TBP June 111th, 2019
288 Pages
Angel Gomez only wants to get through nursing school and earn enough to support her mother and her son, Jose. Her bartending job helps bring in some extra cash, and the last thing she’s interested in is flirting or men in general.
Caleb “The Duke” Lewis is an up and coming star for the Yankees, known for getting around. However, his last breakup left him distracted and made him turn to drink. When he’s caught by the Yankees manager at a party instead of training, he’s suspended and sent back to the Bronx to get his head straight.
Angel and Duke’s worlds collide one night at the club and sparks fly. Though Angel wants nothing to do with Duke, he has no intention of letting her slip through his fingers. She isn’t star-struck by his fame, and this might be just what he needs to get things in order. He’ll do anything to convince her…even make her an offer she can’t refuse.- Goodreads
I requested this book purely because of the author. I was first introduced to Evelyn Lozada because of the VH1 show Basketball Wives. Not something I am or was really into but she gets your attention and not necessarily in a good way. Fast forward and she is engaged to a big time baseball player and has his child. This is the second reason why I picked up the book because I thought is it about her relationship? Hmmm I can’t say if it is or if it isn’t but I can talk about this book.
It feels like a draft. Not even feels like it the book from beginning to end this book reads like a unedited draft. The transitions between Angel’s voice and The Duke’s is horrible. And I don’t mean that lightly. You will be reading in the The Duke’s voice and about what he has going on and then the very next sentence it will be Angel. This is confusing because these transitions happen in the middle of a thought or a conversation in the middle of the chapter. Confusing and frustrating as you go through the book.
Another thing about this was when Angel spoke Spanish it felt forced. Angel is Puerto Rican and this is known from the beginning. However, she doesn’t speak Spanish in the book expect two times when something happens. I think this was Lozada’s way to remind the reader that Angel wasn’t white, however I felt since that is a big deal then there should have been more insistence of her speaking her language.
I finished the book, in one day and I did because I liked the story. I liked Angel but felt that she could have been less stuck up and more realistic as a single mother. She let her emotions cloud her judgement and what was right and wrong. I liked The Duke and his troubled self. However, with both of these characters there wasn’t development, we are to assume that it happens because of the ending. Lozada did not take the time for the two to build their romance and get to know each other. They were thrown together in the worst times of their lives and expected to be adults, although The Duke (who I wished was called Caleb more in the book) has not acted like an adult since he got money.
I strongly believe that with more work, this could be a great story. It was thrown together and as I stated before it reads like an unedited draft. There were several topics in the book that could have lifted the overall story, could have provided character development and as a reader, I could have gotten to know more about Angel and Caleb as a couple and not two individual people forcing something.
Overall,
2 Pickles
Motif by Tanya 
Omg I did not know Evelyn wrote a book haha I used to be super into Basketball Wives lol 😂
Same! That is exactly why I picked up this book.