Review: The Locker Room

The Locker Room by Meghan Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Note: I received an ARC Audiobook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Another Note: This is the first in the series of Brentwood Baseball, next comes The Dugout, third is The Lineup. My reviews are only out of order because it's based on which book I receive from the author first. So read according to the order mentioned, if you want to understand previous storylines and characters, thanks.

Final Note: The dates I read are only screwed up because I was busy finishing up some waiting arcs, and library books. So yeah.

Let's continue.

The audiobook was pretty good. I won't say great because I had one issue with it, otherwise it was really a good listen, in general.

The cover - Well, I'm always up for something light hearted, yet steamy as hell, especially if I've read/listened to a heavy thriller, or a depressing book in general. So naturally, seeing the cover, I had some very fan fluttering moments.

I won't deny it. The teenager in me was pretty excited, looking at the smoking hot cover.. Hence why I gave it a star.

The narrators, the storyline - Well Rock Engle did a damn good job at bringing out Knox, making me root for him and sympathise at moments, making him come alive in such a strong and thrilling manner..daaaamn me.

Boy did I wish Knox in real life would sound like this, maybe someday this dream of mine will come true heheheheh...till then...I've got my audiolisten haha.

As for Emery, Felicity Munroe was exactly what I imagined. Studious, serious sounding and yet filled with plenty of humor, wit, she was what I wanted to hear, when I pictured Emery's interactions with people she loved, cared for, with her job, with Knox and the contrast between them.

It was perfect.

I was a bit jealous when I heard Felicity's gorgeous voice, and Rock's southern twanged accent in my ears the first time, it was like being in the book directly, and feeling a bit ashamed at hearing their interactions, even the private ones...hehe, sorry Emery and Knox.

So the narrators were pretty terrific and I wished they were the narrators for every audiobook I ever heard...Sigh...this could take a while to recover from..but staaar!

Anyway.

The storyline was pretty intriguing. A studious girl vs the jock guy. I have to admit and so will the other reviewers, if they've read/listened to this novel, that it's been a concept done already. Cliched as hell. But with Meghan Quinn, there's no end to the plot-twists and constant obstacles that come across a character's path.

With her signature style, it's hard to get bored at all. Rather you'd be laughing, crying, cheering, basically going with every emotion your heart holds and is threatening to explode with.

So the storyline was definitely predictable, but with every twist and turn, it was nothing you'd expect just after a few pages/hours. A star for sure.

That I can guarantee.

The romance -Steamy and desperately left me wanting more! Like Emery, girl, I had to salute her for the way she made Knox work for it.

Like total hats off to our girl for making our boy work hard. And plus point. He never gives up. Hehe. Now that's a total scenario worth enjoying for sure. The secret kisses, the accidental touches, the emotional love declarations, the passion, hehe, left me desperately craving more of their steamy interactions, seriously love the author for them. Definitely deserved a star.

The characters - Knox was pretty interesting. He was mature throughout the story and I don't think he needed much development as his personality was already solid and loveable throughout. Muscular, charming, witty, humorous, he had all the classic qualities of a loveable guy.

But emery..god...emery.

I feel like the author forgot to check the potion which had all the ingredients to make her classic, loveable and adorable as fuck heroines at one point.

Like Emery was pretty likeable in the beginning. Vulnerable, studious, witty, and humorous, and great looks obviously, she was already a dream girl, at least in most guys' eyes she would be.

No wonder Knox fell for her. But moving on..

But then reaching the middle/close to the end, she's become a sobbing, weak-hearted and stubborn (way too stubborn) bitch who just forgets that not everything is supposed to revolve around her.

Yes she's trying to help Knox.

Yes she's not trying to break her own heart again.

But she doesn't take risks, she's constantly willing to jump the gun simply because she can't bear to see the results.

That's just it. I did not see any Meghan Quinn magic in her while reaching the epilogue, it's like Emery was facing some personality disorder. She becomes far too disjointed as the listen finishes. I almost was willing to jump away from the book and forget it ever existed. But only two things held me back.

1. Knox baby. Because we couldn't abandon loveable, sweet, caring Knox, now could we?

2. The fact that I loved Carson and his story, so this author in a way had become my favorite.

Otherwise, I was willing to shoot her and proclaim that this novel never existed. Simple.

She was that deranged girl, the blonde dumbass, that I often forgot that she was the same girl I was rooting for in the beginning.

It was that mental switch turned off. I just couldn't wait for her dialogues to be over and start Knox's.

God. I hated her. I really, truly, sincerely hated her, later on. I know I shouldn't be comparing Meghan's previous novels, but I wonder if her beta readers forgot to read or she was tired while writing Emery's parts.

I wonder..

I won't tell you what dumb decisions Emery made, but god they were so worth getting pissed over that I wanted to immediately shoot her and forget this had ever happened.

Really. I did.

But the characters overall weren't so bad to read about. I got to see Carson, Holt, Dottie (not sure that's how you spell) and Lindsey, Coach Disick, Mrs Flowers, Mama G, so many characters I loved, damn. I will never forget them. So yeah that's why I removed a star, for Emery's existence in general.

The overcoming of problems - Really took time but I'm glad they got solved reasonably and with time, care, love and patience, they got their HEA. Definitely important problems I'm glad the author captured in order to show the possible strains on their relationship and then saw them overcome them successfully.

So overall, I'd say this is still a great read, not amazing, but still good enough, if you want something light, with a side of steamy, wit, humor and loveable characters, and storylines in general.

I hope y'all enjoy.

PS: I'm still waiting for Holt's story, damn it. I'm so curious about him and his mystery girl, I really wanna know...

Plus I realize now that audiobooks are really not my thing, unless I travelled for long hours, otherwise they take so long, god.

But yeah enjoy.

Until the next read,

-TMR

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