Loved this book! I loved the quarter back and cheerleader stereotype but queer. They were such a cute couple and this book was the representation I needed as a kid

Okay this book gave me so many FEELS.

Amber and Jack were so sweet! I loved their story and growth throughout the book. Jack is incredibly strong, she deals with so much BS at the new school.

Amber learns a lot in a short amount of time.

I feel like a proud parent, I feel so happy for them 🥰🥰🥰

In this dual-POV story, Amber is on her way to being cheer captain. She's got the perfect football playing boyfriend, the popularity, and now that their new quarterback will be joining them, a perfect year. Except, as it turns out, Jack is not the quarterback they expected - and Jacqueline is making Amber question staying closeted after all.

I knew I would enjoy this one, especially when I saw Natalie Naudus was one of our narrators! I really appreciated Jack's determination and drive to be the best she could be, despite the team(and frankly, the rest of the school) being sexist and unfair. I needed to warm up to Amber. I understood her motivations to keep to the status quo to get into college without a hitch, and I was glad for her pushing the cheerleaders to accept Jack. The relationship between her and Miguel was also very sweet, and made for great moments throughout the book as well.

We need more queer romance stories in the world, and this was one I'm glad will be out there.

4.5 stars

This one was so good; it was a delightful comfort read. I love YA, I love queer YA, I love YA with strong female characters, and, not coincidentally, I love almost everything about this book. (I’m also loving the mix of YA books I keep reading lately that have queer parent figures; it’s great to see!) It hit that satisfying mix of fluffy/soft and real/relevant, I liked the major characters and their growth, and I appreciated how, even with a happy ending, not everything magically worked out flawlessly; it was still real. I didn’t even lose too much interest in all the football talk, and let me tell you, that’s a big accomplishment on the writer’s end. The writer is very skilled in her own right, of course; her work reminds me of Casey McQuiston, Becky Albertalli, Andrea Mosqueda, and a few others. All in all, this was a great book, and it’s definitely one I’ll be adding to my list of novels to acquire for my classroom library in the near future.

5/5 ⭐️
OMG I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS!! It’s such a cute story of being who you are and loving who you want to love, despite other peoples opinions. Definitely a amazing book for PRIDE month!

I've never read a Dahlia Adler book I didn't love, and this was no exception. I really enjoyed the friendship between the closeted athletes, and how the fake dating relationship was handled by all parties involved. It was hard to read the bullying aspects, but I felt it was a realistic reaction from ignorant teen boys grieving the loss of one of their own. I've already requested that my library purchase a copy, and I hope to get one for my own shelves soon too.

This was a quick read and super cute. I did think the dialogue was a little cheesy or condescending at points - it definitely reads like an adult writing how teenage them thought cool people spoke in high school, but it's all forgivable. I would absolutely read a spinoff with Amber's best friend Miguel.

I preferred Jack's narrator to Amber's, but enjoyed them both - Amber just sounded a little too old.

I loved it!!!! This was a great twist on the infamous photo from tumblr back in the day. The story is so sweet and enjoyable. It’s an easy read and has a lot of fun scenes. The characters weren’t as angsty as typical high schoolers, which was great. I loved hearing both perspectives and both narrators did a fantastic job with the audiobook! I loved how strong Jack is and her determination to achieve her goals. The depth in her character at such a young age was truly inspiring, especially being in such a misogynistic environment. I also really enjoyed learning more about football and cheerleading, two sports I have never had any interest in.

What happens when the ultra Christian southern town welcomes in the first female cheerleader? Utter, unwelcome chaos.

Dahlia Adler's debut, Home Field Advantage, tells the story of Jack and Amber. Jack: the first female quarterback who actually could bring the town to victory. Amber: the junior cheerleader who needs the captain role for next year. Jack: openly out of the closet. Amber: secretly bisexual... but holding feelings for Jack. Will A stick to the status quo and not share her feelings with the world, taking her one true love onto Friday night lights?

Both audio narrators do a fantastic job of narrating the feelings and emotions packed into these two characters. The dual point of view is intermixed within each chapter and it was nice to see what these characters were thinking.

I wish this book shared more depth into how the characters were feeling and not into the sports aspect. While I enjoyed listening to the story, there were some parts I sped up and wanted to be completed. In the end, I realized that these characters were teenagers and were allowed to make some sillier mistakes. I recommend this book to those who enjoy YA character driven reads. Try to listen to this on audio, that's what makes it a win!

I’m a Dahlia Adler Stan. Anything she writes I’m all over it. So thank you the NetGalley gods for blessing me with this alc!!

First off the premise. Cheer girl falling for the quarterback. A classic tale. Cheer girl falling for the quarterback who just happens to be a badass girl? Even better 😍 I’m still swooning over these girls!

Jack, never Jaqueline and def not Miss Walsh, is the new girl at school come to save the football team from how bad they are at football. What she can’t help is she’s replacing the beloved (& also a horrible human) Robbie who died in a car accident.

Amber, “cheer girl”, has it all. Super star cheerleader, in line for captain, & stud boyfriend. It just so happens it might not be as perfect as it seems, seeing she not straight (polysexual to be exact). And she def isn’t (but also totally is) crushing on the new girl.

What I love most about this book was the the relationships between all the characters. The way Miguel and Amber’s relationship worked and how they supported each other (even when it was hard). I loved how we got to see an evolution in mindset not only with the queer characters, but also others and who was quick to turn on their “friends”. The banter and the love/hate jack and amber had was the cutest. ALSO I loved the descriptions of the football games. Literally so much nostalgia.

