Ever since she dipped her toe into a pool, Maggie has been obsessed with being the water. Driven to be one of the best swimmers in her state and country, Maggie is training hard for her final year of high school and her college career as well as a shot at the United States Olympic team.

But in between keeping her grades up and swimming laps, Maggie can’t help but wonder if she’s missing out on something. Namely, dating, guys, relationships and the logistics of making out. As Maggie ponders this situation, she begins to see her best friend and fellow swimmer, Levi in a new light. So Maggie proposes that Levi teach her the basics of making out before she graduates from high school.

What could possibly go wrong?

With Coming Up for Air Miranda Kenneally is at the top of her game. She captures not only Maggie’s drive to compete but also captures her confusion and anxiety at trying to figure out the world of dating and that her feelings for Levi may run deeper than just friendship. Maggie, Levi and the rest of the characters in the story feel realistic and authentic.

Set in a shared universe with several other of Kenneally’s previous novels (there are great Easter eggs for long-time fans), Coming Up for Air did what I didn’t think it could do — top her superlative Run, Annie, Run. It could be that like Maggie, I enjoy swimming (though I’m no where as strong or competitive a swimmer as she is!). It’s nice to see a young adult romance that rings true on every level and doesn’t include supernatural powers or sparkly vampires.

In short, this is a wonderful book by a great author.

A word of warning to parents of young readers. Kenneally’s teenage characters feel, act and talk in authentic ways. This means there is frank conversations about sex and there’s a couple of instances of salty language thrown in as well. But it doesn’t feel gratuitous and is more about world and character building than shock value.

The way Miranda Kenneally has been able to create a series that so accurately depicts a wide range of teenage experiences is truly impressive. The characters in the Hundred Oaks series have reflected so many different values, interests, choices, economic backgrounds, etc. Maggie, the main character in Coming Up for Air, is one of my favorite of Kenneally's characters. Her curiosity about "hooking up" and her frank attitude towards relationships felt very honest and healthy, and while she was a driven, passionate swimmer, her entire attitude just made her seem very likable. It seems like this book might be the finale to the Hundred Oaks series, and if so, it's a good send off.

Maggie and Levi's relationship was too unbelievable it became awkward and uncomfortable. I can't imagine anyone actually asking their best friend to teach them to hook up, no matter their "urges." Especially since there were multiple outside reasons they shouldn't be together. I couldn't take their relationship seriously and I therefore didn't enjoy this book.

I also have problems with adults encouraging kids to have sex. I'm not joking. That happened.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ah, Miranda Kenneally.
How I love you.

Coming Up for Air is undoubtedly my favorite book by her yet- and that's saying something, since I love her books dearly. When I came across this (when I hunted it down and signed up for NetGalley to get access), I couldn't request it fast enough. This book is an excellent read, somehow managing to be light and romantic enough to make me swoon but also tackle incredibly controversial topics. Miranda Kenneally is such a Modern Woman- I can't think of another way to put it. She weaves a story with believable and realistic characters while tackling relevant issues so controversial some people aren't even aware of them. Issues like sex, which, you know, is a pretty big deal.
In the book, Maggie feels pressured and anxious about college- and the boys at college. She feels like she has to have some experience, particularly in the physical area. So she asks her best friend for help and DRAMA ENSUES and ANGST that is ANGSTY. I just love how positive Mrs. Kenneally is about sex in her books. It sends such a healthy message and I absolutely recommend this book, 100%.
It's frank, honest, funny (laughed out loud more than once), and just flat out fantastic, discusses big issues without getting preachy about it, and is just so great and makes my feminist heart happy. :)

4.5 STARS

I received this book form NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed reading this book!

This book follows Maggie as she deals with trying to make the cut for the Olympic tryouts in swimming while also dealing with her changing feelings for her best friend Levi.

First off, I really liked the swimming aspect of this book. It was cool to see Maggie train and to see how swimming affected so much of her life. Her group of swim friends were great, and I thought that Coach Josh was a really good mentor and adult figure.

But by far my favorite part of this book was Maggie's relationship with Levi. I enjoyed it when it was a friendship, but I really love how it slowly blossomed into something more. I thought that the transition was really well done and was well-paced. While they did argue and have things they needed to work out, I appreciated how their relationship didn't totally falter due to the change in what they felt toward one another.

