Black Dog (Bannon’s Gym, Book 1)

Title:  Black Dog (Bannon’s Gym, Book 1)

Author:  Cat Grant

Publisher:  Cat Grant Books July 2013

Rating:  A List

Up All Night Satisfaction

Blurb:  Danny Bannon and Eddie Roscoe have been fighting in and out of the ring for more than fifteen years, held together by mutual attraction and small-town ties, yet kept apart by a shared tragedy that continues to haunt them. Their steady on-again off-again is shaken up by the arrival of Tom Delaney, a teenage runaway trying to escape his tense home situation and his punch-happy dad.

In no time, the scrawny homeless kid has shown himself to be a boxing prodigy, and building him up brings Danny and Eddie closer than they’ve been in ages. It seems that the three of them, plus Eddie’s mother, Gloria, are forming a new family unit, much tighter than anything Tom experienced in his difficult past.

But Tom’s politically influential father isn’t the only person he left behind. When his mother shows up at Eddie and Gloria’s diner with a shiner and a haunted look in her eyes, Tom is hopeful for her future. But when that hope is snuffed out, Tom is ready to turn his new fighting skills to a deadly purpose: get revenge on his abusive father or die trying.

It’s up to his surrogate big brothers, Danny and Eddie, to put their differences and their painful history aside to prevent another tragic ending.

Review:  When can I get Book II, Mrs. Grant? I know we haven’t always clicked over the years, but this time, well this time was perfect!!!

Black Dog is a fast book, the type that I like the most. There is no dwelling, no dilating the events, no unnecessary angst at all.

It’s written from all three MCs POV’s, so you have to keep focus. The voices are clear in your head, the characters are amazing and so different from one another. Their take on life, their fears, their feelings, all their emotions are just out there.

What I like the most about the switching between POVs is that the author does not revisit the events, she uses the change to move the story forward.

The UST, Oh My God…honestly, I know Danny and Eddie love each other like brothers, but give us a break, all that sweat, all those fights…you are cheering for them to get a room as soon as they are in the same space. Even without knowing all the reasons why they can or should or won’t.

As an avid MM reader, you are all probably aware of the ongoing argument about women in MM books, well here the argument is absolutely invalid as Gloria is one of the most amazing females I’ve read since the girls in I’ll be your drill, Soldier. She made me laugh and she brought tears to my eyes too.

And then, there is Tom. Beautiful, frightened, broken, strong minded Tom. He has no idea the effect he has in all their lives. And how much he actually needs them, his new family.

I don’t know where are we going from here, in the series, but I would like to read more Danny, he is such a complex character and it felt like a lot was left out. I want to know more about Jimmy and how they were when they were together.

All in all, I LOVE IT, all of it, and I can’t wait to read more from this series.

Reviewed by Connie