{Release Blitz & Review} Legend by Katy Evans (@AuthorKatyEvans @GalleryBooks)

Maverick “the Avenger” Cage wants to rise to the top and become a legend in the ring. Though he keeps his identity well guarded, he's known on the fighting circuit as the new kid with a chip on his shoulder and a tattoo on his back that marks him as trouble. He's got a personal score to settle with the Underground's one and only Remington "Riptide" Tate.
 
As Mav trains, he meets a young girl—the only other new person in the town--and sparks fly. When things get heated between them, he finds out she's none other than Reese Dumas, the cousin of Remington Tate’s wife. A girl who's supposed to root against him and a girl he's supposed to stay away from.
 
But Maverick fights for the woman in his heart, and the monsters in his blood. The world’s eyes are on them and the victor will go down in history as the ultimate fighting champion; the ultimate LEGEND.
 
* LEGEND is the 6th and final installment of the REAL series, but it can also be read as standalone or after the three Remington and Brooke books (Real/Mine/Remy.)

​Reese Dumas is recreating herself.  She’s spending the summer with her cousin Brooke to help her take care of her small son while Remy trains for his last season fighting in the Underground. 
 
She’s going to finally take steps to become the person that she knows she can be and prove to everyone that she’s stronger than she once was.  But everything changes the minute she lays eyes on the newest Underground contender.
 
Maverick Cage has a chip on his shoulder and fights like a demon possessed. No one wants to take a chance on a new fighter. No one except a beautiful girl with an innocent smile. The one that he can't stop thinking about.
 
She’s supposed to be off limits, but Maverick just can’t stay away.  He knows that when she discovers who he is, she’ll walk away without ever looking back. So he’s going to become the champion for her – no matter how high the price.

“Do you want this like I do?” He looks at my lips, and then into my eyes as he curls his fingers around the back of my neck and gives me a gentle squeeze. “Do you?”
 
Say no, Reese.
 
This can go nowhere.
 
I open my mouth and say, “More. I want it more than you.”
 
He exhales, then he leans his forehead against mine and looks deeply into my eyes. “That’s impossible on every level, I’m breaking every existing record.”
 
He eases back and looks genuinely tormented by this same lust I feel, and I say, “Maverick, I haven’t done this before.”
 
“I know, Reese, but god, I need it to be me.” He presses his mouth to me and groans rather than kisses me, groans and embraces me against him and whispers in my ear, “Please let it be me.”

​Katy has penned possibly the most emotionally charged fighter romance in history with Legend!  The connection between her characters is like touching a live wire and she makes you feel every spark, every punch and every passionate kiss.
 
This epic final installment takes you from the blistering intensity of Remington Tate to the raw hunger of Maverick Cage – and it's the stuff that legends are made of…

Exclusive Excerpt - 

At Tate’s corner, outside the ropes, his coach whistles. “You two get some headgear on. Stat.”

Tate’s lips curl rebelliously, and he looks at me with challenge in his eyes.

I smile back, a feral curl of my lips.

We tap gloves.

No headgear.

I jab. He swings his arm, blocks the hit, leaps back, and I jab again, blocked again.
We space apart and jump in place, shaking our shoulders, loosening up. I pull my gloves back up, narrow my eyes, and he asks, “You think you’re the shit because you’re fast and strong? I got news for you. I’m faster, I’m stronger, and I’m disciplined. Your coach isn’t doing you any favors.”

“He’s in my corner, and that’s enough for me.”

He swings, I duck fast and come up behind him. He straightens and faces me again. “If you settle for that, then you should settle for second place.”

“What the fuck. You want me to win?”

“I want a good fight. I like keeping things real. Reminds me I’m a man. Mortal.”

“I want to be a legend. Legends never die. Even if they die alone.”

He swings again, and I duck, come up, and jab three times.

He blocks repeatedly, then hooks with his right; I deflect. He grins and jabs again. I block, then I duck before he puts me up against the ropes, and I head back to center.

He follows.

“To be a legend you need to fall seven times, get up eight,” he says.

I remember a final a few years ago when my father kicked Tate to a pulp. “Or not fall at all.”

He backs up his arm and then smacks the smirk right off me. “Before you stop falling, you need to embrace the fact that you’re going to hit the ground.”

I clean the blood from my mouth, glowering.

We take positions again, and he watches me as if waiting for my next move as we start dancing around, jumping, waiting for the other to strike.

“Do you want the headgear now?”

I lunge and start hitting, and he blocks, deflects, blocks. “Fuck you,” I grit out.

“Getting angry doesn’t help. You control the anger, not let it control you.”

I want to prove him wrong; I loop out my arm and aim for his head.

He ducks and hooks, his knuckles cracking into my jaw. I spurt blood and bounce against the ropes.

I shake my head, wipe the blood away, grit my teeth and straighten, narrowing my eyes. “My turn,” I growl, and I swing. My fist connects: a kidney punch.

He blocks my next hit, frowning in thought. “You’re cocky for someone who just lost yesterday.”

He jabs.

I dive my upper body to the side, evading. “You got to play it to become it.”

“I’m the champion, not you.”

“You won’t live forever, champ.”

He jabs three times, then leaps back, flexes his arm and looks at it.

“Muscle memory. You hit enough times, you fight on instinct; part of your brain works on your assault, the other is focused on the other’s assault. Let your muscle memory work for you and consciously stay focused on your opponent’s eyes.”

I laugh mockingly. “I don’t need your pointers.”

“Go back home to daddy, then.”

“When I’m finished with you.” I punch him, then raise my left hook and connect hard enough to stun him.

He raises his head, shakes it to clear it, and wipes blood from his nose. I catch my breath, satisfied I got some blood. At least I won’t be the only one with an ice pack tonight.

He sees the blood on his arm and looks at me, impressed.

“TIME!” his coach yells out from the corner. “You two won’t have shit for the fight if you keep up this nonsense.”

Tate grins at him, then turns back and glowers at me. “You get enough?”
​
“Barely warming up here.” I squint the blood out of one eye and raise my gloves. “Come get it, Riptide,” I growl.

About The Author - 

​Hey! I’m Katy Evans and I love family, books, life, and love. I’m married with two children and three dogs and spend my time baking, walking, writing, reading, and taking care of my family. Thank you for spending your time with me and picking up my story. I hope you had an amazing time with it, like I did. If you’d like to know more about books in progress, look me up on the Internet, I’d love to hear from you!

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