by Lori Foster
Series: Ultimate #4
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
Heat Level:
He's the hottest MMA fighter in the game, but one woman is ready to try out a few steamy moves of her own in an unforgettable new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster... With the life he's led and the muscles he's gained, Armie Jacobson isn't afraid of anything. Except maybe Merissa Colter's effect on him. It's not just that she's his best friend's little sister. Fact is, she deserves better. Women pursue him for one night of pleasure, and that's all he wants to offer. Until rescuing Merissa from a robbery leads to the most erotic encounter of his life. Good girl meets bad boy. It's a story that rarely ends well. But Merissa is taking matters into her own hands. No matter how he views himself, the Armie she knows is brave, honorable and completely loyal. And as past demons and present-day danger collide, they're both about to learn what's truly worth fighting for…
Fighting Dirty by Lori Foster is the fourth and last book in the Ultimate series. The series focused on MMA fighter, their town and friends. While I have enjoyed all the books in the Ultimate series, Fighting Dirty was my most anticipated. From book one, I have wanted Armie Jacobson’s story and Foster delivered all that I wanted and more.
Coffee Dates with Armie Fighting Dirty
- First Date: Foster has teased us unmercifully with Armie. The man is funny, sexy, cocky, caring and I want to lick him! Foster brings us up to speed on all the characters as she sets the stage for Armie and Rissy. Their chemistry is off the chart even if they pretend to ignore each other. You can feel the electricity and sexual tension. Armie is a player and pretends not to notice his best friend’s little sister. The man has it bad, oh so bad. Merissa has had feelings since she was a teen for Armie and is frustrated that he avoids her. The series has been weaved in suspense, and in Fighting Dirty Foster delivers the perfect knockout.
- Second Date: Events have Armie and Rissy spending time together. The chemistry, snark, and tenderness made their romance one of my favorites. Armie has a troubled past, and while he may be a player he is also a sensitive caring and active part of the community. Secondary threads, dark secrets and an unknown threat added to the mix. All of these elements combined with Rissy being in danger ramped up the suspense and ignited the chemistry between them. I loved updates, outings and time spent with the rest of the gang. Despite the intensely suspenseful thread, we got plenty of laughter and mischief. Rissy is strong and confident making her a strong heroine. She was even mischievous and I laughed right along with her.
- Third date: My third date with Fighting Dirty was magic. Foster delivered just enough tension, heat and suspense that I was unable to walk away. I love when everything comes together. Learning about Armie, and his past only made me want to hold him and spank him. The couple feels some stress, and faces down danger before Foster wrapped my date up. She left us in a good place. We learn that there will be a spinoff series featuring Leese, Brand, Miles, and Justice. I am hoping all of these characters make cameos.
While each book works as a standalone I recommend reading the Ultimate series in order. Armie’s story in Fighting Dirty was worth the wait!
Read an Excerpt from Fighting Dirty
Armie Jacobson, known as Quick to his fighter friends, ignored the complaint and threw a few more jabs, then a solid body shot, making Justice, a six-foot-five heavyweight, double over. Stepping back, Armie flexed his hands, bounced on the balls of his feet, and waited.
Unfortunately, Justice only put his hands on his knees and sucked air.
Frowning, Armie removed his mouthpiece. “Seriously? Come on, dude. Let’s go.”
“Screw you.” Schlepping back to his corner, Justice grabbed up a water bottle. He doused his head and chest, and then started chugging.
Aware of others watching, Armie said nothing. Everyone worked out, trained and sparred in the rec center, but lately, whenever he did, a dozen or more people stopped to watch. He didn’t mind an audience. Hell, he couldn’t be a competitor if he did. For the most part he paid no attention. Once he got in the cage, he went into a zone and the world receded.
But this insane ogling shit, like he was a damned sideshow, bugged him big-time.
