I begrudgingly finished this. I didn't like the narrators' voices they were too pitchy. I also felt the storyline was boring and unoriginal. All in all, didn't like it.

I checked this on Goodreads before requesting it- mainly to make sure it was not the middle of a series. I thought the blurb was interesting but I hate coming into something mid series. I saw how well it was rated (did not read reviews) and that it was book 1. Perfect. I requested it.

Fast forward to actually listening to it- I can't. I am DNFing this one. There is far too much petty drama for my liking.

I also found the male narrator to be especially cringy when reading dialogue.

Thank you for the opportunity, but I can see this one isn't for me. I am not posting a review on any sites, as I did not read far enough to assess the plot fully and I am also not the target audience.

Love in the Redzone by Love Belvin
Audio ARC from Net Galley
Overall: 3
Spice: 5
Narration: 4

Jade is a single mother struggling to make ends meet. Trent is a former NFL player trying to get back onto a team following an incarceration. They meet when Trent coaches Jade’s son’s team. Despite being super private, Trent offers to help them get on their feet and has them move into his home. Will it be game on for love between these two characters trying to rebuild their lives after difficulty?

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. As this book was published in 2015, I believe my review is focused on the narration of the audio book. I love dual narrators as this book has and both did a great job bringing the characters to life. The book itself was a bit questionable. Maybe because it is an older book some of the themes were out of date. The focus of Jade and Trent’s relationship is very traditional – breadwinner vs. homemaker and there are some conversations between Trent and his friends that reference their ownership of their women. There were times that characters would suddenly appear without being introduced such as Trent’s bodyguard and other things that were off in the book. It is not one I would recommend.

I really wanted to like this book! I really did. I loved the that this was a sports romance. I really liked the narrator’s voices. I felt like they fit the story and the characters. I just struggled with Jade and her choices. The story was long and drawn out. This one just wasn’t for me. Huge thanks to Tantor audio and Netgalley for allowing me to listen and review this book.

Honestly not in love with the voices, the plot or the writing. Took me a while to get past the bad voices and even then I still didn’t like how the story unfolded.

Spice: 3+

Thank you to NetGalley and Tandor Audio for the opportunity to review this book!
Love Devlin is a BIPOC Author (we need more BIPOC authors in the mainstream!)

General Tropes:
- Black Romance
- Sports Romance (NFL)
- Christian elements (including sermons and Bible verses)

This is a book that was published a few years ago, and is now getting a new audiobook CD.

The story immediately draws you in by introducing you to Trent, a former NFL player/convicted felon, and Jade, a single mom who grew up well, however is on the brink of eviction. I found these characters to feel so real with their emotions over the first couple chapters. I really liked the voice actor who was chosen for Trent!

I think that I wanted more from Jade and her motives at times, and I wanted to see more character development. There seemed to be a conflict between the Christian elements and the spice, and I wanted this to be addressed. Overall, the chapters in this book did feel a bit long, and I feel that the story could have been shortened. I also saw more misogyny throughout the book, and I really wanted Trent to call out his friends for that.

Overall, I really liked the first couple chapters but Jade was just not as compelling as the story progressed!

I wanted to love this, it started off promising. But then it just fell flat. I felt like the characters were under developed and just overall underwhelming. There’s a healthy amount of spice, but that doesn’t make up for the lack of character depth for me. I mean these are grown adults moving in with one another and she didn’t even google him? Didn’t know his last name? Jade was just, I don’t know. The narrators were great but I didn’t love the story itself

I could not get into this. The narrating is good. I just can not get invested in. I also think that the dialogue was not realistic.