Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

Summary:
Amber McCloud’s dream is to become cheer captain at the end of the year, but it’s an extra-tall order to be joyful and spirited when the quarterback of your team 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.
The players refuse to be led by a girl, the cheerleaders are mad about the changes to their traditions, and the fact that Robbie’s been not only replaced but outshined by a QB who wears a sports bra has more than a few Atherton Alligators in a rage. Amber tries for some semblance of unity, but it quickly becomes clear that she’s only got a future on the squad and with her friends if she helps them take Jack down.
Just one problem: Amber and Jack are falling for each other, and if Amber can’t stand up for Jack and figure out how to get everyone to fall in line, her dream may come at the cost of her heart.
Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage is a sparkling romance about fighting for what – or who – you truly want.

Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved Adler’s Cool for the Summer, so I was excited to read another one of her books.
Home Field Advantage follows Jack and Amber, who both get their own chapters. Amber is a cheerleader in a small town. She has hopes to become captain next year when she’s a senior. Enter Jack, and she transfers in to be the school’s new quarterback. Now as if the fact that she’s a girl isn’t going to make things hard enough, the last quarterback died and their fellow students practically worship his memory.
So, obviously, the cheerleader and the quarterback get romantically involved. But Amber’s not out, so there are lots of complications. I liked the characters because they were real. They made mistakes and didn’t always consider possible consequences, but they make amends and they do their best to be better in the future. The friendships were easy to root for. I love small queer friend groups that turn into found family.
I’m not super into sports, so that was lost on me. Though I do want to mention that Jack’s love for the game really showed through. She uprooted half her family and changed everything for this thing that she loves. Adler did a great job showing the reader that passion.
If you like sports romance, this book is for you. If you like sapphic books, this book is for you. If you like both of those things, then you should definitely add this one to your list.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Amanda’s (Almost) Auto-Buy Authors

Hi, lovelies! Back in April, I did a post about my ‘Auto-Buy Authors‘ where I talked about authors that I love to the point where I automatically buy their books when they have a new release. There were quite a few authors that I thought have the potential to make that list, but have only published one or two books. So, I thought I’d share a list of some authors that are on their way toward that list, but don’t have enough published books for me to really say for sure yet.

Tehlor Kay Mejia
I wrote this list in a note while I wrote my original auto-buy author post, so since then, I’ve read two more of Mejia’s books and I definitely think she’s moved solidly into auto-buy territory. I loved the We Set the Dark on Fire duology and I recently really enjoyed Miss Meteor which is co-written with Anna-Marie McLemore. I’m also very excited to read the second book in the Paola Santiago series.

Katie Henry
Henry has three books out and I’ve genuinely enjoyed all three of them. They’re contemporary books that generally involve a serious topic, but wit humor and thoughtfulness. I read This Will Be Funny Someday and totally loved it. There’s a toxic relationship and some lying, but I think it was all done with care. She has an untitled book coming in 2022 that I already can’t wait for.

Hanna Alkaf
I read The Girl and the Ghost as one of my first books of 2021 and I absolutely devoured it. I don’t read historical fiction often, but I’ve heard really great things about The Weight of Our Sky and I absolutely am excited to read Queen of the Tiles when it’s released.

Emily Henry
Henry is coming quickly toward the definite auto-buy list because of her adult romance. I really liked Beach Read and I recently read People We Meet On Vacation and I liked that one even more. I don’t know if she’s planning to write more YA books, but I really loved all three of her YA books too.

Justin A. Reynolds
I want to add him to my auto-buy list, but he’s only published two books so far. Now, I’ve loved both of these books so, so much. I don’t expect that to change anytime soon. But, it’s still a bit early to say for sure. I highly recommend both Opposite of Always and Early Departures.

Dahlia Adler
Adler wrote Cool for the Summer, which I believe will be making several of my ‘2021 favorites’ lists when I make them. But this is the only book I’ve read by Adler. So, despite the book having a huge emotional impact on me, I can’t quite add Adler to my auto-buy list yet.