A trickle of sweat tracked down his temple from his headgear, and he swiped a forearm over his face. His muscles burned and more sweat soaked his chest, abs and rolled down his spine. He was figuring out what to say to Justice to get him back in action when he picked up her scent. The faint perfume cut through the rec center air, thick with the smells of sweaty men working hard.
Trying to look casual, Armie stared at Justice but in his peripheral vision he saw her striding across the room. No mistaking that long-legged gait, or that longer dark hair. He swallowed, frozen.
“What?” Justice asked, sounding both suspicious and ridiculously alarmed with the way Armie had locked onto him.
Armie shook his head – and thankfully Merissa disappeared into the hallway leading to the offices.
Releasing a breath, he looked toward the clock and frowned. Yeah, they’d been at it for a while, maybe longer than he’d intended. His cardio was better than most, definitely better than Justice’s, the big lug.
Armie walked over to him. “You need to get more gas in the tank.”
“Go fuck yourself.”
When Armie grinned, Justice eyed him warily. “Stop it.”
That switched his grin to a frown. “Bitchy much?”
Justice slouched against the wall and glared back. “You shouldn’t be able to grin, you prick. You should be as tired as me.”
A natural trainer, Armie took pity on him. “You’re a lot bigger.” As a six-foot tall middleweight, Armie stood five inches shorter and weighed a lot less than Justice.
“Lotta good it does me.”
Squatting down in front of him, Armie said low, “People are watching, so stop whining.”
Justice’s gaze slipped past him and he groaned.
“Yeah, the big dogs are here again.” Damned nosy bastards. Ever since he’d signed with the SBC, the powers-that-be had been scoping him out like their newest lab rat. “Stand up, go another two minutes with me, then we’ll call it quits.”
Huffing out a breath, Justice lumbered to his feet. “Freak of nature,” he muttered again, but he followed Armie out to the center of the ring, and he did his best.
His best was nowhere near good enough against Armie.
But then, they fought for very different reasons.
Twenty minutes later, fresh from the showers, Armie was ready to head out. The mid February weather left frost on every surface, so he tugged on a stocking hat over his still wet hair and pulled a thick hooded sweatshirt on over his clothes. Carrying his gym bag, he entered the main area cautiously. This late in the day, the mats were now cleared. Miles and Brand took their turn mopping with sanitizer. Many of the lights were turned down and only the core group of friends remained, clustered together in conversation.
The SBC heads were gone, and better still, he didn’t see Merissa anywhere. She’d probably just been dropping off paperwork for her brother, Cannon, who owned the rec center.
Relieved, Armie started for the door. With any luck, he’d manage it before someone stopped him –
“Hey, Armie.”
Damn. After a slight hesitation, he turned to where Denver, Stack and Cannon all stood together. “What’s this? The three Married Musketeers?”
Stack, who’d only married a month ago, reeked of satisfaction. “Aw, he’s jealous.”
Yup. But since he’d die before admitting it, Armie said, “Nope.”
Denver, still a newlywed himself, grinned. “Probably lonely too, poor guy.”
Very. Groupies, orgies, and random one-night stands could only take a guy so far. He had a rep for sexual excess, and that’s what the ladies wanted from him. That, and nothing more.
Checking the time, Armie said, “I could be lonely with three very nice ladies if you yahoos would let me leave.”
Unlike the others, Cannon didn’t laugh. “Seriously? Again?”
Why the hell did his best friend have to sound so disapproving? And if he knew why Armie had made those plans, he’d probably be pissed as well as disapproving, because it was thoughts of Cannon’s little sis that he worked so hard to obliterate. Not that a foursome would accomplish much beyond taking the edge off. His obsession with Merissa seemed to amplify by the day.
Copping an attitude, Armie shrugged. “Yeah, really. Unless you have something -” Or someone “- better for me to do?”
“As a matter of fact, that’s why I wanted to talk to you.”
Well hell. He hadn’t figured on that. Armie ran a hand over his hair. “Then let’s hear it.”
“Yvette wanted everyone to come over tonight to hang out and visit.”
