Book Review: "Snapped" by Alexa Martin
“Snapped” by Alexa Martin
Synopsis: Elliot Reed is living her best life--or pretending to. She owes it to her dad's memory to be happy and make the most of her new job as Strategic Communications Manager for the Denver Mustangs. Things are going well until star quarterback Quinton Howard Jr. decides to use the field as his stage and takes a knee during the national anthem.
As the son of a former professional athlete, Quinton knows the good, the bad, and the ugly about football. He's worked his entire life to gain recognition in the sport, and now that he has it, he's not about to waste his chance to change the league for better. Not even the brilliant but infuriating Elliot, who the Mustangs assign to manage him, will get Quinton back in line.
A rocky initial meeting leads to more tension between Quinton and Elliot. But as her new job forces them to spend time together, Elliot realizes they may have more in common than she could've imagined. With her job and his integrity on the line, this is one coin toss that nobody can win.
Rating: 4.25
Review: So I know that this book was written before the events of this summer and the following racial reckoning, but I genuinely cannot imagine a more timely romance novel for 2020. I said in June that I was excited to read this book, even with only reading the brief synopsis, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it — even with my very high expectations. Alexa Martin’s fantasy Denver continues to be a delightful place to mentally vacation, even with some weighty topics being outwardly addessed.
Elliott is the newly-hired strategic communications manager for the Denver Mustangs — think Olivia Pope but with a football jersey instead of a white hat — and Quinton, the team’s new hot-shot QB is about to become the thorn in her side. During his first game, he kneels during the anthem, and even in fiction, this move is not well-received. Elle is “assigned” to get Quinton back in line, and I’m sure you can imagine — there are hijinks, there are heightened emotions, and there will be a happy ending.
This book is with an incredible author’s note that I hope you read, and I want to call out this — not as a trigger warning, but to flag that this isn’t your normal romance:
This book, which I hoped would be full of laughs and fun, took on a much more personal and serious tone. Though I hope everyone still finishes this book with a smile on their face, my main hope is that you, the reader, will feel the love and heart I tried to insert in these pages. And I hope that if you started this book set in one perspective, you finish it more open to understanding the journeys of self-discovery and acceptance that so many of us are on.
Admittedly, I found Alexa Martin as an author only after I expanded my own personal reading list in June, and I have loved reading her perspective as a former football wife and a bi-racial woman. I appreciate that she really pulled no punches with this subject matter — she doesn’t hesitate to challenge the reader, to make them uncomfortable, and to think about what we expect of our public figures.
I’ve made this sound more serious than it is — yes, this book deals with a lot of serious issues, including racism, pay parity, evil conservative men, and the not-great aspects of professional football. But it is still really a ton of fun. I said earlier that I wanted to live in Alexa’s Denver, and I mean it. The world she has created around the Mustangs is smart and silly and sexy —with some amazing drinks, thanks to Brynn. Don’t not pick this one up because you think that it’s going to be serious. I laughed much more than I cried (I only cried at the emotional apex of the book, but trust me - you will, too), and I ended up drinking way too many Diet Cokes while consuming this treat.
TL;DR: A thoughtful and nuanced look at some of the issues faced by Black athletes, combined with a fun and sexy romance — perfect for this moment of reckoning.
If You Liked This, Try These:
“Party of Two” by Jasmine Guillory (Bookshop | Kindle | My Review)
“Undercover Bromance” by Lyssa Kay Adams (Bookshop | Kindle)
“Not the Girl You Marry” by Andie J. Christopher (Bookshop | Kindle)
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