitement and a few tears.

Justin’s character was my way of showing myself that every character can be his or her own hero. That we don’t have to be slaves to our circumstances, that given the right motivation and support from those who love us, we can move past our own negativity and become someone more.

Justin thought the person to help him was Grady.

That was because he hadn’t met Finn yet.

By helping Finn find his voice, Justin realizes that there’s more to life, more to himself, than he’d ever realized. I hope you’ll join me for LOSING IT, the final tale in the world of the Ringside Gym, where even the most unlikely of heroes can find his happily ever after.

About Losing It

Finn Miller doesn’t do social. He works his IT job from home as often as he can to avoid people. If it weren’t for his weekly training sessions at Ringside Gym, he might never leave his apartment. And he only does that because of Leo, the gym member he’s in love with. When Finn gets talked into attending a speed dating fund-raiser at the gym, his greatest wish is to have the courage to try to say something—anything—to Leo.

Justin McCormick has spent most of his adult life being used, whether playing a corporate heavy, or acting as guard dog for his ward. So when he leaves Vancouver for a fresh start in Toronto, he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself.

The moment Justin sees Finn at a speed dating event, he knows there’s no way he’ll make it without a little help, so he offers to coach Finn on the art of conversation. What he doesn’t count on is his unexpected attraction to this shy boxer, or his fear that if Finn gets his way, Justin might lose out on his best chance at love.

Available now from Riptide Publishing!

About Ringside Romance

Deep in the heart of Toronto lies Ringside Gym. Once a safe haven for troubled teens, Ringside has gone derelict, a forgotten memory of past days. Until a group of friends set out to do what they can to bring life back to the ring and create a new home for LGBT youths.

But when their lives threaten to pull down their dreams, each man must turn to others to help make it a reality. Winners take all—but there are no losers in love.

Check out the Ringside Romance universe!

About Christine d’Abo

A romance novelist and short story writer, Christine has over thirty publications to her name. She loves to exercise and stops writing just long enough to keep her body in motion too. When she’s not pretending to be a ninja in her basement, she’s most likely spending time with her family and two dogs.

You can visit Christine at her website www.christinedabo.com, and chat with her on Facebook and Twitter. Want to keep up with Christine’s new releases? Sign up for her newsletter and receive a free book!

Giveaway

To celebrate the release of Losing It, one lucky winner will receive a $25 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on February 24, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

 

An Ali Release Day Review: Working It (Ringside Romance #1) by Christine d’Abo

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
workingit_500x750-1Nolan Carmichael is getting a fresh start—new career, new company, new life. The only problem is, he liked his old life just fine . . . until an accident robbed him of his health, his job, his self-confidence, and his ability to go out in public without having anxiety attacks.

Zack Anderson has scared away his last four administrative assistants. So when he hires Nolan on a whim, he’s not too worried, since Nolan will be gone within the week anyway. Two weeks later, Nolan has made himself indispensable, completely reforming Zack’s schedule, life . . . and libido.

But in a company already torn by internal politics, one wrong step could ruin both their careers. And not only are they working to reopen Ringside Gym, Zack’s retreat when he was a troubled teen, but they also can’t help themselves falling for each other. If only the rest of their lives could go as smoothly as things do when they’re alone together.
This started out really great for me. Nolan suffers from severe anxiety due to a horrible car accident and he’s not been able to go back to his job as a result. He’s decided to try something new and ends up interviewing for an assistant position at Zack’s company.

Zack is the horrible boss that no one can work with and he was truly an asshat in the beginning of the book. I was loving this part of the book. It had a enemies to lovers vibe and the two men had a bunch of UST and some hate kissing and it all looked very promising. Then around the middle mark the vibe changed and it became almost a sweet story. I found Zack’s total 180 hard to believe. I’m not sure why or how this all happened. It was a super fast turn around and no reason was given.

I think my biggest issue with the book though was much of the romance and them falling in love took place off page. We see things that are happening at their work and at the gym Zack owns but we didn’t see a lot of their on page romance time and I felt cheated. I would have been fine with what we saw if the book would have been longer and had contained more of them together. By the end they’re all in love and I wasn’t really sure why. It didn’t feel believable.

Overall this was pretty good but had the ability to be great and I’m kind of bummed that it tapered off like it did. But…..I had never read this author before and I will definitely read the next book in this series and I will take a look at her other work.
Cover art by L.C. Chase:  I like the cover.  It is not one that really stands out but it is nice.
Sales Links 
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Book Details:
ebook, 247 pages
Expected publication: February 6th 2017 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626495211 (ISBN13: 9781626495210)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesRingside Romance #1