2.5 Read last night, quick read. Not my favorite sapphic read this year. I was looking forward to it, I thought, oh f/f sports romance YAY. What I got was, eh, not very interesting characters, low spice and it probably would have been better written in duel POV. I wanted to know more about Eve and I didn't get it. The conflict with Naomi was just glossed over. I wanted so much more of of this book and I didn't get it.

hi, my name’s annie clark, and i’ve managed to flip my quiet, nerdy, single life completely upside down.

first, i recently figured out that i’m bisexual.

second, eve frederick, star softball player and my ultimate crush, asked me out on a date.

third, she rocked my world, and now i can’t stop thinking i want more… even though eve is not into relationships.

and to top it all off, someone took a private video of us and is threatening to make it public.

it’s enough to make me want to go back to hiding out in my dorm room—but only if i can take eve with me.
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#booktour

Pride Book Tours: Promoting LGBTQ+ Books with Pride.

⚘always a privilege to be a part of @pridebooktours

Publisher: Entangled: Embrace (18 October 2021)
HARD DRIVE (University of Atlanta Book 2).
181 pgs
BY
Shae Connor.
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#qotd❤️ How are you feeling today? How's the weather at your place?
#ａｏｔｄ
I am at my mom's place right now with my kid & fur baby & we celebrated my bro's b-day today, in advance as I am leaving tomorrow.. it's on 19th.
Weather is cool, especially at dusk & dawn.. my favorite weather 😍.
It's my b-day month too!

#qotd🌸 Help me decide on a book 📖to gift myself, on my birthday 🎂🥳 later this month.
___________
#noorthebookwormreviews
#harddrive
#pridebooks
#octoberrelease

This was an enjoyable read.
I like stories like these because they provide LGBTQI representation that's breezy and blends in with all the other books in it's category.

I held my breath for most of the book because I was terrified that Eve might be trying to play a cruel joke on Annie, but instead I got a cute romance with great sex.

Some room for improvement, but not a bad book at all.

Cute story and I was all into the slow burn. I loved Annie's apprehensive take on Eve asking her out on a date. Loved the nerd-jock romance . Overall a good read although it didn't sweep me off my feet. Not that this was necessary. I enjoyed reading their journey.

I have no major complaints about Hard Drive but I also have nothing that I can point to and say 'I loved this, this was amazing!'. It was just... there. There is nothing wrong with the plot, characters or overall story but I just couldn't get super invested in it. The romance seemed lacklustre and lacked a lot of chemistry and connection and it just felt to meh and easy. Saying that there were some interesting characters and the story was well paced.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

“Hard Drive” is everything you could ask for out of a short, sweet, femme bisexual romance… almost. And I do absolutely mean that! It is a nice length for anyone who doesn’t want to commit to a long read (like, say, you just want something to read one evening when you have a little time free and just need to relax), it’s relatively low-angst for those who don’t want to be stressed out by what they’re reading, the main characters are very likeable (so you don’t have to work hard to love them), the steamier scenes aren’t too spicy for more conservative readers but are still present for those of us who didn’t open this book just to see all the steam happen off-page, there is some warm and fuzzy romance feelies, and a HEA at the end. So yeah, it’s just about everything you could ask for out of what this book looks like and sounds like it’s supposed to be.

Of course there’s a “but”. You knew a “but” was coming. The plot is incredibly boring, making the book relatively boring. The antagonist, who is supposed to be hidden, is easy to suss out very early in the book and it makes the main characters look dumb for not figuring it out sooner. I felt the author needed a sensitivity reader for issues regarding and surrounding anxiety and panic issues because they weren’t handled with as much care as some other books in the same genre that have included the same issue in their books that I’ve read in the last couple of years, and when the turn came, it seemed overblown which made the resolution seem utterly anticlimactic. Ultimately, in the end, nothing the two main characters went through paid off. It was as if you could have cut out 50% of this book and had the same result and the rest was just melodrama.

But I do still give it three stars because for what it is packaged as, it lives up to the wrapping. It is sweet, cute, a little sexy, gave me some warm fuzzies, and I am always happy to read almost any story where members of the alphabet mafia get a HEA in the end.

Thank you Pride Book Tours and Netgalley for gifting me the ebook.
This is an LGBTQ+ book with a bisexual main character and sapphic female love interest. It also touches on mental health as the main character has anxiety so how if affects her and how she deals with it is explored.
Hard Drive is book two in The University of Atlanta series but can be read as a standalone - the first book Rough and Tumble is a standalone with gay love interests and the main characters are present in Hard Drive.
Hard Drive is a really fun and easy romance, with lots of LGBTQ+ representation. It comes across as a bit like a sports romance, with the main love interest playing softball, but a lot of the problems the characters deal with go deeper than that. Discussions of anxiety, grief and previous toxic relationships are all mentioned between the main characters but also the side characters, too.
Hard Drive is told by the POV of Annie, and I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with her brother as well as meeting him as a character. The relationship between Annie and Eve is also fun to see develop and I liked to see how much they grew as characters.

