She can’t let him score…Call it superstition, but when a guy bats as hot as Brooks Elliott, you don’t mess with what’s working. And what’s working is him keeping his pants zipped and doing all of his scoring on the field.So when I hear he’s planning to ditch his V-card now that he’s been traded to baseball’s lovable losers—aka my home team and my reason for living every March through October—I … living every March through October—I do what any rational, dedicated, obsessed fan would do.
I make a plan to stop him.
But the thing about stopping him is that it requires spending time with him.
Lots. And lots. And lots of time.
And the more time I spend with him, the more I like him. Not as the guy who’s going to help save my favorite team and finally bring home a championship ring, but as the guy who’s helping me in my quest to bring back the team’s old mascot. Who also loves making pancake and bacon sandwiches. And who would do almost anything for his love of the game.
But after all this time of jock-blocking him…do I even have a chance?
And if I do, are we both destined to a life of celibacy in the name of winning?
Jock Blocked is a home run of a feel-good romantic comedy featuring the world’s most superstitious sports fan, baseball’s oldest virgin hero, a rogue meatball, an adorable puppy with a cussing problem, and the best lovable losers. It stands alone and comes with a happily ever after more satisfying than a game-winning grand slam.
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Yes, *#*$ YES!! This book is everything and by far my favorite from this author (gasps, I know!!). I am a baseball fanatic, I live and breathe it, and the Fireballs are my team (outside the MLB that is). I have never, NEVER related to a character more then I did to Mackenzie. She’s quarky but wholeheartedly dedicated to her Fireballs. I loved her awkwardness and her willingness to go to lenghts. I have the same issue with “The Gods.” And Brooks?! Besides looking good in a uniform, he is an awesome character. He’s funny and kind with one thing on his mind… well two, and playing ball is only one, lol. I love that he has to fight all the c-blocking and I loved his humor. These two are perfect for each other. I cannot get over this story, it’s pure romatic comedy gold! Read it and love it. I had the pleasure of reading this ARC and I am leaving an honest review.
I have a new book boyfriend and his name is Brooks Elliot! It’s going to be very hard for anyone to beat out him for the top spot on my list of BBF. When I started reading this book I started laughing at all the funny things said and done by Mackenzie to try to bring winning times to the Cooper Valley baseball team. It reminded me of all kooky things that I still do every summer and well every Cowboy and Stars game too to try and bring winning times to my teams. Superstitions are alive in my home just like they are for Mac and Brooks. This book rings so true to life and the funnies! OH my giddy aunt Author Pippa Grant goes above and beyond in this book to keep us laughing with baseball humor that the season Pro will love but even a Rookie to the game will get too. If you have never read one of Pippa Grants books I dare you to slide into home plate and just get the whole experience with this one. Each book can be read as a stand alone but let me tell you once you get a taste of this wacky author and her Pippaverse you will want to read all of her books and get to know the entire crazy crew. Fiery Forever!!!
As any baseball fan knows superstitions play a huge part of the game. What happens if your game play is affected every time you try to round first and head to second in your social life? Welcome to the life of the Copper Valley Fireballs new third basemen Brooks Elliot. Anytime he tries to get somewhere in his game off the field his game on the field hurts. Now he has been traded to the WORST team in baseball, why not finally get rid of that pesky V-card because it’s not like it’s going to hurt the team?
Diehard Fireball’s fan Mackenzie Montana is not going to let that happen. With new owners, new coaches and new players her childhood team finally has a chance to turn their luck around. All she has to do is keep Brooks from scoring off the field.
Y’all, I love all of Pippa Grant’s books, but this book is utter perfection. It is my favorite read of 2020. It hits so close to my baseball superstition loving heart. As always with Pippa’s books there is hilarity but also a vulnerability in her characters.
I had so many feelings reading this book and I can’t wait for everyone else to discover how great Jock Blocked is.
“Why me?” I ask between soft kisses. “Because you’re the sunshine my life has been missing. And I want to be yours.” “I’m not sunshine. I’m crazy.” “You’re Nutella-covered bacon in a baked chicken breast world.” Jock Blocked Pippa Grant.
This book is amazingly funny and smolders with a slow burn. You will fall in love with Mackenzie and Brooks! There are so many Easter eggs with characters and items from her other series and it’s just a joy to read and a perfect escape from the world today.
Didn’t want this story to end!
As a girl who loves baseball and played Division 1 softball, this book had me hooked from the start! I fell in love with Brooks and related the Mackenzie so much. Then you throw in all the classic Pippa treats like bacon-Nutella sandwiches and crazy pets and this book is a new fave for sure!!! Highly recommend!!!
