It’s time for Birdie Bookworm’s first buddy review!

I’m so excited to welcome my friend Angie Elle, from Books & Beauty Are My Bag, to Birdie Bookworm.  We’ve been friends for a long time, bouncing ideas off each other, helping each other destress.  I don’t know what I would do without our daily conversations.

We recently did a joint review of A List of Cages on BaBAMB, which you should pop over to her amazing blog and read, and today we’re discussing Good Boy by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy!

Welcome to Birdie Bookworm, Angie Elle!

*Discussion reviews may contain mild spoilers.  Beware!

WAGs #1
NA Contemporary Romance
January 31, 2017

Birdie: Let’s just dive right in.  How did you feel about Good Boy?

Angie Elle: Ok – can I just say how taken aback I was at my love for this book? I mean, I liked Blake a lot more than I thought I would when I read Us. (Based on the blurb, I thought he was going to be annoying; he wasn’t.) But I have to be honest, it was hard for me to think I could enjoy an entire book about him. But man – this big oaf won me over! On like…page 2.

Birdie: No freaking kidding!  I actually loved him in Us.  I loved how he was with Wes, and the how he handled Wes coming out.  He always had such a big heart.  I was more nervous because of Jess.  I wasn’t sure I’d like a book about her.  She was the half of Good Boy that I thought I’d struggle connecting with.  I’m THRILLED to say that I ended up loving this book.

Angie Elle: Jess took a little longer to win me over. I guess, after how supportive her family was of Jamie and everything he did, it was hard to see how she could be so worried about how they’d be unsupportive. But I guess when you feel like a failure, maybe you assume other people see you that way as well?

Birdie: For sure.  I think that was a matter of how she saw herself.  She was ashamed of being the ‘flake’.  I understood that.  My issue with Jess was that in the first half I thought she was mean to Blake.  Is he going to win a nobel prize, no.  But his compassion and kindness blew everyone else away (even more than Jamie & Wes, I thought).  He didn’t deserve her disdain.  It was pissing me off.  She won me over in the second half though.  Especially how she was with Blake’s family.

Angie Elle: I agree with that to a certain extent, but I think her disdain was mostly at herself, and she took it out on him. Which really isn’t any better, but it makes it easier to forgive her for it. I think she was so caught up in expectations, and Blake was a playboy who wasn’t so sharp sometimes, and I think she was afraid of being disappointing yet again. I adored him for how compassionate he was.

Birdie: You’re right.  That is exactly where her need to keep him at bay came from.  And I will say that I loved that she acknowledged how wrong she was about him.  I think it showed a real maturity.

Angie Elle: Blake’s mother – the woman was a hoot! I love how she was such a champion for her son and his team. Blake’s ex-girlfriend on the other hand…ugh. Don’t even get me started on her.

Birdie: Oh man, she was awful.  It’s hard not to go into it more, so let’s just say that she started awful way back when, and she rode that awful all the way to the end of this book.  I hated her.  I did love Blake’s mom.  I loved her big loud voice, and the earplugs and bone crushing hugs.  I could clearly see her Amazonian booming personality.

BOOM… hee hee… I loved that, btw.  I loved ‘Boom’ as a euphemism for orgasm.  It was so… Blake.

Angie Elle: Good gravy, yes. ‘BOOM’ kept me roaring.

I did love the little twist with how Jess won her roommate over. To think, bonding over hockey can be a friendship maker.

Birdie: I thought it was hilarious.  It wasn’t even just the roommate either, it was also at the hospital.  Canadian love of Hockey is an ice breaker.  I mean, in a roundabout way, didn’t we bond over hockey?  In book form?  😀

Angie Elle: Technically I think we bonded over gladiator style coercion, which sounds terrible when I say it out loud, but that’s Captive Prince for you. But hockey strengthened that bond, for sure!

I thought it was adorable how sensitive Blake was. He’s such a brute of a man physically, and I just love the offset of him being such a softie on the inside. And this was a man who was not inclined to give up! I loved every part of him, especially his ‘P.S. We’re dating’ approach with Jess.

Birdie: Oh man, I loved that too.  Especially because I didn’t feel like it was mean, or controlling.  He was giving her a playful nudge.   I love that Blake is this giant man who should be macho and rough, but he isn’t.  He’s so tender and sweet.  From page one he was putting everyone else ahead of himself.  He’s definitely one of my favorite romance characters ever.

Angie Elle: Also – shout out to the WAGs in this book. I’m so glad they were welcoming. I was afraid there might be some unnecessary drama, but these were women (and Jamie) who just loved their men and their booze. They were a fun bunch.

Birdie: I loved the Welcome Package.  I was cracking up every time Jamie would say, “I got one of those”.  It was really cute.  It’s funny that I didn’t realize when I started what WAGs as the series name meant.  Now that I know, I’m even more excited about the future books.

And not only because I’m hoping for more Jamie & Wes… and Blake.  I love Blakey.

Angie Elle: Yeah, Blake is a keeper for sure!

Birdie: Excellent read, and definitely a series that I’ll be eagerly anticipating.  Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen together make romance gold.  I’m a fan.

Angie Elle: They really do, and man am I hankering to know who writes what. I can’t wait for Eriksson’s book!

BaBAMB! I think we’re done. 😉

Birdie: BaBAMB!

A giant thank you to the authors, who provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.