ARC RECEIVED FOR AN HONEST REVIEW ~~ 4.5 stars

They say not to judge a book by it's cover, but damn, when you get a cover like Phenomenal X ^^ you just know that the book is going to be HOT!

I am a fan of a fighter almost as much as I am a fan of a rock star, and Michelle Valentine writes great stories for both.

Xavier "Phenomanal X" Cold is a wrestling star. Recognised everywhere he goes, it's hard to know who wants to know him for him, or who wants to know him for his money.

Anna Cortez, recent college graduate, has lead a sheltered life thanks to her religious upbringing and over protective father.

After a chance meeting, things will never be the same for either of them.

The attraction between them is instant and intense. Talk about spontaneous combustion of underwear!! You can cut the UST with a knifte it is so thick!

I love them trying to keep things in the "friend zone". Blind Freddie could see that these two were always going to be more than friends!

The good girl meets bad boy is not a new theme in books these days, but it is the execution of Phenomenal X that made it different for me. Xavier's childhood still plays on his mind, and affects him daily. It was a really shitty childhood and how he has come out of it as well as he has shows his strength.

Anna struggles with what she feels and what she wants, against what she has always been brought up to believe. She is breaking the shackles of her devout Christian family, and she blossoms before our eyes. At times I wanted to just go to her and say "snap out of it!!" but I could understand her confusion after 21 years of being told what she is feeling is wrong.

When Xavier and Anna finally get their act together ~~ YAY!!!~~ things go from smouldering to smoking hot! These two steam up the pages and burn up the sheets!

There are some pretty horrible secondary characters in Phenomenal X. Xavier's ex-PA Deena is a golddigging whore and a grade A bitch. Every time she was in a scene I wanted to hiss! Rex, another wrestler is just horrible. Out for what he can get, and doesn't care who he tramples on his way to getting it.

But for the bad, there is the good. Nellie and Carl, who took Xavier under their wings when he was a troubled teenager. Brian, another wrestler, and his wife Liz are real. Kind, supportive, true friends to Xavier. And Anna's Aunt Dee and cousin Quinn are wonderful. Just love those two to bits. More family than Anna's family have ever been.

I have been a fan of Michelle Valentine since I first started reading her rock star "Black Falcon" series, and now a fan of her Hard Knock series. She has drawn me into the world of Xavier and Anna, and I don't want to leave.

But then I got to the end and I was all..... WHAAAAAAAAT!!!

Oh no you didn't Michelle Valentine! Please please please don't make us wait too long, because that was some cliffhanger you left us with!

Now, while I am waiting for book 2, I am off to YouTube the wrestling!!