Armie adored Yvette. She was perfect for Cannon and a real sweetheart. But damn… “Who all will be there?”
With a very knowing smile, Cannon said, “Everyone important to us. So don’t miss it.”
Double damn. Merissa definitely counted as important.
Armie didn’t want to, but with all the guys eyeballing him, how could he refuse? “What time?”
“Now.”
Armie scowled. “What do you mean, now?”
“Now, as in you don’t have time to do anything else, so forget it.”
Justice came dragging out, his faux-hawk hair still wet, his goatee in need of a trim, and his cauliflower ears worse than ever. He shoulder-bumped Armie as he passed. “If you hadn’t been determined to cripple me, maybe you’d have had more time for playing.”
“Wuss,” Armie accused with a grin.
“He has a point,” Brand said as he pushed a mop bucket toward them.
Miles, giving one last swipe of the mat, followed him. “Keep pushing that hard and you’re liable to hurt something before the competition.”
“I still have two months.” Two months of freedom and he’d spend it however he wanted. Sure, Armie knew there were established training methods, but they weren’t for him. Never had been, never would be – no matter who he fought for.
“This isn’t local fighting anymore,” Denver reminded him.
As if he’d forget.
“Carter Fletcher isn’t a slouch,” Miles added. “You might not walk through him like you do the local guys.”
“They call him Chaos for a reason.” Brand frowned. “I’ve seen him fight and he’s unpredictable.”
Yeah, so his first opponent was supposed to be a stud. Big deal. Armie shrugged to show he didn’t really care. Not that long ago the SBC, the most widely known MMA organization, had run him to ground and all but coerced him into signing on with them. Cannon had helped with that, pushing him to take the next step since he’d already demolished all the records in local venues.
It was a big step, too, something all the other guys had worked for. The SBC paid a lot more and offered incredible name recognition. Their fighters traveled the world to compete.
But Armie liked being low key; it was a hell of a lot safer for multiple reasons. If it wasn’t for Cannon –
“He’ll do fine against Carter,” Cannon said. “And don’t worry about his training. Armie motivates differently, that’s all.”
Always, no matter what, Cannon had his back. As the only other person to know why he’d avoided fame and fortune, Cannon understood. They weren’t related, but they were brothers all the same.
Which was the second biggest reason he couldn’t, shouldn’t, crave Merissa the way he did. Cannon protected those he loved.
And he loved his sister a lot.
“It’s getting late,” Cannon added. “Don’t want to keep Yvette waiting.”
Glad for the switch in topic, Armie pulled out his phone. “Guess I better make some calls and let the ladies know I won’t make it after all.”
Stack looked at Denver. “If it was anyone but Armie, I’d think he was making it up.”
“Lonely,” Denver confirmed.
Armie walked away knowing they were right.
Jennifer
This was my favorite of the series. I love Armie and Rissy!
kimbacaffeinate
Me too, I loved the suspense thread but I adored Armie and Rissy 🙂
Lexxie
*sighs* I love Armie, too, and you’re right, Foster has definitely been teasing us with Rissa and Armie ever since the first book. But the torture was so sweet, and definitely worth the wait. I loved this as well, and your review made me want to swoon all over again, Kim!
kimbacaffeinate
It was worth the wait. Glad you loved their story too 🙂
Naomi
I still have to read this one, but I am glad that you really enjoyed this story! I’ve alwats loved Armie! And interesting that Marissa’s crush went back so far! Great review!!
kimbacaffeinate
Their story was sweet and the suspense thread kept me flipping the pages..enjoy!
Lover Of Romance
I honestly couldn’t get enough of Armie and Rissy. So sad when the book was over 🙁 I just wanted more and more of them hehe. Foster did a great job with this one.
kimbacaffeinate
Agreed, but I am looking forward to the spinoff series
kimbacaffeinate
I knew from the beginning there was more to him..yep lickable.
Kristin
You said Armie was “lickable”!!!! Wow! He really is a favorite of yours!! I just never knew which way to go with him until we learned IT ALL in this book. And then when he found out he was going to…. I held my breath!!! What an amazing transformation! LOVE this story so much!!! Thank you for the revisit *swoon* 🙂
Cyn
Magic! Perfect way to describe it! I love the chemistry between Rissy and Armie and yes to all the laughter and mischief! Glad you really enjoyed this book, too!! Very excited for the new spin off series. Great review, Kim!
kimbacaffeinate
Yay…me too 🙂
The Bibliophile Babe
I haven’t heard of these, but it sounds so good!
kimbacaffeinate
I had a blast reading this series 🙂
Angela Adams
“The man is funny, sexy, cocky, caring and I want to lick him!” — One look at that book cover, and I totally understand!!
kimbacaffeinate
Yes..lickable.
Braine Talk Supe
One day, Lori Foster, one day you and I will face off and I expect to fall to my knees swooning! hahaha
kimbacaffeinate
Bwahaha..I hope you do. Some of her characters are swoon worthy indeed!
blodeuedd
I should read it
kimbacaffeinate
yes, yes you should 🙂
Melissa (Books and Things)
I haven’t read this series but want to try it. I have a feeling that Foster is a good choice for the MMA romances. Plus, who doesn’t want a lickable hero? LOL
kimbacaffeinate
Lickable is always a good option. Yes, I thought she brought the characters to life, and I like the suspense threads.
Katherine
This sounds awesome! I’ve been wanting to read this series and this entry sounds great!
kimbacaffeinate
Hope you pick them up. Question. I read your review of the Rain Sparrow and loved the sound of the narration on audio. However I noticed this was book two. Did you read both? Do I need to?
Katherine
I haven’t read the first book and it really wasn’t an issue. The main characters of the first book were in this one but only in the role as owner of the Inn and Carrie’s friend. So no worries you can just jump right in with this one!
Mary Kirkland
It’s been a while since I’ve read one of her books. This sounds really good.
kimbacaffeinate
I had fun with this series Mary 🙂
kindlemom1
Great review and excerpt! I know you have been really liking this author Kim.
kimbacaffeinate
I do enjoy these Ali. They are the type of reads I can devour in a few hours and they leave me smiling.
sherry fundin
Good to hear each date was as good as the first. 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Sherry, I’d say my dates were a success.
Candace
I’m glad you enjoyed this one!
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Candace. I love slipping into her stories for a few hours 🙂
Lekeisha
I’m gonna grab the first book from the library soon, since it’s one of my to-read books that I’ve been waiting to get. Hopefully, I’ll love it and grab the others. Awesome review!
kimbacaffeinate
Enjoy Lekeisha. Now that the series is done you can devour them all!
Sophia Rose
So glad that your most anticipated in the series met and exceeded expectation. The way you describe this pair has me hooked and wanting their book, too.
kimbacaffeinate
Sweet, I hope you try it and love them too Sophia!
Jenny
Why haven’t I read this series yet Kim? WHY?!!!! Lori Foster never disappoints, and I love the sound of Rissy! Yay for a strong and confident heroine!
kimbacaffeinate
Hehe…I feel that way sometimes too Jenny! That is why are TBR piles are so big 🙂
Quinn's Book Nook
I definitely liked this one, but I had some issues with Armie’s secret. It’s just a personal thing, but I was annoyed with it. Like why couldn’t it have been something else? But I did still love Armie abd Merissa. And I can’t wait for the spin-off series.
kimbacaffeinate
I hear you. It has been a relevant issue in the news of late..so maybe that is why she chose it.
Angela
I love Lori Foster’s writing–she’s a local author–but I haven’t started this series yet. I need too, the first three books have been sitting on my TBR pile for awhile now. I may need to cheat and start with this one first.
kimbacaffeinate
LOL, I have whole series I need to start Angela, It will work as a standalone, but the build up made this enjoyable being last.