Thank you to Lauren Blakley and her team for the advance reader copy of Turn Me On.
I always look forward to Lauren Blakley’s M/M romances and this one featured two characters with some palpable chemistry but it took way too long to take off.
I am a Lauren Blakley review team member, but I remain honest and genuine in my reviews.
The first rule of being an attorney is don’t sleep with your clients.
The second rule is–see the first rule.
Those guidelines don’t account for a man like Zane Archer though. The major leaguer is all confidence and big D energy as he swaggers into my life one night at a hotel bar, determined to spend the night with “the sexy suit,” as he calls me.
I’m so damn tempted to say yes, especially when my new client devastates me with a scorching kiss that has me reconsidering all my life choices.
The catch? If I tear up the rule book, my reputation as a lawyer to the most bankable stars in pro sports is on the line. Including my new goal of striking the deal of a lifetime for him — one he desperately needs to take care of his family.
Instead, I fight like hell to stay professional as I work closely with the man I can’t have.
But the more time we spend together, the more his irresistible charm threatens to break my resolve . . . right along with my heart.
TURN ME ON is a red-hot, MM, forbidden sports romance between a sports agent and an athlete…
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Our male leads are Zane and Maddox. Zane is an athlete, he plays for the San Francisco baseball team. He’s out and proud while being quite the charmer. In this pair, Zane is more of the dominant one. The best part of his though is he is such a good uncle to his adorable niece. As for Maddox, he is a sports agent. He was recently poached by Zane’s agent Vance over to Vance’s agency. Maddox was brought in to help Zane acquire more sponsorships. Mad was definitely dominant in his professional capacity, a workaholic who chased deals and clients. But in the bedroom, he subdues for Zane, and I loved the dichotomy of Maddox’s character.
- Setting: The setting flips around quite a bit in this story. The most pivotal setting in New York City as so many key scenes happen there. I have always loved NYC and want Lauren to eventually return to the East coast settings over her current runs in the West Coast settings. The majority of the story is either in San Francisco, where Zane is based or Los Angeles where Maddox has his house and his very lovely pool, hehe.
- Pacing: I found the pacing off in this story. The beginning half really dragged for me, I struggled to return to the book to read the much stronger latter half. The pacing of Zane and Maddox giving into their attraction took too long. I am not saying they needed to hook up in the first chapter, but it was getting frustrating as I was reading that they had not stumbled into bed together.
- Romance: Maddox and Zane had some scorching scenes, but the pacing issues I had made me wait for most of the novel to get to them. I was not as emotionally invested in this couple as I have been with other Lauren Blakley M/M couples. This is because of the pacing issue, how am I supposed to buy into the depth of their feelings when the beginning is too drawn out and all the hookup scenes happen in rapid succession near the end? It would have been more powerful for them to hook up a few times before the roadblocks hit, instead, it read like the minute there was one slip up there were consequences.
Turn Me On receives three out of five stars.
You can pick up the story here.
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Thank you again to Lauren and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
