The C*ck Down the Block (The Cocky Kingmans #1) by Amy Award

What a cute way to begin 2025!

First up, as someone who came up reading romances in the 90’s, one of the things I love about modern romances is how inclusive they are and how well the majority of them deal with consent. The C*ck Down the Block does both of these things! Consent and body positivity are sexy!

Trixie was a really likable character, very sweet and funny but also not a pushover. I’m not a huge fan of the whole virgin trope but the fact that virginity is a patriarchal construct is noted and Trixie is very much in tune with her sexuality and definitely isn’t ‘saving’ herself for some man.

Chris had huge golden retriever energy and I do love a man who falls first and is respectful trying to win the heart of his love interest. Respectful and protective, I kind of wanted him to use violence on some of the assholes who try to bully Trixie but he uses other methods which is more mature so I guess his way was better!

This was lovely, but unfortunately, it’s also completely unrealistic! I wish we lived in a world where the majority of the women around us supported women in bigger bodies and former sex workers, or where sex ‘scandals’ wouldn’t get you cancelled, internet trolls are so easy to ignore, and 4 brothers from the one family could play professional football on the same team! Alas, we don’t!! So you do need to suspend belief with this one but I read to escape the shitshow that is the current world and it did that job perfectly.

“Technically,” I lowered my voice to a near whisper, “he did not put his penis into my vagina. But he did put his fingers and his tongue in, and then his tongue again, and there was that tentacle while I gave him a blow job. That did not taste like I thought it would.”

Oh man. I swallowed too. Did that mean I wasn’t a vegan anymore?

There were also more than a few laughs! 😀

I will absolutely be picking up the rest of the books in this series. Grumpy Declan is next and I might love a golden retriever hero, but grumpy for everyone but the sunshine heroine is my drug of choice!

Synopsis:

Always the nerdy girl, never the girlfriend~
Until her cocky best friend and his *ahem* rooster take charge.

Look, I’ve had it bad for the girl with all the curves next door forever. She turned me down in high school and since I’m not a total douchecanoe, I lusted after her all by myself in my shower, and we stayed just friends for years.

Now she’s the adorkable librarian next door and I’m the star quarterback of the best pro football team in the league.
So when she asks me to be her fake date to her all-girls school reunion I am totally down to show her off to the mean girls who bullied her back then so they can see just how incredible she is.
I’ll be the best boyfriend they’ve ever seen. The best fake boyfriend that is.

Until I find out from her slightly-stalkery classmates that she still has her v-card. I don’t see how that is even possible. Not with how sexy and sweet she is. Could it be because she knows she belongs with me?

This curvy girl and football quarterback sports romance has a baddie plus-size woman who knows her own worth and a Bridgertons-meets-American-Football family you’ll wish you were a part of.