Second Position is such a good book! I've had the chance to read the ARC of the first book in the series too, and I am loving every part of it. How sweet is Grant!! Love the characters, love the banter and everything

This was a great sequel to Astor Hill! I really enjoyed being back in this world and feeling everything again and it was so incredible!

I loved the first book—and this one too, just to be clear! Second Position adds so much depth to the world of the Astor Lions, giving us Genevieve and Grant’s perspective while overlapping with the events of Will, Ben, and Olivia’s story. It was a bit of a surprise at first to realize this book runs parallel to the first, but once it clicked, I was fully in.

Genevieve is incredibly dedicated—to ballet, to her best friend Will, and to always being what others need. At times, it was so frustrating to watch her drop everything for Will, especially when Grant is right there, completely devoted and seeing her worth from the start. But that made her growth and emotional journey all the more powerful.

And Grant? I’m obsessed. His struggle between who he thinks he has to be and who he wants to be is beautifully written. Watching these two slowly pull each other out of their emotional comfort zones was romantic, tense, and deeply satisfying.

The writing is just as emotional and intense as the first book—maybe even more so in places—and I loved getting to see some of the original story from this new angle. It gave the whole series even more heart.

Huge thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity of receiving this arc! 💗✨

This book was something!!! There was so much drama and the characters were so complex(not in a bad way) but in the way that you were so conflicted in whether you loved them or completely hated them. I didn’t know this was the second book in a series when I applied for it so I haven’t read the first one but I recommend reading in order because I was so lost most of the time regarding the whole Will/Lily/Olivia/Gen thing. I will also probably read the first one eventually as I think there will be a next one 👀

In this book we have dual POV’s and those are Gen and Grant. Grant is this sweet guy who is a people pleaser but honestly has a lot of trauma due to his mother abandoning him and growing up in foster care. I enjoyed him but at the end I was like “boy just go to therapy”, that’s something he should have done since the start. And more than him our FMC, Gen really needed a reality check and some dignity because ohhhh her friendship with Will was so toxic. Honestly I get it now why it says there are vibes of Gossip Girl and OTH.

Here are some quotes that I loved🍒:

⇉ “I just need to be yours. Doesn’t matter to me what you call it. But you’ve been feeling like mine.”

⇉ “and I think for a moment that maybe his love wasn’t ever unconditional but a myriad of concessions I’ve had to make over several years, proving myself to him again and again.”

⇉ “Because Grant’s kiss is the bed you fall into after a long day; it’s opening an old album and seeing all your favorite people frozen in time; it’s the dream you try to force as you fall asleep, wishing for just a few moments of perfection.”

THIS BOOK ❤️❤️❤️

I was not a fan of Gen in Astor Hill but this book made me love her! How could you not?! The plot was complex and entertaining but the SPICE WAS SPICING! I thoroughly enjoy this book. I can’t wait to see what’s next. Maybe a Jean book eventually?!

The potential of this book was high. The premises were good but I think it could have been done better.

There was a lot of drama, and even if it's a standalone there were situations not entirely clear. The ending felt a bit rushed to me but it was a good romance.

Gen's mom is the worst and Will is toxic. Grant is always so caring and loving, but Gen sometimes just got on my nerves for putting her best friend before everything.

I'm starting off by saying thank you for the ARC read from Netgalley!

I read Astor Hill before picking up Second Position and loved it. I loved the Gossip Girl drama from the book, and the characters felt real and relateable.

I didn't have a lot of hope for Second Position as Gen would be one of the POV's, and I wasn't a huge fan of her from Astor Hill to begin with. But what these authors have managed to do is to make an otherwise unlikelable character and turn her into someone I not only liked but could also empathize with.

Grant is an adorable Golden retriever man who stops at nothing to make sure Gen is well taken care of and constantly reminds her of her worth.

That is, until the end of the book, when he's finally faced with dealing with his childhood trauma.

