Title: Strong Side
Series: Eastshore Tigers, #1
Author: Alison Hendricks
Genre: New Adult Romance/Sports
Length: 171 pages
Publisher: Alison Hendricks (January 20th, 2016)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts
Blurb: Their chemistry on the field is undeniable. But can they ever be more than friends?
Jason Hawkins is about to throw the biggest Hail Mary pass of his career. If he can’t turn NFL recruiters’ heads this year, he’ll lose his shot at the one thing he’s ever been good at. But every quarterback needs a man he can count on down-field. For Jason, that man just might be the Tigers’ new receiver, Derek Griffin.
Four years ago, Derek nearly lost everything after being outed by his teammates. Now he finally has a chance to get it all back as a walk-on for Eastshore College… if he can resist his immediate attraction to the gorgeous and very straight star quarterback.
An instant connection during practice leads to an easy friendship that only grows stronger off the field. Derek is convinced friendship is all it’ll ever be, but a very confusing moment of impulse leaves both of them fumbling for answers about their relationship.
As curiosity gives way to passion and passion gives way to something deeper, Jason and Derek will have to tackle their own personal demons to bring home the win and earn their happy ending.
Strong Side is a steamy, standalone gay romance novel with a HEA ending and no cliffhanger.
Product Link: http://amzn.to/1KGr1gV
Reviewer: Aerin
Review: It rarely happens that a new author’s very first book is such a success, but this was very good! Athletes, and virgins, friendship and a spectacular OUT-FOR-YOU story. Along with some pretty steamy virgin butt sex, make this a fantastic book!
Derek and Jason are both football players for their college football team. But, while Jason is the experienced quarterback, Derek has some serious issues to overcome. A football accident in high school that left him temporarily paralyzed has left Derek with a severe fright of being tackled. Jason offered to help Derek overcome this problem, and so a beautiful friendship is born.
Jason has always been straight, even though his intense focus on his football career didn’t give him much time for dating. The more time he spent around Derek, the more attracted he felt towards Derek. There’s this connection between them that’s very easy for the reader to pick up on, an awareness that turns into a simmering chemistry.
I loved that there was no relationship drama between Derek and Jason. Derek has always been gay, and once Jason accepted the fact that he’s also attracted to Derek, and that he might be bisexual, he was all in. Their relationship was beautiful. And once Derek got over his fear of others finding out about his relationship with Jason, he came out with a bang.
There isn’t much angst, but the lack of it didn’t make this story boring in the least. I really liked that Jason’s father accepted Jason’s sexuality without too many questions asked. Although I expected him to ask some questions, at least the basics. There were quite a few grammatical issues in this book as well. So I think an editor is a good idea for a future book. The bright part is that I was so focused on the story. The grammar didn’t distract me too much.
Also, the epilogue was a bit funky to me. Because it takes place 16 months after the last chapter ended. Derek’s mother was very excited to meet Jason, and yet she patiently waited 16 months to do so? I’m not sure if that was actually a typo and it was supposed to be 6 months… that would make more sense. Aside from the little issues here and there (a little more character development would’ve been nice); this was a very good debut novella.
I’m looking forward to more books in this series!
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *