Review: Real by Katy Evans

Real
Katy Evans
Series: Real, Raw & Ripped #1
Publication date: April 8th 2013
Rating: ★★★☆☆

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A fallen boxer.
A woman with a broken dream.
A competition…

He even makes me forget my name. One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting…

Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I’ve ever met in my life.

He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I’ve never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong–but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents . . .

But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.

I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.

If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?

Remington "Riptide" Tade is the boxer every woman wants.

What Brooke Dumas isn't expecting is to be included in that list, but when her best friend, Melanie, drags her to one of his fights she can't deny that the attraction is there. Especially not when he sees her on the stands and surprises everyone by smiling and sending a wink her way.

Which is something he does not do, ever.

But it seems like breaking protocol is the theme for the night, something Brooke soon learns when she's called back to his hotel room after the fight is done and ends up being offered a job.

This is Remy's attempt to find something real. To have someone who sees him as who he really is, and not just as the guy who is good at throwing punches. He's tired of people wanting to get closer to "Riptide", but never giving a damn about Remy.

He finds his chance in Brooke, who specialized in athlete rehab in college after having her Olympic dream ripped out from under her feet. She knows the opportunity to work with him as his physical therapist is too good of a deal to say no to, and he even thought he's not surprised when she agrees he couldn't be happier about it.

Accepting his offer means that Brooke has to fly across the country with Remy as a strong and silent presence by her side. She's so aware of his every move that she thinks she's going to go crazy before the tour ends, but it's during those times that she gets to know who Remy is. Or at least a side of him.

They start communicating through music, carefully choosing songs for the other to listen to as they wait to get to their destination. Brooke finds herself more and more captivated by him, and as they grow closer and start sharing more moments outside the confines of a plane, she starts to get a glimpse into the kind of person Remy truly is. Someone who can be incredibly sweet and caring one moment only to have a dark and aggressive edge to him on another.

Real had so much sexual tension I thought I was the one who was going to go crazy. And not necessarily in a good way.

The amount of times Brooke had difficulties in controlling her body's reactions to Remy were troubling. Seriously. Every other page or so we had a comment about soaked panties or weak knees or how hot he was. We get it, alright? He's gorgeous and she wants him. No need to mention it all the time.

That was also one of the reasons why I didn't really buy Brooke and Remy's relationship. It seemed like they were so focused on their mutual attraction that they didn't spend any time outside of airplanes and sharing music actually working on building a connection and developing their relationship.

And the way the author portrayed Remy's mental illness (he's bipolar) was just. Ugh. Ugh.

One, there was the over use of the word "speedy" whenever Remy had an episode. Whether he was manic or depressed, the characters would just say he was "speedy" and leave it at that. Like it explained everything.  Hint: It doesn't.

Two, for some reason whenever he did have an episode his eyes changed from blue to black. As far as I'm aware, suffering from bipolar disorder does not cause dilated pupils. So if you're going to write about mental illness of any kind, at least do your research.

Three, the way the other characters handled Remy when he was manic was to just sedate him and hope for the best. I mean??????? There was no real help given from anyone when Remy so obviously needed someone to be there for him. That was not okay.

And fourth, apparently Brooke had some kind of magical ability to control Remy when he was manic? Because it's mentioned that all she needed to do to was to cuddle in bed with him and he'd be as calm as a kitten. And that was so implausible, especially considering Remy was not being treated for his illness, because mania means that you're feeling like the king of the world and no one can stop you. Not even the woman you have feelings for. Because bipolar disorder is a medical condition that's not cured by resting or love.

So yeah, I gave Real three stars because the entire communicating through music aspect of it all was really touching and sweet and also because the story really had the potential to be something more. Remy's back story was actually really interesting, and maybe if the book wasn't told entirely from Brooke's point of view I would have enjoyed it more.