Review: "Fix You" by Christine Bell

Olivia Beckett’s once-charmed life is falling apart. Her family is about to lose everything, and she has almost no chance of continuing her college education. She can't even seek solace from her high school sweetheart. He's changed. She doesn't recognize the boy she used to know— his violent behavior is escalating and it scares the hell out of her. Her whole world is crumbling, and she has no one to turn to…… Sebastian “Bash” McDaniels is an up and comer in the boxing world working nights at the local college bar until he can land the fight of his dreams that will get him the hell out of Boston and away from his family's tragic past. He’s weeks from his goal when Olivia Beckett comes tumbling into his life in a flash of silky dark hair and haunted eyes. When he saves her from a potentially brutal beating, they begin to grow close, but Olivia's ex isn’t ready to let her go so easily. Bash can't bring himself to walk away, but fixing Olivia just might leave him broken…

We've all heard this story before, right?  Girl gets in trouble with big strong man, another big strong man steps in to save the day, and girl and man #2 fall in lust/love.  Sound familiar?  The funny thing is, I was reading "Easy" by Tammara Webber immediately before "Fix You", and I'm in the middle of another book for review with almost the same premise as we speak.  What keeps "Fix You" from becoming another walking, talking cliche is the solid writing and the characters.  I actually care about Sebastian and Olivia and what happens to them, and I'm interested enough to want to read book 2.  

Christine Bell does a fantastic job of building the tension between Olivia and Sebastian (I have to call him Sebastian, unfortunately I think "Bash" is just a ridiculous name!)  The chemistry between the two of them is palpable!  There's also some real suspense in the form of Olivia's boyfriend, who the reader can tell is a loose cannon.  And although there are some definite parallels with other books I've read recently, I can tell that "Fix You" is merely an introduction and that the story as a whole is headed in a completely different direction.  

This is my first book by this author, and I'm looking forward to reading more from her!

My rating: 3.5 stars