Levi is a wonderful love interest. He was a great best friend and wonderful romantic partner. I loved how courteous he was and how he made sure Maggie was comfortable and happy with everything they did.

The only thing that bothered me was how certain conversations with minor characters sometimes felt very contrived and I felt like they didn't seem natural. While I appreciated the importance of the message these characters brought up, I felt it was unrealistic for someone Maggie isn't really close with to spill his/her guts. And this scenario happened a few times in the book. Although this bothered me when it occurred,it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this book too much.

Overall, this is a really cute, fluffy contemporary book with an adorable relationship and I'd recommend it.

I love Miranda Kenneally and will read anything she writes. The big pluses for this book are it's sex-positivity and the realistic details about life as a swimmer. It's a quick read and I also liked the glimpses into some of our favorite older characters.

This is exactly what I was looking for and hoping it would be - a sweet and funny YA contemporary romance. The characters were relatable and I enjoyed the main characters, Levi and Maggie, as much as the secondary. This is part of the Hundred Oaks series, but can be read as a stand alone.

I think the best part about this book was Maggie. I loved that through it all she stayed true to herself and was very mature for her age. Of course, there is some drama (she is a teenager after all), but overall, she didn't let her dreams and wishes waver even though it was hard emotionally. She had enough faith in herself, friends, and loved ones to know that she could make any decision and know that she was supported. I was impressed at how well the author understood and portrayed the teenage mind - both male and female. Each character was so relatable and even if I didn't agree with their choices, I completely understood why they acted the way that they did. I loved the Friday night dinners that Maggie, Levi, Hunter, and Georgia had and how they all rallied around and supported each other. #squadgoals for sure.

Swimming obviously makes up a huge part of this book and I can see that some readers may find the details a bit much, but honestly, I was completely fascinated by the amount of time, drive, and sacrifice it takes to compete at such an elite level. I felt it was vital to know this information to fully understand Maggie and Levi and the world as they know it. Yes, they're teenagers, but my days and weekends looked nothing like theirs when I was a teen and it helped me understand them better and how their adolescence and high school experience was unique.

This is the first book I have read by the author, but I will definitely be reading the others in this series. I thought the epilogue was nice, but I probably would have gotten more from it had I read the previous books. The author's acknowledgements at the end were heartfelt and truthful, and I hope all her readers will take a moment to read them. Coming Up for Air was a wonderfully sweet romance that left me with a smile on my face and a happy heart.

*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book*

This book was interesting because it’s a teen romance that isn’t really a teen romance at all. Maggie is a swimmer who is working hard to qualify for the Olympics. She is in her senior year of high school and has a close knit group of friends who understand what it really takes to be competitive athletes. Maggie eats, sleeps, and breathes swimming. However, when Maggie begins to wonder if she is missing out on the high school experience, she turn to her best friend Levi for help.

Maggie hasn’t had a relationship during high school and she is worried she is going to be behind when she gets to college. After an awkward encounter with another guy, she turns to Levi. She asks for a friends with benefits relationship to learn how to “hook up”, but how will that affect their relationship as best friends?

Overall, the book does a good job of looking at the lives of athletes and focusing on the dedication it takes to be great while also highlighting the sacrifice that comes with that. These are definitely not your typical high schoolers. It also takes a close look at friendship and the approval that is sought from friendship in your teen years. I liked this group of friends and liked that they always seemed to have each other’s backs. Well, until they didn’t.

The drama from the book isn’t limited to Maggie and Levi, but they are the main focus. We see the struggles Hunter endures with Shelby as well as his need to follow in his family’s footsteps by joining the Air Force. We also see the major struggle with Georgia seeking her mother’s approval as well as regaining self confidence after being cheated on. However, the main struggle is between Levi and Maggie and their evolving relationship.

I thought it was well written and the teens behaved realistically. They encountered struggles real competitive athletes as well as typical high school students would encounter. They were relatable characters and I wanted to see things work out for them. The one major complaint I have is that I don’t think Levi would’ve pulled his stunt right before a competition. One of the things that bonds this group together so tightly and the reason Maggie and Levi have been best friends since childhood is that they understand the importance of the competition. Regardless of everything else, I don’t think he would’ve done something to ruin a competition for any of his friends.

Overall, I thought it was a good read with a realistic plot and likable characters. The characters fit their roles and the writing was on point. It was a nice balance of humor, light hearted fun, and the drama that comes with being a teenager trying to figure life out. If you have been following Miranda Kenneally’s work, you will also be happy with the appearance of characters from previous books.

This book does include teens having sex and sexual encounters. It is not explicit, but if that is not for you, you’ll want to pass.

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I've read a few books by this author in the past and liked them. This one was just as good. It was a little slow in the middle but picked up towards the end making me not want to put it down. I definitely recommend this book!

Miranda Kenneally is one of my auto-buy authors. I adore her Hundred Oaks series, and I am sad that Coming Up for Air is the final book in it.

One of my favorite parts about the Hundred Oaks series is how each book (for the most part) focuses on a different sport. As an athlete in high school myself, this was what first attracted me to the series five years ago (that and the fact that the first book’s main character is a girl named Jordan). Coming Up for Air continues this trend with the focus on swimming this time.

Maggie eats, sleeps, and swims. Her sole focus is on earning a spot on the Olympic swim team. However, as her senior year of high wraps up, Maggie realizes that she has missed out on the normal, stereotypical high school experiences. The only thing she really wants to do before going off to college, though, is learn to hook up. And who better than to teach her than best friend and fellow swimmer, Levi.

Levi agrees to teach Maggie on one condition: that they keep things open and honest each other in order to not ruin their friendship. However, this is easier said than done, and intense feelings soon develop. Maggie and Levi try to navigate what this means for their relationship, but they run into communication difficulties. I really appreciated how dedicated Maggie and Levi are in maintaining their friendship and not giving up on each other. Even though they end up hurting each other, they still find a way to forgive and not lose their friendship—a real sign of maturity.

There’s more to Coming Up for Air than just the romance. At its core, like all the Hundred Oaks books, Coming Up for Air is about each girl discovering herself. Not only is Maggie becoming more comfortable with her body in this book, but she is also evolving as a swimmer. As she runs into roadblocks in her races, Maggie opens herself to new options. Most importantly, she learns to compete against herself and to not get caught up about what other people think or say about her.

Overall, Coming Up for Air is a strong conclusion to Miranda Kenneally’s Hundred Oaks series. If you haven’t checked this series out yet, it is a must read! If you’re already a fan, you will love this latest addition and adore the bonus epilogue at the end.

I loved this book. I have never read any of Miranda Kenneally's books before and I have no clue why I have waited this long to start. She is body positive and writes about characters that everyone can relate to. Maggie and Levi are best friends who become best friends with benefits, but we all know how those things end. Their relationship with their other friends, Hunter and Georgia, who are also athletes. Georgia a cheerleader and Hunter a baseball player, while Maggie and Levi are swimmers hoping to make it the olympics. The four characters have a strong bond. The writing flows well, making the story fast paced and fun to read.

Miranda Kenneally is hard to find on my library shelves because the books are passed from student to student. This one will follow in the others footsteps.

This is my first book by Miranda Kenneally, and I love the way she tackles tough teenage topics. Coming Up for Air tackles a couple of different teenage issues. One is how to deal with competition and self-confidence in sports. The other is hooking up. This was a great read, the characters were well developed, and the difficult issues that were tackled were well handled. I would have no problem if my 16 and above teenagers read this. This story is told in the first person.

I love the message behind this book. Thank you for sharing something that everyone can enjoy.

This book took me back to high school in so many ways. The swimming, the tight group of friends, the boy drama, the rivalries. I really enjoyed it, and I think teens will too. Especially teen athletes.

Maggie King is a dedicated swimmer, who spends majority of her free time training and competing in the sport she loves. That doesn’t leave much room for other parts of the typical high school experience like school dances and casual dating. When she ropes her best friend Levi Lucassen into helping her cross one thing – making out with a guy - off her list, she thinks it’s nothing more than agreement between friends. But when Maggie suddenly finds herself developing new feelings for him, she must decide just what she is going to do – about the boy, and about her future.

