THE DIXON RULE
(Campus Diaries #2)
★★★★☆
BY Elle kennedy
|Synopsis|
Diana Dixon has a lot going on this summer. She’s rehearsing for a ballroom dance competition, juggling two jobs, and dealing with an ex-boyfriend who can’t take the hint it’s over. Yet despite all that, she still has plenty of time and energy to tell Shane Lindley to screw off.
Shane just moved into her apartment building and seems dedicated to sleeping his way through her entire cheerleading squad. Sure, he’s a tall, gorgeous hockey player, but he’s messing with her turf. This calls for some ground rules: no parties in her apartment, leave her teammates alone, and—most importantly—leave her alone.
What Diana doesn’t realize is that Shane’s sick of hookups and tired of being on the rebound after his long-term girlfriend called it quits. He wants a relationship. And when his ex comes back into the picture, he pretends he has one to make her jealous…and who better to play the girlfriend role than his sassy new neighbor?
Despite Diana’s reluctance to break her rule, a fake relationship is the perfect solution for her own ex issues, and soon she can’t deny something is sizzling between her and Shane. Something hot and completely unexpected.
And it might just be getting a little too real.
|Review|
I read The Graham Effect and absolutely loved it. I was so excited to jump back into Briar U hockey with the next generation. When I found out The Dixon Rule was about Gigi’s friend Diana and not another BU legacy I swore I wouldn’t pick it up. I’m so glad I changed my mind and gave Diana and Shane the chance they deserved.
Diana Dixon is a goddamn firecracker. She’s sassy to the max and so quick witted with the best one liners. I loved how ambitious she was and that she could achieve anything she set her mind to. Whether it was cheerleading, dancing, hating on her new intolerable hockey playing man-whore neighbor or even fake dating said neighbor, she went above and beyond.
Shane Lindley was a lovable hockey playing cinnamon roll. After getting dumped during the last book he’s been on a rebound journey that has led him to discover he is a relationship guy. We love a man who knows what he wants. Unfortunately what he seems to want is his ex back. When his ex shows up to stay the weekend and brings her new man, he has to call on the girl next door who hates his guts (and philandering, cheerleading loving di**) for help.
Diana and Lindley were utterly hilarious together. Their banter before they got “together” was amazing and somehow got even better after. They just clicked and had that chemistry. I loved how they supported one another’s interests and really showed up for each other.
There were so many side plots happening as we watched their relationship grow into something real. The amount of stuff that fit into this book was insane, but it never felt forced or rushed. The pacing was perfection and speaking of perfection, the steamy scenes were hot as heck. We got so many of them and each was hotter than the last somehow. I also really enjoyed that there was NO THIRD ACT BREAKUP. Not a spoiler just a sigh of relief for that overused plot device not making an appearance.
Now you’re probably wondering why I only rated this four stars when I sound like I loved it. While this is a pretty good sized romance book, it felt like scenes were missing or cut short. Gigi had a second wedding and we just breeze right through it. Something big happens to Lindley’s family and we just kind of touch on it and move on. Diana has this whole journey with her ex that is too quickly wrapped up at the end and felt unfinished. Since this is already a huge book all of this could have been tossed in I feel like. Oh and for a hockey romance, it was missing some hockey.
The Dixon Rule was a fun romance that touched on some heavy subjects (please check trigger warnings!) that I think were handled quite well. This felt like more than a superficial hockey romance and I loved Lindley and Diana’s relationship. I’m really excited for the next book and it won’t matter who it follows because I’ll still be buying and reading it regardless.
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