JOCK ROAD
Series: Jock Hard #3
Genre: New Adult, Sports Romance
Author: Sara Ney
Release Date: September 5, 2019
EAT. SLEEP. FOOTBALL.
Those are Jackson Jennings, Jr’s three mantras . His entire life, he’s been a trained athlete with only one end-game: the Pro’s. No girls. No parties. No alcohol.
EAT. SLEEP. FOOTBALL.
Repeat.
Every Friday night, Triple J cruises the strip on campus, bored, lonely and conditioned not to party. But the night he meets Charlotte Edmonds on the side of the road, he wonders if his three mantras will ever be enough.
BIG. DUMB. JOCK.
Charlie has no time for Jackson’s antics. Not when he’s stealing her food or teases her to no end, making her tingle in all the right places. But if she’s ever going to have a boyfriend, she’d choose one who isn’t a Neanderthal. One with manners and actual time to spend with her. Not a hulking man-child who cruises the strip at night, in his Big. Dumb. Truck.
She stands there, unmoving, letting the simple kiss simmer, tattooing my mouth forever with the imprint of hers.
It burns.
Singes.
Electrifies me.
This was So. Stinking. Cute.
Like seriously cute. With a splash of feels and Sara Ney’s signature humor to lighten things up.
Now cute isn’t typically my thing. I love my NA steamy and angsty. But there’s something about this book that just worked for me. Maybe it was the completely refreshing hero that was JJ. Here you have a handsome wide receiver that is top in his country and headed for the draft, and the man is basically the antithesis for the stereotypical college athlete in books. He’s the furthest thing from a player, completely focused on school and football, and the most endearing touch of awkward. I fell head over ovaries for his adorable brand of awkward right away. There’s just something about him that you can’t help but love and want to hug and protect at the same time.
The romance is definitely a slow burn and I LOVED the build up between JJ and Charlie. When JJ steals Charlie’s sandwich at lunch their antagonistic enemies with an undercurrent of sexual tension begins. I loved their hilarious meet cute and their other run ins. Charlie is a straight shooter that doesn’t mince words and she definitely gives it good to JJ. But when she comes to see that he’s not the stereotypical jock she thought him to be, a friendship forms that soon builds into something more.
I absolutely loved the build up of the romance. But when the build up had a deliciously slow pacing, it then took a turn and went breakneck speeds. Everything just wrapped up so quickly at the end that I couldn’t help but want more. There were some plot lines that felt slightly unfinished (like JJ’s family) but ultimately it was just the sudden shift from slow to such quick wrap up that played against it for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the heck out of this story and read it cover to cover in practically one sitting. If you’re looking for a sweet, lighthearted and sexy NA romance, you can’t go wrong with this one.
THE PERFECT FIRST
Calling all New Adult Romance fans, because The Perfect First is an absolute must read. It was a swoony, quirky, steamy, funny and utterly endearing page-turner. I devoured this. I binge read it. I couldn’t put it down for even a minute.
Maya Hughes can often be found sneaking in another chapter while hiding in the bathroom from her kids! 🙂 I’m a romance writer who loves taking inspiration from everyday life, namely my husband and biggest fan. Inspiration also strikes when I hear a song, meet someone new or daydream while at soccer practice.
ON A TUESDAY
AMAZON
A great NA romance is getting harder and harder to find. At least for this picky reader. But when I pick up a book by Whitney G. I know I’ll have a guaranteed winner on my hands. And I’m never wrong! On A Tuesday was a deliciously sizzling slow burn mixed with enemies to lovers mixed with second chance romance? Which basically had me going
Because that combination is MY CATNIP. CATNIP I tells ya!
THE HOT SHOT
GAH. All of the stars! ALL OF THEM!
And then there was that epilogue. GOD. That epilogue deserves 5 stars for it alone.
DOWNED
Well spank my butt and call me Larry, I did NOT expect to like this as much as I did. Now, now, don’t go getting all hissy on me, let me ‘splain. See, the thing is, for as much as I loved Ace in 
So confession time; I don’t usually like the sugary sweet heroines. But something about Bryant just grabbed me. Perhaps it was because there was always that little crack to the shiny foundation that everyone sees on the outside that humanized her. She was almost too perfect at times, but it also worked for her. She was the perfect balm that Ace’s ragged edges needed.
Did Ace redeem himself in this book? More than. THIS is the man that I was hoping was under all that false ego and bluster. You really got to see the heart of him here, and suddenly all of his past actions begin to make sense.
When you meet the girl who’ll be sitting on the front porch holding your hand when you’re eighty, you don’t let a thing like cool dismissive looks, big brothers, or fucking rules stand in your way.
Now before you start reaching for rotten tomatoes and pitchforks, allow me to clarify my rating here. See, here’s the thing, I liked this book. It was wonderfully written and being my first book by this author I already know I’ll be reading all her others. I’m also completely hooked on this series and absolutely loved the set up as well as all the secondary characters. I also truly enjoyed both MCs here. At this point you’re probably sitting there and thinking, then why the hell are you marking this only 3.5 stars?
Well…bluntly put…it was just too sweet for my tastes. *ducks flying tomatoes*
Now I loved that this wasn’t a source of shame or secret for him. He owned it. It wasn’t a secret and he didn’t make it one, nor does he make it a given to spread it around campus either. The problem? I just don’t buy it. Ugh. I’m sorry! It’s that damn cynic in me, but a college junior, surrounded by football groupies, all his teammates are male sluts, but he’s a virgin because…reasons.
But this was also wonderfully…refreshing. This is my second time reading about a male virgin and I believe Jen Frederick pulled it off very well. Knox is just one of those characters that you can’t help but love. He goes after what he wants with a single-minded intent and feels no need for immature mind games that you’d find with most heroes in the NA genre.
What ultimately brought my rating down was 2 specific things.
In the book’s defense I am not, nor will I ever be a fan of insta-love, no matter how well it’s pulled off. And it IS pulled off wonderfully here. It’s just not my cuppa. I can’t help it. I gave it the old college try (pun intended) but could never really see past it. Perhaps because he was also a virgin on top of everything else? Whatever the case may be, I suppose I just wanted a little more interaction between them before this came into the mix. Like say, at least 12%?
