Title: Man On
Series: Black Jack Gentlemen, Book 1
Author: Liz Crowe
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided via NetGalley
Published: August 10, 2013 by Tri-Destiny Publishing
Bad boy of European football, Nicolas Garza is about to hit American shores with a vengeance. Signed by the Detroit Black Jack Gentlemen as lynch pin for their expansion club, Nicco only half believes he’s making the right move. But with a past full of ghosts and rotten behavior chasing him from his homeland, he has no real choice.
Parker Rollings is a college soccer superstar, but his parents’ plans for their only son do not include professional athletics. When the Black Jacks approach him to finalize their roster, Parker leaps at the chance to keep playing, leaving behind medical school, stability and his first and only college sweetheart.
Nicco and Parker face off as bitter rivals for a coveted starting spot at midfield and are forced to channel their negative energy into something positive for the sake of the group—and themselves.
All eyes are on the fledgling team in its debut season. It’s crucial that the Black Jacks prove all the doubters wrong. They must make a good showing in the league and with new fans. But player drama, club dynamics, and misplaced priorities may tear it apart before it even begins.
Reviewed by: Crissy
Why I Read This Book: I love a good coming out story and I am a chick who loves sports and the men who play them. So I picked it up.
In A Nutshell: This one wasn't for me.
The Setup: Nicolas Garza is a former Spanish soccer star on his way to help a rookie team in Detroit after being outed by his ex-wife and after his lover left him. Parker Rollings is making a stand for his life and playing soccer when his parents want him to go to med school. These two meet in the middle of strained times and expectations to find surprising comfort in one another.
Why I Couldn't Go On: So I didn't finish this one and it's not that I disliked everything about it, but to be honest, I could barely tolerate the characters. Nicolas is so self-absorbed and irritating not to mention man-whorish behavior, I just couldn't connect with him. Then Parker… well I liked him more than Nicolas because I could almost see where he's coming from. But seriously, he's bucking against the system to live his own life and find who he is, and he still falls into the same patterns of dating a girl who does nothing for him? I'm just not impressed. I wanted to be. I see the potential in this one, I just couldn't get behind it and after the stalker and the threesome and the fake relationship—none of which had anything to do with getting our couple together, I was done.
Maybe this one got better after a bit, maybe not, but I couldn't bring myself to trudge on and find out.
As for the rest of the story, like I said, I think it could have been good, but I couldn't focus on it for everything else. Also, the husband-wife relationship thrown in there in the husband's POV—it may have been a little bit too much.
In My Opinion: This one's just not for me, and I hate that, but… yeah.
Crissy’s Rating:
DNF
Oh, glad I only paid 99 cents for this one. Didn't realize it was MMF too - not my favorite way to get to the m/m romance and HEA.
ReplyDeleteIt's not really MMF... it's more bi-sexual and coming out, though there is the one MMF scene, so yeah... But there is a MF couple as well. It's a bit jumbled for my liking.
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