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Illegal Contact (The Barons #1) by Santino Hassell

Publisher: InterMix

Pub. Date: August 15, 2017

*Thank you to the NetGalley and InterMix publishing for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I tend to find sports romance novels to be one and the same. Hot sports athlete who is jaded. But in comes this girl/guy who changes everything. Boom it's love.

There are quite a few variations of this trope and I'm not saying I don't enjoy it. I do. It clearly works and sells because people keep coming back for more. I haven't read a ton of sports romance novels, so all these thoughts come from my limited knowledge of what I have read.

But Illegal Contact absolutely BLEW ME AWAY. It was everything I needed in the sports romance genre. It was a fresh spin and it seriously so so good.

Our main character, Gavin Brawley is a seriously angry football player who is on house arrest for six months when a video of him in a brawl goes viral. He is forced to hire a personal assistant to run his errands, get his groceries, ect. He had a tough upbringing and football was the only thing that kept him grounded.

Enter Noah Monroe and his Clark Kent glasses. He's a recent college grad with crazy amounts of debt and in desperate need for a job. He was recently fired from his job for having an affair with his boss. He is an openly gay man and dreams of working in an organization that helps LGBTQIA+ teens. Instead, due to his crippling debt, he is forced to take the job of Gavin's personal assistant for the next 6 months.

The two of these guys get off to a rough start. For starters Gavin is always moody and angry and Noah is stubborn and is not afraid to stand up to Gavin. Slowly the two of them form a middle ground but the attraction is hard to ignore and things spiral out of control.

I loved the both of these characters! I just want to hug Gavin and tell him that everything was going to be okay. He had a tough upbringing and being bisexual football player isn't accepted which is why he hides that part of himself until he meets that person that makes me questions everything.

Noah was such a badass (and an asshole at times too but a lovable one). He was not afraid of who he was and was definitely not afraid to call Gavin out on his crap. He kept Gavin in check and the two of them form and honest and real friendship.

This story was seriously funny and filled with so many adorable moments between these two goofs. The side characters were amazing as well! All of these characters had chemistry and you could definitely tell that they cared about one another. I never wanted the story to end. It was a slow burn but it was worth the wait. I cannot recommend this book enough.

This was my first introduction to Santino Hassell and I will definitely be reading more of his work. Down by Contact is the second book in the Baron series which follows Gavin's best friend and NFL star Simeon Boudreaux and I can't wait to read it!

Do yourself a favor and pick this book up!

Places to buy:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble

By: Sylvain Neuvel

Publisher: Del Rey

Published: April 26, 2016

Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the debut novel of Sylvain Neuvel. It is a science-fiction novel that takes place, mostly in the United States in an underground government research lab.

The story begins 17 years before the actual story takes place. Rose Franklin is a young girl who took her bike out for a ride and ended up falling through the earth. When she is found, she is located deep underground by glowing walls that are engraved with intricate markings. And mostly notably, she is being cradled by a large hand.

17 years later she becomes a physicist and is recruited to find out more information about this mystery hand. Along with Dr. Rose Franklin, the mystery interrogator puts together a team as they discover that this isn’t the only piece on earth. He puts together two pilots from the military, Kara and Ryan. Later on as they discover more pieces they bring in a linguist named Victor to try and figure out what the symbols mean.

These three work day in and day out to try to find the pieces, put them together and figure out what it makes and what it does.

This is a unique storyline and it raises the question, “are we alone in the universe?” It was a constant page turner. There seems to be a clear plot and you knew what was going. Though you didn’t always know why. Specifically when it came to our mystery man. You didn’t know who he worked for or what is end goal was in retrieving these pieces. That is what made the book so exciting. You only knew what he wanted you to know.

The only downfall I will say is that because this story is told in a series of interviews/interrogations it is hard to connect with the characters. You never get to know what the person is thinking or feeling. The first few chapters I found myself not really caring what happened to them and to be honest I found Kara to be unlikable.

As you get further into the story you begin to get invested in what happens to the characters. Along with the interview format there are personal journal entries that allow you to change perspectives. That is when I begin to feel more sympathetic towards them and begin to be invested in their journey.

This science-fiction novel poses the great question, “are we alone in the universe?” and if we aren’t then “just how many lives are we willing to sacrifice for scientific advancement?” This story had me hooked! I couldn’t put the book down.

This book is a part of a trilogy. I truly believe that it was a great start to this series. I can’t wait to read more.

Check out the links below!

My video review (non-spoiler) :

https://youtu.be/LkxCQcbCwa4

Where to find the book:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Giants-Themis-Sylvain-Neuvel/dp/1101886692/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=