I received this book as an ARC but all opinions are my own.
Sports fans and players and their crazy superstitions. . . wear the same socks on away game days. To ensure a win, eat a hot dog at the top of the third inning when the team plays at home and the temp is over seventy degrees. If it’s under seventy, heat up the nachos.
But nothing beats the superstition about Brooks Elliott and his virginity. Keeping it and playing well—that’s what it’s about. Past history has proven—just ask him—that any sexual activity before a game hinders his batting ability.
Crazy, right?
No where near as crazy as Mackenzie Montana’s though. As the Fireball’s biggest fan, Mac takes her baseball seriously—and all the superstitions that go right along with it! She’s bound and determined to ensure the Fireball’s newest team member keep it in his pants—he’s supposed to help the Fireball’s out of the basement after all.
And along the way, maybe he can help her bring back the Fireball’s old mascot, Fiery the dragon, too.
Right off the bat, Mac and Brooks have a connection. They’re instantly attracted to each other, but they somehow manage to become friends. Co-conspirators in the “bring back the Fireball’s old mascot, Fiery the dragon” crusade. And every wild pitch Mac throws at him, Brooks is there to make the play and wins her heart along the way.
I loved every minute spent with Mack and Brooks and the rest of the crazy Cooper Valley players. Loved to see them rally behind the wild, crazy, hilarious mascot antics. Loved to see the love of the game in everything they did.
Jock Blocked is a fun, smart, sexy rom com that will keep you laughing and rooting for the Fireballs long after you finish reading it!
This book was so much fun from beginning to end!! Brooks Elliot is baseball’s oldest virgin and has found himself in a bit of a slump. After being traded from his home team he is ready to throw all of his superstitions to the wind. Mackenzie Montana is the Fireball’s biggest, most passionate and superstitious fan and she is determined to stop Brooks from ruining her home teams chance at success. The two of them together make an adorably cute and crazy couple and are a perfect match. The things I loved about this book are…
The superstitions
The players
An adorable puppy
The world’s best dog collars
The dads
Elliot family texts
Pranks
Drag Queens
Mascot shenanigans
This is a super fun, must read for everyone!
How does this author make her books such a delight to read? Maybe because she puts so much love into her characters. Or, makes the reader smile and swoon at the way the lovestory unfolds. I don’t know really. I just know that I look forward to reading every new story and Jock Blocked is one that I have really been looking forward to. Because, firstly, I love baseball and secondly, I have been anxious for Brooks to get his HEA. Plus, Mackenzie blew me away when I first met her on the page as Sarah’s best friend. Her brand of crazy fandom is legendary and I love every bit of her. This whole story was a great time. Almost like a party inside pages of a book. The quirky details that are included are amazing! The dialogue was so funny and Brooks’s puppy was adorable. There were several times that my heart just stopped from the swoons, because the reader can actually feel Brooks’s love glowing out of the page for Mackenzie. The mascot competition is an added bonus of fun and I can’t wait to see who wins. I found the pacing was very good and the burn was simmer-slow, but when the fire ignites? Oh yeah, baby. The ending was pure perfection with goosebumps galore! I highly recommend Jock Blocked if you are looking for several hours of heartwarming, craziness with superstitious baseball players and the biggest fan of all time working her magic for the good of the team. I received an advanced copy to read and all opinions are mine alone.
Welcome back to Copper Valley for the beginning of the Fireballs season. This is the story of Mackenzie and Brooks. Mackenzie, a baseball loving, believer in superstitions and all out HILARIOUS, yet heart squishing heroine who’s main goal is to make sure that Brooks doesn’t lose his V-Card. Brooks, V-card holder, established baseball player who has held on to that V-Card because any time he rounds “those” bases he can’t seem to round the bases on the actual field.
Brooks has been traded from his dream team to the Fireballs, one of the WORST teams in baseball and after holding on to the v-card for so long he is desperate to lose it because the team can’t get any worse. Mackenzie (who’s Fireball antics we saw in America’s Geekheart) is the most die-hard Fireballs fan there is. Fireball’s wardrobe? Check. Fireball’s decorated car? Check. Her main goal is to help the Fireballs be successful and if Brooks loses his V-card, that success will go down the tubes.
This book had all of the characters we love, doing all of the antics that we can expect from the Pippa-verse and more. A profanity speaking brown ball of fluff? Check. Mascot-napping and antics? Check. The story of accepting and supporting the other for all that they are? This book has got it all.
