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A review by tagoreketabkhane31
The End Zone: Alternate Cover by Riley Hart
4.0
The second book in the Atlanta Lightning series, this one follows the best friends of West and Anson from the first book, their friends Darren and Jeremy. Darren is the start quarterback of the Lightning, and Jeremy is the best friend and former friends with benefits for West. Both characters meet during Wes and Anson's wedding, and start a frienship, united in their happiness for their friends for finding each other and getting married. Darren is also the first to learn that Jeremy and his ex husband Bobby have officially divorced, and that is where Darren steps in to deflect any questions that Jeremy is is keeping from Wes and Anson.
As the months go on (and this is where I really love reading Hart and her works, because she is one of the few authors who does a great job of pacing her plot to calendar months that don't make me feel like I missed some important details), we start to see that while Jeremy and Darren have a great friendship because of their similarities in their humor and outlooks on life, it is how they compliment each other that makes their relationship believable. I think this is also where #ownvoices really does matter - Hart being a black woman, writing a black main character, really showed through in how Darren came alive on the page. I never not saw him as anything other then a black man, even as he was coming to terms with his sexuality, and as a person of color, reading that in this interracial romance, was interesting to contrast that with other authors that have attempted to write BIPOC characters and it coming up flat (looking at you Charm Offensive)
It was also really nice reading about the complex identiy that Darren found for himself. While the summary of the book labels him as bisexual for the reader, in the narrative Darren finds out that he is more Demiromantic, and I though this was a good push for Hart to show that sexuality, not only it being on a spectrum, is complex. While Jeremy and Darren are both complete characters, I appreciated that extra layer of depth to Darren.
I will say, that towards the end of the book, I got a little annoyed with the circular pattern that the narrative started to take with Jeremy worried about Darren being committed and then Darren worried that Jeremy would leave him - while there is no third act breakup, the fact that these two who were constantly communicating suddenly are miscommunicating did not seem realistic to me given what I had read in the past, and I also got a little annoyed that Wes and his status of a former Senator was not highlighted. Again, its the politico in me, but you're telling me an out former Senator is runing a center in Atlanta and is married to an NFL player, and that isn't a bigger buzz? Lies.
Another great book from Hart, and I can see why she is such a fan favorite. I can't wait to check out more of her backlist.
As the months go on (and this is where I really love reading Hart and her works, because she is one of the few authors who does a great job of pacing her plot to calendar months that don't make me feel like I missed some important details), we start to see that while Jeremy and Darren have a great friendship because of their similarities in their humor and outlooks on life, it is how they compliment each other that makes their relationship believable. I think this is also where #ownvoices really does matter - Hart being a black woman, writing a black main character, really showed through in how Darren came alive on the page. I never not saw him as anything other then a black man, even as he was coming to terms with his sexuality, and as a person of color, reading that in this interracial romance, was interesting to contrast that with other authors that have attempted to write BIPOC characters and it coming up flat (looking at you Charm Offensive)
It was also really nice reading about the complex identiy that Darren found for himself. While the summary of the book labels him as bisexual for the reader, in the narrative Darren finds out that he is more Demiromantic, and I though this was a good push for Hart to show that sexuality, not only it being on a spectrum, is complex. While Jeremy and Darren are both complete characters, I appreciated that extra layer of depth to Darren.
I will say, that towards the end of the book, I got a little annoyed with the circular pattern that the narrative started to take with Jeremy worried about Darren being committed and then Darren worried that Jeremy would leave him - while there is no third act breakup, the fact that these two who were constantly communicating suddenly are miscommunicating did not seem realistic to me given what I had read in the past, and I also got a little annoyed that Wes and his status of a former Senator was not highlighted. Again, its the politico in me, but you're telling me an out former Senator is runing a center in Atlanta and is married to an NFL player, and that isn't a bigger buzz? Lies.
Another great book from Hart, and I can see why she is such a fan favorite. I can't wait to check out more of her backlist.