3.5 Smooches
Synopsis
CLICHES
She can’t stand them.
Hates them.
Refuses to be one.
But…
Tessa Brooks is strong-willed, sassy, and determined, on the brink of dominating in the testosterone-fueled sport of horse racing. She’s spent her life avoiding the norm, staying true to herself to achieve her ultimate goals.
Her relationship with Jace Hitchen, her brother’s best friend, just might be the biggest cliche of all. Over the years, he’s been her protector, her annoyance, her confidante, her crush. But giving in to what she’s really wanted for the last ten years could be the very thing that destroys everything she’s worked for and wanted. Can Tessa achieve her dreams for the future, but still hold on to the past?
Review
Any book that has the heroine as the incredibly talented sports star, trying to break out in a male dominated sport has my attention right off the bat and the beginning of this charming love story Jock had my whole attention, for the first half of the book anyway, as it takes us through Tessa and Jace’s childhood and teenage years, giving us an invaluable glimpse into how Jace’s protective nature was often stifling for the younger girl but it’s through his role as her protector and bodyguard that their feelings become entwined and take on a more mature nature to them.
‘“No really. Life is dirty.” I stood up to pace. “It’s messy and unfair and painful. And the most beautiful things come out of it. If you want to spend your life with another person, they’re gonna see it all anyway. Why not throw it out there from the get-go? Maybe the best romances come from the person who already knows your deepest and darkest.”’
There are some really well written scenes and dialogue in Jock, in fact the whole plot is well imagined, I just felt that some of it hurried along at too quick of a pace whereas other scenes dragged on unnecessarily.
Tessa strives to become a jockey, from the time she could walk her life revolved around training and horses but often times I found her character to be a little too focused on her career and I felt we never really got beneath the surface of her to find out enough to make me really care about her. At times Tessa came across as a little self-centred and focused solely on her own goals without giving much thought to her family or Jace. She’s intelligent, feisty and spirited but there was just something missing in her that I found I didn’t really connect with her character. Jace too was a little one dimensional. We know he feels a need to watch out for Tessa and play the big brother role even though he is only a friend of the family, but his growing attraction to Tessa lacked that sexual tension and passion I would come to expect in such a story, it was sweet and little low key with very few obstacles thrown in the way to disrupt the equilibrium. It was an okay read but I didn’t feel that all important spark between the two main protagonists, it felt lacklustre and rushed. There were certain important and tragic events in the story, during the beginning that were rushed along and glossed over that really needed to either be explored in depth or at least expanded upon. I liked Jock but I didn’t love it.
~Nicole