Laura Pohl
I really loved the audiobooks for The Last 8 and The First 7. I am beyond excited to read The Grimrose Girls later this year. I absolutely think she’ll make it to my auto-buy list, but I want to try more books by her first.

Adalyn Grace
The All the Stars and Teeth duology was a really great one. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what she publishes next.

Bethany C. Morrow
I loved both A Song Below Water and the sequel, A Chorus Rises. Morrow has a few books coming out in the near future. One is a retelling, which I think I’ll skip, but I’m really excited for Cherish Farrah in 2022.

Katy Rose Pool
I am absolutely obsessed with The Age of Darkness trilogy. The third book isn’t even out yet, but I know I’m going to love it. I also follow Pool on Instagram and she’s been talking a bit about what she’s working on next, vaguely of course, and I already can’t wait to read whatever it is.

There are so many incredible authors out there and I wish that I could read them all. But these are some of the authors that are right on the tipping point of making their place on my auto-buy author list.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.

Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler

Summary:
Lara’s had eyes for exactly one person throughout her three years of high school: Chase Harding. He’s tall, strong, sweet, a football star, and frankly, stupid hot. Oh, and he’s talking to her now. On purpose and everything. Maybe…flirting, even? No, wait, he’s definitely flirting, which is pretty much the sum of everything Lara’s wanted out of life.
Except she’s haunted by a memory. A memory of a confusing, romantic, strangely perfect summer spent with a girl named Jasmine. A memory that becomes a confusing, disorienting present when Jasmine herself walks through the front doors of the school to see Lara and Chase chatting it up in front of the lockers.
Lara has everything she ever wanted: a tight-knit group of friends, a job that borders on cool, and Chase, the boy of her literal dreams. But if she’s finally got the guy, why can’t she stop thinking about the girl?
Cool for the Summer is a story of self-discovery and new love. It’s about the things we want and the things we need. And it’s about the people who will let us be who we are.

Review:
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Cool for the Summer is the book I never knew I needed. This book spoke to my soul in a way that no book has for a long time. I firmly believe that is Cool for the Summer had been published 10 years ago, when I was in high school, I would have realized I was bisexual much sooner.
Cool for the Summer follows Larissa in the past and the present. It starts on her first day of her senior year in high school. She’s just had an amazing summer and really gained some confidence in herself. That confidence shows and the boy she’s been crushing on for years notices. Chase is finally noticing her and it’s like all of her fantasies are coming true, so why isn’t she happy? This is where the flashbacks come in. Over the summer, Larissa spends her time in the Outer Banks staying at her mom’s boss’s house. It’s here that she meets Jasmine. Everything gets more complicated when Jasmine shows up as a new student at Larissa’s high school.
I loved this book so much. As I said above, this book spoke to my soul in a way that hasn’t happened with any other book in a long time. Larissa is trying figure out what she’s feeling. She really likes Chase. He’s a genuinely nice guy and she doesn’t understand why she isn’t happier. She also has no idea what the problem with Jasmine is. Jasmine hasn’t really even tried to talk to her and suddenly she’s best friends with Shannon, one of Larissa’s best friends. This story did an incredible job of making me feel Larissa’s emotions and confusion. It’s written in the first person. So, we’re getting all of Larissa’s thoughts as she’s thinking them. I think telling the story this way was a really great way to get the reader to feel and experience Larissa’s emotions alongside her, which is exactly what I did.
I loved that even though Larissa felt like there wasn’t anyone she could talk to, she still had friends (Kiki) that saw through her and could see what she was going through. The best kind of friends are friends that support you and manage to say the right thing even though they don’t know exactly what the problem might be. And once Larissa didn’t finally talk to her friends and her mom, their reactions were so positive and I loved that for Larissa. I definitely shed a tear or two when she finally started talking to her loved ones about her feelings for Jasmine.
Overall, I feel like this review is absolutely incoherent but this book changed me. I wish this book existed ten years ago so that I could have had my moment of self-discovery alongside Larissa. Please read this book. It’s full of diverse characters, self-discovery, and friends that don’t always say the right thing at first. I’m going to go now because I feel like I’m getting more incoherent the longer I type this.

Keep on reading lovelies, Amanda.