Wednesday 6 April 2016

Review: Blocked by Jennifer Lane

BlockedBlocked

Author: Jennifer Lane
Source: Netgalley
Pages: 300
Publisher: Psyched Publishing
Release date: 21st October 2014

SynopsisCollege 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. ¡Híjole! 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?

Review: 2 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Psyched Publishing for providing me with a copy of Blocked by Jennifer Lane, I am a huge fan of sports in my books but politics doesn’t usually interest me; I thought this book was ok but I was left underwhelmed by the end of it.

The story is told from the POV’s of star volleyball players, Lucia Ramirez the daughter of the Republican Presidential candidate and Dane Monroe; son of the Democrat's Presidential candidate. Dane and Lucia are under the care of the secret service and end up residing in the same apartment for safety reasons.

Lucia has had a crush on Dane for a while so being thrust together was a positive for her but Dane had other opinions and couldn’t get past their political views and was quite an ass. Unfortunately what let this book down for me were the characters. I found Dane to be extremely rude and immature and Lucia was inconsistent and lacked spark. Admittedly by the end of the book I liked them that little bit more but it did take a while to get there.

Jennifer Lane has given us a slow-build romance which is always my favourite but unfortunately it felt forced and I didn’t enjoy the Lucia/Dane pairing, for an NA book I felt it read more like a YA romance.

There were a lot of serious issues dealt with in this book which I felt was done well such as alcoholism and eating disorders. I did feel that the political portion of the story was too drawn out and I would have loved to have known who had won after everything the families went through. 

Despite this book being written well, unfortunately it didn’t work out for me.



Jennifer LaneAbout the author: Get psyched for romance with psychologist/author (psycho author) Jennifer Lane! By day she’s a therapist, and by night she’s a writer. She can’t decide which is more fun. 

Jen adores creating sporty heroines and hot heroes in her college sport romances. Volleyball wonder Lucia Ramirez found her love match in Blocked despite the glaring political spotlight aimed on her family. In Aced, the second book in the Blocked series, it’s her brother Alejandro’s turn to get lucky in love. Aced launches in December 2015. 

A swimmer and volleyball player in college, Jen writes swimming-based romances as well: Streamline, a military mystery, and the free New Adult novella Swim Recruit.

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, and visiting her sisters in Chicago and Hilton Head.

10 comments:

  1. That's too bad. It does suck when a book feels more immature than it should. I love the whole sports romance thing though. Hope your next read is better.

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    Replies
    1. Thx Christy! I'm usually a fan of sports romance too but this one missed the mark for me.

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  2. Sad it didn't work out for you. Thanks for sharing your views.

    Aparajita @Le' Grande Codex

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  3. Oh I'm sorry this didn't work for you, Sharon. I get where you're coming from though. I'm not much of a fan of politics in books either, unfortunately and Dane doesn't sound like my kind of character.
    Lovely review, Sharon!

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    1. Thanks Nick! Dane slowly redeemed himself but he still wasn't great at all.

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  4. Shame that you didn't like this one. The sport trope is popular in NA right now which can feel overdone very quickly. Also not a big fan of politics in books.
    And that cover is terrible...I wish they would try harder than the 'slap half naked guy on cover' route...

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    1. I completely agree about the cover Nereyda! it doesn't appeal at all.

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  5. I love books that deal with issues in a real way. Too bad about the politics (right now I TOTALLY get that) and that it wasn't better for you.

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    1. The politics didn't appeal at all, there were too many themes happening at once.

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