[Emily’s Review]: Impromptu Match (Goliaths of Wrestling #1)

I, Taylor Hough, am a painfully average guy.

I have the soul-destroying corporate job, I iron my underpants, and I was unceremoniously dumped for an influencer hippie a few years ago. Every day feels the same, and I don’t know how much longer I can cope before I do something unhinged like rip off my shirt in the middle of my co-worker’s office birthday party and smear lemon cake all over my chest.

But then a case of mistaken identity suddenly lands me in the middle of a covert professional wrestling league, which is apparently being run in the basement of my office building. Weird. Even weirder are the wrestlers. They seem… otherworldly. So does the rest of the staff. And the audience. Pretty much everyone except boring old me.

And then there's the owner, Holt Hector, with whom I have an extremely embarrassing first encounter. He’s ridiculously attractive, even in the inhuman cosplay get-up he's wearing that only makes him hotter, if I'm being totally honest.

Then I discover it’s not a costume. And that the show put on by Goliaths of Wrestling every night is more monstrous reality than mindblowing special effects.

My previously boring life is suddenly no longer quite so average, and hot-as-hell Holt is inexplicably as interested in me, and my ironed underpants, as I am in him and his strange new world.

I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I have been truly loving Lily Mayne’s more recent work!
It is light and it is fun and it is sexy.

As always, her characters are relatable and funny. Main and side characters alike all have wonderful banter with each other. Each and every monster, human and relationship is fully fleshed and well thought out. It makes such an enjoyable reading experience having a slight back story to even the most minor characters.

Goliaths of Wrestling is a series that will definitely surprise people. The humor and the ridiculousness of some of the situations these characters find themselves in are unlike other books I have read and I found myself laughing out loud more than once.

Holt is the manager of an underground monster wrestling league and Taylor is an unassuming office worker who stumbles upon a very interesting and very life changing basement wrestling match. He might also have been mistaken for a stripper, but that’s not really here nor there.
From there the two proceed to get absolutely shit faced, air literally all their dirty laundry to each other and a connection is made. Luckily Taylor is saved from having his memories erased and the book just gets better from there. Impromptu Match is a low angst novel that leaves the readers with a very happy ending and getting to that H.E.A. is fun and entertaining.

Taylor and Holt were precious idiots and honestly might be some of my favorites that Lily has written. They both are painfully relatable, goofy and honest. It was refreshing to read a relationship that was based on complete honesty. They were so great with each other, and their antics were seriously hilarious.

I liked so many of the side characters that were introduced in this first installment of the series, and I really can’t wait to read what comes next. I’m very invested in Larkin and Seb’s story, so book two is just calling my name.

Impromptu Match is just a super fun book to read. The setting is WWE meets office romance, with a side of nipple tassels and shy cyclops. The matches are great, the wrestlers themselves have such big personalities and are so entertaining. The romance side of this book was sweet, and romantic and sexy. But it was also light, and highlighted the less intense side of dating. Not all book relationships have to have in internal battle or tension between the characters. Taylor and Holt were a welcome change to the typical romance novel.

Taylor was relatable in a way I didn’t want to look too closely at (lol…?) and I thoroughly enjoyed watching him find himself again after enduring years of being just, “fine”. He was so open to new experiences (not sexually you perverts…. but also sexually) and it was a little inspiring! It was a good reminder to change up your routine so you can experience life and not just survive it.
Holt definitely knew who he was prior to meeting Taylor, but to see him blossom in a new relationship and learn to trust was so sweet. It was also super nice to see him be appreciated. He was a little cinnamon roll dingus. I loved how he stayed so honest with himself through out this entire book.
They were just a really nice couple *heart eyes*

Book 2 is gonna be awesome.

Emily

Emily is a coffee loving, cat snuggling, hairstylist and book-a-holic.
Having always been a voracious reader and devouring books at a breakneck speed, joining the bookish and blogging community seemed like a natural next step. She loves giving recommendations to friends and family and then very gently (and not forcefully at all) asking for their opinions after they complete each chapter.
Her reviews tend to be goofy, a little sweary, on the more impassioned side and maybe sometimes a little self deprecating.
Emily typically enjoys reading almost every genre, including (but not limited to) monster romance, literary fiction, rom-com, contemporary, LGBTQ+, low/urban fantasy, paranormal, dystopian, sci-fi, gothic romance or basically any book that will make her cry.