Review: Stacked Up by Sidney Halston (Worth the Fight #6)

May 30, 2016

Note: This ARC was provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept in exchange for an honest review.

Say it isn't so! I can't believe bestselling author Sidney Halston's Worth the Fight series has come to an end, and in it's wake, fans and readers got to meet six different pairs of main characters in the world of mixed martial arts, each with a love story to tell and swoon over. The sixth and final book is focused on thirty-one-year-old MMA fighter and new reality television star Travis Calhoun and twenty-one-year-old single mother and waitress Penelope Richards. Travis has been a part of the series from the very beginning, so the fact that it ends with such a familiar supporting character who gets his own shot at the happily-ever-after his closest friends have been fortunate enough to enjoy was poignant and simply felt right. The name Penny has been mentioned since the second book, but it wasn't until the fourth book that she became more than a name that you glance over once in passing. With the addition of Penny's adorable toddler, Sarabelle, and the rest of the WtF crew, Stacked Up is a commendable and satisfying series ender.

Travis and Penny have been on one another's radar since they first met, but Travis has been biding his time, trying to figure out who the young woman is underneath the string of pearls and headband that none of the other women who've crossed his path have ever donned. Penny's got her treasure trove of secrets, none being bigger than the fact that she's got a one-year-old daughter. Add to that the fact that she's the stepdaughter to a well-known conservative television preacher who handled her pregnancy by sending her away to a home for unwed mothers, and it's clear that Penny's got a story as complex as Travis's. Can a self-confessed man who doesn't like children of any age, shape, or form reconcile the knowledge that the one woman he's wanted for months happens to have one of her own? And to complicate things further, Penny's past is about to make its presence known, and when it does, she runs the risk of losing the one thing that matters most to her--her daughter Belle--but Travis may have something else to say about that.

As different as Penny and Travis may seem to be--what with her far more conservative upbringing and his childhood filled with neglect--there's something about the other that calls to them, making them exactly what each one needs. Travis's pronouncements about children are brutally honest but he's far more reticent when it comes to revealing his true reasons behind his refusal to have his own or to even be around them. I liked how being around Belle helped to open his heart to the idea that children aren't all that terrible to be around. Penny and Travis made sense as a couple and these two weathered their storms in their own way, and with the support and WtF wisdom of those nearest and dearest to them. Having all the other couples we met and loved along the way was a definite bonus and having them around tugged at my heartstrings. I hate saying goodbye to a series that has entertained me and left me with a smile on my face on more than one occasion, but I'm glad that it did end on the high note that is Stacked Up. 4.5 stars. ♥

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Read my reviews for the Worth the Fight series: