Review : Sacked by Jen Frederick
Summary (from Goodreads) Title : Sacked (A Gridiron Novel #1)
Author : Jen Frederick
Publication Date : September 6th 2015
Publisher : Self Published
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble
What he wants he gets...
Knox Masters is a quarterback's worst nightmare. Warrior. Champion. And...virgin. Knox knows what he wants--and he gets it. All American Football player? Check. NFL pros scouting him? Check. Now, he's set his sight on two things. The national title. And Ellie Campbell. Sure, she's the sister of his fellow teammate, but that's not going to stop him. Especially not when he’s convinced Ellie is the one.
...but he's never met her before.
But Ellie isn't as sure. She's trying to start a new life and she's not interested in a relationship...with anyone. Beside it's not just her cardinal rule of never dating her brother's teammates that keeps her away, but Ellie has a dark secret that would jeopardize everything Knox is pursuing.
Knox has no intention of losing. Ellie has no intention of giving in.
Personal Thoughts
When I finished Sacked with a huge smile on my face, I came to the realization that even though I'm completely clueless when it comes to anything sports-related, I just can't get enough of these delightful NA sports contemporary romances. With Sacked, Jen Frederick joins two of my top authors in the sub-genre, Elle Kennedy and Kristen Callihan. If you're like me and needed a book to ease the ache of waiting for more books by those authors, then Sacked is the perfect book for you, but at the end, it will leave you even more impatient because you want more from this series as well.
One of my absolute favorite aspect of these sports romance novels are obviously the characterizations. I've read most of Jen Frederick's books so I knew that her characters in Sacked would be just as excellent as in her other NA books. I just didn't realize that I would come to cherish the characters in this book as much as I did. The star of the novel was Knox Masters, one heck of a dreamy football player. Guys, he is seriously the whole package wrapped up in a yummy body! This boy completely wooed me and I was ready to jump into the book, push Ellie off a cliff so I had a chance with him
If you can't already tell, I really really loved him. He was cocky and confident, but never in an overwhelming and annoying way. Plus, behind all those muscles, he was a total sweetheart who treated everyone with respect, especially his lady love. I don't know about you guys, but heroes who are sweet and caring when it comes to their heroines seriously do it for me. Also, I need to mention that he READS and visits bookstores and everything. Can you say swoony? But perhaps the most interesting thing about this sexy football player, that initially attracted me to Sacked, was the fact that he was a virgin. I mean, just how many NA books have you read with the male protagonist being the inexperienced one?! He had his reasons for not wanting to give up his virginity and I really respected that. Another great thing about Sacked was how no one ever shamed Knox for being a virgin since he was so open about it.
His love interest, Ellie, was also pretty fantastic. She was smart, outgoing and very loyal. She was put in a very tough position with her mother forcing her to "keep an eye" on her brother's academic work, basically doing his work for him without his knowledge since he suffers from an undiagnosed learning disability so that he can play on the football team. I really disliked Ellie's mother for doing what she did to both Ellie and her brother, Jack, but Ellie stomached it all because she truly cared for her brother. Speaking of her brother, I loved the strong bond between the two of them. I especially liked that Jack didn't act like a crazy overprotective brother when he discovered Ellie and Knox's relationship, but instead accepted it because it was Ellie's decision. I loved the respect they had for each other.
If you've read books by Jen Frederick before, then you know that she can write swoony, sexy and emotional romances that are well-balanced. The romance in Sacked was absolutely no exception to that. Ellie and Knox had delicious tension and chemistry between them, the heat between them enough to burn up my e-reader. But what I loved the most? The conversations they had. From their first meeting, Knox and Ellie were a couple that talked endlessly with each other and that added so much strength to their relationship and it made me believe in the power of their relationship. Plus, I really loved that, for the most part, their relationship remained drama-free with only a minor setback towards the end which resolved in a way that made my romantic side really really happy. Basically, with these two and their banter, I had a hard time not smiling.
Besides the wonderful romance, the camaraderie between the teammates, which brought so much humor to the pages, and Knox's relationship with his twin and his family were also well-written. Throughout the whole book, I was hoping and wishing hard that his teammates and his brother also get their own books. And of course, football played a huge part in this book. Even though I'm not into football (or any other sport), I was completely immersed into the games, the politics and the co-operation that existed between the boys.
Sacked was an AMAZING book, if you can't already tell. Books like these give me faith that New Adult has the potential to evolve into a fabulous genre with heart-fluttering romances and characters that just leave you in a happy mood. If you enjoy sports romance or/and are a fan of Jen Frederick, you sincerely don't want to miss out on this delicious new series that will entertain you from start to finish. Get on it ASAP!
Rating
Cover : 3/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5
Thank you to Nina Bocci and Jen Frederick for the e-ARC of Sacked.
Comments
Post a Comment