BLOCKED
by Jennifer Lane
New Adult Contemporary/Sports Romance
Released October 21, 2014
College freshman Lucia Ramirez has a secret crush on Dane Monroe. He’s a tall drink of water — blond, brash, and one hell of a volleyball player. Hijole. Lucia hopes her volleyball scholarship to his school will make him notice her.
Too bad what’s noticeable is Dane’s obvious hatred for Lucia. Her family’s politics contradict everything he stands for. And politics are front and center in both their families. Dane’s mother is about to face Lucia’s father in the race for US President.
When Secret Service throws them together, Dane can’t deny his frustrating attraction to Lucia’s athletic curves and sweet faith in the world. Amid the intense pressure of college athletics and presidential politics, can opposites not just attract, but overcome overwhelming odds to be together? Or do their differences block their match from the start?
After reading the synopsis for this story, I was eager to read this right away. Now that I'm done, this feels like it should be a pro/con review.
Pros:
-Great, well-rounded characters. The two main characters feel very real-they are flawed just like any of us are, and act like you'd expect a freshman and sophomore in college to act...with the added tension of having the Secret Service around. The secondary characters are pretty well developed too, and add depth to the overall reading experience.
-The first half of the book gives you the classic "I'm supposed to hate him/her but I really want him" opening-but you get everything multiplied by the situation that Dane and Lucia are in with their parents on opposite sides of the presidential campaign.
-The story covers some serious topics with tact and serious answers
Cons:
-The serious topics that are covered for Dane and Lucia just go too in depth in their sessions with the person with whom they have to talk about their issues.
-The political stuff-it was a bit of overkill on how in depth this got as well. Since this is a romance novel, I just felt it should concentrate more on the romance and relationship part and not a comprehensive look at the political issues between the parties and candidates. Sometimes this just seemed to take away from the rest of the story
-The book didn't feel like it had a clear, fully resolved ending.
The overall story was good, and I liked seeing how feisty both Dane and Lucia would get with each other. The book actually reads like more of a mature YA story rather than NA in terms of how clean the romance was.
My final rating: a solid 3 stars.
GIVEAWAY
Jennifer Lane is hosting the below giveaway. If you would like to share the giveaway with your review, please use the Rafflecopter code below:
- $15 Amazon Gift Card
- eBook of BLOCKED
- BLOCKED cover cookie
- BLOCKED bookmark
About the Author
Get psyched for romance with psychologist/author (psycho author) Jennifer Lane! By day she witnesses growth in her psychotherapy clients, and by night she wrangles misbehaving fictional characters as she writes sports romance and romantic suspense with a psychological twist. She can’t decide which is more fun.
A swimmer and volleyball player in college, Jen wove some of her own experiences into Streamline—a military mystery about swimmers. And readers can dip their toes into Jen’s world of swimming romance by sampling her free New Adult novella Swim Recruit.
College volleyball romance Blocked is Jen’s newest release, launching 10-21-14. Peek inside big-time college sports and even bigger national politics when the offspring of two presidential candidates find out whether opposites really do attract, or their match is blocked from the start.
Stories of redemption interest Jen the most, especially the healing power of love. She is also the author of The Conduct Series, a romantic suspense trilogy that includes With Good Behavior, Bad Behavior, and On Best Behavior. Ultimately, whether writing or reading, Jen loves stories that make her laugh and cry.
In her spare time she enjoys exercising, attending book club, hanging out with her plus-size, “I’m not fat, I’m big-boned” Izzie cat, and visiting her sisters and their families in Chicago and Hilton Head.
Link to the tour schedule: http://wp.me/p20ttU-3gn
Carra, I appreciate you taking the time to read and review Blocked! I'm glad you enjoyed the characters. Thank you. :-)
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