Plot? I’ve read and enjoyed just about every single novel in the Hundred Oaks series. (In case you were wondering, my top three are this one, this one and this one.) I was looking forward to Coming Up for Air a lot, and this novel 100% lived up to my expectations! As with Kenneally’s previous work, the novel features both an adorable romance (best friends turned something more, which is a favorite trope of mine) and a girl who struggles with making sense of things for herself. I’ve always admired the way Kenneally weaves her stories together, and she does it again here. There is a lightness to the story that is evident in the laugh out loud moments, and swoon-worthy romantic bits. But there’s also a seriousness to it, centered primarily around Maggie’s shifting perspective of herself and her take on certain things in life, like romance. It makes for one compulsively readable book, and I flew through the pages of this one in no time at all!

Characters? I immediately fell in love with Maggie King. She’s a driven athlete, committed to becoming the best she can be at her sport and willing to sacrifice to do so. She’s also smart, funny, loyal, and very relatable in her own insecurities and doubts about life. It was a treat to watch her grow into herself! Apart from Maggie, I also loved her family, her best friends, her swim team coach, and of course, the boy she falls for who is also her best friend Levi Lucassen. Kenneally has a knack for writing layered characters, so it’s no surprise that nearly every single one of these folks popped off the pages.

Writing? After eight books, I can confidently say that I appreciate Kenneally’s writing style. She’s very straightforward, balancing the right amount of details to bring her story to life with dialogue that feels very authentic. I always fly through her books, as I’ve mentioned, and her writing is why that’s true.

Overall? Clearly, I adored Coming Up for Air. Kenneally works her magic again with this latest installment, both in writing a story about new characters that I adore and by giving me glimpses of old favorites here and there. It’s a fun, heartfelt read, and perfect for your summer reading list.

Favorite Olympic sport to watch? I do enjoy watching swimming, but my favorite Olympic sports to watch have always been figure skating and gymnastics. It has a lot to do with my fascination at seeing the athletes perform all sorts of graceful, incredible movements with their bodies... especially as someone who is not athletic whatsoever.

Coming Up for Air by Miranda Kenneally is a contemporary YA romance about a girl, Maggie, who has been so incredibly focused on becoming an Olympian, that she realizes that she is about to graduate high school and hasn't even had a boyfriend. She feels self doubt over her looks and the idea of being inexperienced as a negative force in her life, so she decides to change it. After a failed attempt (or, rather, an escaped attempt) at hooking up on a college visit, she propositions her best friend Levi to teach her the ropes of the physical nature of dating. But without the dating. No strings. As they are both focused on swimming, school, and more swimming, they have no room for what they think of as a real relationship. So at first, though Levi needs to think about it, it seems idyllic that they have a built-in strong friendship and could more or less be affectionate with one another without any hurt feelings.

Ultimately what comes of it is fun flirtations and heavy touching, followed by a rush of emotions, heart ache, and a chance at that elusive "real" relationship if they can get their act together. This book is a little steamy in the tension between Maggie and Levi as they progress from kissing to... more than kissing, and then more and more. Emotional tension is strong as well, so bear in mind, they are getting in deeper than just physical attraction. What I found interesting about this book is all of the times that they practice proper consent, which is not often the case in romance fiction. Levi even goes as far to tell Maggie something to the effect of... if you aren't comfortable telling someone what you want in bed, you shouldn't be in bed with them. Which is utterly true. So bravo for some well informed consent choices in this book. Hopefully it remained true throughout, but from my recollection, it was on point. (If there were slip ups, it didn't feel like it was in an unnatural way.)

Another thing people (parents) could be concerned about in this book is that it seems like everyone is having sex. And using it in ways that are not romantic. Like to relieve stress from sports. But those are usually examples, in the book, of relationships that aren't necessarily healthy. And they know it.

Another concern that I thought may come up, but didn't, was the issue of single sport athletes, and the proven issues with specializing in a single sport during high school or younger... combine that with parents that are not happy enough with their child's performance at said sport, and all the contemporary psychological issues that... ya... so that's not all in the book, that's just what ran through my mind a few times while reading it. (I read too much non-fiction as well!) But the parent thing, the one where the parent isn't satisfied with their child's performance... that definitely IS in the book. Not for the main characters, Maggie and Levi, but it is there. And it is worth having there to show the differences between parental relationships.

