Review: Blitzed by Alexa Martin

Maxwell has finally met an opponent that he can't best in this new football romance from the author of Fumbled.

BLITZED by ALEXA MARTIN

Publisher: Berkley

Publication date: December 3, 2019

Genre: sports romance

 

SYNOPSIS

According to Brynn Larson, Maxwell Lewis is more trouble than he's worth. She doesn't care if he's a football god with a rock-hard body that brings most women to their knees. After an encounter that ends poorly, she's not interested in giving him a second chance. The last thing Brynn expects is for him to turn up at her bar months later, hat in hand. It doesn't matter if he brings more customers to her business--she's still not going on a date with him.

Maxwell knows he made a mistake. He'd been waiting to make his move on Brynn since the day he laid eyes on her and he was finally ready to go for it until he screwed up. He wishes he could tell her the truth about what happened that night, but he just can't. He can't tell anyone, so he'll make amends and hope she'll forgive him.

Brynn's not like other women, though. Playing for the Mustangs doesn't impress her and gifts make her scoff. Max will have to bring his A game if he hopes to win her over.

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Praise for Blitzed:

“Alexa has done it again! Fans who enjoyed her previous work will appreciate Blitzed as a fresh perspective on romance in the sports world. Martin is an incredible storyteller and has a unique ability to blend fiction with real-life situations in the sports world. It’s an honest portrayal of the lives and romantic relationships of professional athletes. Definitely a must-read!”—La La Anthony, New York Times bestselling author

“Alexa Martin’s books are the ultimate reading escape filled with fabulous characters, witty, dazzling prose, and swoonworthy romances.”—Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestseller

“The lighthearted third sports romance in Martin’s Playbook series (after Fumbled) focuses as much on strong female friendship as it does on love. Readers will be delighted by this sweet romance.”—Publishers Weekly

REVIEW

Blitzed by Alexa Martin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

One of the things I was really looking forward to was more of Alexa Martin's humorous dialogue. It never fails to make me laugh out loud and put a smile on my face. Make no mistake, I was entertained by that aspect and had no problems with boredom. Funny banter between the football players and the WAGs has been a staple in the series. In Blitzed, it was a case of too much of a good thing. It got to the point while reading where I felt that too much of the book centered around the heroine's interactions with the Lady Mustangs, and going places/doing things that didn't move the plot forward at all. The romance has neglected which caused it to feel superficial-especially after what happened during the big conflict at the end. Not only did that seem contrived, but it was really upsetting.

I loved Maxwell. He was a sweet, introverted guy who was very down to earth. He didn't let fame go to his head, instead using his celebrity to help children with his own foundation. He's an all-around good guy that everyone seems to collectively like. Right away I connected to him and fell for the way he silently crushed over Brynn. He's that quiet, modest guy who will always be there when you need him. Which is why his violent outburst in the beginning of the book is really bizarre and out of character. When he destroys some property one night while at Brynne's bar, HERS, you know there had to be something seriously emotionally wrong to cause it. Which brings me to the first hint of issue with the plot. I kept waiting for this to be brought up again. He apologizes, pays for the damages, and then it's like the entire thing evaporated from the heroine's head. Wouldn't you think if you started dating the man who did something like that, it would concern you?

Then he asks her out on a date. There is an incident where she suspects he's arranging a hook up at his hotel when he excuses himself to take a call. But does she communicate with him about it? No. She confides in her friends, they say not to worry, and then it's forgotten. This is a common issue through the book. She has trust issues because of her mom, he has some sort of mysterious issue with his brother. Yet they are only briefly contemplated through the book and then promptly ignored. Zero communication between the two of them about these things, and the self reflection was basically non-existent. Their personal issues were skimmed over in favor of sexy times and laughs with their friends. Which is all well and good, but I read romance for the actual romance. At first I thought that this was just a slow burn situation between them as their friend faze dragged past halfway. Not the case. Once they did get together as a couple, things continued on in the same manner.

Here's where the lack of clarification over Max's brother causes serious issues: Brynn may not have known any details, but she was firmly warned about his character.

    “I mean it. Do not talk to him. Do not engage. If you see him, call me and get away from him.” My eyebrows furrow, and fear snakes down my spine. “You’re freaking me out.” He places his hands on my armrests. “I don’t trust my brother, so being freaked isn’t a bad thing.” “I mean, he’s a cop though,” I say, mainly trying to make myself feel better. “He can’t be that bad, Max.” “That little bit of power makes it easier for him to be the worst kind of person.

Sounds pretty serious, right? So why in the world would Brynn push Eloise to date this man? Honestly, it's like what he said went in one ear and out the other. Way to look out for your fellow female. I get that she had issues with her because she was hitting on Max, but to get rid of her by distracting her with a possibly dangerous man?? I did not get that at all. Her actions weren't adding up to me. Up until this point I was digging on Brynn a lot. She owns her own bar that caters to women, she's snarky and intelligent, and she's a take charge boss lady. But there were moments where boss lady crossed over to weirdly bossy and it didn't work for me. Like when she and Max were on a road trip and she was telling him what he was allowed to eat. Or that he could choose the music IF she approved. It came off as rude rather than funny or cute, which started to niggle at my nerves.

The mystery of Max's brother finally comes out around 90% in the book. Without going into specifics, his brother Theo shows up to cause drama at the bar. She listens to everything the man says and swallows every word of it. This man whom she was told to never be alone with. She automatically, without hesitation chooses to believe his words over the man she claims to be in love with. Proving that she has a disastrous level of trust in him and worse, doesn't even realize her mistake on her own. She has to be BASHED over the head with logic by her father and the Lady Mustangs before reluctantly seeing what was in front of her face all along. Every one of her loved ones gave him their unconditional trust, but she couldn't because of reasons. When she blamed him for her lack of trust because he never confided in her, I couldn't believe it. Communication is a two-way street, lady. I was so fed up with her by this point.

    All of the air leaves me in one whoosh as memories I’ve been working hard to suppress come rushing to the forefront of my mind. Warnings he gave me about Theo. The look of concern he wore when I told him Eloise was seeing him. His insistence that I not ever be alone with Theo.

Is anyone else confused by that? Why would you work hard to suppress these hints he was giving her about his brother? She's suppressing warnings about someone who could cause harm. That makes a lot of sense.

There should have been groveling after her actions because that was a MAJOR screw up on her part, and the entire rushed event got brushed under the rug by him. If I had one criticism of Max, it would be that he was too nice at times. As much as I loved him, he should have held her more accountable when she hurt him the way she did. For a large portion of the book I would have given this a three despite my plot issues, but then the ending happened and there wasn't any recovering from it. I do really like this author's writing style, unfortunately this particular story was a bit of a disappointment. I felt a definite lack of connection to the characters' romantic relationship which is more than a minor issue for me personally. You can't love them all though, and I still look forward to seeing what's next in the Playbook series.

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