I definitely liked this one more than Trouble Brewing even though I ended up giving both books 4 stars. Suzanne Baltsar takes Feminism to the next level with Charlie Gibb, the first female HC of a high school football team in Minnesota. I cannot wait to see what Baltsar has in store next because I need more Kick-ass main characters like Charlie and Piper in my life. Please tell me that the next installment has Sonja as a main character.

I loved Suzanne's first book and was thrilled to get an advanced copy of Sidelined. I thoroughly enjoyed Charlie's journey as a female football coach in a world that made assumptions about who she was because of her career choice. Lets be honest, this book has a strong female character but is also a delightful and enjoyable romantic comedy. It takes a stance and makes you think, but it's also fun and witty and full of great chemistry. Because as Charlie shows us - a girl, and book can be whatever they want to be! Definitely will be adding this to my collection.

Connor was in line to become the head football coach, when his dream job is handed to a GIRL. The chemistry and rivalry between Connor and Charlie is unreal from the very beginning, and Baltsar creates characters so 3-dimensional it feels like I know them. When what feels inevitable plays out, it doesn’t feel contrived because of the depth she has given to her characters and their stories. My only complaint was that I wanted to get to know the side characters better, but to my surprise I finished Sidelined only to realize that Baltsar has already written a novel about Piper and Blake! I can’t wait to read it and stay in this world for a little while longer..

Sidelined had everything I want in a contemporary romance - a strong female lead, an engaging love interest, as well as enough trouble and misunderstanding to keep things interesting. This book was well written and the dialogue made me laugh quite a bit. The characters were well-rounded making me feel like I already knew them but I still wanted to learn more. I really enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down.

3.5 Stars.

What I love most about this book is Charlie. The position of power, all the work she did to get there, and how she persists through all the crap thrown at her. She's strong, but still expresses her emotions. She pretty much defies being categorized, and I absolutely love that too! She's just a very real character. I was even annoyed with her at times, but her realness is what makes the story. Connor is slightly redeemable, but I could take him or leave him. I do like the friend group Connor has though. The story also has some relevant social justice issues that I appreciated. Overall, it was a cute romance read.

Cute book. A nice, realistic look at what women have to overcome to thrive in male-dominated sports. The female friendships were really special. Looking forward to Bear and Sonja's story.

I received a copy of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

I knew I had to read this, given the football theme. I've loved football my whole life so I know the struggles of even just being a female fan. Charlie is an amazing character. I loved her enthusiasm for and knowledge of the game. Charlie reminded me a lot of Sarah Thomas, the first female NFL ref. From a representation point of view, this was a slam dunk for women. It was actually a really wonderful cast of female characters all around.

The reason I didn't give this more stars is because I didn't feel a strong connection to the events and people. The emotions that resonated were the frustrated, pissed off, ballsy, anguished, incensed, irate ones. I couldn't connect to the lonely, loving, warm, supported, romantically passionate moments. And I think that's because they lacked depth. Parts seemed to be glossed over or resolved too quickly.

I enjoyed the ride but it turned out to be more of a palate cleanser than I had thought it would be.

I would recommend this to anyone who:
- enjoys football
- loves strong, dynamic female characters
- needs an easier, relaxing read

A romance about a newly appointed female high school football coach and the guy who's mad at her for taking "his" job? Thought this one would be a great book to feature on my ROMANCE NOVELS FOR FEMINISTS blog. Alas, the characters and story did not a feminist battle-of-the-sexes romance make. The book starts out strong, with Charlie (Charlotte) Gibb clearly demonstrating her knowledge and skill with her coaching staff, including the abovementioned jealous guy, Connor, who just KNOWS hiring the first female high school football coach in Minnesota is only a publicity stunt. But when sparks fly between the two, instead of dealing with it like adults, they go back and forth about whether to do anything about it, then go into a physical affair that they try to keep a secret. Not a big fan of sleeping with your boss stories, even if the boss is a woman. And especially if said boss spends a lot of time crying and being protected/rescued by her subordinate/lover. We also have a disabled sibling used primary to show that the crabby, emotionally closed-off Connor is really an upstanding guy, another big thumbs down. And to top all the bad off, we have a contrived ending that allows both Charlie and Connor to get what they want, profession-wise, without ever having to make any tough choices or adult decisions or compromises. A big disappointment.

I liked the enemies to lovers and their banter but I wish they had more chemistry. Charlie was a little rough around the edges and I think at times she really didn't need to be. Connor's backstory just seemed thrown in for filler. Ending was a little too neat and we never really get any resolving with the Spencer situation.

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical during the first few chapters of this book. A female football coach in a high school? That's pretty risque even for a liberal school district. As a teacher, I really don't see a school district making that leap--not because a woman can't coach football but due to opening themselves up for a sexual harassment lawsuit if the coach walked into the locker room at the wrong moment which isn't an issue in the novel due to all the assistant coaches being male.  I commend Baltsar for tackling the issue of women entering careers and jobs that are socially labeled for men. Part of me wants to go out and read the two books about Charlie's two female friends within male dominated jobs--beer distillery and MMA fighter. Actually, are becoming more common job for women unlike the female football coach. 

