Fight Dirty

Blood, Sweat & Kisses

by Cassie Mint

He’s brutal and battered. The meanest fighter in the city.

And I’m begging him to teach me how to fight.

The first time I step foot in Jax Sutherland’s gym, he stares like I’m some badly lost tourist. All around, men are beating each other to a pulp, and I wince with every smack and grunt.

Maybe I am lost. Coming here is definitely the craziest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m so out of place it hurts. I’m a cuddler, not a fighter, and I can’t even watch scary movies. This is nuts.

But I’m desperate. Someone’s been following me through the city, leaving threatening notes, and I’m so tired of feeling afraid. Feeling vulnerable.

I need to learn to defend myself, and for that I need Jax.

At first, he laughs. Then he scowls.

Then he drags my flushed body to the mat.

Fight Dirty is a short and steamy instalove story, starring a brutal fighter and the girl he’s drawn to protect.

Genres: Novella, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Sports Romance, Sports, Fighters

67 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2023

About the author

Cassie writes outrageous, OTT insta-love with tons of sugar and steam. She loves cookie dough, summer barbecues, and her gorgeous cat Missy.

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Reviews

[Kristina]

Another nipple flasher…

I still want to see a sci-fi romance cover with lasers shooting out of them.. pew pew.

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5* Sweet, low drama, filled with quality quotes like this one.

I feel like something off the Discovery channel, especially once we’ve both caught our breath, eyes hazy, and all I want to do is wriggle on his lap and spread his seed around inside me.

One of my coworkers was excited to hear that I was on GR. I’m hoping she’ll forget we had that conversation…

[Huda · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5 ⭐ (That nipple flashing..💀)
1/5 🔥
This was super short I read this in one sitting.
It was cute and good. I hope this was a bit more longer maybe idk it was insta-love like too fast😭. And it had only 1 spicy scene. But other than that it was enjoyable!!

[*˚Remnant Light ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.6/5 stars**

Casey has been a singer at a club for a bit of time now and became quite the sensation, so much so that she's now dealing with a stalker who leaves disturbing notes in her apartment and in her locker at work. After contacting the police without any success, she finds herself going to a boxing gym to ask the owner, Jax, for some defense tips. If at first he refuses, he quickly changes his mind, understanding how serious the situation is for Casey.

Jax was a hero just like I love them; protective, grumpy and slightly arrogant. His interest in Casey was pretty instantaneous but he also had some reserves, which made his character believable and realistic.

Jesus, I’m harder than rock right now. I could do a zero-handed press up.-Jax 😂

As for Casey, she was the common sweet but bold young woman that we often see in a Cassie Mint novella. Nothing about her was very outstanding but she was fairly agreeable to follow.

The chemistry between them was sweet and hot. There wasn't really any angst between them other than some insecurity. The pacing was decent, the plot with the stalker wasn't too rushed. There was a bit of investigation that I appreciated. Even if it didn't go too much in depth, I thought for a novella it was just enough. The only thing I would've liked was a bit more was to know the reasoning behind the guy who was stalking Casey.

✔️HEA Epilogue: 10 months later, they are married and h is pregnant
✔️Novella
✔️Dual POV
✔️Age gap My guess is H is in his 30s while h is 21
✔️Grumpy/Protective H
✔️Sweet/Virgin h
✔️No OW/OM There's only h' stalker
✔️No cheating
✔️Safe
🔥 Steam level: 2/5 Only one scene
⚡Content warning No condom/ No mention of birthcontrol/ Oral sex/ Praising kink/ First time

Would I recommend this novella? I think it was a pretty good novella. It's nothing revolutionary but it's palatable.

**Note that I do not rate novellas and full-length books by the same standards**

Blood, Sweat & Kisses Series
1. Fight Dirty* - 2. Hard Knocks
3. Going Rogue

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Cassie Mint knows how to write a short instalove story that seems to have some depth and intimacy to it despite its shortness. I loved this one.

[**Tessa** (semi hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a sweet read! Loved this hero! LOVED him. Wasn’t sure I would like the heroine at first but I ended up really liking her too. Wish it was longer, would have loved to see them after they were actually together. There honestly isn’t much to this story but I still loved it lol
4.5 ⭐️

[april ♡ probably reading smut - safety reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 loved it!

