Received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This was such a fun read. I loved the premise and watching Ty and Iona come together and I love that we got a bit of their backstories when it came to their family. I would have loved more fleshed out relationships (between Ty and the guys and Iona and Julia), but all in all, it was really enjoyable. There were moments that made me tear up and some that made me laugh and a bit of spice to top it off.

Sweet, slow burn sports romance. Ty is a pro football player and Iona is the new coach. They try to deny to pull towards each other, but the way they feel is intense and real. Iona has a lot to lose if she pursues the connection with Ty; it’s tough enough being a woman coach without having a romance with one of the players added in the mix. Iona has great strength, but she’s had to deal with a lot of guff being a woman in the sports industry. Ty is a good guy with a good heart. The connection between Ty and Iona is great and passionate. I did want a bit more for the ending, but overall, an enjoyable read.

Iona is a woman in a man’s game, as coach to the Seattle Grizzlies. She’s looked into the eyes of many a player, but something rattle hers when she meets the gaze of her linebacker Ty Williams. This is a great start to a new series.

I have not had a chance to read this book, Once I have gotten a chance to read it I will edit this review to reflect my thoughts and feeling on the book.

Getting Inside is a great read- the author did an amazing job of creating a sexy, strong, & determined woman that has a soft side as well. I like how she made all the characters layered & unique.

I look forward to reading more books by Serena Bell & can't wait for the next book in the Seattle Grizzlies series.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Not your typical football (sports) romance story. The story line got a lot more involved than just being about the football players. Loved Iona and Ty, they were great together.

Sorry I was not able to read you book but it went to archive before I could get to it. Sorry once again.

I'm all about women in a man's world - but I wanted to give this one a chance as I love sports romances. Iona as a football coach and getting involved with a player was just over the top. If a woman is to survive in a man's field like this one - the #1 rule is to not find herself in one of the players bed.

I love sports romances, so I really enjoyed this first book of a series about a pro football team. The premise was a little unusual, with the main female character being a coach for the team. This one had great characters, an interesting storyline, and a good romance. I'll be looking forward to more in the series.

Iona loves football. She has just accepted her first professional coaching position with Seattle Grizzlies. As a woman she has to prove herself. She plans to turn around their loosing streak around, starting with linebacker Ty Masters. He hasn't been playing well and she knows she can help him get back on track. Ty has recently suffered a loss in his life which has impacted his play. He is struggling to get over the death of his friend and long time coach Mack. No one can replace him. When Ty first gets a look at Iona, he thinks she is hot and sexy. But when he finds out she is the new coach, he knows nothing can happen between them. But they can't seem to stay away from each other. They know it is wrong to start a relationship but they just can't help themselves. The pace of the story was entertaining and kept me engaged. Overall this was a great story but the ending felt a little rushed. Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

Forbidden love - an all time favorite theme where romance is concerned. This time we see it in sports. In football, to be exact. A female football coach isn't exactly what we are used to seeing, especially one that looks like Iona Thomas. Sexy, strong and determined to prove herself in a world dominated by men.

It's a tall order, to be sure. Not to mention the fact that she also has to fight the intense and animal attraction that she feels for her linebacker Ty Williams. She knows that even a shadow of doubt can ruin her career, but how long can they deny the mutual attraction that seems to consume them.

Ty Williams is the linebacker for the Seattle Grizzlies. An imposing figure both on the field and off it. But how is a man to concentrate with a woman like Iona ordering him around. He may be a playboy, but if there is one woman who can make him give up his playboy ways, it is her. But how can they keep this attraction on the down low?

I love a book where there is a constant sizzle. Chemistry that is too big to over look and deny. I just wish that that attraction could have translated better after they gave in. There was so much buildup that I was expecting more when Iona and Ty got together. More heat, more sparks. This was, however, the first book in the series so I am expecting the upcoming books to be even hotter! Can't wait!

I was truly surprised at how much I enjoyed this story. Initially, it seemed like a typical football and coach romance, but each character’s narrative proved to be well developed enough that I was engaged in their personal success just as much as the success of their relationship. I was hooked from start to finish.