I love a good luck superstition, especially when it involves a hot baseball player. And Jock Blocked is full of them, hot baseball players, superstitions and too many mascots. Die-hard Fireball fan Mackenzie Montana is on a mission to save her beloved mascot Fiery from being replaced. And new 3rd baseman Brooks Elliot just happens to have one secret/superstition of his own.
Mackenzie is soo superstitious, and her lovable losing baseball team the Fireballs needs all the help they can get. The news of all-star hitting 3rd baseman being traded to her team, means she’s going to make sure his hot hitting stays intact even if she has to resort to some underhandedness to keep him inline. With Brooks seems to have lost his way, as baseball doesn’t quite hold the appeal it did in his early years in New York.
Mackenzie is just the right person to show Brooks baseball can be fun again. With the help of family & friends this is definitely an entertaining ride, from possessed auto-correct texting, to mascot pjs and Nutella bacon sandwiches and milkshakes and a cursing dog-collar and thief of a meatball costume. Famous slugger Brooks Elliot has met his match in super-fan Mackenzie Montana. Can Mackenzie keep an eye on Brooks? Will Brooks get over himself to actually see Mackenzie could be his person? I received an ARC for a voluntary and honest review.
I was a bit apprehensive about this book. I’m somehow not a huge baseball romance fan. But I’m a huge fan of Pippa Grant and her super funny romances…And the sneak peaks into Mackenzie’s life in a previous book. This book could be read as a standalone, but knowing the backstory to all the characters mentioned certainly makes it much more enjoyable!
Jock Blocked a laugh a page sports romance with the most interesting plot twists. It’s virgin romance, it’s comedy gold, it’s puppy love, and all the superstitions.
We’ve met both Mackenzie and Brooks before. Just hints and tidbits, which left us wanting more for this book. Mackenzie is a Fireball’s baseball loving woman. Brooks is a recently traded baseball player who isn’t a fan of the trade. They’re a fantastic set of Pippa Grant characters that have flaws and quirks and personality traits that make you want to be their friend, all while making them perfect for each other!
Well, with Mackenzie’s adorable quirk of being unable to speak to hot baseball players, it’s easy to discern that she thinks Brooks is one sexy dude! And Brooks is ready to end his lonely times even if it means disaster for his team. They have the chemistry, they have the desires, and they have the …meatball!
Despite my original apprehension, this book was amazing! I loved how it brought back so many fan favorite characters, but not in a contrived way. The book is a quick read, and also super fun and romantic read. It did a great job for these two characters, while bringing in some of my favorite character’s from past books. Now, my biggest question is, when will Cooper Rock get his book?!
Favorite Quotes:
“I never had a dog—I was the youngest, so I basically was the dog.”
“Turns out, being attracted to crazy is genetic.”
“This tall, broad, thick-muscled, corded-forearmed, fine-assed baseball layer is carrying his teeny tiny puppy in a baby sling, and my vagina has jumped ship.”
“It’s about being accepted for who I am.”
“Since I can’t play, I believe. We’re all connected you know. All of humanity. So I send positive vibes out into the world for my favorite team to win, because that’s what I can do for them. I can’t bat. I can’t pitch. I can’t coach. So I believe. It’s my part. And I’ll keep doing it as long as it takes. No matter what.”
“I can’t not believe. It would be like not breathing. But how? I just…do. It’s like hope on steroids. I hope. I hope so hard, and so long, it turns into belief, because there’s no sense hoping for something you don’t believe in.”
Star Ratings:
Plot = 4/5 Characters = 5/5 Heat = 5/5 Writing Style = 5/5 Overall Rating = 5/5
I have been waiting for Brooks’ book. I am missing baseball something fierce this year and this helped stand in the gap. There is humor, heat, cameos from other favorite Pippa characters, and baseball love. The story is well-written, and the characters are developed with flaws and feelings that make them realistic.
Mackenzie is a serious baseball fan and a good person with an interesting background. Brooks is a good guy who is a little lost. He needs to come to grips with changes to his life that he did not choose. What he ultimately really needs is Mackenzie, and I was so happy to read their story. The book continues the mascot competition for the Fireballs that began in “Liar, Liar, Hearts on Fire.” The shenanigans involved in that lead to a lot of laughs. The love of baseball and the way a team becomes a family are big parts of this story. The general grief the players give each other, the pranks, and the support are all very realistic to the sport. The love of the game and keeping that love alive are important to this story.
This was an amazing read heading into summer. It reminded me that even when things don’t go the way we plan they can work out to be even better than we thought they could be.
There’s a reason these craftily penned books come with the warning, ”should not be read in public.” Yes, the exquisite chemistry and steam will make you blush, but it’s the comedic blindsides causing spontaneous snorts and uncontrollable barks of laughter that will earn you the funny looks from strangers. And there’s really no explaining that. Trust me. I’ve tried.
Time and again, this witty wordsmith delivers zany shenanigans, deliciously steamy chemistry and perfectly placed hits to the heart. I’m at a loss as to the kind of brain that delivers such fresh, outrageous, ridiculously entertaining content to satisfy both our funny bones and our hearts, book after book. I also fear the day her computer search history might become public, because, Ms. P, you got some ‘splaining to do.
Mackenzie Montana is the Cooper Valley Fireballs number one fan. She’s determined to do her part to see the baseball team actually win games this season and make it to the finals. She’s also single handedly started a campaign to bring back the Fireball’s mascot, Fiery the Dragon (pretty sure we’re all Team Fiery).
When Mackenzie accidentally finds out that the Fireballs’ newest trade, Brooks Elliott, seems to credit his batting mojo to his abstinence from physical relationships, Mackenzie does everything in her power to block Brooks from um, jocking with the fairer fans. Of course, Mackenzie will be a lot more successful if she can just work up the nerve to actually speak to a baseball player.
Watching this sweet, nerdy heroine and this superstitious pro baller fall for each other is the consummate escape and the very best kind of entertainment. With a fabulously quirky cast, a winning storyline full of hijinks, tomfoolery and funny business, decadent steam and plenty of heart, Brooks and Mackenzie’s story is a grand slam out of the park!
Another winner from Pippa Grant!
I am missing baseball right now. So much! This book was the perfect thing to take my mind off what’s happening in our world AND bring me some baseball!
The craziness that is Brooks and his Kenzie are so perfectly perfect!
The pick up game! Oh. My. Gosh. I laughed until I cried!
Cocoa Puffs collar! The text messages! The dads! Meaty and Spike and Glow!
So many many times, I laughed out loud.
I loved this book so much and I can’t wait for more!
Pippa hit this one out of the park! This is the first in the Cooper Valley Fireballs series, the worst baseball team in the league. Brooks Elliot has been playing baseball in New York for his whole career. He is very superstitious, so every time he tries to get intimate with a woman, his game suffers, so he has abstained and is now a thirty year old virgin. When he is traded to the worst team in the league, the Cooper Valley Fireballs, he figures now is time to get rid of his V-Card. MacKenzie Montana is the Fireballs number one fan, and is determined to have Brooks keep it in his pants to help lead the Fireballs to victory. This book has a ton of laughs, and will brighten your day. While this can be read as a stand-alone, I suggest you start from the beginning (Mr. McHottie), so you know all of the character cameos that make an appearance. I received an ARC of this book from the author for my honest review.
Ahhh. Brooks Elliott! I’ve been so ready for Brooks story since we met him in Stud in the Stacks! Pippa totally knocked this one out of the ballpark!!! Such a feel good story that just makes you smile from ear to ear. I love love love Brooks and Mackenzie together. Plus, Brooks with his puppy, Cocoa Puff that he loves sooo much…
The superstitious baseball player who is a virgin, he’s been traded to the team with the worst record everrr, the Copper Valley Fireballs. He’s moved away from his family, his friends and the dream team he thought he was going to retire with, he isn’t feeling it. Superstitions be damned, he wants to do the deed. Mackenzie has to stop him, she’s a huge Fireballs fan and very superstitious, and while not everyone knows about Brooks’ secret, she does and she is going to stop him at all costs.
This book was soo funny, so sweet and they were scorching hot when they gave into each other!!! I loved seeing everyone from the previous books, plus new intros to some of players on the team. Not only do we get a love story, but we get a mascot competition, the most adorable cussing puppy, funny shenanigans, the camaraderie of the team, and Cooper Rock!!!! I can’t wait to get more from this world.
With this book, Pippa Grant proves to me that I can indeed swoon while laughing so hard I’m tearing up. This book has it all- the laughs, the heart, the LOVE. And quite possibly, the cutest puppy with the best talking collar this side of the Atlantic.
In this book, Mackenzie, the most superstitious super fan of the Cooper Valley Fireballs tries to stop Brooks Elliot from getting intimate because apparently, it’s that specific stat of his that makes him a baseball legend. When he’s traded to the Fireballs, she needs him to win so he can’t score off the field. But by blocking his off-the-field scoring, she realizes that he may be more than just a baseball legend.
These two- a perfect mix of weird but lovable. I laughed so hard at some of their antics. Their awkwardness knows no bounds but each time, even as I cringed a little, my heart burst in adoration because I loved them so much. And then, throw in the family (I need to reread Stud in the Stacks and Hero and the Hacktivist) and some welcome visits from our favorite hockey team (I may have fangirled through the book) and this one is definitely one of my favorites, if not THE favorite book I’ve ever read from Pippa Grant. I look forward to the next installment in this wacky but perfect world of the Copper Valley Fireballs. I received an early copy of this book.
If you’ve read previous Pippa Grant novels, then you probably have met Mackenzie and Brooks before. Brooks the famous baseball-playing brother of Parker (from Stud in the Stack), and Mackenzie is the superstitious baseball-fan best friend of Sarah from America’s Geekheart. So when Brooks gets traded to the Copper Valley Thrusters, Mackenzie does whatever she has to do to keep his hitting streak alive, even when that means resisting their chemistry and keeping things platonic.
Once again, Pippa Grant writes us characters with so many layers and sides that they try to hide from others (aside from Beck, who is a totally open book). Brooks and Mackenzie complement each other so well, and they make each other whole. But this is not just an emotional book, it is also filled with absolutely hilarious situations that make you smile. I mean, who hasn’t wondered what it’s like to wear one of those giant-headed mascot suits? Well, thanks to Pippa and Mackenzie, we all now have an idea.
As usual, a fun, laugh-out-loud, romantic romp with lots of heart and humor. Pippa Grant is a rom-com master that walks the line of hilarious and outrageous, and often crosses that line into over-the-top, but only the best possible way. If you want to read a romance novel and have great laugh (un-ironically), this is the book for you.
When I was a teen (long before Kindles and other e-readers), when I read a book that I absolutely adored, I would carry it around with me for days, even sleep with it under my pillow, in some sappy attempt to keep it in my heart. I would read my favorite passages over and over again. This beautiful, heart-wrenching, HILARIOUS story brought back those memories and made me long for that connection with a physical book. After all, it’s not as easy to flip around in a Kindle, nor is it comfy under my pillow. As a huge baseball fan myself, I have loved Mackenzie and Brooks since I first met them, and I was beside myself when I saw that their HEAs would be together. And I’m excited to say that Ms. Grant absolutely does the two of them justice. This story seeped right into my heart and is now firmly lodged there forever. Please don’t tell Zeus, but Brooks is now my favorite hero in the Pippaverse.
Home is where the heart is. Or at least that’s what the saying is. Well suppose your heart doesn’t know where it’s supposed to be? Suppose your heart is in one place while you’re in another, suppose you think you know what you want or at least you thought you did. Suppose all the things you thought you knew to be true and reliable turn out to be not. Suppose what you thought to be the most important thing in your life turns out it’s something else….then what? Yup there’s a lot going on in this here little jam packed book and that’s just for starters.
Brooks Elliott, the swoony, virgin baseball player is sent to The Fireballs to help the team regain it’s onetime fame. Problem is Brooks doesn’t want to be there. His home is New York, always has been, always will be. Enter Mackenzie Montana, Superfan to the nth power. She’s determined Brooks will deliver no matter the cost. Mackenzie is not only THEE superfan. She is THEE most superstitious person you may ever know. We all know at least one. Heck you may be the one, I may be the one. We all have our quirks. I guarantee you no one has quirks like Mackenzie. The question is why do we have them and why do we believe in them? There is so much to unpack in this story. So much joy and deep feeling in this book. All the while you will be laughing, smiling, tearing up and rooting for these two quirky, feeling people. There’s a saying, “many a truth is said in jest”. Well I’m hear to confirm that while you’re enjoying this delightful slice of life there is a lot of truth. You may end up asking yourself why you do your little rituals, what do you hope to accomplish and in the end do they really make a difference? Maybe we all want to make a difference in our own way. Maybe we all want to contribute something. Maybe the most important thing in life is standing right in front of you and you didn’t know what you really wanted all along. Maybe a home isn’t a house or a place. Maybe home is in your heart wherever it is at the time. Maybe Coco Puffs is more than just a cereal. I know I put out a lot of maybes and suppositions to think about. I suppose you should do yourself a favor and read this endearing book…maybe? Nah, not maybe, Definitely!