Inner Circle by Evelyn Lozada

I’m a big fan of sports, reality shows, and novels. So when I was asked to review Inner Circle, the first novel in The Wives Association series written by Evelyn Lozada, I was obviously sold. Lozada is currently married to NFL star Chad Ochocinco, and her books (co-authored by Courtney Parker) are loosely based on her knowledge of what it is like to be an athlete’s wife. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but as someone who constantly says she is in love with men such Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Donald Driver (GB fan- can you tell?) I was curious to get the inside scoop on the ladies with these men we see on TV.
Well, I’ll say this – after reading Inner Circle, I don’t think I would ever want to date an athlete. They do not come across attractive (in the non-physical sense at least) in any way. It’s hard for me to think of men such as Drew Brees or Tom Brady treating their wives this way, but a disturbing pattern was to be found. Now to the story – the main character is Eve Inez, wife of Chase Landon, the super-star wide receiver for the Los Angeles Leopard’s. Eve is insistent on keeping her independence, which means sticking with her job as a sports agent and not letting her just be Mrs. Chase Landon. When her BFF Amber finds out her husband had an affair and knocked up their chef, Eve decides to form The Wives Association. Wives of famous athletes will band together to protect each other, should their men ever try to leave them and cut off their swanky lifestyle they have grown accustomed to. While Eve pours herself into protecting her friends, she doesn’t realize that her own best friend has been keeping a secret from her – one that will threaten Eve’s own marriage and happiness.
Overall, I really did enjoy Inner Circle. I’ve been browsing through some reviews on Amazon, and there were many that disliked the book and were pretty vocal about it. I liked the behind the scenes look, even if it did make me a bit scared of athletes now. I thought the writing was good, a little slow and repetitive at times, but I thought it was juicy enough to make me okay with those lows. There was a bit too much “beating bitch’s asses” for my like, that got old really fast to me. But the ending really had me on my toes, and I sped through the last few chapters at lightning speed. I loved the cliff-hanger ending! It made me definitely interested in reading the second book. If you are a sports fan or know Lozada from reality TV, I think this one should be on your list. I will say there is a lot of what some are calling “hood language” and a handful of extremely explicit sex scenes sprinkled throughout. Looking forward to this series!
[Rating: 4]