Release Day Review ~ Back Off! That's My Jock by Wade Kelly

Release Day Review ~ Back Off! That's My Jock by Wade Kelly

Title: Back Off! That's My Jock
Series: JOCK Series: Book Three
Author: Wade Kelly
Release Date: August 26, 2016
Category: Contemporary, New Adult
Pages: 290

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Buy it at Dreamspinner Press

Defining his sexuality didn’t make sense until his best friend spelled it out.

Doug Archer did some pretty idiotic things in the first eight weeks of his junior year of college. First, he kissed his gay best friend, and second, he kissed a guy he’d mistaken for a girl. Not stellar moments for Doug. If he isn’t careful, he’ll lose his spot on the soccer team to the new freshman, or worse, he might misconstrue his new friend Rob’s overly affectionate tendencies for flirting. But if Doug isn’t bothered by another guy’s attention, and he normally dates girls, does that mean he’s gay or bisexual?

Sam Garber suppressed his same-sex attraction his entire life. His father told him it was immoral, and Sam did everything he could to bury his feelings. However, after meeting Doug at a party and kissing him, Sam can’t think of anything else. He decides dating girls is the best way to keep his secret hidden. With playoffs in sight, this is no time to think about guys in any other context than soccer. Only neither boy anticipates the difficulty in suppressing his attraction for another jock!

***A Copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest and fair review***

Doug Archer has been questioning his sexuality quite a bit lately. While in the past he's always dated and slept with girls, it seems he now wants a guy. Of course, when he initially met Sam he mistakenly thought he was a girl. Finding out that Sam is actually a dude who lost a stupid bet with his cousins and had to dress like a girl hasn't done anything to kill the intense attraction Doug feels towards him. So when Sam is suddenly a new player on his soccer team, Doug can't seem to escape his new feelings. 

Sam may want to explore the attraction he has to Doug but he's terrified of what his father would do if he finds out.  Deciding the best thing to do is throw himself into dating girls, he asks Doug to introduce him to some. When he meets Mindy things seem like they should fall into place, but it's becoming harder and harder to stay just friends with the guy Sam's pretty sure he's falling in love with. 

I was so excited to read this book because I absolutely adore this series. While the first book My Roommate's a Jock will probably always be my favorite, I enjoyed Doug and Sam's story. I laughed quite a bit throughout the book. I love the wit and clever banter and it's always a bonus to be able to see characters from the previous books. Of course, I wish we got to see a lot more of Cole. 

I'm not sure if it was just me but I kind of felt that this particular story had a lot more angst than the first two.  It made me dislike Sam's character throughout most of the book. I kept wanting Doug to just move on.  That, of course, may have been exacerbated by the fact that Sam was only 18 and in my eyes too immature when it came to serious relationships. While Doug at 20 isn't much older, he came from a supportive and loving home. Sam came from an abusive home where he was never free to be himself.  

I loved Doug, his character was very endearing and while I wasn't completely sold on him in the previous book, I loved him this time around. Of course, there were a lot of terrific characters and it added a funny side to a potentially sad story.  I can't wait to see if Rob gets his own book next. I'll be patiently stalking the series page to find out. 

This book definitely is one I'd recommend, of course, I would say if you hadn't read the first two do that right away. This story flows so nicely with the rest and they give you a lot of background insight into the character. 

4.5  Stars!