Wow, what a great book. I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night reading because I was hooked. This is the first book I've ever read from this Author, but it definitely won't be my last.

Coach Iona Thomas, former women's/men's football player, is getting her dream job, to coach in the PFL, She's worked her whole life for this. She's loved football ever since she was a kid, but her parents, especially her Father disapproved of her playing the game. So, she bought her own equipment, paid for everything herself with a part-time job. Her Dad made her believe that because she was a strong woman and could play tough on the field, no man would be interested in her. After two disastrous relationships she decides to not date anymore and just focus on her career. That is until she gets hired mid-season by the Grizzlies to replace another coach and she meets Ty Williams.

Ty Williams, football player is also known as a notorious "player." When Ty is called in to the head coach's office for a talk, he interrupts an ongoing conversation and his first impression of the woman in the office was mind boggling. Yet, when he finds out that she's his newest coach, his whole world is tilted on its axis. Believing the same old line that "women don't belong Coaching football" his attitude slowly changes for the better when he realizes that she knows her stuff.

When they are both stuck together during a wind storm one night, they ride out the storm watching old football tapes and talking about themselves. But throwing in a hot, steamy kiss...is a huge reality check for Iona. She could lose everything, her career, her well deserved respect. So, the kiss stays between them and is forgotten, only it just makes working together much more difficult to be professional.

With a chemistry as explosive as theirs is be ignored? Or will it finally combust?

A must read!!

Contemporary romance author Serena Bell is ringing in the new year by launching Getting Inside, the first book in her Seattle Grizzles series of football sports romances. The book features a heroine with the most stereotypically gendered male of jobs: she's a professional football coach (linebacker coach). RNFF talked with Bell about this untraditional choice of profession for her heroine, and other controversial aspects of her unusual sports romance.

SB: First of all I wanted to say, Jackie, thank you so much for doing this interview. I love this blog and the way you tackle identity issues head-on and fearlessly, and I'm really happy to have the chance to talk about Getting Inside's release here.

RNFF: Thanks to you, Serena, for agreeing to be interviewed, and for talking about the controversial aspects of this book. First, I'm curious to know, where did you get the idea to have a female professional football coach as a protagonist?


Dr. Jen Welter, coaching intern for the Arizona Cardinals
SB: When I first started working on this series, the NFL hadn't yet hired its first female coach, Kathryn Smith (hired by the Buffalo Bills in January 2016), but it had hired its first female coaching intern, Dr. Jen Welter. I found myself fascinated by her, and I wanted to bring some of both her triumphs and her struggles to life on the page.


RNFF: How did you balance the need to portray the difficulties faced by women entering a predominantly male profession with the need to write a hopeful story (a requirement of romance)?

SB: Writing romance is always a tricky balancing act in this regard. On one hand, readers pick up a romance for the fantasy—the pleasure of getting to spend time in a world that's simpler and less stressful than the one they live in. On the other, if you decide to write about a controversial topic (like women in men's sports), you have a responsibility not to gloss over the difficulties of the real people who are struggling to make their way in a far grittier and more nuanced world than romance. My goal was to split the difference as best I could.


RNFF: Early in the novel, your hero, Ty (a linebacker on the Grizzlies' team) uses the "women are a distraction" argument to justify (at least in his head) his opposition to heroine Iona's presence on the coaching staff:

As soon as I lay eyes on her, I get this fierce, almost painful rush. It's just the aftereffect of going toe-to-toe with her over O's job. That's what I tell myself. Not about going toe-to-toe with her in a completely different way. Actually, there's no toe-to-toe in the video siege firing through my brain. Every other conceivable position though. This is exactly why women don't belong in the PFL. Because all this shit in my head doesn't belong in the PFL. (341)

How have women in football and other male-dominated professions countered such arguments?