TROPES:
~instalove
~age gap
~protector
~grumpy x sunshine

Casey has a stalker so she goes to the well-known fighter Jax's club to ask him to teach her how to fight. At first he says no, but once he finds out this sweet, innocent woman has a stalker, he changes his mind. He helps her learn self-defense and goes with her to and from work/home to protect her.

It's only a little bit spicy, but I liked it! I love protector romances, as well as grumpy x sunshine. 5 stars!

SAFETY:
Ages: 21h, 30sH
Virgin/celibate: virgin heroine, unknown past for hero
OM/OW drama: slight, h has a stalker
Cheating/sharing: none
Kinks: praise/"good girl"
HEA?: yes!

[Ashton Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cassie’s novellas tend to be very hit or miss for me, and this one was definitely a hit!

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and sweet

Casey goes to Jax's gym for him to teach her self defense so she can protect herself from her stalker. Their chemistry is off the charts and Jax is very protective of Casey. They get the stalker and find their HEA. Swoon!

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet read.

I really enjoyed this quick little read. I thought was sweet with the perfect amount of back and forth and angst which is hard to achieve in a story of this length. Jax and Casey were both great characters and really brought the story to life. I’m almost nervous to read the next book because I’m not sure it can live up to this one.

[atomickitten · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

It was short and sweet with your damsel in distress and a broody ex fighter.
And I liked it a lot.

I am taking away 1 star because however much I love Cassie Mint, 'iloveyous' shouldn't be said a week after the first meeting.

Never ever.

But apart from that, a very cute read.

[Lolina ⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

As expected, like the majority of the other CM books I've read, I wanted more from this, but all in all it was ok.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

Safety and Spoilers

Safe. No ow drama, h is being stalked by om who is leaving notes for her at work and her home. Nothing is mentioned about the H’s past and h is a virgin. The two had great chemistry together. I liked the instant connection they had with one another and I enjoyed how the H was so sweetly and caring towards the h.

[riley ☠︎︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars. This is my 200th read of 2023, let’s goooooo

[Ignacia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this short novella about Casey, a young woman that wants to learn to defend herself from her stalker and Jax, a fighter and gym owner who promises to help her.

This one was a classic Cassie Mint story with insta-love, a short dosis of steam and cute moments.

[Sandra R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun, well written, steamy novella with engaging characters packed into it's very short length. Love reading Cassie Mint's books in between longer novels.

[kc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. There was no smut until 75% in, basically unacceptable for a novella in my opinion.

The timeline was crazy. The epilogue is 10 months after they got together and they’re already married and she’s pregnant. Also she was a 21 year old virgin. Slow down, people!!

[Luna ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

»You got me wrapped around your finger in ten seconds flat. And now you have your own personal attack dog. A mean, ugly fighter who'll protect you every day of your life if you want. Not bad, right?«


★ ★ ★

A quick and enjoyable read. It was no literary masterpiece but cute and fun. It‘s this kind of story you read in between when you don’t have the nerve for a long book full of drama. I‘m a big fan of fighter romances so this one was just perfect for me.



#1 Fight Dirty ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#2 Hard Knocks ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#3 Going Rogue ★ ★ ★
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sabrina Flachsmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Casey. She was so sweet and was trying to learn how to defend herself from a stalker. She wanted the best, and that was Jax. He proved himself to be a bit of a jerk at first but once he realized why she needed the help, he was all in. Loved the chemistry between these two. Sort of slow burn but being a shorter story we don't wait long for our happy ending. Best part is, Casey was able to take what she learned from Jax when she needed it at the end. Great quick read.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[kymagirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scared that someone’s following her and leaving scary notes, Casey (h) seeks help from Jax (H), fighter and gym owner, to learn to defend herself. The two are instantly drawn to one another and Jax is determined to be Casey’s protector and get to the bottom of her stalker situation. Hot and steamy instalove quickie with a side of stalker danger.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author could release books daily, and I'd never get sick of it.

