The Ex Effect

'The Ex Effect' by Karla Sorensen is a second chance sports romance and Book 2 in the Washington Wolves Series.

🏈 Ashley’s review 🏈

I really enjoy how Karla Sorensen tells a story. She creates likeable characters and weaves in a good dose of humor as well as emotion.

In ‘The Ex Effect’ we get to see two characters who knew each other 10 years ago reconnect and watch as love grows between them. I love that these characters aren’t jerks. It seems common in contemporary romance for at least one of the main characters to be a jerk and the other to have to charm them and win their heart. (Don’t get me wrong, I love that, too.) But that’s not the case here. There’s not a lot of “will they or won’t they” or unnecessary angst, aside from the story’s main conflict.

That being said, Sorensen is also good at creating jerks. Ava’s mom, Abigail = jerk. Ava’s sister, Ashley = jerk. Ava’s dad = maybe a jerk too. I would have liked to see a bit more of the future between Ava and her family. It’s hard to imagine her and Matthew getting past some of the issues, particularly with Abigail and Ashley.

Side note: I was reading this at the same time as another book with a character named Ashley who was not a nice person and started to develop a bit of a complex.

🏈 Blurb 🏈

The headline could write itself:

Matthew Hawkins, star defensive end, comes out of retirement to play for the Washington Wolves.

Which is perfectly fine by Ava Baker—it makes her job as publicist for the team easier.

There’s only two problems. This particular football player was her first crush.

The bigger problem: Matthew Hawkins was once engaged to her older sister.

It’s been ten years since Ava has seen Matthew. He’s bigger, better looking, and best of all—completely single. Despite his history with her sister, the attraction between Ava and Matthew isn’t so one-sided anymore.

It’s hot enough to burn down the entire city of Seattle.

But this headline is far more complicated to write. And not just for the press or what it means for her family— because once her heart is involved, there’s no predicting the ending.