The Knockout Rule

The synopsis of this book pulled me in and definitely lived up to expectations. I love sports romances but have never read a boxing romance so it was nice to finally check off that box! This also had a really interesting twist on the sub-genre that I really enjoyed.

We follow our main character Isla, who is the daughter of a profound ex-boxer. After seeing how boxing not only destroyed her family but also the physical impacts it had on her dad, she made one rule for herself — no dating or working with a boxer. She works as a physiotherapist to help other athletes with the brutality put on their body and opened her own practice to make sure she never had any clients that were boxers.

When her dad reveals to her that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, cause by his career in boxing he asks her to help as a cover up and physiotherapist on a six weeks trip to Vegas. He will be training the lightweight championship contender Brick and she feels compelled to go. What she didn't know was that behind the public persona of a grunting, barbarian brute lives a poetry loving and highly intellectual man.

I loved Isla and Eric in this so much and how Kelly Siskind was able to create such complex characters. Boxing is what Eric needs to survive. Not because he loves it but because he has to take care of his family and boxing provides money without a degree. The same sports is Isla's bane of existence and causes her immense anxiety. They stood at an impossible crossroads, but their chemistry was just too intense to pass up.

The mental health journey that was explored in here was so amazing, and I didn't know it would dive into such serious topics like immigration, supporting a family, divorce, panic attacks, and Parkinson's, but I think they were all handled so well without making the book too deep. Kelley Siskind achieved a lighthearted book that explored serious topics.

I did have a couple issues that made me knock the book down a star. I didn't like the whole plot line with Preston just because I think it made the book too long. It was a bit repetitive and the whole mid-section could have been cut down by 50ish pages. I also felt like at times this book tried a little too hard to be poetic but other times it really hit perfectly.

I love how the characters both changed their perspectives on live because of the other, and the came to a compromise. Their love wasn't easy, and they really had to work for it. Their love was extremely beautiful, and the writing was extremely brilliant.

Thank you to Xpresso Book Tours, Kelly Siskind, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.