Found family at its best
I don’t know why it took me so long to start this book. I enjoyed it a lot, it’s full of fantastic people and found family and exactly the kind of story I like. The author sets the mood brilliantly right from the start.
Pam and her cousin Sean inherited The Beatcave, a wrestling club in Camden Town, and they’re doing their best to keep the family legacy alive. Professional wrestling is Pam’s life and she’s aware of how lucky she is to be able to share it with her favourite people and to always be able to count on Sean’s mom to provide warmth and too much food. Lea is an influencer and freelance journalist, reluctantly back in London for family business. Her ex, who is also Sean’s boyfriend, introduces her to the Beatcave and its people and suddenly, the London rain seems more appealing than the LA sun.
Sucker Punch is the first of at least four books in the Wrestling Girls series. I learned a lot more about wrestling than I ever thought I would and found it much more interesting than I expected. To be fair, the extent of my knowledge of wrestling so far came from the TV show GLOW (which I’m not sure I finished but I should, it was good) and this book gets a lot more technical without ever being boring.
The author had warned me English isn’t her native language (Italian is) and while it’s noticeable here and there, it never bothered me nor tore me out of the story. The writing is very effective, perfectly conveying mood and emotions. Some passages are beautiful, almost poetic.
The romance is a slow burn with a lot of inadvertent flirting and once they acknowledge their feelings for each other, Pam and Lea share a lot of kisses and small touches until they finally take it further.
My main issue is that the book is a bit long, but I’m looking forward to the next ones (the second book, Sucker Punch – Pretty Devils, is out already, I’ll review it as soon as I can). Besides the surprisingly (to me) fascinating wrestling aspect, I really liked the characters, main and secondary, the relationships between them, the respect, support, love. It’s found family at its best and most heartwarming. Despite all the bruises. 4 stars.
