Praise for Fighting the Fall
“Readers won’t ‘fight the fall’ in the latest Beyond the Cage story! Jennifer Snow writes heroes with heart and her powerful, gritty MMA fighters will make readers remember why they read romance. A sexy tale that packs a strong, emotional punch.”
—Joanne Rock, RITA-nominated award-winning author
“Jennifer Snow creates characters you fall in love with. Parker and Tyson heat up the page making their story un-put-downable!”
—Jennifer Fusco, author of Fighting For It
“Jennifer Snow’s writing is full of heat and heart. Prepare to fall in love.”
—Jeannie Moon
Also by Jennifer Snow
Breaking Her Rules
Fighting the Fall
Jennifer Snow
InterMix Books, New York
AN IMPRINT OF PEN GUIN RANDOM HOUSE LL C
375 HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10014
FIGHTING THE FALL
An InterMix Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2015 by Jennifer Snow.
Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.
INTERMIX and the “IM” design are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
For more information about the Penguin Group, visit penguin.com.
eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-40897-5
PUBLISHING HISTORY
InterMix eBook edition / October 2015
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Penguin Random House is committed to publishing works of quality and integrity.
In that spirit, we are proud to offer this book to our readers;
however, the story, the experiences, and the words
are the author’s alone.
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Contents
Praise
Also by Jennifer Snow
Title Page
Copyright
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A big thank you to my agent, Stephany Evans, for planting the seed for this series and my editor, Jennifer Fisher, for all her feedback and insight on how to make each book stronger. Of course, I’d never be able to finish the book without the amazing support of my husband, who still blushes when he asks what I’m writing and I reply, “Sexy scenes.” And a big kiss to my little man, who pretends to read all of my books, even though there are no pictures. XO
Chapter 1
“Tell me this script is a joke,” Parker Hamilton said the moment her agent answered his cell phone.
“You asked me if I had anything. This is it,” Ian Bentley said. The sound of traffic and wind in the background meant he was driving his BMW convertible.
A car her career had helped him afford, she thought as she paced the concrete pool deck in her Las Vegas backyard. “The female lead is ditzy and flaky and speaks in texting lingo. I mean, come on—who says LOL out loud? Where did this script even come from?”
The first script she’d received from him in months and it was worse than the ones he’d sent her years ago, when she’d attempted to restart her acting career as an adult. Back then, she’d been desperate and eager to show Hollywood VIPs that she wasn’t just a child actor but an industry professional who could continue a career on-screen. Integrity hadn’t really been high on her list of attributes and she’d accepted any role that came her way. Now, with a Golden Globe Award nomination and several Screen Actors Guild Awards to her credit, she wanted serious roles, complex characters to portray. She wanted to show diversity and depth in her acting. That wouldn’t happen with the script she’d just struggled to finish reading.
“Look, if anything else comes across my desk . . .”
Parker’s eyes narrowed at the hint of guilt she heard in her agent’s voice. They’d worked together for a long time. She knew that tone. “Send it to me.”
Ian sighed and hesitated before saying, “Parker, it’s really not your thing. You’ll just be wasting your time reading it.”
Well it wasn’t like she had tons to do these days. “I’m trying to change what ‘my thing’ is, remember?” They’d had this discussion after she’d wrapped up filming her last movie and they’d both agreed it was time to try different roles, expand her résumé a little.
“Okay, but I was thinking more like a family comedy or something. The script I have is a docu-drama.”
“I can do docu-drama,” she said quickly.
“That’s quite a big leap from chick flicks and romantic comedies.”
Her agent was right. Those were usually the scripts she felt the most comfortable with, but lately even those opportunities were passing her by. Since her public breakup with top Hollywood film director Brantley Cruise the year before, her offers had been fewer and further between and her last two movies had tanked at the box office. She hadn’t worked in six months, and holing up in her Las Vegas home was making her crazy. She needed to get back to LA, and back to making movies. And she really wanted to take a risk and see if she was capable of a different kind of role. “Please just send it to me. Let me read it at least.”
“The lead is an MMA fighter.” The sound of a loud horn blasting almost drowned out his words, but his “Hey fuck you, man” was clear enough.
She missed LA traffic. “Okay, so I’d be playing opposite an MMA fighter . . .” Not really seeing a problem there.