Review: Disappointing, But Easy Read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2014
Having read "Owning Corey" I must say I was a little disappointed by this effort from Ms. Black.  The overall story is nice (I'm a huge fan of m/m sports-related romance-fiction) and some of the character development is solid (although Beck is never really flushed out, and comes across as an insert-hunky-hero-here character).  However, the other foundational elements of the story are simply lacking.  The pacing and timing is weird and seems off (Ms. Black has her characters starting a college term in the middle of July?!?).  Also, en lieu of giving Beck and Jeremy any personality, she decided to give them EVERY personality!  Both boys come off as schizophrenic, whiny and spineless nymphos (not what one typically thinks of when "collegiate wrestlers" come to mind).  The intimate scenes are lackluster and inconsistent (condoms for the first get-together, but bareback afterwards with no discussion between the characters about it).I hate to be "that guy" and nitpick this book to death.  However, when a books starts to disappoint you, the flaws (no matter how minor) begin to jump out.  Like, for instance, the Labor Day trip.  As a born and bred southerner I can tell you there's no place in Georgia (no matter the altitude) that gets cold enough in August to justify building a fire.  Also, the dialogue seemed all wrong for college aged kids.  Jeremy at times sounds like middle-age housewife.The funny thing for me is that, in direct contrast to "Owning Corey" where I loved the everything but the ending, I disliked everything about "Pinned" but the ending.  The final chapters of this book flow nicely, are well written, and well paced.  My only wish is that the preceding pages had been as good.