Dahlia Adler is a queen & read this book. That’s all ☺️

Fresh off of reading "I Kissed Shara Wheeler", I am so pleased with the LGBTQIA YA options that are out! Home Field Advantage is a sweet, complex romance any YA reader will love.

This was a super fun book with a great message. I listened to the audiobook and I absolutely loved the narrators and felt they brought the story to life. I'm normally not a huge fan of novels with sports but man I loved this book! It tackled tough issues like homophobia and misogyny while keeping the main focus on the romance and the overall message to be yourself. Definitely a must-read for YA romance lovers.

Trigger Warnings: Past car crash, past death, underage drinking, christianity, single mom, past teen pregnancy, homophobia, misogyny, past blackmail, cursing, parental abandonment, divorce, fighting, bullying, violence, abortion, sexism

Representation: They/them pronouns, Black, Queer/questioning, Gay, Bisexual, Lesbian

Home Field Advantage is the story of cheerleader Amber, who is gunning for cheer captain next year and hiding her true identity. Amber will do anything to secure that title until the new quarterback, Jack, moves to town and the entire school becomes enraged because Jack is actually short for Jaclyn. As the team ignores her and the cheerleaders hate her, Jack struggles to fit in. Together, the girls try to win everyone over and fall in love while doing so.

I loved it!!!! This was a great twist on the infamous photo from tumblr back in the day. The story is so sweet and enjoyable. It’s an easy read and has a lot of fun scenes. The characters weren’t as angsty as typical high schoolers, which was great. I loved hearing both perspectives and both narrators did a fantastic job with the audiobook! I loved how strong Jack is and her determination to achieve her goals. The depth in her character at such a young age was truly inspiring, especially being in such a misogynistic environment. I also really enjoyed learning more about football and cheerleading, two sports I have never had any interest in.

I am obsessed! If I had football players like this when I was in school I might have actually paid attention to the sport. Jack, aka Jacklin, is new to the school, and the school's new quarterback, and the only female on the football team. The team and the school aren't very supportive or welcoming, except one of the cheerleaders... Amber is in the running for cheer captain for next year. Also she is deeply in the closet, something that could seriously jeopardize her chance for captain next year. How much is she willing to risk not just for the girl she is into, but to do the right thing?

I loved the narrator, it was so easy to get sucked into this. Each character's voice was distinct and the reading was so smooth.

I'm a big fan of sports romance and when I saw that this would be a sapphic relationship between a quarterback and cheerleader, I was ready to jump in. I love reading about girls in sports and I think it's cool that more girls are going out for football, to the point that there are all female leagues!

This book does a good job of being a cute romance, while also addressing sexism, homophobia, and internalized misogyny. Jack has been out a proud for a while, but the new town she's moved to is much less accepting of anything beyond straight and Christian. That's why Amber and Miguel are keeping their sexual orientations secret, they might be kicked off their teams if it leaked. I did think Amber and Miguel's fake relationship was interesting and was glad they had someone to lean on, but it's hard to keep up the charade when you fall for someone else.

There were times it was difficult to be a fan of Amber. I understood her plans for the future and that she was afraid of potential consequences, but it's not okay to force someone else to hide for you. She did make some big strides though and her schemes at the end were pretty great. I also got very angry with the cheer squad and football team for treating Jack so terribly. I just wanted her to have a team she could be friends with and people had to ruin it. Luckily, there are some players that aren't quite so terrible.

I had a lot of fun listening to this and the dual narrators helped with the alternating points of view. Definitely give this book a try!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and OrangSky Audio for the copy.

Thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and OrangeSky Audio for the ARC and audio ARC of this!

For fans of Cheer Up: In Love and Pom Poms and But I’m a Cheerleader, this was so dang cute! I had trouble with the really religious characters, just because of my own history, but I loved Amber, Jack, and Miguel and felt for them trying to deal with the homophobia at school and the question of if/when to come out. The end felt a little quick and easy, but overall I enjoyed it a lot! The narrator was great and easy to listen to.

Amber is a popular cheerleader who’s aiming for cheer captain next year. She seems to have a good shot at it—she’s liked by her team and is dating a football player. (Nevermind that her relationship is fake, as her and her boyfriend are both closeted.) When her school’s new quarterback, Jack, turns out to be a girl, and they start seeing each other, her plans of making cheer captain and going to college for cheer might be at risk.

This was a dual POV romance, which showed each girl’s individual struggles—Amber with the pressure of coming out to her cheer team and risking everything she’s worked hard for, Jack with being in a new town that hates the fact a girl is leading their football team to victory—as well as how they felt about each other, which is always cute.

Highly recommended for YA romance fans!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book early! Take my review with a grain of salt because I am not the target audience for this book. This is a YA F-F romance about the head cheerleader and the new female quarterback. The school's quarterback died in a drunk driving accident and the new quarterback is a female with big dreams of playing football. She transfers to the school to get the opportunity to play, but they are not welcoming at all. Our main character, Amber, is the only one who treats her kindly at all and its because she finds her attractive. Amber is in the closet and is dating a gay guy so they can both stay closeted. They're the "it" couple and nobody knows her secret. That is, until Jack comes into the picture and she may have something worth coming out of the closet for. I didn't feel the chemistry between Jack and Amber and I didn't like the way Christianity was portrayed (her best friend is a pastor's daughter and comes off very judgmental). If you're looking for a very teen female female romance maybe pick this one up, but I would guess there are better.

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.

My little lesbian heart is weeping! I absolutely adored every second of this book. I was so excited for this book and it did not disappoint me at all!
I read this whole book in one night because I just didn't want to leave these two. They were so sweet and relatable. I want this to be a movie so bad so I can cheer on my new favorite couple in a new medium!
Absolutely adorable I highly highly recommend you check this out!