SB: They've countered the argument by being good at what they do, by showing over time that they're an asset, not a detriment, to any organization. And that's what Iona does for Ty. She's steady, she's present, she's effective, and in the end, that's what convinces him, far more than any verbal argument she could present. Which is why, of course, it's so critically important for us to get more women into more roles we don't expect to see them in; it's the best way to change the kind of outmoded thinking that Ty's early musings represent.


RNFF: The first turn in Iona and Ty's relationship comes after a joint radio interview, during which a broadcaster insults Iona and Ty defends her. Iona gets angry with him, telling him she doesn't need defending. But then Ty says he would have defended any coach, male or female, and Iona thinks, "I suddenly realize that I'm being a great big douchebag" (946). Can you take us through your thinking here, regarding what's sexist and what's not?




SB: In my mind, the show's host is absolutely sexist—his blindsiding Iona (which, by the way, wouldn't really happen in sports radio; I took artistic license) with an assault on the viability of female coaches is just plain wrong. Ty may be operating out of some assumptions that he needs to revisit—the idea that Iona needs his protecting—but I don't see his motives as suspect. Iona is encountering one of her own blind spots; she's so used to being armored against the men in her life that she responds defensively to Ty's desire to protect her. Knowing Ty and Iona, I suspect she will have to tell him to "back off" more than once more in their lives together, and he will get better over time at letting her fight her own battles. And vice versa. I can see her trying to fight his battles just as easily as the reverse.


RNFF: A couple of Iona's observations struck me: First, "Pro sports are this country's hardest meritocracy, with the possible exception of the armed forces. If you make it this far, you must be good enough—it's true of players, coaches, staff—male or female." Second, "the worst sexists are aging off, and the players are so young, so most of them are used to the idea of women in positions of power. And a huge number of them grew up in single-parent households run by mothers, so the notion of a woman who calls the shots doesn't faze them." I couldn't help thinking these observations were more wishful thinking than reality, especially in light of the recent ascendance of Donald Trump. Do you believe they're true? Who was your source?

SB: Both of these observations came via a journalist friend who spent a good portion of his career in locker rooms and on sports courts and fields. His point is that—exceptions aside—pro athletes are just that, pros, and their overriding goal is to win. Everything else is just a distraction, including gender (which may be the myopia of male privilege, but I still found it be an incredibly interesting observation). He said that for most pro players, if a coach can make them better, that's all they need to know.

Now, we all know that's not how it plays out systematically. There are still almost no female coaches in pro football (or in other male-only pro sports). There are still far too few black coaches and black quarterbacks in pro football. And for sure, there is still an enormous amount of intolerant language, behavior, and bullying in pro sports—on both the player side and the fan side. I chose to focus in this book on individual positive behavior, because my primary goal was to normalize the idea of women with key roles in men's pro sports. I want readers to end up cheering for Iona's strength rather than seeing her as a victim.


RNFF: Bringing up the issue of race in pro sports leads right in to another controversial aspect of your book: you are a white author, while both of your protagonists are African American. Talk about your thinking around that decision.

SB: Around seventy percent of NFL players are men of color, and from the beginning, I knew I didn't want to write a series that suggested otherwise. (As I side note, and to reiterate a point I made earlier, this doesn't mean that positions are fairly distributed by race, something that needs to change). I struggled with feeling like it wasn't my "place" to write this story, or that I'd be taking an #ownvoices opportunity away from a writer of color. But I am hopeful about the "abundance" behavior of the romance market: the more readers encounter books with thoughtful portrayals of characters of color, the more of those books the market will demand.


RNFF: Controversy #2: workplace relationships. Falling in love on the job is a common romance novel trope. But many readers have trouble if there are uneven power dynamics involved (if one party is the other's boss, for example). In your story, your heroine, Iona, is a coach, and your hero, Ty, is a linebacker who plays under her. When they first meet, Ty is instantly attracted to Iona. He knows, though, "if she's anyone who has anything remotely to do with the team, she's off limits" (137). But by novel's end, both still retain their jobs even after they have gone public with their romantic relationship. Take us through your thinking here, about why this is a HEA, rather than a potentially squicky ending.

