I was a part of Emily's ARC team a few years ago when this series was released. I loved all three and when I saw the audio listed here, I knew I had to listen. The narrators did these characters justice. I loved dipping back into this world. Anything Emily writes is amazing, but this is the series that made me fall in love with her writing!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ALC!

This book was cute! I think the narrators did a great job, and their performance was perfect.

The book is small town, second chance, best friends brother.

While I thought it was cute, I did feel like we were missing some of their romance. We didn’t see enough of them actually together, to be able to feel the chemistry between them. I also feel like the FMC was so adamant about not going back to her hometown, but ended up doing exactly that. I just feel like some of it didn’t really make sense.

I listened to Beneath the Stands on audio thanks to NetGalley. I absolutely loved the narrators. I really enjoyed the southern accents also. I haven't found a Emily McIntyre book that I haven't enjoyed. Beneath the Stands is book 2 in the Sugarlake series. This can be read as a standalone, but its best to read book one. 4.5 stars for me.

Overall enjoyed the book. The audiobook narration was great with the one exception of the male narrators southern accent for the FMC. I just had a hard time getting past it.

I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book at first—the insta-love in the opening chapters had me skeptical. It felt a little too fast, and I wasn’t convinced I’d get fully invested. However, as the story progressed, it completely won me over. This book ended up being a great lesson in trusting the process.

By the end, I really enjoyed it! The characters were far more complex than I initially gave them credit for, and I loved watching them grow. Their development added so much depth, and before I knew it, I was fully hooked. Definitely a pleasant surprise!

OVERALL: 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
•Storyline: 4/5
▪︎Spice Level: 🌶🌶🌶/ 5
•Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧/5
•Narration Type: 2 POV
•Recommend: Yes
•Platform: Audiobook
•Trope: Best Friends Brother, Dislike/Friends to lovers/Coworkers Older Male
I would recommend this for the lovers of Hooked and the Never After series. This is not dark but it is as dramatic as that series, just in small-town form.

I really wanted to like this book. And I liked the idea of it more than the execution. The amount of times Eli called Becca a bitch really put me off for this book that is supposed to be contemporary romance and not the authors usual dark romance. Also, Lee is supposed to be Becca’s best friend but the relationship didn’t read that way. They didn’t talk about things and when Chase was caught kissing another girl she didn’t run after Lee to be there for her. I just was disappointed in the character development and the lack of emotional depth in all the relationships.

An escape from a small town, sports related, second chance, enemies/hate to more, BFF’s off limits brother, addiction issues & codependency, narcissistic manipulative parents, and more. So many genres/tropes in one book and it makes for a terrific listen. There’s a lot of emotion in what seems like it should be a light fun listen. . At times I couldn’t stand Elliot and others, Becca. Both had a lot of emotional baggage, weren’t adept at discussing feelings and it cost them And yet, we eventually got what we came for. Resolution and a great happily ever after. Sometimes you can go home. I didn’t read the first in the series, but already have my eyes on the next.

An angsty, dual POV, dual timeline, second chance sports romance set in the same world as the last Sugarlake series book but can still be read as a standalone. Formerly published independently and newly released, this was just an okay read for me. I found it overly long, really dramatic and wasn't a huge fan of the borderline cheating plot. I didn't love the first book in the series either but I liked it more than this one. Would still recommend for fans of authors like Rebecca Jenshak and I did like the audio narrators for the audiobook edition. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

CW: alcoholic parent

Having only read Emily McIntire’s Never After series, I was thrilled to try a contemporary romance. This is the 2nd book in The Sugarlake Series, but the first book I’ve read. You do not need to read the 1st book in the series to understand what is happening in this book. This series is a loose interconnected series.

Rebcca “Becca” is a spit fire of a woman. She is the stereotypical “loose” small town preacher’s daughter wanting to escape but controlled and feeling trapped. Elliot “Eli”, is the town’s basketball star who made it big only to be injured and left without a career. Becca is the best friend of Eli’s little sister and both are from the same town. They accidentally discover they are at the same college in Florida - Eli is a new basketball coach and Becca the new team basketball manager. A fast and heated romance begins only to fizzle out and pick back up 5 years later when Eli goes back to their hometown to plan his wedding.

What I loved most about this romance was an unpredictable plot! Thank you Emily McIntire for keeping things interesting and not following the traditional plot. It was refreshing because I was expecting a third act breakup, only to be surprised with a whole different twist. I also love the vulnerability and amount of emotional awareness and growth both characters go through in order to have a healthy life for themselves before a healthy relationship. I just wanted more deep relationship talk between the characters. With the amount of therapy and individual character grown, it was lacking some relationship growth. I wanted those nitty gritty conversations and not short conversations or year jumps.

Romance was an open door but all the scenes were similar. Where is the variety?

I will be continuing the series!

*book includes detailed intimate scenes, language, substance abuse, therapy, rehab, manipulation, emotional and mental abuse, and death of a parent

Thank you Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing- Audiobooks for this advanced audiobook in exchange for a review.

AUDIOBOOK:
This is a duel audiobook narrated by Brooke Bloomindale and Liam DiCosimo. I wish that Brooke had narrated on her own, or that this was a duet narration. Liam’s girl voice was laughable and did not add to the story and made the intimacy scenes uncomfortable.

QUOTES:
“If I couldn’t trust my folks love, how I could I trust a man up in the sky who supposedly loved me the most”

1 star ✮⋆˙

omg i hated everyone in the book so much.
nothing pisses me off more than unnecessary miscommunication.
our main characters eli and becca are extremely unlikable people.
the main characters have absolutely zero chemistry with each other whatsoever.
no part of their relationship would be remotely salvageable without sex, like that's the only thing keeping them together.

the subplots were basically so pointless and added absolutely nothing to the overall story.
if i edited this book and took out the smut scenes and left it as is, it would be such a pointless book.

this book feels like a first draft. honestly really disappointed because it could have been really good if it was written better.

A steamy second-chance romance with plenty of dirty talk and a possessive hero. Becca and Eli’s story has all the small-town drama, best friend’s brother tension, and emotional push-and-pull you’d expect. The chemistry is intense, but Becca’s fear leads to heartbreak before a time jump brings everything full circle. The duet narration is mostly solid, though the MMC’s female voice can be cringey. If you love angst, heat, and a determined hero, this one delivers.