"My Man Michael" by Lori Foster

I had read a few novella's by Lori Foster and really liked them so when I came across "My Man Michael" by her and read the back blurb, I had to have it. I was NOT disappointed! Michael was VERY endearing to me, loved him from the get go and loved him more by the end of the book. This is the 4th book in a series, but I didn't read the first books. I thought it was great as a stand alone, but from some B&N reviews this book was not a favorite in the series. But I loved it so I'm glad I didn't read the other books first!

Blurb: "On the verge of a title shot match, fighter Michael "Mallet" Manchester is injured in a car accident. And just as quickly as his career was taking off, it's over. Then Kaylie Raine appears, offering him a second chance at becoming whole. Even though Mallet thinks it's the pain medication talking, he accepts her challenge. And on an extraordinary journey with Kaylie, he'll get a chance to fight again—to save the woman who has saved him."

This book is a fantasy about the future. I didn't know that when I purchased it or I might have not bought it because as I've mentioned before, I sometimes have trouble with futuristic things. Purely lack of imagination on my part, believe me! But Lori Foster is a master story teller and she had me in the first chapter. Hook, line and sinker. I adored this story!

The hero is Michael "the Mallet" Manchester and he's a top fighter with all the women, fame and money that comes with being on top. He loves his life, fast cars and fast women. One day he gets into a car accident and shatters his leg. He's done. He will never fight again and may not even walk. He spirals into a depression and sees no hope for his life. He's angry, hurt and disillusioned with the blow life has dealt him.

In walks Kayli Raine. From the moment Michael sees here his broken body can't help but respond and he's shock since nothing else on him sees to be working. That got his attention and he was fascinated by her. She pops in and out of his hospital room making him think he's having delusions until she meets his friends and assures him that she is real and not something his mind conjured up.

Kayli promises Michael that she can heal him if he goes with her, but he can never return to his old life. What Kayli needs is a fighter and Michael was the best before his injury. He can stay broken and possibly never walk again, or he can take a chance on her and a new life with a completely healed body. Michael takes a chance with Kayli not really believing her but wanting to kiss her and more. Kayli transports him to the future on earth and during transport Michael's body is completely healed.

It takes Michael no time at all to finally accept that he's been taken from his old life on earth and transplanted to the future on earth- the year 2220. Earth in the future is different, there are no countries, but instead smaller colonies. In Kayli's colony things are run mostly by women because men are scarce and needed to reproduce more offspring. So the women are the protectors and warriors of her colony and Kayli is their leader (called a "Claviger"). Everything is nearly perfect in the colony except one thing...the invaders from another colony keep abducting women. Kayli's colony has set up a "sacrifice" system were they offer up one woman to the invaders so that they will leave everyone else alone.

When Michael, who is instinctively extremely protective of women hears this, he flips and wants to put an end to it at once. Michael is sexy, strong, can be rude and has crude language (things are different in the future compared to now- they don't swear- something Michael can't seem to help doing). The people of the future are shocked and fascinated by him because he's so different from them in so many ways yet they are the same. This was done to PERFECTION by Lori Foster! I adored Michael and his ways - think bull in a china shop. Michael is Michael and while he does his best to adapt to his new life, he doesn't change who or what he is and he isn't about to apologize for it either.

Michael is completely head over heels over the top gone for Kayli from the get go. He sees no other woman, she is the only one for him. Problem is, as a warrior she is not supposed to be with any man ever. She's a virgin (all men & women are in this colony until the form a "union" the futures term for marriage). Michael could careless about the rules for warrior women, he wants Kayli and Kayli he WILL have. Michael is sexy and tenacious in his pursuit of Kayli. Great romance story here. Kayli has no idea how or why Michael stirs foreign feelings in her, and she consults her computer 'Hauk' for the answers. Hauk is wonderful in the story. He's voice that is a large part of the story as Hauk runs things at Kayli's command. But Hauk being a computer can only give Kayli clinical answers to sex questions and offer to show her porn (lol- that was a great scene!).

Michael wins over Kayli after much headbutting and a little give and take on both sides. There is something in this book that I have never seen before in any romance book before. It's the way Kayli is 'deflowered'.

**stop reading now if you don't want to know**

Michael and Kayli are going at it hot and heavy as she wants to know about sex and Michael is all very willing to teach her all he knows. They get a little carried away and while Michael is pleasuring her with his finger he pops her cherry! Yep, she is deflowered by Michael's finger. That was a first for me. I've read some B. Small books where the heroine lost her virginity to a dildo (I think one of Lora Leigh's books did that too), but never with a man's finger before. HOT scene let me tell you.

The romance was great in this and the verbiage from Michael -all that cussing- to a future society who have no idea what things like "you're a hottie" and "no shit?" mean. They just don't talk like that, but Michael does and once he begins explaining what these slang terms mean, the future society pick up Michael's bad habits, much the horror of Kayli's Mother the Arbiter (leader). These moments were laugh out loud moments for me reading this book.

This book moves along quickly with lots of dialog, heated moments, Michael tenaciously after Kayli, humor and the plot defending the colony from the invaders is a nice if predictable outcome. A great happy ending and romance.

I give this book 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.