Challenging the Heart

Kane Mitchell built his career blow by blow. One viral moment was all it took to watch it start to crumble.

In the MMA world, Kane is the name opponents fear — until a parking lot fight catches the wrong kind of attention. With his reputation in freefall, his PR team has a solution: a girlfriend. Kane wants no part of it, but he doesn’t get a vote.

Daphne Wilson didn’t walk into her job interview expecting to walk out as someone’s fake girlfriend. She’s a recent marketing graduate with everything to prove and a one-year contract that could launch her career — or end it. She’s prepared for the cameras, the press, and the performance. What she isn’t prepared for is Kane himself.

He’s brash and guarded — a man who learned early that trusting people only gives them something to use against you. She finds him almost impossible to read, and even harder to ignore.

As the lines between their enemies-to-lovers arrangement and something real begin to blur, both of them are forced to ask harder questions. What happens when the pretend starts to feel like the truth? And when the year is up, will they be able to walk away?

Kane has taken every hit the cage has thrown at him. Losing Daphne would be the only one he couldn’t get back up from.

Challenging the Heart is a steamy MMA sports romance featuring fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, forced proximity, and enemies-to-lovers tropes — perfect for fans of Aly Martinez and anyone who loves an alpha hero who fights the hardest for the people he loves.