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Jackson's Trust
Jackson's Trust
A Fourth Down Novel
Women's Fiction, Romance, Sports
Loveswept
March 8, 2016
Kindle
253
It’s no secret that sports analyst Jackson Gray doesn’t do relationships. What is a secret, however, is the reason why. Jackson’s life is . . . complicated. And it doesn’t help that his current hands-off “friendship” is with the cute-as-hell new sideline reporter he’s assigned to train. Turns out, not only is the woman damn sweet, she also knows as much about football as he does. Like it or not though, Jackson has to remind himself that sex is the only thing he has to offer . . . until now.
Leila Hart’s fast-growing friendship with Jackson is something she’d never risk, no matter how unbelievably seductive the reward. Becoming an NFL sportscaster has always been the goal, and thanks to Jackson’s fierce support and mentoring, it all finally seems within reach. Problem is, a girl can only take so much of that sexy-as-sin voice whispering dirty, filthy football stats in her ear before she loses all self-control. A workplace romance with Jackson is a disaster waiting to happen, especially for someone with big dreams . . . and secrets of her own.
Fourth and goal with the ball on the one yard line…
Here’s a little tidbit about myself, I’m a huge football fan; especially if my Wisconsin Badgers or Green Bay Packers are playing. So you can imagine my delight to read the synopsis for a story about a sports analyst and sideline reporter. I couldn’t wait to see this unique story line play out.
How many times can each lead character describe how irresistibly hot, sexy, and good-looking the other lead character is? Jackson, the gorgeous, nice guy sports analyst, and Leila, the girl next door sports reporter, were going for some kind of record. I understand wanting to convey an initial attraction and establishing the fact that both are hotties, but it really seemed too much to me. In fact it got to the point where I was ready to throw a penalty flag for excessive fawning. (I couldn’t resist the use of sports metaphors in this review)
Luckily, Jackson’s Trust changed the momentum with an interception. It’s really an interesting premise, the development of a relationship between a sports analyst and reporter, both of who have secret lives. The football talk and insider details are all very realistic. Once I got past the initial, over-the-top fawning the characters were quite interesting and likable. The chemistry between Jackson and Leila, with their flirtatious banter, continues to heat up the pages and at a few points I wondered if my Kindle might overheat during the adult scenes. Also, the addition of Jackson’s buddies was great and I could see Violet using them as other leads in her series.
Just when I thought Jackson’s Trust was going to score it got stopped at the goal line. A major event occured and instead of working the details and background information into the actually plot line this information gets explained after the fact by a few of the characters. It made for weird breaks in the flow of the story and left me feeling unfulfilled and jilted knowing there could have been so much more to this story.
All in all, Jackson’s Trust is not a bad read. I think I’m being harder on it because I see it having so much more potential. Violet has an easy to read writing style, great characters (once I got past the initially gushing part) and the start to a super story that just didn’t quite get that final push in the fourth quarter to score. But, I’ll still check out the next book in the series and hope this one “plays” a little better. 
You can find out more about Violet Duke and her other works at www.violetduke.com or on Facebook at Author Violet Duke.
Tanya’s love for books has been a lifelong passion that she likes sharing with others. Reading is also the thing that relaxes her after a day of juggling the many responsibilities that come with being being wife to an amazing man, mother to four great kids spread around the world, business manager, and farm hand on their place in southwest Missouri; home to Akaushi cattle and a menagerie of pygmy goats, horses, chickens, dogs and cats.