4, not 5, only because I felt like the ending didn't add anything to the plot of the story. They should have talked more, communicated their feelings, and worked together to conquer their insecurities. I mean, they're adults, not teenagers.

The way the book ends leads me to believe that we may be getting a Sloane book, but I'm much more interested to get Will's POV considering everyone reacts and does what they do mostly because of him, but thats just my two cents.

Thank you NetGalley, VictoryEditing and Sydney Madison for this ARC. This book willl be published on July 25th 2025!

I rate this book a 2.75 stars. I am afraid this book was a bit of a difficult read for me but only a few things effected this book. I loved the writing and I love the fact it's an interconnected series. But a lot of things made me irritated. I feel like our MMC was very irritating especially near the end. I think he was very insecure and it really made it hard to read. I loved Gen though and I do understand why the plot where it went! I do want to read the rest of the series and see who else appears in this interconnected series (Sloane please!!)

I will also make a tiktok video about this book soon and will be mentioned on a youtube video but that won't be until next Wednesday or Sunday (6/11 or 6/15)

A great second book in the Astor Hills series!
A big thank you to netgalley and Victory editing publishing for gifting me this early in placement for an honest review.

After doing some research and seeing this was the second book in a series and seeing some comments on how I should read the first one first really set the tone for this second book. As much as they are standalone reading the first one and then diving into this really gave us some underlying tones for Gen and Grant.

This a slow burn, sports, contemporary romance great for a summer read if your diving into the series for sure! This gives very reminiscent vibes of Gossip girl and I’m here for the DRAMA.

It’s nice to see a FMC who’s a little guarded and a little unsure, and I LOVE a sweet golden retriever man.

This book was beautifully written as much as I would love to give 5 stars I gave 4 because I do feel like there some parts that could of used some finessing or cleaning up plot wise but other than that I really enjoyed the read and do look forward to reading the rest of the series!

such an amazing read!! wish we could've learned more about gen's mom but it was still so good! i loved seeing them stand up for themselves but i do hate third act breakups😭

If your a fan of Icebreaker by Ali Hazelwood you will LOVE THIS!!!

I feel like this book was so well written and truly prefer it over any Ali Hazelwood book I’ve read!

Not only did the romance build up very well but the characters had more depth than just being revealed around the actual romance that takes place in the book. I’m very intrigued to read the other books in this series!

Very much a theme of nobody is perfect and everyone has stuff to work through personally.

Anyway 10/10! Loved this!

The DRAMA!! Oh my gosh, the drama in this book was amazing. I love books with drama, but it has to be done right, and this was done PERFECTLY! This book was like if One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl had a baby. Genevieve was so refreshing as a FMC. She was guarded, imperfect, so caring and sweet, but mess with her and she’ll kick your butt. Grant was so incredibly sweet, but headstrong, which I loved. The push and pull with Will and Grant was so painful to experience, it broke my heart for Genevieve. She only ever wanted to do the right thing and be loyal. I laughed, I cried, I gasped! Jean and Sloane were the ultimate besties! My heart broke so many times for Genevieve and the unfairness in all aspects of her life. Grant’s struggles and pressure were so relatable. The chemistry between Genevieve and Grant was so intense, it had me blushing and swooning! I did not want this book to end. I can’t wait to go back and read the first in this series, and I can’t wait for the next one. I’m so sad to have finished reading this book, but it was so much fun, so much angst and heartbreak! Just a truly amazing read.

3.75⭐️

this was a great contemporary romance. it is one of those books that is going above and beyond just your typical romance novel and the trauma and exploration of both gen and grants pasts/present add a lot of depth to this story and to their character development. genevieve had her moments that gave me some pause but overall her character was incredibly special and real! this was my first book by this author and i certainly enjoyed my time. i do wish the ending was a bit more concrete and put a tighter ribbon on things but overall a solid contemporary romance!

