Review: Unexpected love
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 30, 2014
I have read about a dozen or more books by Liz Crowe and am always intrigued by her storylines.  I had previously read the 2nd and 3rd books in this soccer series and happy to read about the start of The Black Jack Gentlemen soccer team.Since I’ve read Liz’s Stewart Realty series, I knew that the main character, Jack Gordon, was the person who worked to start this new expansion team in Detroit.  I was happy to read about a few other characters who show up in this book, mainly his brother-in-law, Rafe, who becomes the temporary coach.I’m not that familiar with soccer but could easily follow the game references.  Parker Rollings is a star soccer player and team captain in college.  He has a girlfriend throughout college but is unsure how his life should go.  His parents want him to go to med school and marry the college girlfriend.  He loves soccer so much, that at the last minute, he decides to play pro soccer.Nicolas Garza is a star soccer player in Europe and his ex-wife publicly announces that he is gay.  He had fallen in love with another soccer player and it ended in heartbreak.  He decides to play soccer in the US and he and Parker meet.  They are drawn to each other but Parker just doesn’t want to admit to himself that he could be gay and knows it would make a pro soccer career very difficult.Liz portrays a very difficult time for these two men and how the world can be less than accepting with differences.  While the subject matter may be difficult for some people, the story involves love, family, and sports and I enjoyed the ending.  Liz writes compelling characters and I always look forward to her next book.  (If you haven’t read the Stewart Realty series, beginning with Floor Time, I highly recommend this series, ending with Good Faith.)