e-Audio, 07:12:59
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus & Lori Prince
Release Date: June 7, 2022
Published by: OrangeSky Audio
Read from: July 24-26, 2022
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Homophobia, Mention of abortion/miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Alcohol, Toxic friendship
For Readers Interested In: Realistic Fiction, Contemporary Romance, LGBTQ+, Cover Love, Sports, For WorkIn this sweet and funny new f/f romance from the author of Cool for the Summer, a cheerleader and the school’s newest quarterback are playing to win, but might lose their hearts in the process.
Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team has been killed in a car accident. For both the team and the squad, watching Robbie get replaced by newcomer Jack Walsh is brutal. And when it turns out Jack is actually short for Jaclyn, all hell breaks loose.
The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.
Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can’t stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.
Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what – or who – you truly want.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I have to admit, this took me a little while to read because I haven’t had much luck with other Dahlia Adler titles. But still, the description of this book was too much for me to pass up. And of course, there’s the freaking fact that Natalie Naudus was the narrator. By then I knew I didn’t have to just read it, but I had to LISTEN to it.
This book was everything I wasn’t expecting. It’s a lot heavier than I was expecting. Especially since the cover is so sweet. But man, this book was filled with so much heavy convos. Homophobia, misogyny, mention of abortion & miscarriage, and more. And although these topics are super heavy, they are handled as best they could be in this story. It made me hate everyone in this book besides the two main characters. It stressed me out, but it showed growth for some characters as well.
Now for the good stuff. I LOVED Jack. I really wish I could have jumped into this book and been her number one fan. She was bad ass and I wish I could have seen her on the field. As a real football fan, I had so much fun imagining her out on the field during those times she was on the field. But I hated the way she was treated. After all the things she went through to even get there, she didn’t deserve the things they threw at her. (No pun intended) Then there’s Amber. I liked her, but she was just basic. She didn’t spark anything in me and I don’t think I would have cared about her if Jack didn’t fall for her. (Especially when she had this friend who acted the way she did. There’s no way I would have kept her around. And then on top of that she was the world’s biggest hypocrite. So yeahhhh, she was not my favorite.)
This brings me to the best part of this book. The romance. I think it was because of Jack, but I liked seeing the two of them grow together. I hated that they had to hide, but I did understand it. But watching them flirt and grow together was absolutely adorable. But what I loved the most was seeing them do all the high school football-esque things they got to do together, like Amber decorating Jack’s locker, the Lacoste shirt thing, the alligator clips thing. Ughhhh it was very cute lol I wish they could have loved each other out loud tho. Which makes me very happy when I got to the end of the book. It was too short, but I loved to see it.
Again I had another book narrated by Natalie Naudus. I don’t know what to say about her that I haven’t already said. She’s amazing at what she does and she kept me hooked to the book even when I was upset with mostly everyone. Even when I got super scared and didn’t know what was going to happen to them. She didn’t have to work as hard with this one tho, she was accompanied by Lori Prince. I’ve only listened to one other thing by them, but they did an awesome job then too. And they definitely worked well together.
This book is about so much more than what I thought it was going to be about. It stressed me out, it put my emotions through the ringer, and I still loved it. I definitely recommended this one for the thing we’re doing for work. It will give us so much to talk about.
Overall, I give this
(Books to check out after this: She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen)