Review: "Yield to Me" by Sarah Castille (Club Excelsior #1)
Note: This ebook was provided by Barclay Publicity via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Marcy Foster wants to prove to her family that she can succeed as a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and her coach and fellow fighters training in Club Excelsior, the MMA center owned by her coach, believe she has the abilities to become a champion. Unfortunately, Marcy seems to have one particular hurdle that she needs to overcome if she intends to move up the ranks and that's learning the art of submission in the ring. She tends to freeze up, putting her life at risk instead of being able to outmaneuver her opponent or tap out when necessary. So, her coach decides to bring in the best consultant possible to help Marcy out.
Jax Stratham is nothing like what Marcy imagined a fight consultant would look or act like. She's immediately attracted to him, making her immediately abrasive to the idea of him coaching her. When Jax highlights the fact that the attraction is mutual, working together as coach and fighter becomes even more complicated, but Jax is able to handle her in a way no one else has. As a psychologist, Jax senses that Marcy is submissive by nature and once he sees she's that way in the bedroom, he believes she won't be able to overcome her natural instinct in the ring. Can Marcy prove Jax is wrong in more ways than one?
Yield to Me is a novella and the first book in the Club Excelsior series by bestselling author Sarah Castille. Having read her Redemption series, there are some definite similarities in the story lines, i.e. MMA fighters and males who have a tendency to dominate the women they're with. The main difference here, though, is that the MMA fighter is the female lead character while the male lead character is a retired MMA fighter brought in to coach her. The story is an interesting one, with Marcy Foster being a submissive in the bedroom but needing to be more aggressive when it comes to being inside the ring.
Jax is exactly what Marcy needs inside and outside of the ring, but Jax has often steered clear of personal commitments and entanglements, keeping things as professional as possible, something he isn't able to do with Marcy. Obviously, the personal affects the professional and vice versa, and neither of them is able to successfully separate the two enough to spare them hurt feelings and broken hearts. Even with the limited number of pages, I was glad to see that there was anything instantaneous about what was happening between the two of them and there is somewhat of a progression that can be in their actual relationship.
Overall, the story was good and the characters engaging enough for me to stay entertained all throughout. I do wish, though, that the immense interest Marcy's coach, Reid Callaghan, had in her development as a fighter was delved into a bit more. It's possible that he'll get his own story in a future release in the series, but then that would be a tale separate from his relationship with Marcy. I would like to know more about the supporting characters and would love to see how the series as a whole will successfully separate itself from the author's popular Redemption series. I'm going to give Yield to Me four out of five stars. ♥
Date Read: 30 April 2015
Learn more about Sarah Castille here.
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