Heart of a Goon

By: Jahquel J.

Narrated by: Wesleigh Siobhan, Winston James

Zoya:

Ever saw a dead body?

I’ll ask again.

Ever saw a dead body walking among us?

I’ve been dead on the inside since my parents were taken away from me, and I was forced to move out the only home I knew.

Never truly ever knowing love or what it felt like. Always witnessing everyone else have what you wished your heart could do.

Love.

That word love could walk up on me, snatch me up, and I wouldn’t have ever known. Me and that word didn’t exist, and I had come to terms with that when I watched them fighting to save my boyfriend’s life, after my brother nearly took it from him.

Again, love was never meant for me… Zoya Caselli.

Even the big dawg eventually got tired too…

Goon:

There was always love around.

My mother was a single mother to two boys, but there was always enough love to go around. Never being able to leave the house without giving her a kiss on the cheek or saying I love you. Even now, if I hadn’t spoken to her in a few days, she would call to remind me that she loved me.

Physical touch was my love language.

I needed it.

Had to have that shit.

I was Ms. Lawyer’s opposite in every way.

The way she avoided my touch ’cause she knew she would fall off the bones. She was scared to tap into that side of her heart. Shit was rusty because she avoided it at all costs. It was too dangerous for her to feel the love she knew she secretly desired.

Little did she know, I was coming for that heart, love, marriage, and those chocolate babies.

Zoya Caselli was gonna open her heart to me and become Zoya Wraithe.

Word to Sharon.

©2025 Jahquel J. (P)2026 Recorded Books

Love story

Omg! I can’t believe it ended on such a cliff hanger. Can’t wait for the continuation of this series.

Amazing Read

Jacqueul you better be having Goon 1.5 out April 15 leaving us like this lol

HOAG

Such a great read and the audible didn’t let down!!! Crazy cliff hanger at the end too

Just keeps getting better

I think Goon and Zoya are gonna end up my favs in this series. Good story and character development. Cliffhanger 10/10. Can’t wait for the 2nd&3rd installments. The subplots got me so invested. Can’t wait till we get some resolve there as well. I haven’t been this invested in a book series in a while. Chef’s kiss

Emotionally UNWELL but LOVING the ride!

Hearing the narrators read this story takes this book to a completely NEW level!!!! I LOVE me some Goon & Zoya! Jahquel took her time peeling back Boobie and Goo, and I loved that nothing felt rushed or surface-level. It felt like we were getting to know them the way you get to know real people... little by little.

Coming off 10,000 Hours of a Rich Menace and Don Caselli, I KNEW there were so many layers to Zoya. It would've been easy to write Zoya off as closed off, spoiled, or acting out for attention from her older siblings... but this book shuts that narrative all the way down. Instead, it lays the foundation perfectly, showing how that unprocessed grief shaped who she became and why she moves the way she does. Zoya is actually so relatable it hurt. The "strong friend," the one who always looks like she has it together, the one who shuts people out before they get the chance to hurt her, the one smiling through high-functioning depression and just trying to survive life the best way she knows how. At some point, 1 realized I was seeing pieces of myself in her, and that's when the story really locked me in.

And Goo...my goodness. The patience. The reassurance. The emotional & mental awareness. The family man!!! The way he shows up for Zoya without trying to fix her or run when things get heavy? That man loves ALL of her. Flaws & all. One slight shift in her tone and he's dropping everything to be there for her. No matter the distance. No fear, no ego, just consistency. I also love his relationship with Menace. I can see that forming into something beautiful

Now THAT ENDING??? My mouth is still on the floor. I absolutely did not see it coming. At all. I finished the book knowing Book 2 is about to be messy, emotional, and probably painful....let me prepare myself chileeee!