Parker by Jillian Quinn (eARC)

Parker

(Face-off Series #1)

by Jillian Quinn

PBT Review #53

Buy your copy from Amazon

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I want to start this review off by saying that I do know Jill on a personal level, but that it not going to affect my review of this book (or any of her others) in any way.

After reading Corrupt Me, Jill’s debut novel, I had very high expectations for Parker. It did not disappoint that is for sure. The only place it fell a little flat for me was on the sexual content. I was just expecting more and, I should probably add here, that I thoroughly enjoy reading romances that are heavy with the sexual content. Now I know others don’t share my same opinion, so they may have liked that there wasn’t as much sex in Parker, but I could’ve used just a tiny bit more.

One of the aspects on the book that I enjoyed the most was the depth of the characters. There was so much more to Coach than met the eye. I won’t go into too many details, but her night terrors were heart breaking and completely captivating. I hated that Coach had to go through some of the things that she did growing up, but I loved the extra oomph it gave to her character. 

The same thing can be said for Alex Parker. It’s easy to pre-judge him and assume he’s this overly cocky, womanizing, hockey player. But throughout the novel, as Coach and Alex begin to open up to each other and share things about their past, we learn that there is so much more to him as well.

I loved how coaching children and interacting with them was incorporated into the story. The interactions between Coach and Rico were amazing, but I loved the interactions between Parker and Rico so much more. Parker just didn’t seem like the type of guy that would be good with kids, but he really was and I loved reading about it. Honestly, that’s one of the quickest ways to my heart is to have a guy who is great with kids in a story or in real life.

One thing I found surprising about this book was that I was not attracted to Alex Parker in the slightest. I just didn’t find his description attractive (other than his abs that is). I think that made me like the story so much more though because I was rooting for him and Coach to be together instead of secretly being super jealous. It was awesome to watch their relationship bloom into something beautiful. 

The only thing about the book that I didn’t really like was how dependent Coach became on Alex after such a short period of time. After so many years of having her “rules” in place and being so independent, I just found it a little bit of a stretch that she takes a complete 360 degree turn. Also, the fact that her night terrors shifted in focus from the things she experienced as a child to having to do with Parker was a little bit unrealistic as well. I think the latter was a little more frustrating for me because I’m not totally against completely giving up your rules and going all in for a guy. That’s the only reason I took off half a star on the rating.

The ending, however, was EVERYTHING I needed. I love that Jill always offers a small time jump so that we can see how things play out in the future for the main characters. I definitely think this is a trend she should keep up with in the future, as this is going to be a series (but also in her other books).

I CANNOT wait to see what Jill comes up with next!

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So Parker has been released for about a month now, has you picked up your copy yet? If not, you totally should! If you have read it, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

I’m also curious to know, those of you that have read Parker and CM, which one did you enjoy more?

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