SB: For me, it has everything to do with the real way power is distributed in a relationship. Power is complicated. It can come from physical size and strength, from someone's position in the career hierarchy, from someone's privilege within the larger society, and from a lot of other sources. The reason the ending isn't squicky for me (squickiness is, of course, 100% in the eye of the beholder) is because when I look at the way power balances out between Iona and Ty, neither of them holds an unfair amount of it.





RNFF: Controversy #3: the "balls" issue ;-) In an RNFF post from 2014, titled "The Anatomy of Courage," I used your book Hold on Tight to discuss why using the word "balls" as an image of courage might be problematic. And early in 2017's Getting Inside, Ty observes this of a fellow player about whom he was worried: "I grin. He's got his balls reracked"(125). Tell us why you think it's important to use such language when portraying certain male protagonists.

SB: I don't think it's essential. I think another writer might make a different decision, to give Ty a totally genderless set of language around courage. That said, it seemed pretty clear to me, given the freedom—one might say abandon—with which Ty discusses his, erm, "equipment" in this book that he'd locate male courage in his balls. I wanted him to feel credible as a guy who spends his time in locker rooms, even if he's also a guy who wouldn't tolerate, in a million years, the notion of a locker room as a place where hate belongs.


RNFF: So, what's up next for this series? Will you be tackling any of the issues about race in pro football that you mention above?

SB: You'll be hearing more about the Grizzlies! Calder's book is up next, followed by two more books about some of your other favorite characters, too. And I'd love to tackle more of the issues around race—particularly equity in coaching and quarterback positions—in future books.

Thank you again, so much, for the great questions and the space to think and talk about these issues!


RNFF: Thanks, Serena, for stopping by. I'm looking forward to seeing what develops next in this series. Given the stats in the "Gender Equality in Radio" graphic above, might I say that I hope a female sports talk radio personality might feature in a future Grizzlies romance?






RNFF readers: What are your thoughts about any/all of the above controversies? Do they make you more or less likely to search out Bell's book?

I was given a gifted copy by NetGalley.
Iona is a football player who manages to be a coach in the PFL. The road to it has not been easy at all but her love for football is so great that anything can't stop her.
Ty is the star in the Seattle Grizzlies Team. He is a good player and loyal to his team mates.
I liked Iona’s strength and Ty honesty. The author is really great describing feelings. They are so intense that my heart hurt with their pain or fear. I liked how anticipation was getting increased with every chapter and how the author keeps it to nearly the end to make it more interesting and to have us, readers, trying to guess what is next. Another plus for me is the alternated POV chapters.
I’m not very much into sports romances and I wasn’t sure about getting this book but I’m really happy I got it in the end.

HOT!!! What a great start to a new series! I love the forbidden aspect of this one - a female coach and one of her players. I love a strong heroine and Iona is a very strong character. I can't wait for more in this series!!

While the basic plot is nothing you haven;t read before, something about this story kept me captivated from start to finish. Iona was a strong and interesting woman, and Ty was a perfect match for her.

The book has to be compelling if me, a complete non-sports fan, can't put it down. From the start, I was pulled in by Iona and Ty and was so intrigued at how they'd ever manage to fight their attraction while balancing their messy coach-player relationship.

Serena Bell wove their story together well. Too often, romance stories with a focus on sports are either too heavy on the sport or don't include enough detail, making it an afterthought. With "Getting Inside," she shows that she's done her homework on the sport but isn't beating the reader of over the head with her knowledge. I was clued in enough to understand that football was the heart of the book, but still enjoyed the actual story.

As for Iona and Ty, I loved them. They're so relatable and genuine. Their interactions never felt fake or too fairy-tale. I was impressed by this especially given Ty's play boy persona and Iona's standoffish and brusque outer shell. I loved that he recognized her femininity without making her seem weak. These two are a good team, no pun intended.

I'm so excited to read the next books in this series. The Grizzlies seem to have a few guys who would make great love interests ...