Putting aside my doubts for the district--I enjoyed the novel much more than I thought I would. Perhaps even I held underlying prejudices against her for being raised by a single father college football coach. Charlie or Charlotte has been battling those same single minded issues since she began playing football in high school and later in college and a women's pro team until taking a job with her father's college team. She knows what she's doing. To change from college to high school ball, is where Baltsar almost lost me. If Charlie didn't have the sweetness and girlie personality mixed in with all that football strategy--I would've been done. Charlie is a charming character that people are drawn to even her rival--the assistant coach who thought the job was his. 

At first Connor McGuire hates Charlie for the mere fact she has his job as head coach. Nevermind, the fact that Charlie is more qualified that the social studies teacher who only played for a few years in college before injury ended his career. Or that his circle of friends love her or that he can see her softer side. He defends her to the handful of players who make inappropriate comments--even if he's ticked about losing out to her doesn't give the kids a right to comment like that about any woman. It's becoming increasingly hard to keep his lips off of her. Connor doesn't do relationships. He only hooks-up with older women. No attachments. Charlie will want a relationship if the start something.

Can Connor get over his own hangups about relationships to commit to Charlie?

Will the community accept Charlie as the coach?

Can Charlie get the others to see how much of an impact she's making on the team to keep her job? 

Is there a way for her to be with Connor and not feel like she's being used?

Sadly I didn't like this one as much as I hoped. The romance was not believable at all for me. I didn't feel like the characters connected in the slightest. I also feel like once the two did start to become friends, it was too much too fast, therefore making it feel unbelievable and genuine. I was hoping to like this one a lot more than I did. It just wasn't the book for me.

Charlie is in your typical sports mans world. I liked her character. I thought she handled the small minded men fantastically. She also took the coaching job spot from Connor, a big time ex college football player who didn't make it into the NFL, so the coaching job was something he was looking forward to getting. But he sees Charlie Gibbs getting the job as being a publicity stunt, but she really is great at her job.

This book was good, the only thing I couldn't feel was any chemistry. They seemed more like friends than anything. Co-workers....There just wasn't any tingles or deep looks or anything like that. But overall, it was good.

The heroine kicked butt in her job! She knew all of it, owned her status, owned her position, and doled it out!

I really liked the premise of this one, the idea of a female coach is something definitely lesser seen especially in romance books. I found Charlie and Connor to be an unrealistic match. especially with the lack of chemistry and constant hot and cold feelings and an unsatisfying ending.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn't for me. While the premise is amazing (a badass female football coach! breaking gender norms!) the dialogue was so stiff?????? Both inner dialogue + dialogue between characters. It felt like the author was writing out the book, instead of the characters coming alive and having a life of their own.

Another major deal-breaker was the lack of chemistry between the main characters. I didn't care about their relationship, and I think it was largely because the male lead was initially,,,,lowkey sexist. And I couldn't get over it. I understand he goes through character growth, but he annoyed me deeply and I just never got over it.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend but full review to come on my blog! (closer to release date)

I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! It was great to see a woman in a “man’s world” and kicking complete butt!! However, I am really bummed that the author chose an easy way out of solving the climax of the story. Spoilers below:

Charlie pisses off a wealthy dad and kicks his arrogant son off the team and of course, she gets fired. Connor gets her job and instead of Charlie getting her job back in the end, they make her athletic director. That’s a total cop out! Seriously. The whole book and character backstory was for her to coach football not handle a bunch of different sports. For that alone this book lost one full star of rating.

I've received a ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A cute sports romance novel that features a seriously HOT assistant coach and drum roll please... Another BLONDE heroine. Seriously does authors not know there are people out their with brown/black hair? But I digress. Overall, the story was simple and sweet, and there wasn't anything that really stood out. Cute plot and likable characters, what more can I say? It's a good and easy read if you're looking for something to pass the time with.

I was really excited to read a book about a female coach and football player. While the concept was good, the execution wasn’t the best. I liked this chemistry and build up, but Charlie came out of the gate so harshly and I began to dislike her. I felt as if Charlie and Connor were teens rather than adults. She found out he might be into kink and immediately wants to know everything. She hears about Allison and won’t stop bringing her up, it was so uncomfortable to read. They acted out like teenagers would not adults. The did read to the end because I wanted to see how it would end and for me it wrapped up a little to easily and neatly.

Even after not having read the first book in this series, I still enjoyed Connor and Charlie’s story and never felt lost about any of the players, or their individual and collective roles...the backstory was minimal but sufficient. This was not a story just about gender inequality, it also contained an underlying message about a women’s struggles in what is considered a man’s world, the sports backdrop made the story that much more emotion evoking. Overall, an excellent page turner.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

This is Charlie and Connor book, Charlie is the new head coach for a local high school football team and Connor is the assistant coach. Charlie is the first female to coach football. Connor has worked for the high school for many years and did his time and thinks he definitely should have gotten the head coach position! He eventually accepts that Charlie is the best person for the job because she really knows what she's doing! This was definitely a great read! I liked the very strong female character! It was funny, angst, drama, low steam but still really good! I highly recommend reading this book! It's well worth the read! Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

I liked this book a lot. It instantly drops you into the storyline, which I tend to appreciate.

Strong female characters, no drama, we need more of this in the publishing world.

Solid 4 stars.