Thank you to PrideBookTour & Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was super cute, a little bit smutty and super sapphic!

Annie has just come to terms with being bisexual. She spends most of her time hiding in her dorm room working on electronics repairs. Occasionally, she attends the Tornadoes softball games so she can admire her crush, Eve Frederick. After Annie helps save Eve's computer before an important deadline, Eve asks her out. The two fall into a fast and fiery relationship. But Eve is known as someone who only does causal hookups. When she ghosts Annie, could that be true?

My new favorite thing is lesbian characters saying "I'm gay, I still have eyes".

Okay my biggest complaint is about the synopsis rather than the content of the book itself. The synopsis makes it seem like there's a graphic video of Eve and Annie circulating and while there is a video, it doesn't come into play until like 80% through. So really, that's more a spoiler than anything.

I absolutely loved the book itself. I wish I hadn't read the synopsis ahead of time, but oh well. Annie was a great narrator. I loved her and getting to see another way intense anxiety can manifest. It felt realistic and I loved how the other characters accommodated Annie when she needed it. I also loved that the school didn't make her do presentations or speeches since she has anxiety! I wish accommodations like that were more normal.

I loved the romance between Annie and Eve. I ship them so much. They were absolutely adorable together. I really liked how they went back to being friends after Eve broke Annie's trust. I love seeing a relationship being worked on and given the time and respect it needs to heal. I love seeing healthy relationships portrayed in fiction.

Seeing this is listed as a series has me side-eyeing both book 1 which is out, and book 3 which is coming (I wonder if it will be about Mo).

Rep: Bisexual female MC with anxiety, sapphic female love interest, BIPOC lesbian female side character, MLM side couple.

CWs: Alcohol consumption, grief, mental illness (anxiety), public outing, panic attacks, sexual content. Moderate: fatphobia, bullying, past mentions of abandonment, addiction, alcoholism, child abuse, and drug use.

Socially anxious computer geek meets softball girlboss at college? I was honestly so here for this!

This was a very cute, quick and easy sapphic romance to read with a little bit of smut to top things off. Annie, our main character who has recently come out as bisexual is a quiet, awkward shut-in who spends most of her time repairing fellow students’ electronics for some extra cash. She also has a habit of frequenting the Tornadoes home softball games so that she can get a glimpse of Eve, the edgy and fiery star player.

Annie was relatable and her social anxieties felt authentic to read. There was a scene where Annie wasn’t sure if Eve had asked her out on a date or had asked to hang out as friends and that, to me, is the epitome of sapphic panic.

Some phrases in the narration and dialogue at times didn’t sit right with me and didn’t seem to fit the profile of a contemporary college student but this was nothing that I couldn’t move past.

I felt that towards the end, the angst was introduced and resolved a bit too quickly, with actions that I personally would have expected to result in heavier consequences, however, I do appreciate the way Annie and Eve resolve their conflict in the end with good communication.

As a lesbian in Australia with absolutely no knowledge of sports, the softball and baseball aspects of the novel were easy to follow and not at all too dry, which is nice because it doesn’t isolate the reader.

Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for supplying an ARC in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

'Hard Drive' is much more than a story itself. It's a reality to so many people, a reality some people live, like living in fear and being bullied over fatphobia and having to hide their sexuality. 🌈 Everything is told by the main character's POV, Annie Clark. She has this huge crush on the softball pitcher, Eve Frederik.

This book explores their relationship and also the side character's opinions. We see all of them develop together and we see how the main love interest is pitched as one thing and ends up changing for the protagonist. Yes, you guessed it. It's the 'I'll change for you' romance trope, which we love and adore. ❣️

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: alcoholism, grief, mental illness (anxiety), fatphobia (bullying), sexual content, panic attacks, child abuse and drug use.

Thank you so much @pridebooktours and @shaeconnor for the opportunity of reading and review this title, one I'm sure won't be the last I'll read from this author ❣️

3 stars

I adored book one of this series so I was super excited about this one, sadly I didn't enjoyed it as much.
It was sweet and heartwarming but... I felt like there was not much angst besides something by the end.
So if you want something low in angst and drama and a lot of sweet heartwarming moments, this will be perfect for you.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review

Shy college student Annie is crushing on softball player Eve, but thinks Eve is out of her league. When Annie helps Eve with a computer problem, Eve invites her to dinner to say thanks. Is it a date? Eve's got a reputation for playing the field. But could something real develop with Annie?

This is kind of a slow burn, with Annie taking a while to feel comfortable around Eve. The relationship is sweet and steamy, but takes some abrupt turns. The book is told entirely from Annie's point of view, so Eve's motivations often aren't clear until after the fact. She and Annie are both sympathetic characters, and I enjoyed watching their relationship unfold.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I was really keen to read this sapphic sports romance. I jumped at it seeing the softball cover. It's a college / YA book.

