From the author of the whip smart and charming Trouble Brewing comes a fast-paced story about a female football coach that will have you laughing out loud and cheering for the home team as you wait for the final whistle of the game.
When Connor McGuire loses out on his dream job of being the head coach of the local high school football team, he thinks life can’t get any worse. Then he discovers just who got the coveted position—it was a handout to the kid of a well-known, successful college coach. Connor’s sure this is just a publicity stunt, but the kid turns out to be not only a sharp strategist, but a driven and sexy young woman, too. Frustrated in more ways than one, Connor realizes that he might have to step up his game or risk losing altogether.
Coach Charlotte “Charlie” Gibb calls a flag on the play when she finds out that her very male, very attractive, but definitely-rooting-for-her-to-lose assistant coach resents her for taking what he considers to be his rightful position. But never one to back down from a little healthy competition, Charlie is determined to prove her worth—both on and off the field.
Baltsar’s “sweet, funny, witty, addictive writing,” (New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young) is not to be missed!
*I received a free copy of Sidelines from Gallery Books via Edelweiss. This has in no way influenced my review which is honest and unbiased.*
3.5 stars
Sidelined was a solid romance, with a strong heroine, and a hero was both an antagonist and a protagonist at the same time. I enjoyed that the gender roles were different in the story, because having a high school football coach who's a woman isn't all that common. And Charlie had to struggle and fight a lot to get the respect she deserved. There was especially a big problem with one player and his dad - and they are the reason why I didn't round up to more than 3.5 stars. Their part of the plot wasn't truly resolved in my opinion. Even if other characters who acted badly because Charlie was a woman got their comeuppance, it wasn't fully satisfactory to me. The banter between Charlie and Connor was really well done - they enjoyed fighting at least as much as they enjoyed making up. And with Charlie having the job Connor had wanted, it was clear from the beginning that they would have a difficult road in front of them. The novel is well written, and the main characters, as well as their friends and family were well fleshed out. Most of Sidelined is from Charlie's perspective, but there are chapters from Connor's point of view as well.
