Block Shot: A HOOPS Novel (Hoops, #2)

by Kennedy Ryan

A STANDALONE second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance set in the cutthroat world of sports management.

They're two sharks in a fish tank...

JARED

If I had a dollar for every time Banner Morales made my heart skip a beat...
The heart everyone assumes is frozen over.
Her anger is... arousing.
Every glare from those fire-spitting eyes, every time she grits her teeth, gets me... well, you know.
If I had a dollar for every time she's put me in my place, I'd be an even richer man.
I'm a successful sports agent because I assume "no" means you'll think about it.
I'm sure what you meant to say is "Coming right up."
They say even rich men don't always get what they want, but those men don't know how to play the game. The trick is to keep them guessing.
Take Banner. She assumes she's winning, but this game?
She doesn't even know how to play.

BANNER

If I had a dollar for every time Jared Foster broke my heart, I'd have exactly one dollar.
One night. One epic fail. One dollar... and I'm out.
I've moved on.
I've found success in a field ruled by men.
Anything they can do, I have done better.
They can keep the field while I call the shots, blocking them when I have to.
And Jared has the nerve to think he gets a second chance?
Boy, please. Go sit down. Have several seats.
I'll just be over here ignoring the man carved from my fantasies with a lust-tipped chisel.
Oh, I didn't say the struggle wasn't real.
But I've got that one dollar, and Jared won't have me.

• ISBN10: 1732144311
• ISBN13: 9781732144316
• Publish Date: 12 September 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Scribechick Media, LLC
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 410
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

Block Shot was a good story, with solid characters, and a strong plot. However, I felt like it was more predictable than the other books by Ms. Ryan I have read. And I didn't really like Jared very much - which definitely influenced how I felt about the book overall.

[Sam@WLABB]

Kennedy sure knows how to do messy, but she does it in such a way, that the character's indiscretions are forgivable. I am always all over a second chance romance, and I really wanted Jared to be able to explain himself to Banner. I was glad "fate" brought them back into each other's orbits, even if the timing was not perfect. Lots of good drama in this one, but it was all about Banner for me. About her learning to love herself and learning to accept the love and praise of others, because she was a phenomenal woman. Not perfect, but what I would call a total package.

Another great book in a very emotional series.

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[Romance Schmomance]

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OK, let me start with saying Long Shot was the very book that had me absolutely loving Kennedy Ryan's work. She writes romance and incorporates extremely relevant topics. It makes her books more real, raw and sometimes relatable. Once Block Shot was announced, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. I will say that this one is definitely a lot lighter and not so heavy like Long Shot was. So yes, it's book 2 in this series and can be read as a standalone. Are you ready for August's brother, Jared? No? Yeah, I wasn't either! His presense just about bulldozed me over.

Block Shot is a second romance, which was another reason I was looking forward to this. It's my favorite trope of all! Jared and Banner became very good friends during college and right when they were about to become something more, a d-bag comes along and ruins everything that was fragile, to begin with. I'm going to say that the fall of their relationship at that point was a big misunderstanding and it absolutely tore me up because my goodness, they were so close! And everything was going to be amazing, but I digress because we wouldn't have a second chance romance if that incident didn't happen. Now fast forward several years and these two are rival sports agents, so yep, add a little enemies-to-lovers trope to the storyline ;-)

My goodness, there is just so much to love and admire about Banner. I loved that we can all see a little bit of ourselves in Banner. But I loved her strength, her tenacity to be absolutely amazing at her job and to just do things the right way. She's just a genuine person. Banner is definitely someone you'll always want in your corner!

And then we have Jared! He was kind of a grade-A d*ck, but when it comes to Banner, all walls were down and he constantly made it known to her that he will always want her. And he'd do whatever he can to get her without any remorse. And that's something that I admired about him. No matter what, she would always come first to him and he'd make no apologies about it. I may not have agreed with some of the things he did, but he met his soulmate in college. She was his end game and that's, that.

Now I'll be honest, I did struggle with certain parts of this book. There's an element/trope that's a huge no for my reading list andddd it happened. I was just not on board with it nor am I ever. However, I was quite expecting it to be somewhat of a big part of the storyline, there's some drama (as to be expected) that happens in the aftermath. And it had me biting my nails because I just didn't like the way it made me feel.

But these two were absolutely consumed with each other. Misunderstandings nor time would wane their feelings towards one another. It was always this palpable from the very beginning. It's evident that there was nothing that would keep them apart.

But Kennedy Ryan (as always) does a phenomenal job tying their story in a nice bow! I may have hated that little trope, but Jared and Banner were so unbelievably well written. And this may be a first that I full-heartedly loved a book with THAT specific trope! I've never had a book confuse me so much before. "I loved it ... and then I didn't, but then I LOVEDDDDD it!". Kennedy Ryan, you are the only author that is capable of making me feel this way!

Prepare yourself to absolutely fall in love with Jared and Banner!