OUTMATCHED by Kristen Callihan & Samantha Young

What happens when a boxer finds chemistry with a geek?

Parker Brown can’t believe she needs to hire a fake boyfriend. When she landed her dream job in renewable energy, she thought she’d be entering a world at the forefront of progressive thinking. But the head boss prefers to promote employees who are “settled.” Thankfully, she’s found the perfect candidate, a fellow intellectual looking for some quick cash. What Parker gets is his protective big brother—Rhys Morgan. The tall, muscled ex-boxer with a foul mouth shows up just as her boss does, and now she’s stuck with the manipulative jerk.

Responsibility weighs heavily on Rhys. Now permanently out of the ring, he’s trying to hold together his late father’s gym and keep his younger brother, Dean, on the straight and narrow. To save Dean from himself, Rhys takes his place, ready to give this society girl a piece of his mind. Instead, he finds an opportunity. Even though they can hardly stand each other, posing as Parker’s boyfriend is a win-win deal. She gets to keep her job, and he’ll charm her star-struck boss into sponsoring his gym.

Problem is, they can barely keep their hands off each other. And what started as an easy deal isn’t so easy anymore. Because what future can a rough ex-boxer, afraid to open his heart, and a polished society geek, who has sworn off real relationships, possibly have?

They say opposites attract. These opposites are about to combust on impact.

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Title : Outmatched
Author : Kristen Callihan & Samantha Young
Format : eARC
Page Count :
Genre : Contemporary Romance
Publisher : Indie
Release Date : November 19, 2019

Reviewer : Micky
Rating : ★ ★ ★ 

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Micky’s 3 star review

The coming together of two of my favourite romance authors was like Christmas and I waltzed into OUTMATCHED with full enthusiasm. This was a story of a fake relationship (which I do enjoy) and two very opposite characters. There were misunderstandings, judgements and chemistry along the way, so lots to get your teeth into.

Parker was battling a misogynistic workplace and a boss who’s behaviour forced her hand to hire a boyfriend figure for work events. She just wanted equality but I hated that she had to do this just to get her mind to be taken seriously. Rhys was the occasionally angry and definitely grumpy character who could turn on the charm and unexpectedly offered to be Parker’s boyfriend for a price. He was all about the money…initially. I loved the uncovering of how they misjudged one another, that was something pleasurable to read.

The boss was an absolute revolting character and I didn’t love to hate him, I just hated him. This element of the plot drove me somewhat wild with annoyance. I also struggled with the fake relationship storyline going on too long and the narrative became lacking in tangability for me as the story progressed. Because of the extended fake relationship, I didn’t buy into Parker and Rhys as something more. The weird thing was, I really liked them as characters and their backstories, just not together. It made me sad that I couldn’t buy into them fully.

OUTMATCHED has lots of goodness, a nice sporting foundation (sports romance is kryptonite to me), an opposites attract story and fake dating. If these are your thing, I hope you enjoy this story.

Thank you to the author for the early review copy.