REVIEW: Red Zone by Nicole Dykes (Big Bend Bears #1)

- August 31, 2024

RED ZONE

Big Bend Bears - Book One

by Nicole Dykes

Release Date: August 29, 2024

Review

Nicole writes about small towns that feel real - small and insular - but they are ultimately full of hope. She also writes what I refer to as angst adjacent - where you’re constantly on edge for things to go wrong, and though they are emotional, they never really reach full-blown angst. I like it - it pulls me in without completely destroying me.

Colt and Dallas do however bring the drama! Especially Colt who I was ready to give a piece of my mind at first. How dare he!!

But then he gets to know Dallas who you just want to wrap up in a blanket and love him. And I’m so glad Colt saw that too. Dallas needs protecting. Carrying guilt over his sexuality, fearing his parents, and feeling like he destroyed his old coach’s life…he’s a bit of a mess. If it wasn’t for his best friend Benny… and now Colt, he’d been completely alone.

And it’s a bit of a second chance for Colt. Having run away from his small town with small minds he gets to do it again, full of love and family.

Red Zone is a sweet start to our rival town of Big Bend getting its own series.

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Synopsis

Dallas Boone

Welcome to Big Bend—my nightmare and my home, all in one.

I don’t fit in here. I don’t fit in anywhere. I’ve made so many mistakes. Over and over.

Two of those mistakes haunt me. One being responsible for a friend losing his job and reputation in this town.

And two, well, that one is even worse.

I ruined so many lives with one stupid decision I barely even remember.

And now I’m going to pay for it.

Colt Howe

Kensley. A place I never wanted to be again.

But I had to come back home. My sister Chloe needs me, which is more important than escaping the town I grew up in.

I’m here for two reasons and two reasons only: my sister and my nephew.

I’ll make sure my nephew has a better life than I had. That his father is there for him, whether he wants to be or not.

That’s my promise.

I was so damn close to getting out of this town for good. Right in that red zone, I could see the goal, but then I got hit with a force I never saw coming.

And that changed everything.

About Nicole Dykes

Nicole Dykes is a wife and a professional assistant/mom to two gorgeous girls. Currently residing in Kansas, she's a lover of coffee, Kansas City Chiefs, and all things romance. She currently has over 20 published books with her Monroe and Adamson series being the most popular. She enjoys cranking up the angst level, making her readers cry, and turning those tears into the coffee that fuels her writing.

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