06 February

♕ REVIEW ♕ ARC ♕ CRUZ (DIABLO'S THRONE#1) BY HJ BELLUS

TITLE: Cruz

SERIES: (Diablo's Throne #1)

AUTHOR: HJ Bellus

GENRE: Fighter

PUBLICATION: January 29th, 2018

CRUZ: is the first book in HJ Bellus’s ‘Diablo’s Throne’ sports series. Spoken in ‘Dual Perspectives’ In this we meet Layla and Cruz.

Layla a travelling ER nurse is the apple of her fathers eye, and much loved by her grandmother who took the place of her mother when her mother suddenly left when she was younger on mother’s day which had a devastating effect on her.

Coming back home for a well needed vacation doesn’t have the welcome she was anticipating instead she’s walking into a tragedy that has knocked her to the core. But a man she has never met before picks up the pieces and is there for her to fall into. Even through grief their attraction is instant. A fast paced insta love romance happens straight away.

But don’t let that fool you into thinking the above is all this book has going for it, some gritty parts get thrown in that I did not see coming and which turned this book around completely from a normal mama book to something totally unique.

Cruz Felix, The Notorious Rumbler embodies everything Layla dislikes, a heavyweight fighter just like her father who was a former top boxing champion in his day. His ambition in the name of his deceased father is to make the championship in Las Vegas, so that all the time in the ring gearing up for this isn’t a waste of his talent.

This would’ve made for a more pleasurable experience for me if it wasn’t for some of Layla’s behaviour, I felt empathy towards her having to go on without a loved one beside her but some of her out bursts kind of made me roll my eyes a few times and other times I’d be repeating with the eye roll “really melt down number what?” Other than that I would’ve loved this more than what I did.

She hates fighting. He lives for it.

Layla’s vicious past drove her away from her hometown. She couldn’t live with all the reminders surrounding her, so she ran.

Cruz Felix found a new home. A place where he could get his head on straight, train, and fight match after match toward the end goal: the championship in Las Vegas. It’s the one thing in his life he wants more than anything, and it’s all in the name of his deceased father.

Until Layla returns home. Her dad owns the gym; he’s the sole reason Cruz is fighting again.

The attraction is immediate, even though both of them are drowning in their own misery and secrets.

The thing about secrets are they always find a way out the darkness and have the power to destroy.

Will their connection be worth fighting for?

USA Today Best Selling Author, HJ Bellus is a small town girl who loves the art of storytelling. When not making readers laugh or cry, she's a part-time livestock wrangler that can be found in the middle of Idaho, shot gunning a beer while listening to some Miranda Lambert on her Beats and rocking out in her boots.