{"id":31516,"date":"2018-04-04T14:48:09","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T18:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=31516"},"modified":"2018-08-15T23:42:12","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T03:42:12","slug":"new-release-the-end-zone-by-l-j-shen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/?p=31516","title":{"rendered":"New Release & ARC Review: The End Zone by L.J. Shen"},"content":{"rendered":"

The End Zone<\/em>, a sexy sports romance from LJ Shen is LIVE!<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The End Zone
\n<\/strong>by LJ Shen<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Released April 3, 2018
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Now Available!
\nAmazon US<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Amazon Universal<\/a> \u00a0| \u00a0Audio<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Originally featured in the Team Player: A Sports Anthology<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Blurb<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Jolie Louis is a smart girl.<\/p>\n

She knows that her best friend, Sage Poirier, is a bad idea.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a walking, talking clich\u00e9. The Adonis quarterback with the bulging biceps and harem of fangirls trailing behind him on campus like a stench you can\u2019t get rid of.<\/p>\n

Sadly, it is also the very reason she can\u2019t seem to stay away from him.<\/p>\n

No, wait. That\u2019s not fair. They\u2019re also roommates, at least until May, when they graduate from college.<\/p>\n

Jolie is already straddling the line between friendship and more when Sage comes to her with an offer she cannot refuse: be his fake girlfriend and live for free for the rest of the semester.<\/p>\n

She tells herself that she can handle it.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s just the boy she saved ten years ago, right?<\/p>\n

Wrong. So very wrong.<\/p>\n

He is a man now, and she is his captive<\/p>\n

Heart, body, and soul\u2026<\/p>\n

** THE END ZONE<\/em> is now available with an extended epilogue and surprise bonus content that will blow fans of L. J. Shen away! **<\/span><\/p>\n

Find\u00a0The End Zone<\/em> on GOODREADS<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

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Review<\/strong><\/h4>\n

*Originally reviewed for the\u00a0Team Player: A Sports Anthology <\/em>BLOG TOUR<\/a><\/p>\n

4.5 stars!<\/p>\n

The End Zone<\/i> is a fast-paced read encompassing one of my favorite romance tropes: friends-to-lovers.\u00a0With just enough drama to keep your heart racing but not enough to crush you, this story was a perfect balance of sweet, steam, and angst.<\/p>\n

Jolie and Sage have been best friends for the past ten years. They know the good and the bad and are there for each other no matter what. Jolie has been in love with Sage since they first met as children but his manwhorish ways keep her from ever making a move. When Sage starts feeling more for her, he is determined to make her his and a plan starts to form. If he can get her to see how great being his fake girlfriend can be, maybe he can get her to realize how great they could be in a real relationship.<\/p>\n

This novella is entertaining with likable characters. Jolie was great. She knew what she wanted but her reservations about starting something with Sage are in the forefront. Her fears are believable and relatable. The threat of possibly ruining a friendship that means everything to them is valid and daunting.<\/p>\n

It took one mistake for Sage to realize what he wants in life. I loved when he goes after Jolie, wanting to make her completely his. He\u2019s got an uphill battle but he\u2019s determined to open her eyes to the possibility of them, and I loved that he didn\u2019t give up when they hit bumps in the road.<\/p>\n

Jolie and Sage have a connection that started when they were young. They have been a huge part of each other\u2019s lives and even though it took Sage years to see what was in front of him, Jolie knew they shared something special from the beginning.<\/p>\n

The girl closed her eyes and the storm disappeared. Not because it had stopped, but because beside him, she felt fearless.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There is so much pent up sexual tension that when Jolie and Sage finally give in it is an explosion. They are so hot together. Going from friends to lovers is not an easy transition though with secrets lurking in the background. There are things they need to work through, however, there isn\u2019t too much drama to stir the pot once everything is out in the open which I liked. Overall, it\u2019s a great little friends-to-lovers addition to this anthology.<\/p>\n

*ARC generously provided by the authors and Social Butterfly PR*<\/em><\/p>\n

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About the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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L.J. Shen is an International #1 best-selling author of Contemporary Romance and New Adult novels. She lives in Northern California with her husband, young son and chubby cat.<\/p>\n

Before she\u2019d settled down, L.J. (who thinks referring to herself in the third person is really silly, by the way) traveled the world, and collected friends from all across the globe. Friends who\u2019d be happy to report that she is a rubbish companion, always forgets peoples\u2019 birthdays and never sends Christmas cards.<\/p>\n

She enjoys the simple things in life, like spending time with her family and friends, reading, HBO, Netflix and internet-stalking Stephen James. She reads between three to five books a week and firmly believes Crocs shoes and mullets should be outlawed.<\/p>\n

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Stay up to date with LJ Shen by signing up for her MAILING LIST<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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AMAZON<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0WEBSITE<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0FACEBOOK<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>|\u00a0GOODREADS<\/a>
\n<\/strong>PINTEREST\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0TWITTER<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0INSTAGRAM<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The End Zone, a sexy sports romance from LJ Shen is LIVE!     The End Zone by LJ Shen   Released April 3, 2018   Now Available! Amazon US \u00a0| \u00a0Amazon Universal \u00a0| \u00a0Audio […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":4.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"Product","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[290,25,9],"tags":[59,540,344,48],"class_list":["post-31516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-news","category-friends-to-lovers","category-romance","tag-arc","tag-l-j-shen","tag-new-release","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/LJS-The-End-Zone-BookCover6x9_MEDIUM.jpg?fit=150%2C234&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-8ck","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}