[Marva Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Good

Cassie Mint writes instalove at its finest. Sweet and short, this is a tasty little treat! Great characters and steamy goodness!

[Hollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5🌟 It was okay...I don't know if that's just because I'm fussy with Novellas. The premise was good though and so was the writing.

[Lisanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,75 - 3 ⭐️

not as strong as others, but entertaining* nonetheless

*i should’ve studied instead of reading this, so i guess you can take that as an endorsement

[help · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was okay, shallow enought to end the day

tw: stalked (not by the MMC)

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Listen it was 11:30 pm and I needed something fun!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fight Dirty bk 1 [Blood, Sweat & Kisses Trilogy]
These are Sport Romance Novella's around Mixed Martial Arts

This book follows Jax and Casey.. You will find Gym owner/Singer romance, Virgin Trope, Tattooed hero, Forced Proximity and more

Jax is a ex-fighter and owns a Gym, He teaches people to fight so they can defend them self's or if they have a match coming, He likes fighting with his close friend, Then one day he meets Casey and when she asks him to show her some defends moves he thinks she is being funny until he looks in her eyes and sees that she needs help so he helps her and keeps her safe, He falls hard for casey

Casey is a singer at a club, She likes her job until one day she feels like she is being watched going home and then he finds these notes left at her door or her locker at work and she is scared so he goes looking for Jax to see if he will help her, They get off on the wrong foot but after a min he is helping her and also doing everything to keep her safe, She falls hard for Jax

This book is packed full of:
⦁ Sports Romance
⦁ Ex-Brutal Fighter
⦁ Gym owner/Singer
⦁ Virgin Trope
⦁ Age Gap Romance
⦁ Love at first sight
⦁ Grumpy/sunshine
⦁ Tattooed hero
⦁ A little bit of steam
⦁ Hero has scars
⦁ Possessive hero/Touch her and you die trope
⦁ A light stalker feel but the hero saves his women
⦁ Forced Proximity

I really liked Jax and Casey's Relationship because its sweet.. I can't wait for book 2 because it follows Jax's close friend Dawson.. I am glad everything worked out and they got a happy ending

[Dawnmarie Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 1st book in the Blood, Sweat and Kisses series featuring Jax and Casey's sweet and steamy insta-love story. Casey has a stalker so she goes to the Corner boxing gym looking to meet Jax Sutherland the champion fighter. Casey has seen some of his old fights on the internet and she wants to see if he can teach her self defense but she's not prepared for the instant attraction she feels when she sees him. Jax doesn't know what to make of the girl in pastels standing in his gym although he is enjoying looking at her he acts like a jerk to her. When he realizes that she's scared and he finds out why he agrees to help and he's appointed himself her bodyguard. I don't want to say anymore and ruin it for anyone else with spoilers. You really need to read this sweet and steamy insta-love story to see what happens. I would recommend reading this book.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[KMH · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I loved this book! I knew coming from this author that it was going to be a good one but I just couldn't get enough from the get go. I loved the main characters initial meeting and how you could feel a tension and chemistry developing between them and you knew then and there that this was going to be delicious. I loved that even though the word 'fight' was in the book title and that the book opens up in a gym/training club that this book wasn't completely centered around that. You got to see the characters interact in many different places, like her workplace, her home and this allowed you to focus on their budding romance. I liked that this book was a slow burn and I think that the authors decision to wait until after the drama for them to initiate anything just worked so well, allowing you to enjoy that part of the book with no drama hanging over it and giving you chance to just experience their love for one another!.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fight dirty

Yep. Another short story from Cassie Mint that I couldn't get enough of. I wanted more but can't wait to go to the next one. But I thought there was going to be a reason she sought HIM out? At first I was waiting for the revelation...oh well.

Jax is a retired fighter now owner of a gym who trains fighters. Casey wants Jax to teach her how to fight so she can protect herself from a stalker. He thinks she wants to score with him so he treats her crappy but realizes very quickly he just made a total jerk of himself. He gets very protective of her & he dedicates all his time to teach and protect her. Jax & Casey were made for each other. Loved them getting their hea.