I absolutely loved Cool for the Summer, and was SO excited to dive into this sapphic sports romance. Unfortunately I really couldn't click with the writing style this time around, and really struggled to get through the book.

Starting with the things I liked, I absolutely love sports romance and the idea of a female quarterback is everything to me!! I have no doubt this concept will have wide appeal to many readers. Jack was a really strong character, and I loved her entire plot. I also enjoyed Amber as a character, though I wanted a bit more depth from her end.

Unfortunately, the romance of this book really didn't sell me. I found there was minimal chemistry between the two characters, and I wished for more development of their relationship especially in the beginning. Their romance just wasn't compelling to me. The writing was also very average to me; it wasn't /bad/, but it definitely was not above average to me in any way.

Overall, I hope many readers will find a new favorite book with this story, but it unfortunately just wasn't compelling to me!

I loved this book, it was great and Jack and Amber are some of my favorite characters I’ve read about in a while.

Jack felt real she was sassy and quick witted and I love her for it. Amber was great although she was a train wreck for most of the book she got there in the and had her moments to shine.

The plot was a great spin on a classic trope. (QB & Cheerleader) The characters felt like they really were in high school they had homework and stress and sports to deal with. They sometimes made dumb mistakes but talked about it and forgave each other. I loved that the teens in this book felt like real teens.

I hate Cara. I hated her from the very first page where she was mentioned. But Amber and Cara complicated relationship was done well and it made the book a lot more interesting. It made me want to care and keep reading about what these silly little book characters were going to do next.

Obviously this book was best case scenario happy ending. But sometimes you need a book filled that ends in queer joy. Overall a very enjoyable romance that had great depth. Loved.

What a delightful book.  Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage combines the serious with the fun and light, providing a novel with a whiff of the 1980s about it together with lovable, memorable characters that will please any discerning teenager looking for an afternoon’s read.

Amber McCloud is a cheerleader with a mission – to become cheer captain before her senior year, get a college scholarship to a good school, and get the heck out of Atherton.  This extracurricular is the only thing she has on her college application which might work with recruiters, so she’s determined to make it there come heck or high water.  Unfortunately, there’s a rather mountainous obstacle in her path to success – the football team’s quarterback and local football star, Robbie, has just died in a car accident while driving drunk. The whole school is in mourning, and when the school announces that someone new will be admitted to the school to fill Robbie’s shoes, no one is prepared.

Enter Jaclyn (Jack) Walsh, who is fire on the field but tough and quiet off of it.  The team is shocked that they suddenly have a girl standing in Robbie’s shoes, and that she then has the temerity to score more than he did.  Some feel that her success is somehow a disgrace to golden boy Robbie’s memory.  The only person involved with the Atherton Alligators who tries to welcome Jack with anything resembling warmth is Amber.

All of Amber’s social and neighborly warmth begins to result in a defrosting of feelings between her and Jack.  As Amber tries to figure out what this means – and tries to keep her in-name-only relationship with Miguel Santiago, another guy on the squad, from blowing up – Jack tries to navigate life in Atherton.  Can love follow?

Again, this is a wonderful story, combining high school life with tiny interpersonal conflicts and a wonderful romance.  Amber is peppy, self-possessed and filled with determination; Jack is tough and resolute, shoulders hunched to deflect emotional blows. They figure out who they are and who they might be in fits and awkward starts, just like real teenagers, and their romance is well-written and alive, a firecracker of a connection.  Along with them for the ride are Miguel, his secret love interest, Malcolm, and Amber’s fellow good-girl cheerleader, Cara, who harbors a secret about the seemingly perfect Robbie.  Their wider world feels well lived-in and fully realized.  Maybe the book’s grasp of football is a tiny bit weak, but as a neophyte I could follow along, and Jack and Amber’s passion for their individual sports left me appreciative of their own feelings.

Home Field Advantage manages to be both wonderfully romantic and utterly realistic.  The kids in this story come up against a lot of your typical peer pressure situations and have to survive a lot of ugliness.  It’s a wonderful book, an enrapturing tale that’s a ton of fun to soak up.

Note: The novel includes bullying - including a threatened outing - misogyny/sexism, teenage pregnancy and off-page sexual activity, blackmail, and an implied off-page miscarriage and abortion.

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Home Field Advantage is your traditional, all-American love story between a cheerleader and a football player. Except it’s gay!

While I say this a bit facetiously, it is also true. Home Field Advantage opens with Amber, who is currently completely preoccupied with her goal of becoming head cheerleader next year. The football team is getting a new quarterback, after their previous quarterback was lost in a car crash. However, it is soon revealed that the new quarterback, Jack, is not the boy they all expected, but a girl. Amber is fake dating her best friend on the football team, who happens to be gay, in order to make life easier for both of them. But when she starts to develop a relationship with Jack, everything she has worked so hard for could be put in jeopardy. Thus, much of the story rests on a subversion of expectations and the classic American high school story.

