The End Zone by LJ Shen

​NEW ADULT ROMANCE
 
Publication date: 04/03/2018
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Cliffhanger: No

Full disclosure, The End Zone was originally part of the Team Player anthology that was published last year. But, in this version, there’s an extended epilogue and a glimpse at an upcoming LJ Shen series that are totally worth the price of admission and make this one worth a reread. ​

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. LJ Shen has a superpower. She creates alpha male characters that I would absolutely loathe in the hands of any other author, but in her books, I end up adoring them.

Sage Poirier—reformed manwhore, sports god, dirty talker extraordinaire—is no different. Even though this is a novella, you get just enough glimpses into Sage and Jolie’s past to understand why he is the way he is, and by the time he gets his happily ever after, you can barely remember a time when you didn’t love him as a character. See? Magic.

Jolie is a great heroine, too. She’s a strong, smart, compassionate woman who just happens to be in love with her best friend. But when she realizes that he returns her feelings, she doesn’t hesitate to go after what she wants, even though the possibility of him crushing her heart terrifies her. That strength mixed with some very real fears makes her a super relatable and sympathetic character.

Sexy times are of the oh-holy-hell-that’s-hot variety. Remember when I said Sage was a dirty talker? Well...yeah...I wasn’t kidding. Prepare yourself. The extended epilogue is especially, um, inspired.  

But my favorite part? No stupid misunderstandings caused by poor communication. When a rival for Sage’s affections gets in Jolie’s face, Jolie doesn’t take the slink-away-and-lick-her-wounds route that many a romance heroine before her would’ve taken. No way! Not Jolie. Our Jolie marches herself right back to the hero and tells him what’s going on. LIKE A REAL-LIFE ADULT. I can’t even tell you how much I appreciated THAT.    

So, as I mentioned in the Team Player review, this is a great sports/friends-to-lovers novella that I highly recommend to fans of steamy new adult romance. And anyone who read and loved Vicious should 1-click this one immediately. I won’t give anything away, but...yeah. Trust me.     

More full disclosure: We received an ARC from the author free of charge.    

Does this book contribute to or help crush the romance stigma?
It’s clean and sober. No rehab needed.

Other reading suggestions
Check out everything mentioned above. And when you’re done there, check out our friends-to-lovers “best of” list. ​

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