e-Audio, 09:00:51
Narrated by: Rebekkah Ross & Lee Osorio
Release Date: September 1, 2026
Published by: Simon & Schuster Audio
Read from: August 21-September 3, 2026
Varsity, #2
Source: Audible (I also received an e-ARC of this from Libro FM and the publisher. I also received an ARC of this from the publisher at ALA. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Cursing, Injury/Injury Details
For Readers of: ARC, Audio, Contemporary, DEAR, Sparkly Cover, Most Anticipated, Dual POV, Dual Narrators, Own, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports, YAThe first rule for a drama-free senior year? Don’t fall for the mysterious new football transfer. A swoony young adult romance full of undeniable chemistry and school spirit perfect for fans of Lynn Painter and Friday Night Lights, from the author of Heart Check.
When Sabrina and Tyler meet by accident outside (okay, inside) the football locker rooms, it’s not a big deal. After a rocky summer, Sabrina is focused on leading the Spirit Committee to its best year ever, while Tyler is eager to leave behind the mess from his old school with a second chance playing football as a transfer. Neither is looking for romance.
But as the team’s newest (and most eligible) varsity athlete, Tyler is suddenly the center of attention. And Sabrina is busy dodging Ryan, her longtime flirtationship who is determined to take her to the homecoming dance. Ryan is exactly the kind of chaos Sabrina doesn’t need, so she asks Tyler to go as friends instead. Eager to fend off other unwanted advances, Tyler is happy to accept.
Of course, this was before Sabrina realized Tyler is Ryan’s cousin. But as long as they’re just friends, everything should be fine. Tyler is less willing to ignore the connection he feels toward Sabrina, but he’s also desperate to keep his past buried. When the chemistry between them becomes impossible to deny, can their carefully laid plans survive the fallout, or will secrets and social pressure threaten everything they’ve built?
*MY THOUGHTS*
I knew from the moment this was a football book that I was going to love it. If you don’t know, football is my favorite sport and I loved the first book in this series that was actually a hockey book. That was when I realized I liked Charlotte’s writing. And it still worked really well in this one.
Ok so the characters were still amazing. Don’t get me wrong, Sabrina was still high strung in this one, but not like she was before. In the hockey book she was like super hyper. She was more muted in this book from the thing happening with her parents. This made me so upset. Because that hurt her so much. But try as she might, she tried to hide it from everyone and that upset me too. Because no one could be there for her. And as much as she was there for everyone else, she deserved for someone to be there for her too. I also liked Tyler. He deserved every bit of that second chance too. He was one of the sweetest. All he really wanted was to play ball. Being part of a team almost cost him that. And I’m ngl, that damn “team” pissed me tf off.
The plot of this was so good! There was a great amount of actual football along with the romance. This was like a REAL sports romance. I also wanted to point out the way he persevered after what happened to something off the field. The way he handled that with grace and class was truly something that even adults can’t always do. He was level headed but also scared and was still stressed and scared out on the field. I really admired him. And of course him on the field was impressive too. I loved that he was a guard and not the QB or something that people always use. It was nice to see the OL get some time to shine. But I hated his team. They were wrong af for that and they know it. And he better than me. When in doubt, “sing like a canary.”
The romance was really cute. I loved that Sabrina helped to bring Tyler out of his shell. And I loved that Tyler was able to help reign in Sabrina and let her know that someone would always be there for her, but she had to let them. They really were the cutest and brought out the best in each other. And I mean it was even better because Tyler really was DOWN BAD. LOL He loved that girl from the moment he met her I’m convinced lol
The unexpected thing with this one tho was the amount of times I laughed. I can’t tell you how surprised I was to laugh. And then be laughing out loud. For instance, I had major second hand embarrassment at one point and then she told one of them, “I started talking to him because I wanted you to leave me alone.” lmao There were so many other gems in this book. I had a ton of quotes written down, but I want to use at least one of them in something. But one that I think encompassed this entire book was, “You’re only as good as your last play. And there’s always a chance to redeem yourself.”
I know this is a sequel, but with football season here I hope y’all pick this up! It is well worth the read. There’s a few spoilers for the last couple, but the focus isn’t on them. Just pick it up so I can have someone to talk about it with. Trust me, you need to make this one your number one draft pick.
Overall, I give this