The main reason I enjoyed the book was almost certainly the romance. Amber and Jack are incredibly cute together. Their banter and flirtation was excellent, which made it incredibly fun to read.

The more substantial part of the book, which I also enjoyed a lot, dealt with queerness. Labels, and identity, and what it means to be queer in a conservative environment. Amber identifies as polysexual, which is a particular identity that I have never actually seen represented in a book before. It was also a joy to watch Jack come into her own, with her fabulous butch makeover at the end.

As someone who grew up in a conservative-leaning environment, I definitely really appreciated that aspect of the book. While very few people are outright bigots, there are always going to people who never treat you the same, or simply ignore your queerness because it is more convenient. While I didn’t necessarily agree with the decisions that Amber made as she went to great lengths to keep her relationship with Jack a secret, I do understand why she made them.

I can also say that this book is the most I have ever cared about football. To be fair, the bar was pretty low, but I was surprised to find myself really invested in the games. Jack clearly loved it so much, it made me happy just to read about her playing and her joy of the game.

All in all, I think Home Field Advantage is a solid sapphic contemporary romance, that also deals with many aspects of identity and queerness. It can be on the serious side sometimes, but those parts of the book are equally interesting to read. I would recommend it for those interested in a sapphic high school romance, especially those who enjoy sports romances.

The small-town homophobia and sexism rampant in the novel were really hard to deal with, as that's kind of foreign to me. However, Adler does such a fine job of writing characters who are conflicted about their feelings, as well as those who want others to accept them as they are. Both are well represented here. I found this novel compelling and engaging throughout.

This will be a book that many of my students will enjoy because of the story line but also because of the characters. Fun read with realistic characters. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited for this one, but there were a few factors that made it wholly not for me. While the premise and subversion of tropes was lovely, I found the characters very one-dimensional. Their voices didn’t stand out to me, and I often struggled to remember who was narrating. I found the pop-culture references, such as Hamilton, to be jarring, especially during moments that were meant to be romantic.

I also disliked the way Robbie’s death was handled, and I believe there were better ways to achieve the premise/condemn homophobia than to kill a 17 year old character.

The ending with the team coming together was a bright spot for me, and I appreciate that Jack explicitly referred to herself as a lesbian, but overall I think this book tried to tackle some difficult themes, not all of which hit the mark with or matched the premise for me.

Cheerleader + football player -- but make it gaaaayyyy. That's all my writing students will need to hear before deciding to read this fun sapphic romance. I really appreciate Dahlia Adler writing the kind of queer books that she does, giving readers a sapphic take on the tropes straight teens have enjoyed for decades, and casting her queer characters as popular, successful people rather than focusing on trauma or outsider status. We need the full range of stories. The first few chapters of HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE were especially fun and humorous as the high school students had not yet realized Jack was Jaclyn.

A new quarterback, a in the closet cheerleader, and one hell of a football season. Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain, she loves her team, she dreams about getting the scholarship, and she’s keeping a deep dark secrets, she’s fake dating her best friend Miguel on the football team because she is queer and he is gay. When the school gets a new quarterback, its not who any of them expected, cue Jaclyn “Jack” Walsh, a female quarterback who will be taking the place of the former quarterback Robbie who had died in a drunken car crash. The one big secret about Rob? He was blackmailing Miguel and threatening to out him. Everyone is out of sorts with Jack, Jack’s new team hates her, everyone treats her like an outsider except for Amber who is crushing on her, and she’s had to give up her old life and friends in order to play football at this new school. For Jack, football is her dream, it’s her life. So when the team shuns her, tries to sabotage her, despite her being the only reason they are finally winning games, it soon starts to grate at her nerves. Jack and Amber start to fall for one another but will their relationship survive the homophobic and misogynistic treatment the school is giving Jack, will Amber keep her secrets or will she be brave enough to finally stand up for something she loves and finally take a risk. This is a story about courage, about standing up for what you think is right and about fighting against people who think that just because you are different doesn’t make you amazing. I adored Jack, and I loved Malcolm (Miguel’s bf) and I love the character growth both Amber and Miguel go through, they are both conditioned in a society where its hard to be true to yourself where its hard to be queer and different and finding the courage to stand up for themselves and for other queer individuals was amazing. I truly loved the relationship and romance between Amber and Jack, sure it was fast but it was sweet and they struggled a lot but in the end they both worked out beautifully. READ THIS BOOK PLEASE!!!

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Super cute, super queer. Good discussions of misogyny, homophobia, high school, and women in sports. Definitely recommend it!

I have been desperate to read this book since I saw the author mention that this book was inspired by an infamous internet photo of a female cheerleader helping a female football player with her ponytail.

I honestly felt more for the photo than I did this book. I really did want to love it, but it was a miss for me.

I don’t think I’m a fan of this author’s writing style and the characters fell flat.

Thank you to the publisher and the author for allowing me to preread this book. All opinions are my own. This book was definitely a rom com with a twist. I think the book was well written with a multiple pov but the ending was very abrupt. I liked the premise of sports but it felt a bit stereotypical. Recommend this for an older audience as there are quite a few topics that I would say need to be 15/16 to handle.

The first thing I have to say about this book is that it was super fun. The second thing I have to say is that it was very gay which I appreciated. Dahlia Adler writes some incredibly nuanced characters that feel very human (flawed, but pretty much still likeable), all culminating in a book that I pretty much flew through to see what would happen next, even with an HEA pretty much guaranteed.

Character wise, there were ups and downs, but I think everyone ended up in a positive way (or at least the ones who were supposed to). I think a criticism that gets leveled against YA books far too often is that the protagonist was unlikeable, and that that ruined the book. I’ll be honest, there are times where both Amber and Jack were harder to root for, and honestly times where I think that Amber got off a little bit too easy for her actions, but I think some of that provides authenticity within teenage characters that genuinely do not know what they’re doing, coupled with the immense pressure that homophobia can place on young people in the closet. There are still some decisions that left me unsatisfied, but I think the general character arc’s were both justified and made sense. Both of our main characters and a number of side characters had the opportunity to both grow, and get what they deserve.

I think the biggest thing to look at with this book, though, is queerness. This book is rife with queer characters, from our main sapphic couple, to a secondary achillean couple, a featured aspec nonbinary character, and a bi mom! First of all, I love that Amber’s mom is queer. There’s really nothing profound just that sense of bonding and breaking down the idea of only young queer people. I also greatly enjoyed Miguel’s role and his relationship with Malcolm as they navigated their own road alongside Amber and Jack. Amber and Miguel being beards for each other is both funny and accurate, but also in that Miguel gives yet another queer perspective and reaction to the situation they’re placed in. These queer people are not a monolith, even if they do gravitate toward one another. Most of all, though this book does deal with homophobia and the way it interacts with high school hierarchy (I actually found the fact that it seemed like there was so little support until it was clear that public opinion could support being in their favour to be fairly realistic, though unfortunate), it is overwhelmingly queer and ultimately gives the message of queer joy. And I am oh so joyful for it.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Tw: misogyny, homophobia, bullying, sexism, religious bigotry, miscarriage, car accident, toxic friendship

Amber's dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year but it's hard to remain cheerful when the captain of the football team has been killed in a car accident and quickly replaced by a newcomer. The fact that the newcomer is a girl doesn't sit well with both the team and the cheerleaders and it's up to Amber to try and bring the peace, especially since she's fallen hard for the new girl.

I had high expectations for this one since I loved Dahlia Adler's previous book, Cool for the Summer, which I loved, but this one didn't really hit the spot. I thought it was predictable and boring in some parts.

The writing was good, but the plot didn't really catch my attention and I had to force myself to finish it.

I will still read Dahlia Adler's future books and I'm sure many people will like this one especially if they like books about sports with a F/F romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

Generally a good book, kept my attention. The story was great, characters well thought out, and the pacing was good. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would read more by this author!! Thank you so much for the ARC!

(This review is based on an advanced review copy provided by the publisher.)

3.5 stars, in a positive way — I enjoyed it, and there’s nothing “wrong” with it, I just didn’t quite feel strongly enough for 4 stars.

If an f/f teen romance between a cheerleader and a quarterback sounds like something you’d like, then you will probably enjoy this! Solid, sweet, and pretty straightforward (it delivers exactly what it promises), plus a couple plot twists I didn’t see coming. This book is candy, but with a surprisingly chewy center. It’s fun and fluffy, with nuanced character work. I love that one of the villains is also the main character’s best friend (not a spoiler). That’s so painfully real — that the people you most care about can also hurt you the most. I know a writer has done a good job if they make me feel compassion for a character who has done unforgivable things, and that’s what happened here (even if I also felt the main character was a little too forgiving). I was also impressed that the only football match narrated in detail kept my interest and was pretty easy to follow, considering how little I know about football.

Minor quibble, but I have the feeling that teen readers might find a couple of the pop culture references dated. (I’m not a teen myself, but do 16-year-olds in 2022 still think Hamilton is cool? And do they still make Mean Girls references? That movie came out before they were born!)

Overall, this book was fairly simple but a good time.

Rep: Two POV characters, both cis white girls: one femme-presenting girl who describes herself as queer and polysexual, and one masculine-presenting girl who describes herself as “super fucking gay.” The polysexual character says she likes girls, nonbinary people, and trans guys, but not cis guys. Side characters include a character who’s implied to be asexual and nonbinary (they exclusively use they/them pronouns and say they don’t understand allosexuals), a gay Cuban-American boy, and a bisexual woman (the main character’s mom).

Content notes: Blackmailing a gay person with the threat of outing them (previous / not ongoing), teen death by drunk driving, [miscarriage of an unwanted pregnancy

Although this is a romance, the characters don’t only exist for each other’s plot lines. They both have difficult things going on in their life. Jack struggles with “having to constantly be grateful” while she is alone and isolated. She feels guilt for splitting up time her brothers get to spend with their mother. Amber needs to become cheer captain so she can get a scholarship even if it means hiding who she is.
Their parents and Jack’s friends are barely in the story. The football team and cheer team are very much one dimensional. Only one of them goes through a minor change.
I was pretty bored. I wasn’t into the instant love.
If you’re looking for a book that goes into the football aspect. You won’t find that here. There is nothing about the plays.
I was annoyed that Jack felt that everyone should be sticking up for her as if they don’t have things going on in their life.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with the eARC of Home Field Advantage!

Amber is a junior in high school who has aims to become the next cheerleading captain in the upcoming year, so she has to be perfect, but secretly she is queer and hiding it from everyone except her loving mother and her boyfriend who has a secret of his own. When the school quarterback is killed in a car accident, the school desperately needs a replacement. In comes Jack, the new quarterback recruit, who also happens to be a girl. The school cannot stand their beloved QB is being replaced by a girl, but Amber sees something in her and the girls get close.

I am a sucker for a high school love story where one is the outcast and one is popular. I think Adler does something here with this trope that not many do, which is actually have clear communication between the two characters and not have their problems solved immediately. There was not a point in this book that I was bored, and that can sometimes be an issue for me with YA books and developing side characters, but even the small characters were interesting and you wanted to know their story. I also enjoyed that while this was a romance, they are still shown as kids. They don't know everything and they don't know how to navigate all adult like decisions properly which made the story so engaging.

All together this book was very cute, and the romance I wish I could have had in high school! Absolutely adorable.

Cheerleading was Amber’s life since she was a young girl. Now a junior, she had plans of becoming the captain next year. But she had to prove her leadership abilities this year. However, all her straight forward plans were diverted by the arrival of the new quarterback, a female. Jack was the unexpected and unwanted addition to this football team. Everyone thought that her arrival, and excellent playing skills, would tarnish the memory of their recently deceased quarterback. Word spread that Jack was to be treated as an outcast by the football players and cheerleaders. Amber, however, in a fake relationship with her gay football player friend, found Jack too attracted to ignore. So she didn’t, but much to the disappointment of Jack, Amber still needed to secure the secrecy of their relationship in order to keep her cheerleader plans in place

This storyline was interesting with many diverse characters. They dealt with homophobia, blackmail, misogyny, strict religious upbringing and its consequences, and drinking and driving. So there was a lot going on in this story. The coming out storyline was a bit different since the families knew but not the friends. Amber and Miguel thought they needed to hide who they were in order to fit in with the rest of team. However, when they both found people they cared about, they struggled to stay committed to the rules they placed for each other in order to keep their future plans in place.

I thought the emotional struggle behind the coming out process was well written. Amber and Miguel were afraid of their peers reactions and how it would disrupt their school life. Jack was not in the closet, and she didn’t hide who she was. Her emotional struggles came with the highs and lows of not only being the unwanted and mistreated quarterback, but a sense of aloneness surrounding her in her personal life. This was the character that I felt was presented one way, but as the story developed, Jack’s mask of strength slowly uncovered a vulnerable teenager just wanting a chance to prove her worth as a quarterback -who just happened to be female.

Overall, this was a good read, but I felt the ending was a bit rushed and not all questions were answered. There were also some angst moments that felt a bit repetitious. Other than that, I think its targeted audience will find it entertaining and some aspects very relatable.

I really, really wanted to like this book. It has great reviews so far, and I love the premise. But almost from the very first page, I was disappointed. The writing is not my style, and feels very surface level. There's almost no depth or description and all the dialogue is trying way too hard to be witty. This book is definitely not the fluffy, f/f high school romance I was expecting it to be. Based on the book's setting (a small southern town), I would expect there to be some content dealing with racism and homophobia. But this book definitely failed to find balance between the romance/the rest of the plot, and just constant mentions of the homophobia faced by the characters. Additionally, the two leads had absolutely zero chemistry together, and certainly were not interesting enough on their own.