Its essentially a jock - nerd romance with Eve the softballer and Annie the computer geek. Annie has been pining over Eve in the stands at games, and can't quite believe it when Evie's computer goes on the fritz and she manages to fix it (a pretty easy fix). and Eve subsequently asks her out on a date. The book is essentially about their attraction and romance.

The challenge for me was believing Eve and Annie had a romance as the chemistry seemed a little stilted. I felt I didn't learn a great deal about Eve as a character and what made her tick, as the book was from Annie's point of view. It would have been nice to gain more from Eve's perspective. We learned more about Annie, particularly about her anxiety which I felt was well described and made Annie vulnerable, but also brave in the way she reacted to a couple of challenges in the book.

This was quite a brisk read however I think the time fleshing out the storyline a detail particularly in relation to Eve would have benefitted the story.

TW - forced outing

Annie is a college girl who recently discovered she's bisexual. Her anxiety usually keeps her locked up in her dorm room with her computer, but when the sexy, cool Eve from the softball team (who also happens to be her biggest crush) asks her out, she finds that she is enjoying leaving her comfort zone. However, there may be someone trying to tear them apart. Will they be able to get through it together?

This book was overall pretty cute, but didn't get much past surface level for me. I love softball and played it all through high school, so I enjoyed that aspect of the book. I also enjoyed the bits about Annie's anxiety, as that is another thing I could relate to. I liked Annie and thought she had some depth to her, but I wish I could say the same about Eve. She has the potential of being a great character, but I feel like we never reached that point with her. Similarly, their romance was cute, but didn't reach the depth I wish it did. While I still enjoyed it, with a little more depth to the plot and the romance itself, I think it could have been fantastic.

Overall, I did enjoy the book, and if you're looking for something light and cute, then you should give it a try!

Thank you to Netgalley and Entangled for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Annie Clark is an extremely introverted computer studies student at university. She has just come to terms with her bisexuality while crushing on Eve Frederick, the star player of the varsity softball team. 
The story is written in first person narrative from Annie’s point of view so there is very little softball and lots of computer talk which makes the title Hard Drive cunningly duplicitous.
Shae Connor writes about Annie’s first time budding romance with a woman with compassion and empathy. The internal dialogue is realistic however a tad repetitive. 
Both Annie and Eve are very likeable characters. There is just enough softball to warrant the bat and glove on the cover. The angst is the over used lack of communication but with an interesting twist. This twist is left incomplete once the angst section was over and left me with unanswered questions.
This is definitely a light romantic read for those days when you just want to be entertained.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for my honest review.

This was good, but I prefer dual POVs over just one POV. The way the author covered anxiety was pretty good and interesting. Over all it was a nice NA athletic read. 3.5⭐ rounded to 4.

I was so very excited about this because I don't read nearly enough sapphic books and certainly next to none of them are sports romances. But this...while I really liked how Annie explored her anxiety, there wasn't a lot of depth past that. And since this was only a single POV and I'm so used to reading duel POV stories, I really would have appreciated a look into how Eve dealt with everything. A pretty nice, quick, albeit surface level NA romance with decent sapphic and anxiety rep. Thank you to Entangled and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was a good read. It was well written and had a good plot. I liked that the story was told through Annie’s perspective. The feelings of anxiety and social awkwardness hit home for me and felt very authentic. I usually stay away from college and high school age stories but picked this one up because of the softball theme and I’m glad I did. I’ll be keeping an eye out for any follow up novels since it looks like this may be the start of a series.

I love ladies playing baseball (especially sapphic ladies) so I was instantly excited when I saw this cover of two women kissing with a baseball on the cover. After I found out that it was actually softball, I was still excited! But this one just didn't work for me.

This college-aged, single 1st person present POV sapphic romance follows Annie as her crush, Eve - the star softball player and serial hook-up - asks her out. But that doesn't even feel like an honest description of what this book is "about." I'm not really sure what this book is "about." One of my major issues with this book is that it's definitely not about the central love story between Annie and Eve. The two have almost no chemistry and there isn't much of a story of how they get together/stay together. I didn't feel any emotion getting to or arriving at the HFN. Sometimes in romance we talk about books where there's not plot and nothing happens. In this book, really nothing happens. And it's too short for any of the things that do happen to be explained in any depth or detail.

However, I did find the exploration of Annie's anxiety interesting. If you like college romances, this one might be more your speed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled for the ARC.

CW: public outing, revenge porn

This is a new adult/YA type story. Annie Clark is in college. She has just come out to friends as bisexual and her girl crush is softball pitcher Eve Frederick. Annie also suffers from social anxiety and is comfortable in her room doing her side hustle of fixing computers and electronics. When Eve needs her computer fixed the two meet.

Everything is told from Annie's POV. We get to see her nerves at a first date and first time being with someone. Also her feelings when things don't go smoothly. Eve has a reputation as a casual dater but strangely that isn't addressed or discussed. The drama is limited and easy to figure out. I enjoyed reading the book but there isn't much depth beyond the blurb. It left me happy and the ending felt realistic for a college relationship. Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing, LLC for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.