[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
Summary
Charlie Gibb has been working in recruitment at Georgia Tech for five years. But no matter what she does – playing professional women’s football, assistant coaching special teams, or recruitment – she knows this is the best she will get at Georgia Tech. Too many people think she only has the job she does because her dad is the football coach. So she goes looking for another job. And she ends up head coach at Douglass High School in Minneapolis.
Connor McGuire has been with the Douglass team for eight years. When the coach retired, everyone assumed Connor, the offensive coordinator, would get the job. But Charlie got it instead. Connor knows the players and the parents. He’s put in the time. Who is this woman they chose over him?!
There’s a lot of push and pull between Connor and Charlie as Charlie develops her team and Connor discovers she might actually know what she’s talking about. Charlie’s own past causes her to keep impossibly high standards for herself both professionally and personally, making it hard to feel like she has found a home in Minneapolis. Add to that the forces at work that want to push her off the team. When push comes to shove, will Connor stand with her or against her?
Review
This was great! I loved the football pieces and the character development in this. The feminist story line had some familiar themes, but they felt fresh in the context of this football story. It was great.
I liked Charlie and Connor as a couple, although it was often more antagonistic than warm between them. The larger circle of their friends, and Connor’s family, had a fun dynamic, too. I haven’t read the first book, Trouble Brewing, which includes some of these same characters, but that didn’t impact my enjoyment of this story on its own.
I enjoyed the wrap up of the conflicts central to the story. I especially enjoyed some encouragement Charlie gets in one part of the book to keep a bigger/wider perspective on her skills and experience. I thought it was a good reminder for anyone in a tough work situation.
Fans of The Playbook series or romance stories in general (and the enemies to lovers trope in specific) should check this one out! (Language, sex)