This was a cute sapphic YA romance and a good way to kick off Pride Month! Amber and Jack were really cute together, and I liked that it dove into women in football (something I've never thought much about!). There were so many great conversations about labels. My favorite was what it means to be an ally - not being anti isn't enough and showing support matters. Even if it just matters to one person, that's enough. Overall this is a light and easy read that can definitely be read in one quick sitting. Certain things were glossed over and I maybe would have liked a bit more depth, both for the main characters and the plot (and especially Cara), but it was still cute and I enjoyed it.

Content warnings: homophobia, misogyny

Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this was just fun. It was sweet and important and dealt with a lot of crap—more than a lot of crap—teenagers go through high school. I also found it equally frustrating and enlightening, and am glad these two main characters were able to be their true selves in the end. I admit that I was a bit hesitant going into this since I didn't really care for Adler's [book:Cool for the Summer|50748473] and this book is obviously very heavy into sports, which is something I don't care to read about in a book since I don't care about it in real life. But I'm glad I took the plunge.

I liked the juxtaposition between the two main characters, Amber and Jack. I definitely think the latter was a huge catalyst in terms of Amber coming out, and it was nice to read how comfortable Jack was being openly queer while Amber definitely needed more time. She was so worried about what others would think and how it would affect her as a cheerleader while Jack already knew she was good at football and comfortable in her queerness. I did feel a bit bad for Miguel, Amber's friend, because I felt like he was kind of thrown under the bus but also unable to come out in his own time due to following along with Amber's plan.

I found Amber's best friend, Cara, kind of annoying. I think I get what the author is trying to do with her--a religious friend with even more hyper religious parents who control a lot of what their daughter is doing. I imagined to Cara it felt quite stifling even if she didn't realize it. You can see her slowly changing, and I appreciate her dedication and loyalty to Amber even if things were bumpy along the way. I also think Cara will turn out well as an adult because I have a feeling she is just itching to get away from her parent's rules (but maybe I'm projecting here, lol?).

This book also took the classic football player and cheerleader boyfriend/girlfriend trope and turned it on its head while still keeping the cute and funny romance. I was also happy to see positive parent/child relationships as well.

It’s a new year, and cheerleader Amber is determined to prove she is the right pck to be captain of the squad by the end of the year. She knows after the beloved quarterback has recently died in a car accident, it will be extra challenging to bring joy and spirit to games. But when she meets Jack, the new quarterback she finds out it’s going to be even more of a challenge than she anticipated. Jack is a girl and the football players and cheerleaders are not very accepting of her at all. Amber decides if she is able to bring the teams together and get the teams to support Jack that will prove that she is the leader the cheerleaders need. But as she’s trying to rally the cheerleaders (who are determined to help take Jack down), she starts falling for Jack in the process.

This was a fun romance that tackled issues of homophobia and misogyny while still being a lighthearted football player/cheerleader romance. Also, can we talk about how incredible it is to have a female quarterback - who doesn’t love a good feminist sports moment? I loved that this story was told from dual perspectives which really allows the reader to understand where both girls were coming from. (Also the audio book was narrated by Natalie Naudus and Lori Prince who are both phenomenal). It has the perfect balance of teenage angst, drama and romance that I expect to find in a YA romance.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and OrangeSky Audio for the advance copies.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the eARC of this beautiful novel that puts the cheerleader/quarterback romance trope on its ear. There is nothing I love more than taking cliches and bringing them into the now-- and Dahlia Adler succeeds so well with Jack and Amber. There are so many issues that come with this relationship, and the homophobia and misogyny that runs rampant in small Southern towns is heartbreakingly represented here. Even so, Dahlia managed to weave a lighthearted and captivating story through the perspective of our two protagonists. It is captivating and exciting, and gives me 'I Kissed Shara Wheeler' vibes but in Florida and with the teenage highs and lows of sports.

We meet Amber McCloud as she enters into her junior year of high school. She has high hopes to become captain of her varsity cheerleading team; a support for the football team who has just suffered an unspeakable tragedy. They lost their current quarterback in a car accident, so they have moved in a new one-- Jack Walsh. To Amber's (and the rest of the school's) surprise, Jack turns out to be a girl. This knowledge causes chaos, and the cheerleaders and football players both rebel against her. Amber must then make a choice-- does she riot with the rest of her team even if she doesn't believe in what they're rebelling against, or does she stick up for the compelling and adorable Jack? The sparks fly instantly between them, but can they rise above the teen drama so that their love can blossom?

I really loved this groundbreaking novel. It was amazing to see a girl on an all boy football team as someone who grew up in a small town in Alabama, always wondering why the guys were supposedly better than her. I wanted to have Jack's confidence as a teenager, and her struggle to rise above all the red tape that stands in her way is utterly inspiring. There is so much representation in this book-- not just for the LGBTQ+, but for anyone who has suffered from a miscarriage... AND frank conversation about sex and masturbation, which I think is incredibly important for YA readers to see. It doesn't just normalize all these things-- Dahlia writes them as they should be: just a part of life. We need more books like these, and I hope to read it in more of Dahlia's work.

A page-turning YA book that has a nice balance between a sweet f/f cheerleader and football player romance and a parallel plot about misogyny and homophobia in a small conservative Florida high school. Jaclyn aka Jack is Atherton's newest quarterback, there to replace their previous one who died in a car accident. She is immediately met with outright malice from her teammates and obliviousness from the coach. Amber is gunning for head cheerleader next year and it's one of the reasons she's in the closet. When Amber and Jack meet, its instant sparks. But they've got a lot of obstacles!

Some of the scenes where Jack is facing down intense misogynist pushback from her teammates and when Amber's religious friend spouts off homophobia were hard to read. FYI, the book isn't as uniformly light as the sunny cover might suggest.

This book actually had me interested in a football game for a whole chapter so I have to give it points for that. And I loved how frank it was about teen sexuality (including masturbation!). And there is some cute queer solidarity and a bisexual mom!! (Lol I'm old I identify with the moms in YA now).

I wasn't too interested in the villains being as (halfway) redeemed as they were though and I wished there had been more buildup to Amber and Jack getting together. I felt a bit let down when they were kissing so early...but that's a personal preference.

This was such a quick, light YA romance! I was so excited about it specifically because it's a sapphic love story between a cheerleader and the new girl QB!

I think this will be really great for it's intended audience but missed the mark for me as someone who's not exactly YA age anymore lol. I think this is such a great read and has great rep for younger people and students!

I think everything happened a little to quickly and issues were touched on too lightly for this to have been a really great read. It is only 300 pages so there wasn't much time to explore the myriad issues brought up by the author. I don't think any of it was handled badly but I would have loved more time for Amber to figure out her relationship with her homophobic best friend and have more of a confrontation with her. I would have liked a little more build up in her relationship with Jack. Just a little MORE to all the relationships in general. I felt like I was given a summary of an actual story.

I did love some of this though. I loved Miguel and Amber's friendship. I loved the queer solidarity, queer mom (we love queer adults in YA!), discussions of the spectrum of sexuality, calling out people for their wrongs even as the "good" characters, non-binary and ace side characters.

I would recommend this book to those that enjoy sports romances or light YA reads!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC!

This book was a very average cute gay read. It was a fairly quick read with an interesting enough plot.

However, I felt that I never really fully got to know the characters. While the stakes in the book were decent and kept the plot going, the outright sexism that was essentially the premise was hardly addressed or resolved. There were multiple subjects that were somewhat heavy and brought up but not explored at all or in any meaningful way.

The various plot conflicts came to a head at once while also not being adequately explored, giving an overall rushed feel.

Thank you to Books Forward for allowing me to read an arc in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to TBR and Beyond, the publisher, and the author for letting me read an e-ARC of Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler.

Amber is a closeted queer girl living in the panhandle of Florida and her life is right on track, cheer squad to cheer captain to an athletic scholarship to get her out of her small bigoted town. The only wrench in that plan is Jaclyn “Jack” Walsh, the new quarterback from out of town that could lead the football team to victory if they would just let her. When Amber is the only person in school that doesn’t immediately loathe Jack, they grew closer and their relationship quickly evolves from friends to something more. But it isn’t just their relationship on the line if they are found out, Amber’s boyfriend Miguel has his own secrets to keep. Things become even more complicated when Jack realizes that she doesn’t want to keep her feelings for Amber hidden.

While Home Field Advantage wasn’t for me personally, it was a fun and light read. The book itself is fast-paced with all of the story taking place between the first day of school and the Atherton homecoming dance. The relationship between Jack and Amber felt genuine if a little rushed, their banter was fun and easy, and most importantly they were believable teens. Adler struck a good balance of having them both caring about their families and futures while still being involved in more day to day high scool drama, and drama there is. Cara, Amber’s best friend and the oldest daughter of the local pastor, has it out for Jack from day one and can’t understand why Amber doesn’t immediately hate her too. She continuously stirs the pot with the rest of the cheer squad and makes it harder for Amber to stay neutral. The football team takes out all their grief and frustration on the new girl and make her life in Atherton even more difficult than Jack expected. Trying to support their teammates and squad while staying true to themselves gets even harder as tensions ramp up during homecoming and alumni return to see the team play.

It was interesting to get Jack’s perspective on football, I’m someone that only watches the Superbowl for the commercials and the snacks so at first I had a hard time understanding why one would uproot their whole life to play a game they have no future in for two years. After seeing the joy that Jack finds while playing, I can see why someone might make that decision. For anyone concerned with how realistic the school’s reaction is, I grew up in a town somewhat like Atherton. While my school did have a female football player, she was certainly not the quarterback and she had worked her way up to football after being on the wrestling team for years. Had this taken place in my hometown, I could absolutely see the team reacting in a similar way.

I rated it 3 stars because though I enjoyed most of the book, I felt like certain characters were pushed to come out before they were ready which is a situation that hits very close to home for me and made me a bit uncomfortable.

This book is perfect for people wanting a fun and short romance to escape into this summer.

The premise of this book seemed very interesting. If you like YA contemporary and stories about cheerleading, this book is probably for you. I found it very hard to keep my attention. I wished I had found the characters more interesting.

This book had a lot of potential but at the end of the day it just feel short and was pretty forgettable. I didn’t really care for any of the characters - actually, they both annoyed me quite a bit - and the romance just happened so fast. One of the things I love the most in romance novels and contemporary ya is when a couple has a bit of a longer development before they get together… specially if they were strangers before. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t need to take 80% of the book for them to get together, but I also don’t want them to already date way before 50%. It really makes me feel more of their chemistry and honestly I just love the process of going from strangers to friends to dating.. I would’ve loved to see that with Amber and Jack. I guess I just expected more from the story; I was so excited when I read the synopsis! A female football player and a cheerleader, like, are you kidding me?!!! I wanted to love it so bad, but I guess it just wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be in the end. I did think Amber and Jack were super cute, I just think the story could’ve been a bit longer with a bit of a better development so that I could have created a better connection to the characters.

But honestly, that’s not to say I wouldn’t recommend the story! I thought the way the author dealt with the subjects like homophobia in this story were written with a lot of care and really well done.

Overall, it was a bit disappointing for me, but I would still add it to some of my recommendation lists!

I loved this queer YA romance about an aspiring cheer captain and the new quarterback who turns the school upside down when she turns out to be a girl. It's just such a great, queer story where the high school quarterback gets the girl and the cheerleader learns it's more important to be true to yourself and stick up for what you believe in than maintain the status quo... even if the status quo is being upheld by your best friends. Some of the drama between Jack and Amber felt a bit forced, but I couldn't put it down which I think says more about a story than just about anything else. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it and want more stories like this one.

I am NOT a sports person and yet book made me cry over a football game. I think that's all you need to know about how much it has a hold over my heart.

I adored Home Field Advantage for its witty banter, insightful commentary on being queer in a small town, and the way it got me so invested in the hopes and dreams of main characters Amber and Jack that I cared about the outcome of a football game.

I'd recommend it for fans of other awesome queer sports stories such as Like Other Girls by Britta Lundin and She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen.

Amber McCloud has a dream to become captain of the cheer team, but it’s a bit hard to be peppy and spirited when the quarterback 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. Now, Amber is caught between her squad, her sisterhood, and her heart as her and Jack are falling in love with each other.

Okay, this was pretty cute. As someone who grew up in a football town, I absolutely loved all the football and cheer references. It’s totally true that small towns are high school football obsessed. Jack was such a great character and I absolutely loved her, my heart broke for her so many times throughout the book. When she starts on the team, she is frozen out my all and treated like shit by quite a few on the team and the squad. They not only hate the fact that she’s a girl, but it doesn’t help that she’s way, way, way better than Robbie ever was.

Amber is the only one who actually is somewhat nice to Jack, at least in private. She’s afraid to lose everything she has, which is understandable. But it does get a bit tiring after a while. Each time Cara, Amber’s best friend, says or does something that is homophobic or just plain horrible, Amber goes on and on for a paragraph or two about how great Cara is/was. The first time made sense, but bringing it up each and every time got a bit repetitive. I totally agree that it’s a person’s own choice when and if they come out, but how Amber treats not only Jack but her best friend, Miguel (a football player and Amber’s beard) is pretty shitty.

There were quite a few scenes that were pretty uncomfortable. I get that the point of the book was about the students adjusting to a girl quarterback in a small town, but it was hard to read the scenes of the team being sexist, misogynistic, homophobic towards Jack. So be warned if that is not your cup of tea.

This was a really cute novel and it does have a happy ending, which is what redeemed it. I wish there was a bit more about the football coach and the players facing a bit more backlash of their treatment (or lack of support from the coach). I’m especially annoyed by the fact that the coach never really had to deal with his lack of responsibility towards not disciplining the team for their treatment of Jack considering that he was the adult in the situation.

I do want to give a shout out to Amber’s mom who is awesome and amazing and definitely the mom I wish I could’ve had growing up. It was definitely a fun book, about queer kids growing up in the south.

this was amazing. I loved it a lot and was smiling throughout, except for when they treated Jack terribly. I loved the romance, the story, the side characters, everything. I also liked how Amber wasn’t likable the entire time, sometimes she was annoying but that’s realistic.

Thank you Wednesday & Netgalley for my eARC!

I enjoyed Cool for the Summer SO MUCH, that I knew I wanted to read Adler’s newest, Home Field Advantage, and I was NOT DISAPPOINTED!!

This was absolutely amazing! There was a mix of serious life stuff, including homophobia, but also coming to terms with one’s sexuality and not giving a damn about what anyone thinks. It made me a bit emotional, tbh!

I felt ALL of the things. Absolutely wonderful, 5 star read!

Thank you to Wednesday Books (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

Content warnings: bullying, homophobia, threatened outing (past), sexism, drinking, abortion (mentioned), miscarriage (past), death of a child (past, car accident), grief and loss

I really enjoyed this book 🥺 It was cute and fun, while also tackling (ha) some more serious topics without whacking you over the head with anything.

I liked the fact that it turned the cheerleader/quarterback trope on its head by making it Really Gay. And I also liked that even though I have zero interest in football, the few scenes that included football games weren't too much (the homecoming game toed the line of becoming a little bogged down in the details of the specific plays, but the drama of the scene saved it, in my opinion. People who like football will undoubtedly disagree with me and say it was a great scene. It was a very quintessential high school football moment, though, which was fun).

I liked that we got a multitude of queer characters and identities, including a possibly polysexual MC, which I've never seen in YA before! I even had to look that up because I've heard the word before, but I wasn't sure what exactly it entails.

I really liked Jack. She was my favorite. She dealt with so much crap from so many different angles, and was so much tougher than I would have been, and honestly than any teenager should have to be. I loved how she stood up for herself and was determined to do what she felt was right for herself, no matter how unsupportive the team (and the coach!!!) were. And her little transformation at the end was so good 🥰

Overall, a very solid book, and a great book for summer, I think! It's set at the beginning of the school year, but it has summery vibes, for some reason. If you've read any of Dahlia Adler's other books, I think you'll like this one too

I really enjoyed this high school sports romance. Both main characters work their butts off to achieve their goals. It also shows that you can't always plan for life, especially with matters of the heart. Lessons of being your self and standing up for your truths were woven into this fun romcom. It was a pleasure to read.

Thank you @NetGalley and St.Martin's Press for this ARC!

Loved this book so much!! I was obsessed from the start, from page 1! I loved the characters—they were real, darling, and just simply amazing!

Our two narrators were quite difficult to connect with, Amber especially. The fact that the story was rooted in fighting against homophobia and misogyny made it challenging to get through. The story seemed to shift tonally at times - which was slightly jarring at first.

However, all of these are just personal preferences!! I can easily see how this book would be enjoyed by many, seeing how it is a quirky, sapphic sports romance. Amber and Jack were very cute together and this was an easy read.

Home Field Advantage is another cute high school rom-com from Dahlia Adler. If you enjoyed her previous book Cool for the Summer or any books by Sophie Gonzales or Jennifer Dugan, you’ll enjoy Home Field. I found Home Field to be a little on the short side which made the characters a bit lacking in depth. I found Jack’s character (the quarterback) to be much more interesting than Amber's character (the cheerleader) but I feel like I barely got to know either one of them. Even though the book takes place over 9-10 weeks of school, there were only a few days of scenes and I was left very interested in the premise and characters, but wishing for more. Nonetheless, the plot is fresh and even the busiest (or reluctant) teen readers will find Home Field to be a fun escape.