MMA cage fighter Jude Malone leads a simple life – eat, sleep and train. His older brother Jax is a legend in the octagon, and while Jude’s had his fair share of recent losses, he’s better than his record. He just needs a chance to prove it.
When Jude is suddenly offered the fight of a lifetime by his head coach, there is only one tiny string attached. He decides to go for it, but that little … that little string just might turn out to be the one that unravels him completely.
Sadie Briggs is a quiet, introverted tomboy. She was raised by a single father and grew up in his MMA training gym with dozens of sweaty, aggressive men. They only think of her as their sweet little sister, not as a woman who is getting ready to go off to college. That all changes when her longtime crush, Jude Malone, becomes her knight in shining armor after her boyfriend dumps her the week before her senior prom.
Jude feels like he’s been sucker punched when Sadie’s unexpected Cinderella transformation forces him to actually see her as a woman for the very first time. Overwhelming lust, jealousy and passion turn out to be the right combination to finally unlock Jude’s cocky alpha fighter inside and out of the cage. Only one thing stands in the way of him winning the world championship welterweight title and a gorgeous girl. The truth.
This 77K word HEA novel can be read as a stand-alone, although there are appearances from the characters in Jax, the first book in the Cocky Cage Fighter series.
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Just Keeps Getting Better
If my reaction to Lane Hart’s “Jude,” Book 2 in the Cocky Cage Fighter novella series, is any indication, this is shaping up to be the type of lineup that has me claiming to adore each new hero even more than the last. Jude Malone is the younger brother of Jax from Book 1 and absolutely one of my favorites as well. He’s handsome, ripped, and so very sweet, an up-and-coming name in the MMA community, and he is sucker-punched when he realizes that little Sadie Briggs – his coach/manager’s daughter – isn’t so little anymore. Hart has given us another page-turner that grabs ahold of our attention, shows us just how young and immature several in the cast are without turning off more mature readers with unnecessarily adolescent antics, and purposefully uses characters from earlier in the series to create a sense of history. Lots of misty eyes and awws with this one, and that friggin’ Epilogue!!! I’m absolutely in love with Linc and cannot wait to read his story as soon as possible. Another amazing read, Lane Hart!
A bit of drama but true love wins
I read this via my ku subscription and am leaving my review voluntarily. This is book 2 in the Cocky Cage Fighter Novel series.
Triggers:
OM drama
Spoilers:
Sadie, daughter of Coach Briggs who owns the MMA facility. Sadie is shy but smart. Pretty but she hides herself. Has a crush on Jude.
Jude, younger brother to Jax. Wanting to win a MMA title. When his coach promises a big fight if he will take Sadie to the prom he isn’t thrilled but he wants the fight so he agrees.
Jude quickly realized he underestimated Sadie and falls for her. But he is afraid to tell her the truth as to how they first got together.
Sexy time. OM drama. Lots of angst. But the author did a fine job of having the story flow well.
Read: 2/4/2021
Jude was the second book in the Cocky Cage Fighter series by Lane Hart.
Jude was Jax’s brother, book one. He was the lighter of the two and fought in the MMA welterweight class. He ate, slept and trained. Rinse. Repeat. He was just offered the fight of his life, but there was one small – well, not so small – string attached. Enter Sadie.
Sadie was Jude’s coach’s eighteen year old daughter. She was raised in the MMA gym by her single father and was a total tomboy. Until she wasn’t. Overnight she went from duckling to swan and all the guys at the gym noticed.
Hart wove a pretty predictable tale until about halfway or three quarters through the book, then it took a few turns. I actually liked the last half better than the first half so it ended on a good note for me. And although I liked Jude, Hart set the stage for the next book, Linc, and I’m now totally in love with Linc and can’t wait to see where she takes us.
3.5 stars.
Young adult read. We get to follow Jude’s journey. Set up by his coach with the girl he hasn’t really taken notice of for the last seven years. Once the blinkers are off things get steamy, with a lot of jealousy and petty payback.
I have to say first of all, Lane Hart has created something really special with this series. The dynamics and dialogue between the characters along with the feels just pulls you in and lets you become a part of what she’s created.
Jude is like most younger brothers in the shadow of an older, successful sibling. He’s skilled, talented, determined, quite good looking and built well, as an MMA fighter should be, and has a great personality. He just needs his one big shot to prove what he can do. When his coach sets things up, after debating it, Jude agrees.
When the coaches daughter winds up in a situation and needs a date for her senior prom, Jude is asked and agrees. He’s known her practically most her life and she’s always been like a little sister …. Until she appears as a woman he’s automatically attracted to. Unbeknownst to him, Sadie has always had a crush on Jude.
