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Cox
'Sexy and fun, this addictive book will keep a smile on your face all day. Jilly Cooper in a boat - oar-some!' Fabulous Magazine'This fun, steamy story is a perfect read in the lead up to the Games' Closer'Just the right amount of posh and sex to make it a worthy bonkbuster... if you love Made in Chelsea, you need this in your life' heat
- GenresFiction
546 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 5, 2012
1 person is currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Kate Lace
22 books18 followersCatherine Lace studied in different all girls schools from there until she left at eighteen. She joined the army, where she served eight years rose to the rank of Staff Captain. In the army, she met and married her husband. When she fell pregnant, the rules of the time meant that she had to leave. With three kids under four and a half, she was invited to help out with a magazine for army wives and she decide to want write.
Co-authored with a fellow army wife, she wrote a non-fiction book "Gumboots and Pearls" as Annie Jones. After it, she decided wrote romance novels. She wrote six Army romance novels as Catherine Jones, she said: "I loved being in the army. I love writing about it. I was in the army for eight years and I had a great time. I hope this is reflected in my books and I hope all my readers enjoy reading them." Her novel "Praise for Sisters in Arms", shortlisted for the 1999 Romantic Novelists' Association's Award. Now she decided change the type of romance novels and started to used the pseudonym of Kate Lace. Her novel "The Chalet Girl" was nominee to Romantic Novel of the Year Award Best.
She was elected the twenty-fourteenth Chairman (2007-2009) of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and she was also the captain of the RNA "University Challenge - The Professionals" team which made it to the final of the 2005 series.
Her husband has left the army and their kids have grown up.
Co-authored with a fellow army wife, she wrote a non-fiction book "Gumboots and Pearls" as Annie Jones. After it, she decided wrote romance novels. She wrote six Army romance novels as Catherine Jones, she said: "I loved being in the army. I love writing about it. I was in the army for eight years and I had a great time. I hope this is reflected in my books and I hope all my readers enjoy reading them." Her novel "Praise for Sisters in Arms", shortlisted for the 1999 Romantic Novelists' Association's Award. Now she decided change the type of romance novels and started to used the pseudonym of Kate Lace. Her novel "The Chalet Girl" was nominee to Romantic Novel of the Year Award Best.
She was elected the twenty-fourteenth Chairman (2007-2009) of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and she was also the captain of the RNA "University Challenge - The Professionals" team which made it to the final of the 2005 series.
Her husband has left the army and their kids have grown up.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 19, 2013
The blurb describes this as 'sex, intrigue and nailbiting rivalry set in the glamorous world of rowing in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic games,' immediately putting it up for comparison with Jilly Cooper's Riders. And yes, it has all the prerequisites to be a 'Jilly Cooper on water' bonkbuster: a swaggering badboy and a brooding hero locked in a bitter feud, a good-but-fun heroine and her dippy best mate, a cast of toffs and totty, and plenty of sex. But whereas Jilly would have done all this with her tongue-in-cheek humour, witty characterisations and madcap plotting, Cox felt flat and empty, a fluffy chick-lit rather than a romping bonkbuster. It borrows heavily from Riders, but falls very short. Disappointing.
March 25, 2016
Lets be honest about this, I would never normally read this kind of book but I saw it in Poundland, and I am a child so the title made me giggle, so I thought what the hell! Once I had bought it to show to my work colleagues I thought I might as well read it because I have respect for books in general and why not expand my literary horizons? Also, I rather naively thought how bad could it be?
Firstly let me tell you what was right about this book, because despite the low rating there were some things that I liked. The descriptions centred around the rowing; either the author is a rower, or has spent time with them, or she did some stellar research, because the rowing parts are the most evocative parts of the book. There were some really good descriptions and interesting information about rowing. From a purely practical standpoint, it was easy to read and the chapters were short but not too short.
Now for the bad bits… firstly the sex; either the author has never had sex or… well, I’m struggling to think of another explanation because damn it was bad! The woman all just orgasm from penetration with zero foreplay, it’s really short and ends in pretty much simultaneous orgasms every time, it’s in public a lot of the time. It’s just the least convincing thing ever and it’s written as though the author is embarrassed and wants to get it over with as quickly as possible.
The characters are massive cliches, all of them, right down to the protagonist who’s not-like-other-girls and is an Olympic standard cox without ever trying, as well as being beautiful but she doesn’t know it and is astounded when all these super hot men come on to her. Also she’s described as being curvy by all the other characters despite her weight being given as eight stone. Yeah, damn, what a chubster! The men do not escape either, they’re all gorgeous Adonis’ who can make girls come just from looking at them and are described as literally dark and handsome or blonde and handsome - end of description.
The absolute worse thing though was that the entire story fitted around the premise that an adult woman genuinely believed the only plausible explanation for being sick was food poisoning and not say a stomach bug. Seriously she can’t tell the coach that she’s sick because then he’ll know she broke the rules by eating ice cream outside the compound, so instead she fucks up her shot at the Olympics by providing no explanation for her lacklustre performance, instead of just saying she has a stomach bug like a normal human would. Also all the will-they-won’t-they stuff was so tedious and ridiculous. I do not believe any two people would be capable of that level of inability to talk to each other and instead just assuming they know what’s going on and getting it wrong every damn time.
And can we talk about the creepy rape-y vibe from Rollo (but it’s totally okay because he’s hot) and all the spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors which were so numerous there was one on almost every page?
Yeah, this was not my kind of book.
Firstly let me tell you what was right about this book, because despite the low rating there were some things that I liked. The descriptions centred around the rowing; either the author is a rower, or has spent time with them, or she did some stellar research, because the rowing parts are the most evocative parts of the book. There were some really good descriptions and interesting information about rowing. From a purely practical standpoint, it was easy to read and the chapters were short but not too short.
Now for the bad bits… firstly the sex; either the author has never had sex or… well, I’m struggling to think of another explanation because damn it was bad! The woman all just orgasm from penetration with zero foreplay, it’s really short and ends in pretty much simultaneous orgasms every time, it’s in public a lot of the time. It’s just the least convincing thing ever and it’s written as though the author is embarrassed and wants to get it over with as quickly as possible.
The characters are massive cliches, all of them, right down to the protagonist who’s not-like-other-girls and is an Olympic standard cox without ever trying, as well as being beautiful but she doesn’t know it and is astounded when all these super hot men come on to her. Also she’s described as being curvy by all the other characters despite her weight being given as eight stone. Yeah, damn, what a chubster! The men do not escape either, they’re all gorgeous Adonis’ who can make girls come just from looking at them and are described as literally dark and handsome or blonde and handsome - end of description.
The absolute worse thing though was that the entire story fitted around the premise that an adult woman genuinely believed the only plausible explanation for being sick was food poisoning and not say a stomach bug. Seriously she can’t tell the coach that she’s sick because then he’ll know she broke the rules by eating ice cream outside the compound, so instead she fucks up her shot at the Olympics by providing no explanation for her lacklustre performance, instead of just saying she has a stomach bug like a normal human would. Also all the will-they-won’t-they stuff was so tedious and ridiculous. I do not believe any two people would be capable of that level of inability to talk to each other and instead just assuming they know what’s going on and getting it wrong every damn time.
And can we talk about the creepy rape-y vibe from Rollo (but it’s totally okay because he’s hot) and all the spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors which were so numerous there was one on almost every page?
Yeah, this was not my kind of book.
May 28, 2019
Terrible book. The characters are extremely sexist and have no ethical framework they adhere to. I do not want people to treat eachother the way the characters of this book do.
Also, rowing scenes are not realistic.
Also, rowing scenes are not realistic.
August 4, 2012
I really enjoyed this novel. Of all the sports I watch from my sofa of sloth, rowing is one of my favourites, so i was really looking forward to this. Love and rivalry with a setting among likeable young characters (yes, even the worst of them in the end) who just happen to be elite athletes who drive themselves to win. With its excellent research and authentic feel it is great reading for the Olympic season. Warm, funny and sexy, with lots of dramatic twists and turns before a happy ending.
May 30, 2018
Loved it
Couldn't put it down... What an emotional roller coaster!
Took me back to the Olympic fever of 2012 - perfect holiday read.
Couldn't put it down... What an emotional roller coaster!
Took me back to the Olympic fever of 2012 - perfect holiday read.
August 13, 2012
Cox is very relevant as the characters are preparing for the biggest race of their life, similarly to how the GB rowing team and the other rowing teams would have been preparing for the race of their life at the Olympics. Cox is a perfect accompaniment to the Olympics, which at the moment is hard not to get caught up in the excitement of it all! So if you’ve been glued to the TV watching the Olympics and cheering on your favourite team to win bronze, silver or gold, then tear your eyes away from the action for a bit to concentrate on this thrilling novel!
The story focuses on three main characters – Dan, Rollo and Amy. Dan and Rollo are desperate to row in the Olympics and are big rivals, and when physiotherapist Amy comes along, there is an instant attraction and rowing is the last thing on their minds.
The characters are brilliantly written, I was really rooting for Dan throughout the book, I desperately wanted him to achieve his dream of rowing in the Olympics and to come out on top, and I enjoyed reading about Amy too. At times I absolutely hated Rollo, but Kate Lace is a very talented author to be able to create characters that can stir up such a range of emotions in you whilst reading a story!
When I first started Cox, I knew nothing of sports, but after reading it I learned so much more about rowing and coxing. Cox is fast paced and exciting with an excellent plot line. The story is sexy, with lots of testosterone and some very well written scenes, if you like a good bonkbuster then this is the book for you.
The story focuses on three main characters – Dan, Rollo and Amy. Dan and Rollo are desperate to row in the Olympics and are big rivals, and when physiotherapist Amy comes along, there is an instant attraction and rowing is the last thing on their minds.
The characters are brilliantly written, I was really rooting for Dan throughout the book, I desperately wanted him to achieve his dream of rowing in the Olympics and to come out on top, and I enjoyed reading about Amy too. At times I absolutely hated Rollo, but Kate Lace is a very talented author to be able to create characters that can stir up such a range of emotions in you whilst reading a story!
When I first started Cox, I knew nothing of sports, but after reading it I learned so much more about rowing and coxing. Cox is fast paced and exciting with an excellent plot line. The story is sexy, with lots of testosterone and some very well written scenes, if you like a good bonkbuster then this is the book for you.
July 6, 2012
This is the first of Kate Lace's books that I've read and I loved the pace of this novel. Amy, a newly qualified physio starts working evenings voluntarily at the Oxford St George's college boat club and she gets to do occasionally coxing as a result. Soon she is falling for brooding Dan, but also the charm of Rollo.
This is a great story that takes you along with the training hopes of the rowers wanting to make it to the top of their game. There's testosterone aplenty as team mates struggle to get on and where does it all leave Amy? A fantastic read, particularly over this summer of sport.
This is a great story that takes you along with the training hopes of the rowers wanting to make it to the top of their game. There's testosterone aplenty as team mates struggle to get on and where does it all leave Amy? A fantastic read, particularly over this summer of sport.
July 13, 2012
Great contemporary fun read in between heavier material. It's a feelgood romp with some sexual content - on the same page as Jilly Cooper but a bit lighter. It wouldn't be my usual fare, but sometimes one needs a palate cleaner to lift one out of the heavy reading blahs and that's when I turn to Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Cruisie and now Kate Lace. It probably also helps that I attend a gym at a rowing course and quite often see scenes such as the cover when working out on a Saturday morning! Good fun.
May 26, 2022
A charming tale chronicling the sporting prowess, lives and loves of the main characters. It is easy to draw comparisons to Jilly Cooper's "Riders", due to the physical attributes and backgrounds of the male lead characters (Dan - Jake, Rollo - Rupert), but this is a great tale on it's own merit and the characters are highly enjoyable.
It made me want to take a trip to Henley!
It made me want to take a trip to Henley!
August 3, 2012
A great page-turner, funny, sexy and wonderful holiday reading... sheer entertainment
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews