In these two fan-favorite sports romance stories, winning is everything…
Making Him Sweat
Admitted romantic Jenna Wilinski has just inherited a boxing gym. With it she can finally realize her dream of launching an upscale matchmaking business…provided she can take on the very intimidating—and wickedly hot—boxer who stands in her way! Mercer Rowley vows to protect his “home” from this stubborn, feisty opponent. But man, once the gloves come off, his hands just want to touch her everywhere.
Taking Him Down
Matchmaker Lindsey Tuttle always thought Rich Estrada was a whole lot of sexy. He’s a gorgeous, flirty mixed martial arts fighter—what’s not to lust after? When they find themselves heating up during a make-out session, Lindsey is ready for him…until Rich abruptly ends it. A year later, Rich is back in Boston recovering from an injury. Lindsey figures it’s the perfect time for a rematch to remember.
Praise for Meg Maguire
“Maguire succeeds in socking us with a sterling combo of love, loyalty, family, sweat and tears. 4½ stars!”
—RT Book Reviews on Making Him Sweat
“Making Him Sweat is the first book in a brand-new series by Meg Maguire…that centres around MMA. You know what that means, right? Hot, sweaty, half-naked men. I’m there. I can expect only good things from Maguire!”
—Under the Covers
“If you enjoy reading about super sexy boxers who like to get down and dirty, then definitely give this book a try.”
—Blithely Bookish
“Full of interesting, likable characters and sexy love scenes.”
—Fiction Vixen
“I loved this book! Jenna and Mercer share some delicious sexual tension, but thankfully Ms. Maguire does not torture her readers. I definitely recommend this book and am looking forward to reading the sequel.”
—Badass Book Reviews
“I love fight books…especially where old-school boxing meets the more modern MMA style. This cute book had so many great characters and a good old-fashioned romance.”
—Nocturne Romance Reads
Making Him Sweat & Taking Him Down
Meg Maguire
CONTENTS
Making Him Sweat
Meg Maguire
For Amy, Ruthie and Serena, with crazy gratitude for your time and input. You gals rock my socks. Continually.
Also with thanks to the staff of the Wai Kru mixed martial arts gym in Allston, Massachusetts—especially Michael, for letting me loiter and ogle, and pester him with endless questions about the business of building great fighters.
And of course, thank you to my editor, Brenda, for liking this premise enough to contract the series, and for beating my first draft into submission. I won’t let you down, coach.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
JENNA’S HEELS CLICKED against the asphalt as she crossed the street. Though they’d proven adorable enough to earn compliments from three different strangers on the ten-minute walk, she’d have to rethink this shoe choice in the future. Boston was made for flats, with its warped old brick sidewalks. Made for flats and for doctors who specialized in ankle injuries.
She survived a final block to reach her destination, a building she’d seen only in photos until this moment. Five stories, a former hosiery factory long since divided and repurposed. She paused to picture a new sign above the entryway, but a river of speed-walkers engulfed her, their brusqueness making it known that 9:00 a.m. downtown was not the time and place for daydreaming.
Leaving the August sunshine behind, she stepped into a cool, wide front corridor, with a worn but handsome hardwood floor and brick walls. She smiled, clutching her purse with cautious hope. With a bit of polishing and some nice light fixtures and greenery, this place could be very stylish indeed.
To her right stood a display case of boxing equipment, its glass overdue for some Windex. Gloves and shorts, headgear, mouth guards, supplement bottles—the accessories of her inheritance, surreal as that felt. She eagerly erased the image on her mental sketch pad and filled in the blanks, adding a couch and a couple of easy chairs, a shiny coffee table covered in magazines. Hopeful, excited people chatting as they waited. Waited for Jenna to make their romantic dreams come true.
In a few months’ time, this would be the home of the Boston branch of Spark, New England’s fastest growing matchmaking company—and Jenna its newest franchise owner. Spark was very old-school, unlike the online services, and that suited Jenna just fine. The web was great for impulsive commitments—such as shoes you’d never tried on—but one’s love life was not a thing to march into blind. Finding Mr. or Miss Right could be mystifying, and as a future matchmaker she was excited to help shine some light through the fog.
At the end of the foyer was a wide stairway leading down to what a banner on the wall proclaimed Wilinski’s Fight Academy—the less savory half of Jenna’s real estate inheritance. At the sight, she dropped back to earth from the clouds. The front doors opened behind her, and she tensed