This story of Trixie and Chris is a familiar one of second-chance romance. The writing was okay; could have done without a lot of the slang, which felt forced.

What I did like:
- plus-sized FMC
- pet chickens
- he falls first (let's face it - he's already fallen)
- great audio performances

Loved the cover and wanted to love the book more.

As far as romcoms go, this one was pretty good. I found some of the side characters to be funny, like the former quarterback, who I would bet anything was based on Peyton Manning, to the MMC's (a professional quarterback) agent, named Maguire Jerry. Where you typically see fake dating blow up in people's faces, and then lead to a third act breakup, neither of these tropes occurred here which was so damn nice. It was better, in my opinion, for the characters to just own who they were and not run from each other at the first sign of trouble. This one also dealt a lot with having a self-professed "large, curvy" FMC, who was the daughter of a former porn star, and how those things affected her life from high school, and continued going into adulthood. Drawing the ire from her former high school bullies when she lands the hot, famous, professional quarterback, her most valuable advice comes from her mother, when she tells her to "take up space, Beatrix. Don't let anyone make you feel shame for who you are."

*And as the title suggests, there actually is a rooster.

Such a cute, spicy romcom! I listened to the audiobook version and really enjoyed it.

💕 Friends to lovers
🏈 Sports romance
😍 He falls first
❤️ She’s a virgin
💕 Plus size heroin
❤️ Fake dating

*Triggers: revenge porn & eating disorders*

I went in blind based on the title and cover, hoping for an entertaining, smutty read and I got what I asked for! The author added a little high school drama at the reunion and I was both all for it and wondering why these 20+ year olds were still acting like immature high schoolers, but some people just don’t seem to mature with age. I did like how the author turned the drama into lessons about speaking up to bullies and not making yourself small for others. The spice was good, the sexual chemistry even better.

I about died laughing when Trixie said “Did that mean I wasn’t a vegan anymore” 😂😂😂

I only watch the Superbowl for the commercials, and barely follow sports, but I unexpectedly loved this football-themed romance liberally sprinkled with football jargon and analogies and I knew enough to get the gist and appreciate author Amy Award’s cleverness with a turn of phrase. Plus-sized librarian Trixie is a teen advocate and chicken mama to a brood with names honoring Star Wars–her rooster, Luke Skycocker, has a special fondness for her. While she’s comfortable with both her body and her former porn-star mother, the mean girls at her high school still rib her about both. Trixie and her (lesbian) best friend are serving on a reunion committee fundraiser in spite. When Trixie agrees to be the plus-one for her neighbor and best friend Chris, a pro-football quarterback, at a restaurant opening and they’re photographed together, she accidently spits out that he’s her boyfriend to shut up the popular girls. Chris readily agrees to be her fake date to the reunion… but suggests they “practice” to really pull it off. Many sweet and awkward moments follow; Chris has had it bad for Trixie since high school, when she shot him down for a date; Trixie just assumes she’s out of his league.

The C*ck Down the Block features some of the best non PiV sex I’ve read this year. God bless Trixie’s mom, who sends exotic erotic toys from her travels around the globe as a sex educator. The dual point of view romance is sexy, funny, warm, and righteous. Contrary to the author’s assertion that this is “just fluff,” the story is pro-plus size and anti-body shaming, and tackles (see what I did there?) sexual harassment, slut shaming, fatphobia, consent, fame, and social media in addition to the construct of virginity, high school bullying, disordered eating, and trauma. Trixie’s sexist bully of a boss gets put in his place, the mean girls get their come-uppance, and the author sets up the next volume in the series very nicely.

The narrators did a great job emoting and expressing the novel, and of varying voice for the various characters; their voices fit the personalities very well.

I received a free reader’s review copy of #TheC*ckDownTheBlock from #NetGalley courtesy of #Dreamscape.

"She smiled...the curve of her lips was my favorite curve of all."

The extremely steamy comedic The C*ck Down Under by hilarious romcom author Amy Award is filled with all the RomCom tropes.

Quarterback Chris Kingsman has loved curvy librarian Trixie since high school but has been friend zoned since they were 14. When she asks him to be her fake boyfriend for her high school reunion to keep up a lie to the mean girls still bullying her, Chris seizes the chance to make the fake dating real.

The comedic timing of Stella Hunter
nails Trixie and her rooster Luke Skycocker and his harem of Star Wars hens. As for Christian Fox as Chris, it's pure steam. Book 1 of The Cocky Kingsman series is off to a cock-a-doodle-doo rise and shine start.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the Dreamscape Media via #NetGalley for a fair and honest reviews. All opinions are my own.

Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for the ALC of The C*ck Down the Block by Amy Award.
I absolutely loved this story. The narrators were phenomenal and I couldn't stop listening.
I will not stop talking about Chris and how delicious this man is. Trixie has my heart and I adore how she handled things with her reunion. The family dynamic that you see between the Kingman are things that you dream about. The support system between them and the unbreakable bond were really well done.
The spice. was. amazing!!!!!

I absolutely LOVED this book. We love a book that has curvy/plus size representation as a curvy girl myself. We got a good mix of tropes going, as well. He falls first, childhood friends to lovers, fake dating, he’s sporty and she’s a librarian, I could probably keep going but I’ll let them end there. The narrator’s were PERFECT. Absolutely perfect casting. Their voices fit the characters so well. Sometimes narrators voices can completely take you out of the story, these did the opposite. I couldn’t stop listening. Also, do you like spices? Because when I tell you this book has ALL of the chilies… I do mean all. I had a “I’m listening to this at work please God don’t let me earbuds die and blast this out of my cubicle” moment.

Side note: There was such a good social media presence around this book, I want to say I saw it on TikTok originally, and that makes me so happy.

Spice rating: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

The audiobook narrators were chef's kiss.
This satisfied my craving for a Taylor x Travis fanfic. It was a really great romcom and hit the spot. I'm really excited for book 2 in the series. I think that's going to be even more Tayvis coded.
Perfect amount of smut to plot ratio.

Trixie: What an icon. Librarian and a pro football player?? YES PLEASE

Chris: no words. I folded so fast. In love from the FIRST chapters <3

This book was absolutely adorable! I am a huge fan of the best friends to lovers trope and Chris and Trixie were amazing together.

Chris, a professional athlete, has been in love with his best friend Trixie for over a decade. And when an opportunity happens, they are suddenly fake dating each other, but Chris wants it to be oh so real.

I loved the friendship between them that turned into so much more. The banter was also fantastic!

The narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life!

Amy Award starts this book with the disclaimer that this is fluff. It's not this world renowned work of literary fiction, it's escapism at its core. And in a world where even Entertainment Weekly is publishing articles about the rise of smut, I think it's time we acknowledge that fluff is sometimes exactly what we need.

This is a sports romance in that one of the MCs is an athlete. I am not the biggest sports romance fan (unless it's hockey, then sign me up). I could get behind this one because the fact that he's a football player is not the most important thing about him. He is the boy next door who has had a crush on the girl for as long as he can remember. It's a he fell first and hard romance and I love that, especially when the love interest is plus sized and nerdy. My biggest complaint is it does have quite a few gen Z colloquialisms that are going to be really dated in a few years, but besides that, I did enjoy the story.

Content warnings at the beginning - Warnings of external fatphobia in one chapter. SUPER appreciated that this isn’t a continual thread throughout the book. There are also a revenge 🌽 story line and mentions of disordered eating. Deserves a content warning for the girls you knew in High School.

Dual narration.

MMC:
Pro Football player - from a sports ball family
He falls soooo hard first…10 years of waiting for enthusiastic consent - I would cautiously say that he’s obsessed (in a completely non creep way)

Friends to lovers - MMChris was fri-end zoned by Trixie when he was 18.

FMC:
Plus sized beaut
Bookish Librarian
C*ck (🐓) lover

General notes:
TOYS
Seggs worker rep
Found family/support network

Any book with a chapter title - GOYKATTDLAGG 🙊 is a must read.

I LOVED this. So much body positivity. The big guys seem cool with a woman who won’t break. I’m pretty exited to see more of this group as the book progress.

I’m desperate to read the second book in the series but I loved the audio of the first so much I almost want to (but likely won’t) hold off to see in the second will be released on Audio. Brain reading it just won’t hit the same way.

The narrators were SO perfect for this book.

I’ve already been raving about this book to people in person.

🐓Fake dating
🐓Best friends to lovers
🐓Body positivity
🐓Curvy FMC
🐓Pro football player
🐓Neighbors
🐓Banter
🎧Great Audio

This was light, spicy and HILARIOUS 😆.
He calls her chickadee 😍. The goofiness of the characters AND the chickens brought a smile to my face. The fake dating 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼. The spicy scenes 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼.

Definitely a book to pickup to lighten your mood.

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC! Opinions are my own.

Oh my goodness. This was such a a cute and fun book. I loved this. Childhood friends to lovers. Great banter. Adorable animal friends. This had great body positivity, amazing family relationships. Can not wait for more in this series. With 8 siblings hopefully we get a book for all.

Well wasn't this the most surprising romance with a good amount of spice and plot! In THE COCK DOWN THE BLOCK we meet Chris, who has been desperately in love with his neighbour and best friend Trixie their entire lives. Add a dash of fake dating, a splash of adorable animals and a heaping of spice and you have a great romance book to devour!

I loved the curvy girl rep and how her hating herself wasn't a plot point. Our boy Chris was totally gone for Trixie from the beginning - they were one of those couples who I can actually see staying together and building a strong relationship.

The narrators were perfect, both kept me engaged and performed perfectly.

READ FOR:
👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨Childhood friends to lovers
💞No third act breakup!
😍Curvy girl rep
🔥Spicy
⭐️3.5 stars

Thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the ARC! Opinions are my own

#rochellereadsit

5/5 Stars

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing me with an advanced listener copy to review.

I had already had my eye on this book when I saw an audio arc pop up on netgalley so I figured why not give it a try. I didn’t expect the cutest romance with a good amount of spice and plot. This book was so body positive and sex positive, not that there wasn’t push back on those two topics but the fmc and her friends and family are all so open which is refreshing to see. I love a good friends to lovers especially when they are both secretly obsessed with each other already.

Chris has been in love with his neighbor and friend Trixie since forever but after she turned him down in high school he has accepted just being friends with her. Trixie needs a date for the upcoming school reunion and asks Chris to go with her as her fake date to piss off her high school bullies. He see this as an opportunity to convince her that they would be amazing together and Trixie who also has been into Chris is very open to that. But when things get leaked they have to tackle it together and prove they can handle anything that is thrown at them.

Chris and his love for Trixie was so adorable and you could tell how much he cared about her and was willing to just be friends if that was truly what she wanted. Trixie wasn’t as aware of her feelings but seeing her feelings truly grow and be realized was sweet and I loved that she didn’t take shit from anyone and stood up for herself. Them together was steamy as hell and just sweet. They both so clearly love each other and are a couple I can see staying together forever.

I enjoyed both of the narrators, Stella Hunter and Christian Fox. They both kept me engaged with the audiobook and worked well together.

I highly recommend this book but don’t go into it if you want a lot of sports. While it is a sports romance, Chris is a football player, other than his fame it’s very minor. Do read this if you want a sweet and spicy romance with a plus sized fmc and a mmc that is obsessed with everything to do with the FMC.

This did not work for me. I get that Chris is supposed to be a nice guy and whatnot, but he really gave me sleazy vibes. I just could not get on board with him. Unfortunately this really colored my entire reading experience. I wanted to like this, but I just did not.

I couldn’t resist reading Amy Award’s newest release - with a title like The C*ck Down the Block I knew I was in for a hoot and a half read!

The C*ck Down the Block Is packed full of humor, self acceptance, character growth, bookish vibes and swoon worthy romance.

🏈 Pro Footballer
📚 Librarian
♥️ Childhood Friends to Lovers
🫶 Family
🐓 Hilarious Pets
🌶️ Spice

Super fun read and I’m excited to check out the rest of Amy Award’s backlist!

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy!

I enjoyed this audio --- while it lasted. Inexplicably, I could not get the audiobook to play farther than chapter 6. I imagine it was user error or an issue with my NG Shelf app since I have seen other reviewers who were able to listen to the entire book. I didn't want to not give any feedback, but due to the above reason I cannot give much feedback. The story was enjoyable but predictable and I enjoyed both narrators. NG requires a star rating, but I was not able to hear enough of the story to give a high star rating. The 2 stars is more about the experience than the book since I was able to hear so little of it.
Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this audio arc.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read this wholesome story.

The C*ck Down the Block, with its laugh-out-loud title and cute cover, touches some topics very dear to me.
How it doesn´t matter what size you are, you deserve love in your life. How beauty is different for everyone, it´s subjective and full of different colors.
I am a bigger girl and every single day of my life I question how I get to be with my beautiful boyfriend. Many people during the years (seven+) looked at us and wondered why a pretty guy like him was with a chubby girl like me.
This book validated my story in so many ways and even if it was spicy, funny, and generally lighthearted it was still difficult to read in some points.

Chris was the perfect gentleman, always supporting her and never questioning any of the bullshit coming Trixie´s way.
I particularly enjoyed that there was not a third-act breakup. I was worried about this from the beginning because even if Trixie was confident in her own body a third act break up could have made her question herself. So good job Amy! I loved it. Nothing to change.

Also, I´m so happy our FMC had a super strong support system, I wish every plus-size girl had that, but it is not always the case.
Seeing Trixie's happy ending is so important for so many girls, even younger than me.

And as Trixie´s mum would say, take up space! Always.

Dreamscape Media productions are always spot on. I loved both the voice actors, they sounded perfect for Chris and Trixie and they really helped me to picture them in my mind.

ALC review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This is my first book by this author but I can’t wait to devour her backlist!

I instantly fell in love with Chris and Trixie - they had this amazing friendship that just added so much to their chemistry and had me wanting more of them the whole time!

I was obsessed with how this book represented plus sized bodies. In most books the FMC is ashamed of her body but in this book she has moments of insecurity but was mostly loving her body and the life she had built for herself. I have never read a book where the FMC celebrated herself like this! We need more of this.

I’m now in love with the whole Kingman family and I can’t wait to get more of them!

I highly recommend the audio - it had me laughing so hard!

🐓Fake dating
🐓Best friends to lovers
🐓Body positivity
🐓Curvy FMC
🐓Pro football player
🐓Revenge on mean girls!
🐓Banter