Author: Alex Pietsch
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 160 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: An enjoyable read, for the most part, though I found the story to be underdeveloped.
Reviewed By: Lindsey
Blurb: Chase is used to fighting to survive. Dante is used to fighting in the ring. When a chance meeting brings them together can these two fight their attraction?
Chase is homeless, hungry, and just about broke. While trying to think of a way off the streets he’s attacked by a mugger and things turn ugly fast.
Dante is rich, fit, and dead set on boxing his way to being the next champion. While out for a run he happens to see Chase and can’t help but step in to protect him.
Sparks immediately fly between these two and over time they can’t help but admit their attraction to each other.
But Chase never wanted to fall in love, just wanted some fun while he made enough money to get out of town.
And Dante swore he’d never let himself get distracted from his goal of being champ.
Things only get more complicated – and more steamy – the longer they’re together.
If you like steamy gay romances with lots of emotion and a hint of sports, you’ll love the sweet and sexy journey these two characters go through!
Review: Love Struck is a fairly quick and cute read with likable characters and a decent premise. Told from dual POVs, the reader gets to know both MCs’ present thoughts and personalities pretty well. Chase is adorable, and I really enjoyed when the story was being told from his perspective. Though naïve in relationships, and coming off as innocent, he is self-aware enough to pursue Dante, in his own sweet way.
Now for Dante: He was more conflicted and seemed wishy-washy, always making a decision then changing his mind, then going back again. The internal conflicts he faced were understandable—what he wanted versus what he felt was the right thing to do for Chase.
Though I did get a basic feel for both characters in the present time, the story as a whole, including the romance development, was a little too underdeveloped for me to love it. Both Chase’s and Dante’s backstories are skimmed over, and areas that could have been a little more fleshed out to give both of the characters more depth, weren’t. It was difficult for me get the full picture of the behaviors and their motivations. I mean, I know at some point Dante was homeless, and now is a billionaire, but there wasn’t really much information on the in between, or how he made that much money just from professional boxing. He is fairly young, and I could be wrong, but it would seem to me it would take someone who was already the champion to get that much money from his boxing career, and even then? I don’t know; it just wasn’t working in my head. There were a few other aspects like that, which were left unexplained, and it may have helped me paint a better picture in my head if they hadn’t been.
There is a bit of insta-love. I don’t mind that, but I need something to back it up as the story progresses, and though there is plenty of time that the reader gets to spend in each individuals’ head as they try to figure out their mutual attraction, the two of them don’t really communicate with each other very much as they are falling in love. So, I got a feeling for the characters but not the relationship. I didn’t keep count, but during the week they fell in love, I only recall a handful of actual conversations that took place during that time, and then it all hits the fan.
I think a lot of readers will enjoy this cute little story, as I did, even though it was underdeveloped in areas. I still found myself liking the characters, and the overall premise kept me reading.
You can buy Love Struck: A Gay Romance here:
[zilla_button url=”http://amzn.to/2oFSi01″ style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon US [/zilla_button][zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B01N58VDQ5?d” style=”blue” size=”medium” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon Int’l [/zilla_button]
The Novel Approach Reviews 
Leave a Reply