Guard Down: An Enemies-to-Lovers Dark Sports Romance

By Vera K. Hale

The last time Elias Marsh stepped into the ring with a secret, it saved his sister.
This time, the price might be his brain.

Dr. Margot Hale knows what happens when a woman tells the truth in a room full of powerful men.

She lost her career for it once.

So when a ruthless boxing promoter hires her to oversee the medical file of heavyweight contender Elias Marsh, Margot knows exactly what she is supposed to be:

Credible.
Quiet.
Useful.

But Eli Marsh is not just another fighter.

He is a man with broken hands, missing medical records, a title fight worth millions, and a sister he once protected with a lie that never stopped collecting interest.

Margot is meant to be another signature in a clean file.
Eli is meant to be another fighter who keeps his guard up and his mouth shut.

Then the numbers stop behaving.

A missing year in his records.
A reaction delay no one can explain.
A medical file that should not exist.
A powerful law firm tied to his family.
And a promoter who knows exactly how to turn a fighter's body, a doctor's reputation, and a sister's past into leverage.

Eli doesn't trust doctors.
Margot doesn't trust fighters.
Neither of them trusts the men paying for the fight.

But the closer Margot gets to the truth, the harder it becomes to keep her distance from the one man she may have to destroy to save.

Because this title bout is no longer just about a championship.

One wrong punch could expose a decade of corruption.
One clean lie could protect everyone who profited from it.
And one woman may be the only person brave enough to stop the man she is falling for.

He walked into the ring with a secret.
She was hired to prove he could still stand.

Now the fight of his life may be the one she refuses to let him finish.

GUARD DOWN is a dark sports romantic suspense featuring an elite boxer, a brilliant sports doctor, forced proximity, enemies-to-lovers tension, medical secrets, family loyalty, corruption, sharp banter, dangerous chemistry, and a hard-earned happily ever after.

For readers who love protective fighters, smart heroines, morally complex heroes, high-stakes secrets, and romance built one brutal truth at a time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H52Y6W77
• ISBN13: 9798181304147
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"