Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: The Jock Script
SERIES: The Script Club Book 3
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
NARRATOR: Alexander Cendese
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 5 hours and 54 minutes
RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2021
BLURB:
The nerd, the coach, and the hookup…
Asher – Swipe left, swipe left, swipe left. Sure, the idea of a quick, no-strings intimate rendezvous via hookup app sounds oddly thrilling, but it’s simply not me. Or maybe it is me, because it happened…and I liked it. Until I realized he looked familiar for a reason. A bad reason. Now I’ve made a faux pas with the sexiest man on planet Earth, and my internal karma system requires me to fix it. Help!
Blake – I may seem like I have it together, but the truth is, I’m a hot mess. I’m so deep in the closet that I can’t remember my real name some days. That’s okay. The benefit of one-night stands is anonymity. Until Asher. Not a total surprise. I’ve always had a thing for geeks, but I’ve never met anyone like him. He’s a pint-sized dynamo on a quest for perfection who can help me come out…if I follow his script.
Hmm. I’m in.
The Jock Script is an MM bisexual, geek/jock romance starring a bowtie wearing nerd, a sexy lacrosse coach, and a shenanigan inducing script!
REVIEW:
The Jock Script, the third book in Lane Hayes’ The Script Club series, delivers another light, sweet, adorable romance. Some inevitable comparison to the first two books is unavoidable, particularly since the whole series is built on the nerd/jock trope. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or intention, but all three books also involve the jock having a bisexual awakening/coming out.
Ms. Hayes certainly gave herself a challenge by creating a series premise that causes each book to be substantially similar. However, for the most part, she has been successful in creating distinct stories for each couple despite the similarities. Asher and Blake’s relationship is the most different of the three, partially because it does not involve the brother’s best friend trope (the first two did). But also because Asher is the geekiest of the friends’ group, his juxtaposition with total opposite, lacrosse coach Blake, stands out more prominently.
Overall, this sweet, low-angst, humorous story provides great entertainment through the romance of a quirky yet charming couple. I struggled with Asher’s character, though. I couldn’t quite get a handle on him. He was at times uber-confident, smart and secure, at heart a kind, well-meaning, and supportive person. But his OCD-tittering came across as almost elitist and obnoxious, especially in the early parts of the book. (As a sidenote, covers rarely negatively impact my enjoyment of a book, but here, the cover did not match, at all, how I pictured Asher. I didn’t find him, as depicted on the cover, to be attractive or cute, but rather snobby with poor fashion sense. As a result, I had to actively work not to picture Asher as that guy. That effort, at minimum, distracted from the story.)
Blake is gorgeous, kind, and well-meaning, albeit a bit lost. He doesn’t know how to be true to himself, frustratingly and excessively suppressing his true thoughts and desires. It’s Blake’s fear of honestly that drives the plot here. Asher’s unapologetic honesty and faithfulness to his true self provide the perfect foil.
On paper, I get why Asher and Blake work despite their pronounced differences, although it wasn’t apparent at first. The journey to that understanding is the most interesting aspect of The Jock Script. I can’t say that I felt much chemistry between Asher and Blake. I did start to see inklings of it later on in the book, though, roughly corresponding to when Asher’s OTT behavior started to tone down.
Alexander Cendese narrates the entire Script Club series, but in The Jock Script, he’s totally in his element. Mr. Cendese’s narration typically carries an energy that makes me wonder if he’s had a Red Bull or two before entering the audio booth. It’s an enthusiastic delivery that is distinctly and uniquely his. It works exceptionally well in the proper context, and The Jock Script is that context. It supports the often frenetic, anxiety-laden, “geeky” stream of consciousness monologuing of Asher and his brilliant, nerdy friends and roommates. Here, his frantic, overexcited portrayal is precisely right for Asher. Mr. Cendese also tends toward the melodramatic, with a heaviness to some of his expressions, particularly his deep laugh which we hear here in Blake’s portrayal. Asher has a snobby artifice to him and he flits and flutters about often hysterically, so the melodramatic narration also highlights that well.
The Jock Script is the weakest entry in The Script Club series from a narrative viewpoint, in my opinion, but it is Mr. Cendese’s strongest vocal performance. His expressive, emotional, fully engaged narration brings this story to life much more than it did on text alone. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook of this light-hearted, no angst book. It’s a fun, sweet read written in Ms. Hayes’s usual carefully crafted prose. If you love the nerd/jock premise, you’ll love this series, and of them, The Jock Script most of all.
RATING: 
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