Knocked Out By Love by Abby Niles

Tough subject matter handled remarkably sensitively in an environment of hard men and even harder knocks.

The author tackled subjects that affect everyone differently but she didn’t shy away from showing that no matter who you are, everyday life will always play its part in your story. Plans are made to be broken and journeys are never as easy as they should be when others are involved.

Brody and Scarlett are complicated; she’s married to his best friend although he didn’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to discover that their marriage was over when he clocked her flirting one day. 

Watching her flirt with another guy is almost too much for him, he has had a secret longing for her, for far longer than he would openly admit but she isn’t in a relationship anymore, so he has a decision to make…make his move or stand by the “bro code” and steer clear of his mates ex.

Well let’s just say he doesn’t take long to make his mind up. Living with the knowledge that he has loved her without a chance of ever knowing what it was like to really love her has him stepping straight up to the plate when she asks him to help her get back into the dating game…yep, like that is going to happen! One little peeve there thought I understood that Scarlett was hurt and ready to move on but I think I might have liked a little more time to have elapsed before she made that decision.

I thought the inclusion of infidelity in the storyline was a brave move, a lot of readers struggle with a story that contains cheating in any way but I thought this author was creative with the necessity and conclusion of that aspect of the story.

But what I really enjoyed was the fact that Ms Niles included a storyline that brought to the fore the emotional torment felt when faced by infertility. The external pressure unwittingly placed by family and friends, the all too common misconceptions and the reality of having to be selfish, shutting the world out and taking stock of the fact that no-one other than the two people involved have to face a future that may or may not have them experiencing the joy of parenthood. infertility is an intensely sensitive and painful situation and I think this was handled beautifully.