Penalty Box by Echo Grayce

Genre: Romance, Mystery

Publication Date: May 24, 2022

Rating: 4 stars!

Goodreads Blurb:
**Penalty Box is the prequel to the Straight No Chaser series**

I’m the bad boy who will stain his soul to keep her safe.

She’s a runner.

Always has been…at least, she’s always run from me.

Our history repeats relentlessly.

Longing.

Secret trysts.

Pounding hearts.

Fiery stolen kisses.

Her retreating back.

Now she’s home, hunted by someone sinister.

The lesser of two evils, I’m the unlikely lifeline she reaches for.

Becoming her salvation means plunging my hard-won, respectable life into ruin.

But I’ve never had the strength to turn away from her hold on me.

I’ve always been hers.

She’s always been mine.

Savannah Bryant has run away from me—from us—for the last time.

Review:
This was such a fun little read!

Read if you enjoy:
• Second chance romance
• Small town romance
• Single-mom romance
• Bad boy / good girl romance
• Mystery
• Novellas
• Series starters

Trigger Warnings:
• Child abuse (talked about in the past and alluded to)

What I liked about the book:

1. This novella was short but done right. The problem with novellas usually is you may know the characters’ favorite sex positions, but you don’t know if they’re vegan or if they’re the kind of people to talk during movies. There usually is not much of a personality or backstory attached to the sex gods and goddesses. That was not the case with Penalty Box!

This book clocked in at just over an hour of read time for me, and yet I felt super knowledgeable and connected to the characters. I felt the love, passion, and missed chances from teenaged years in a short number of pages. Great job, Echo Grayce, for getting us to invest in the characters in such a short amount of time.

2. Spin off potential, duh!

I also loved how the main characters that will feature in the next book were kind of bookends in this book. Maisy helped Jackson get Savannah’s attention in the very beginning and Cain helped Jackson through his tough decision. The only way this could have been more bookended is if it was a Maisy and Kyle book, but I have faith we will get a Doctor Kyle book soon!

3. Holy shit! It was chapter 2 and was already talking about child abuse and murder. There was also a Snapped reference further into the story. This was right up my alley.

4. Yay, roller derby and a bunch of badass females! And they’re called Beautifully Brutal. Fantastic!

5. Single mom, bad-boy-turned-sweet-man romance.

I’m a sucker for a bad boy, ESPECIALLY when he turns into a good man!!!! He really takes her daughter’s well-being into account from the very beginning and it’s just so perfect!

6. So many great lines and scenes!

“Monsters didn’t hide in closets or under beds with grotesque faces. They walked upright, wore designer clothes, charmed like a prince, and smiled like the Devil.”

– It’s the pretty ones you gotta watch out for…

__________

“Keys?”

“I can drive,” she bites out with her hands on her hips.

“No doubt, but right now, I need to do something with my hands before I wring your pretty little neck or do something stupid like twisting your fuck me hair into my fist and destroying that rebellious mouth of yours that doesn’t know when to shut the fuck up.”

– Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep, Jackson…

__________

“Nothing on you is just anything, Savannah. It never has been.”

His words sweep away any concerns I had about my mom bod, leaving just the two of us in our very first public display of affection. And suddenly I want more than that. I want to claim.

– Hell yes to the mom bod representation! Rock that shit for the rest of us, little momma!

__________

“You broke me, Savannah. Over and Over, you broke me.” His teeth drag along my earlobe. “You want me to make love to you like this is some fucking fairy tale and I’m Prince Charming? Then you better be ready for my razor-sharp revenge, my jagged edges, and every ounce of hate I’ve harbored for you.”

“You want to hurt me.”

“Every bit as much as you hurt me. Yes, I’m going to squeeze that throat of yours while I fuck you hard and fast, until you’re dazed, barely on the edge of consciousness, and tears stream down your face. I’m going to sprinkle that soft, warm skin with bites that break your skin, tasting every inch of your flesh, marking you, making sure you never forget.” When I thrust forward against my hand, he grabs my wrist and wrenches it behind my back.

“I don’t fucking think so, Princess. You want to get off? You want that pussy to spasm and drip? Then you wait for me, for when I say. And I say right now it’s time to pay your way to redemption.”

__________

What could have been better:

1. I was looking forward to Savannah going all J. Lo from Enough on her husband’s ass, but unfortunately, we didn’t get that.

2. We also didn’t get a typical HEA. It works, and I’m not that mad about it, but still not a typical pretty little ending.

Thanks to my friends at SmutHood Tours and Echo Grayce for the opportunity to hop on this ongoing tour. Every month I’ll be reading and reviewing the next books in this series, so stay tuned to see how it holds up!