Usually when reading these types of books, they’re older characters with a little more experience behind them. This one is rather refreshing as we go back to a time in most of our lives and are reminded of the insecurities, the fears, the uncertainties of youth. All the things that will eventually be taught with experience now plays out for these two. It was an angst filled, emotional rollercoaster filled with the drama of youth and humor of great personalities in the book. Once again, I’m so glad to finally have found this series and now especially Jude and Sadie.
Though the plot line has been done, this story is still entertaining. Not much of a relationship outside the bedroom. And he borders on obsession. Ends on a cute note too.
not interesting
Omg!
Way to much use of f___ and f___ing. Story could have been really but really
Wow, this novel was right up my alley. I loved the story. For an MMA romance, Sadie and Jude’s story is quite original and captivating.
To be completely honest, I only started this book because the main female character had my first name….
I’m glad I started it though. I though the book was pretty well thought out with a moving plot line. I did not see a few of the twists coming, and really enjoyed watching the characters work through the problems. I did not read the first book in the series, Jax, but was able to pick-up easily. Mostly, Jude is a love-able character despite his mess-ups. All of the characters are witty, giving and taking the jokes, and making the character seems much more real.
Another book, another trip to the depths of love, hate, revenge and injustice.JUDE is the second book from the Cocky Cage Fighters Novel and I’m more in love with Lane Hart, if that’s even possible. The way she managed to capture me and stick to my kindle let me crazy as hell.This book tells the stories of Jude and Sadie.Jude is a MMA fighter who loves his work, but the routine is starting to become monotonous and he’s starting to rethink the purpose of his life. His day consist in training, eat and sleep. He don’t have the time or want one-night stands because what he wants is to have someone special in his life, someone to light his day, someone to fall in love and be happy forever. This may sound cliché but it’s what he wants and dreams. When he is faced with a request from his coach he never would have thought that his life would take a huge turn.Sadie is the daughter of the enigmatic coach Don Briggs. Her entire adolescence was spent inside the gym where his father coached. She has a crush for Jude for so long but no one can find out, especially her dad. When Jude asks her for a date she can’t believe that that was actually happening to her.The level of feelings, love, desire and passion are so present in this book that will take your breath away. This book presents a load so heavy that there were times when it became hard to bear, but in a good way of course. Normally, the forbidden is the most coveted but when something is built under a lie, something very bad could happen and the real challenge is to gain the confidence that was lost and admit we were wrong, even if it may cost us our happiness.I loved this book from the first page to the last. And of course the hot scenes are breathtaking and believe me when I say that Lane Hart has a brilliant mind, if you know what I mean. I can’t wait to start reading the next book.
I love the cocky cage fighter series. I especially love Jude’s story. He’s such a sweet guy and to see his range of emotions was captivating. He’s definitely a good guy with a bad boy vibe.
I think that Jude in my new book-boyfriend! I fell in love with him during his time in Jax and he did not disappoint me!!!
Jude and Sadie are just about one of the cutest couples ever! The fact that her meddling dad got them together cracks me up. Do they really think they can have chemistry that hot and people who spend so much time with them will NOT know what they have going on? While I understand why Sadie got mad, I think she made some seriously BAD decisions. At one point I was really beginning to despise Linc and didnt know how I was going to read his story, but he redeemed himself. I love how even though the story is about Sadie and Jude, you still find out a lot about the characters in future books, ans still hear what previous characters are up to.
Jude by Lane Hart a butt-kicking five-star read. This is the second book in the Cocky Cage fighter series, but they can be read as stand-alone and as the series, this book does follow on from Jax, and if you read the Jax you would have met Jude already, he was the virgin little brother of Jax, and now Jude has his own story, but will he come out stringer and fighting or will he be left on the canvas KO?
Jude Malone gets offered the chance of a lifetime he gets offered the chance of a massive fight, July 4th pay per view against welter weight world champ Linc Abrams. A fight that even if he loses he still wins a big chunk of change, but his coach isn’t offering the fight out of the goodness of his heart, he wants to make a deal, to get the fight set up Jude must take Coach’s daughter Sadie to prom. Will the deal be worth it? And will he get the surprise of his life, if he agrees?
Sadie Briggs is a tom boy who has grown up in an MMA gym, her dad was the Coach all the boys looked up to, and she was just the invisible little girl behind the counter doing homework, the boys all treat her like a kid sister and she has is in fact a young woman who is getting ready to go to college, when her prom date and boyfriend lets her down at the last moment, she plans on not going to prom but then something happens and she gets her Cinderella moment, and the tom boy gets a make-over and some female influence in her life, what will the boys of Havok gym make of their kid sister becoming a hot young woman.
Together Jude and Sadie will fight many battles, he question is will they make it through together? Or are they stronger apart? This is an amazing story and this series just keeps getting better and better.
If you read Jax then you will definitely want to read Jude! I love the sweet love story that you get out of this book with Jude and Sadie. They are both young but looking for the right person to give their heart to which they realize is each other. Lane Hart does not disappoint with this book!