Strike: A Notorious Novel

DANEEL



When people hear the name Dean Cantrell, it's all hero-worship and stars-in-the-eyes. He was an idol, a mentor, a champion. A façade. A fantasy.

My father, the longest reigning champion in MMA history, inspired people of all ages and from all walks of life. What they didn't see was the drugs and gambling, the man drowning in debt so deep he couldn't escape. Until the day he died and left me to do the drowning. The same man who, for decades, encouraged the hopes and dreams of millions around the world stole mine out from under me.

After my father's untimely death, I inherited his debt to a ruthless loan shark who held in his filthy palms not only my life but the lives of everyone I love. Which is how I ended up at Limbo, an underground fight club owned by the infamous Tanner Vasquez. A ruthless businessman, Vasquez rules his fighters with an iron fist, all to protect his business, his money, and himself from the law.

Five years ago, Vasquez designated Hayes Renton as my personal trainer. A bitter man, thanks to the loss of his career as an illegal fighter, Hayes takes out his resentment on me. Then one night he learns my secret, and his mission suddenly changes from making my life a living hell to being my savior.

But my battles are my own, and I'm the only one who can win this fight. Even if it costs me my life. Just like my father.



HAYES



It's been five years since my career as an undefeated underground fighter went up in smoke in a single fight. My title, my legacy, gone. Just like that.

"You can never fight again," the doctors said. "One more wrong blow to the head will kill you."

Thankfully, my friend Tanner, owner of the fight club Limbo, offered me a position as a trainer, letting me keep my love for fighting alive. At least, I was thankful until he assigned me to be her trainer.

Daneel Cantrell is a fireball who fights me at every turn. Reckless and mouthy. Infuriatingly impulsive. And sexy as sin.

Then, one night, her secret becomes my own and I finally understand the anger and resentment behind the venomous creature the crowd calls "Ice." She's spent most of her life suffocating under the weight of someone else's obligations. Learning about the personal hell D lives in because of her father's mistakes forces me to see her as more than just a pain in my ass. And, because it does, the desire I've suppressed for so long has finally awakened. Even worse, I'm overcome by the need to protect her from this world she was thrown into.

I will get her out of my world of criminals, sin, and death. No matter how hard she fights to front this battle alone.