My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! by Wade Kelly

It’s easy to become cynical when life never goes your way.

Cole Reid has been a social recluse since he was fifteen, when he was outed by his high school baseball team. Since then, his obsessive-compulsive behavior and sarcastic nature have driven away most of the population, and everyone else hates him because he’s gay. As he sees it, he’s bound to repulse any prospective friends, let alone boyfriends, so why bother?

By the time Cole enters college, he’s become an anal-retentive loner — but it’s not a problem until his roommate graduates and the housing department assigns Ellis Montgomery to move in with Cole. Ellis is messy, gorgeous, straight, and worst of all, a jock!

During a school year filled with frat buddies, camping expeditions, and meddling parents, Cole and Ellis develop a friendship that turns Cole’s glass-half-empty outlook on its head. There must be more to Ellis than a fun-loving jock — and maybe Cole’s reawakening libido has rekindled his hope for more than camaraderie.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
After reviewing the third book in the series, Back Off! That's my Jock, I decided I better start from the beginning.

Wade Kelly's writing style is humor-based, sometimes coming off as bit over-the-top or juvenile 'boy.' But more often than not, it's more witty or geeky in nature. I'm a serious person, and I find the levity to be a nice change of pace. At the same time, there were quite a few heart-squeezing moments that exhibited a wealth of depth that was a good counterbalance to the humor.

Without an athletic bone in my body, I empathized with Cole in a heartbeat. Neurotic by nature and by reaction to past and current events, Cole held himself apart from everyone. He didn't come from a family of huggers, where self-soothing was how you got through the tough times. This translated into everything, because Cole couldn't let go and just be taken care of, and he couldn't imagine anyone wishing to be around him.

After Jonathon, Cole's roommate, graduated, Cole was in need of finding someone else to share his space... in barrels half a soccer team, escorting the new roommate. Ellis was sweet, yet a jock, everything that terrified poor Cole after his past.

Insert angst here. What follows on the subsequent pages is angst – angst about everything, with heavy doses of humor, some lusty action, followed by romance, and some heart-squeezing moments.

Without giving details away, my favorite parts of the story were the kissing. Sap, I am not, but I found these moments to be lovely, even if I wanted to bop Ellis on the back of the head for half the book.

My only issues with the story were the times I felt I was missing something when it came to backstory. I don't know if this connected to another series at one time, or if it was simply info dumpage to fill in the blanks. Ellis's background, the story with his sister and her girlfriend, and other parts, it all felt as if a reader was being caught up on past events they were already privy to, but I had never experienced. So I just went with the flow, trying to digest the information, and hoping I remembered what was necessary.

The switch between moments in the past and the present, also from the main narrator to the few others who had a voice randomly, didn't flow smoothly for me – often times leaving me confused until I reasoned out what time frame I was reading and who was voicing it. Not to be picky, but the Exclamation point and Erica had a falling out during the course of My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap!

None of it was a big deal for me, but I felt I better place it in my review for those of you who might not enjoy it.

Recommended to fans of college-age MM romance, especially those who need light and humorous to escape life's little miseries. I look forward to continuing on in this series.

Also Available in the Jock Series

Book 3
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
Dreamspinner Press

For reviews & more info, check out our Back Off! That’s My Jock post.

Wade Kelly lives and writes in conservative, small-town America on the east coast where it’s not easy to live free and open in one's beliefs. Wade writes passionately about controversial issues and strives to make a difference by making people think. Wade does not have a background in writing or philosophy, but still draws from personal experience to ponder contentious subjects on paper. There is a lot of pain in the world and people need hope. When not writing, she is thinking about writing, and more than likely scribbling ideas on sticky notes in the car while playing “taxi driver” for her three children. She likes snakes, can’t spell, and has a tendency to make people cry.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! (Jock #1) by Wade Kelly to read and review.