Okay, so this has gotten off course a little. Overall, it was a really enjoyable read. There are some good examples of healthy relationships, and not so healthy relationships, and it's easy to tell the difference between the two. There are also good and bad examples of sportsmanship, and again, it is easy to tell the difference between the two. The bad examples are not glorified.

The main characters are likable, and trust me, reading about swim team made me wonder why I stuck with the ski team for so long. These kids seem to have way more fun. I also liked Maggie's failed hookup because it showed a poor decision... that happened to turn out okay. It could have gone really wrong. But more often than not, I do hear more bad stories like hers than the BAD date stories with not-so-happy endings. It was nice to avoid that heavier darkness of dating.

So if you are looking for a light romance, and do not mind some steamier (but not super graphic) moments, this book could be for you. This was the first read of Miranda Kenneally's that I've done, and I look forward to checking out some of her other books! Coming Up for Air is scheduled for release on July 1, 2017... just in time to make it a perfect beach read. I'd recommend it for mature teens and up.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a big fan of the Hundred Oaks series so I was very excited about reading Coming Up For Air. It started out a little slow for me and I started and stopped it a few times until I got to around 20%. After that, the action started and I started feeling more connected with the characters and began to see their relationships clearer.

Levi and Maggie have been great friends for many years. They are both great swimmers and spend much of their time swimming, working out, preparing for swim meets, so basically they are together all of the time. With the Olympic trials looming ahead, neither one of them has time for a romantic relationship. While Levi has hooked up quite a few times and their close friends, Hunter and Georgia, respectively have quite a bit of experience. Maggie begins to feel that maybe she is missing something in her life and decides that she doesn;t want to go to college with no experience. As the person she knows the best and the one she spends most of her time with, she asks Levi to help her gain that experience before school is out.

Coming Up for Air is a lot sexier than I remember the other Hundred Oaks books being, but this is definitely not a bad thing. The relationship between Maggie and Levi is sweet and hot and I really enjoyed watching them come together. The pressures of competition and friendships begin to weigh on the couple and they each have to decide if their new relationship is more important than years of planning and training and if their friendship will be able to handle the test of time and distance.

There were some extra family and friend dramas, but for the most part, we are focused on Levi and Maggie and their dedication to swimming and each other. It was a quick, fun read and I recommend it to YA lovers.

*e-ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! This in no way impacted my opinions of this book.*

It's been a while since I've returned to the Hundred Oaks universe, and this book was a great welcome back. Maggie is probably the protagonist in this series that I've identified with the most so far - not that I'm a world class athletes by any stretch of the imagination, but when I was a teen (and even today), I can't help but compare my experiences to others, to fear that I'm missing out on some important normal things even though I'm doing what I love, that I wonder how my path weighs on others - all things that Maggie goes through as well.

Due to the biggest personal issue Maggie is facing, I'd recommend that this book is better suited for older teens and up. It toes into new adult territory in terms of some of the content, readers themselves are the only ones who can truly judge if they are ready for or not. All in all, I inhaled this book!

"Coming Up for Air" is a really fantastic YA romance. Maggie and Levi have been BFFs since they were 2 years old. They are both competition swimmers and gearing up for the Olympics- on top of that, it's senior year and they are both prepping to go to colleges across the country. Maggie has always been too busy to have a relationship- with swim practice before and after school plus competitions on the weekend, there's really no time. When she goes to visit her upcoming college, she learns that the expectations for experience are way different than what she has. She comes up with the idea to hook up with Levi so she can learn how, without being distracted by a relationship.

Levi eventually agrees, but their hooking up can't stay casual- they both start to develop feelings. With the Olympic qualifiers coming up, can they afford a relationship? I was a little worried about the sports aspects of this book, as I'm not big into reading about sports- but this blend was perfect! It's mostly romance with a little bit of sports talk on the side. And all of it was easy to understand for the non-swimmer.

We get the story from Maggie's point-of-view, and this is really perfect. There are all the jitters and nerves of a new relationship/adventure. I think this book would be more appropriate for older teens as there are quite a few sexual situations (as this is the main focus). Regardless, it's a wonderful friends-turned-more book, and I really enjoyed reading it! The author is quite talented, and the flow is perfect! I wouldn't change a thing! I will definitely need to check out more from Kenneally!

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.