The End Zone

An innocent girl who climbs the window of her bedroom in a torrential rain to comfort an unknown boy who cries trying to get away from the screams in his house. A hug, a formed friendship and a heart will be lost. Ten years later, these children grew up and remain friends. Now in college, they’re roommates. The lost heart was never returned by the boy. But how to return something that was not even known to have possession?
Jolie or Jojo and Sage are inseparable, they are best friends. He is the college celebrity, the star of the team, the envied quarterback, and a complete success among women. Too much. Jojo is a studious girl, but she does not take any crap. And she watches year after year a horde of women parade with Sage. Jojo loves him, but she never had the courage to declare herself, because she fears to ruin the friendship. A meeting in the hall, a way out of the bath and a lack of towel will make Sage see her as a woman and not as a friend.
From that moment, Sage will try at all costs to have a relationship with Jojo, invested those hard refused by her. That way his only way out will be to invent the lie of the false girlfriend. And these two will find that the line between friendship and love is very tenuous.
The End Zone can be classified as a short story, a novella, without stalling, and shows Sage’s efforts to make Jojo fall in love with him. After the epiphany he had, where he realizes that all this time he was in love with her and did not know, confused this love with the feeling of their friendship, Sage part in a saga to conquer Jojo, knocking down suitors on the way, having to deal with a one night stand that proved to be a complication and with the resistance of Jojo herself who fears that it is more of an attraction on his part than true love.
In the midst of this whirlwind, the couple deliver some hot scenes, showing that attraction exist, now they just need to speak the truth and admit what they feel for each other. A good book, light, romantic without being too corny and cut to the chase.

Note:- This review is of the new and updated version of ‘The End Zone’.

OH. MY. GOD! I take back everything, well almost everything, I said in the last review. I still stand by the ‘fake girlfriend’ angle but I kinda, sorta understand the need for it. Makes sense?

Even though I understand that Shen wanted to keep it as a novella, that does not stop me from making absurd demands (LOL!), such as I would have loved to see these two in a full-length novel because I just know that there is some much more to them and the intensity would have been amazing! Having said that, The End Zone is still as a quick and fun as it was previously but holy moly guacamole, the extended epilogue was just the added bonus I was looking for Sage and Jolie, the missing piece that makes this novella complete.

PLUS!!! A freaking EXTENDED EPILOGUE for Vicious and the news of a new series coming in 2019! Let’s just this girl hasn’t stopped smiling once since she came to know about it and what possibly turned this review from a 3.5 Star to a 4 Star for me, personally.

4 Stars!

Loved it! Sage and Jojo is a great friends to lovers story. I don’t even care that it was short. But hello the extended part with Viscous and Em! Holy crap those books on the kids are going to be ah-mazing!

Five superb stars! Lose yourself in this stunning book and let Sage seduce you with his cocky smile and dirty mouth.

L. J. Shen has done it again! Her talent has not limits. Her creative side is infinite like the stars in the sky, the same amount of stars that deserves this book. Her sassy heroines and alpha males are something else. The End Zone is a wonderful masterpiece. It is a Sports Romance with strong touches of a Friends-to-Lovers-Romance. It is a dangerous and unique mix.

Between the pages of this book you will find a beautiful story about two souls that found each other in the right moment. As children, they shared a special connection that, with time, it will be turned into something deeper. They found friendship. They shared everything. And they will find love. It’s too poetic, isn’t it?

The plot is magnificent and well developed. The pace is fast and the characters are wonderful. Jolie and Sage are complex and singular characters. Their story is fascinating and poetically romantic. They proved me that best friends could step into a romantic relationship despite of the fear of losing friendship.

It’s amazing what a little accident can unleash. “That” made Sage saw his best friend with the intensity of a lover’s eyes. He was more than happy to discover and explore the fierce attraction that was consuming his soul, body and heart.

Sage is a wet dream personified. His athletic body, cocky attitude and dirty mouth make him a dangerous male specimen for the female population. Yes girls! Because of him, your panties will drop instantly. If you don’t believe me, you can always ask Jolie or his creator, aka L.J. “goddess” Shen. Sage is exactly the type of book boyfriend I like; arrogant, with a Greek god body and a gentle soul. I “almost” forgot to mention that the possessive and protective side of Sage had me drooling over him so hard. Because watching Sage as a caveman with Jolie is deliciously entertaining.

Jolie is deliriously lucky. I do envy her. Being Sage’s best friend is like touching constantly a good memory. The kind of memory that makes you feels cherished and loved. That’s how her friendship with Sage feels. She valued her the most. Falling in love for him is not an option she likes at all because of the fear of losing him. However she will taste heaven in his arms. Falling into Sage’s bed will be a sin she will enjoy immensely. The line that keeps her in the friend zone will be erased and like a rose, her passion and love will flourish.

This book pours passion and dedication on the part of L. J. Shen. She NEVER disappoints her readers. She has gifted us an irresistible arrogant football player. Lose yourself in this stunning book and let Sage seduce you with his cocky smile and dirty mouth. Don’t waste more time and grab your copy right now! This is a MUST READ you SHOULDN’T miss! If my words have not convinced you, I will only say that at the end of this book there is a very special surprise for those readers who have read Vicious.

This was a fun, short, sports romance. I love sports romance genre so I was excited to see this on Shen’s list. I wish it was longer but it was a great novella.

Sage is hot football player with the world at his feet but the one things he wants…Jolie.

Jolie has been best friends with Sage for year but what happens when she wants more?

Can the two of these get a happily ever after?

I highly recommend The End Zone. L.J. Shen is one of my favorite authors because she creates great worlds with wonderful characters that are well rounded. I love how her stories ends with a HEA but the journey there is always complex and The End Zone is all of that and more. The End Zone is a little shorter than most of her books but it still told an excellent story of two children who were best friends and turned into lovers. There are twists and turns and one big secret that came out of left field and I for one am glad that it didn’t end Jolie and Sage. There were a lots of heat and chemistry between Sage and Jolie. I have to say that I read so much I don’t always have a book friend but I think Sage could really totally be mine . The End Zone will have you laughing, a little sad, and so many other emotions so be prepared. In other words if you are reading at night next to your spouse and laugh out loud you can potentially wake them which they will not appreciate…true story

The narrators did an excellent with their tone, speed, and emotion they conveyed while telling the story of Jolie and Sage. Their voices were perfect for the characters and there was enough of a difference in how they changed their voices for the different characters. It is important so as not to confuse listeners on who is speaking.

I listened and read parts of the story as I had the ebook and audiobook so am leaving a review for both formats. The ebook had an extended epilogue that I had to laugh and I loved it! so for readers it is definitely worth reading it but if you have the option I would suggest getting both as you can trade off seamlessly. Hope you love the story whether you are reading it or listening to it.

Lots of angst and hotness. All within the short story. The friends-to-lovers trope means that Jolie and Sage already have a solid friendship established. Their story takes them out of that friend zone and into more. I’m not usually a fan of extra epilogues, but that one almost set my headphones ablaze.

3.5 stars

This is a short novella that is hilarious, sexy and is a friends to lovers/fake dating type of story. It wasn’t something that blew my mind away but whenever I read it, I just have the most fun and always have a goofy grin on my face.

Sage is a manwhore and Jolie is horny AF so you can imagine how that all plays out.

Jolie and Sage are great friends and I love how they developed. It was not only hilariously ridiculous, but also full of heart.

I loved the ending and especially the extended epilogue. It was the best and most funny that I’ve read. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Also, in this book there was an extended epilogue for Vicious which I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the book Vicious and to read more from that world just made my day. Give me all the Emilia/Vicious/Vaughn scenes!!! It also sets up for Pretty Reckless, which is a spinoff book to the SOS world. Highly recommend checking it out.

Overall, really enjoyed this short novella and I recommend it whenever you want a quick and hilarious read.

I just put down my last read with the absolute intention of reading the next book in the series. Then I got a FB notification and saw someone asking for the name of a book and the plot they could remember sounded great. And I have been hearing such amazing things about L.J. Shen I figured this was a good way to dip my toe in the water.

I guess I should start by saying I really like her style and I will be reading more of her books soon. I already have half on my TBR thanks to friends recommendations. This story was sweet with the smallest touch of angst. And I really loved the meeting of these two as kids.

Jolie was the perfect new adult heroine. She was scared of being hurt and didn’t want to risk her friendship with Sage and I completely understood where she was coming from every step of the way. Sage needed a solid smack in the head. But I loved him despite his stupidity. It helped that once he realised his heart was involved he wasn’t afraid to go for it.

But the ending was pure romance goodness. I really am going to have to stalk more of this author’s work.

“I love you, I love you, I fucking love you. No matter what happens in my life, you’re the constant thing I can count on. The shelter in the storm, the calm in my chaos”

This is a short story. Sport Romance and friends to lovers, but even though is short it couldn’t be more perfect I love every moment of it.

The chemistry between the main characters is fantastic and sparkling.

I love their friendship, how it began and how it just grew with the passing of the time, and when they finally decided to give it a go and have a relationship I was so thrilled because they are perfect for each other.

It had me swooning because Sage really had the best things to say to make you fall for him.

“The girl got a kiss on the lips from the boy who no longer howled at the moon and cried on a tree. On the forehead. Like friends do. Then he kissed her on the lips, like lovers do. Then he kissed the inside of her wrists, like soulmates do.”