ARC - PUBLICATION DATE 25TH JULY 2025

5 ☆

『 tropes 』
•college romance
•basketball player x ballerina
•he falls first
•found family
•secret relationship

『 plot 』
gen loves two things, ballet and her best friend, will chapman. despite her complicated home life, those two things have always been something that has kept her grounded, they were her two constants but will chapman is spiralling after a secret and heartbreak wreck him, and he’s no longer the boy she fell in love with. she’s now coming to terms with the fact that will will never be hers, and she needs a life outside of him. in comes grant, who plays for the same college basketball team as will chapman. grant is kind and genuine but he has his own demons, so when gen approaches him and asks him to lose her virginity to him, he can’t help but be intrigued by this person that he’s never really known, and kept at arms length because of will. could this deal make them both believe they are good enough, or will it break them further?

『 my thoughts 』
they’ve done it again! i absolutely adored gen and grant’s story, it was beautifully done. the drama in this story is unmatched and whilst you know parts of the drama from the first book, it was still so intriguing to read and understand it from gen and grant’s pov and you also got to understand them so much better in this book. their relationship added so much more to everything that was going on. gen and grant are so very likeable and endearing!

this is the second book in the astor hill series, and even though it can be read as a standalone, i would definitely recommend reading the first book. the authors did it all so well, with ben’s pov in the first book they only scratched the surface of grant’s story and with liv’s pov in the first book, they really had you loathing gen (for the most part). second position overlaps the first book but it doesn’t read like you’re just going through the same storyline, it was so well done and highlights the importance of different povs and how sometimes those pov can be biased.

When I tell you I felt so incredibly bad for Gen, the way people walk all over her. She gives herself to others and they use her kindness and end up bleeding her dry. My heart hurt for her!!

Grant is just a lover boy, ugh I mean he has been through A LOT but he still makes all the time in the world for Gen. They were drawn to each other and found solace within one another. Both having experienced their own trauma they try to navigate what they mean to each other while also diving deeper into their own personal relationships with family and friends.

A beautifully written book that highlights not only romance but shows the reader it’s okay to put yourself first.

Thank you to NetGalley for this wonderful ARC!

This book was good? Okay? I didn't hate it but also didn't love it. I felt it dragged a bit and there were still a lot of questions I had at the end about the relationships and what happened and why certain things had happened, I thought the characters were emotionally diverse but very conflicted and the book overall just felt a little confusing at points.

In all I liked the story and thougt it had potential there was just a few things I would've liked to be more fleshed out.

This was my first Sydney Madison book and I was not disappointed in the slightest.

This book is much deeper than just a romance, it tackles some deeper issues such as family, abandonment and eating issues (I recommend looking up trigger warnings). All of this made it easy to connect with the characters and understand them as people. While there were times that Gen was annoying, it becomes apparent why she acts the way she acts and you get a much deeper understanding of both Gen and Grant throughout the book.

I cannot wait to dive into other Sydney Madison books.

Another, great book by Sydney Madison! This story follows Gen and Grant along the same timeline as book 1 - Astor Hill. While you could read this second book on its own, I would suggest reading book 1 for the full picture. During book 1 we have a tense relationship with Gen that slowly grows to a likeness, but we never knew her whole story. In Second Position, her story brings together so much compassion to why there was always a struggle with her best friend Will. You slowly peel back layers of her "iciness" and learn she is struggling just like everyone else. Grant, seemed like a good friend to the MMC in book 1, but you soon learn all of his tension to what happened and how bad he was fighting when people left him. The authors bring you a great story while touching on the emotions all of us have experienced, unfortunately, at points in our lives. I love their vulnerability they bring to the characters in those moments. Also, normally in books when the MMC does something to hurt the FMC or you know they make a bad choice, it's given me an red flag, but these authors really bring that depth to the character where you're just still rooting for them to fix and heal themselves because they are just humans experiencing life. Thank you to the authors for allowing me to have an ARC of yet, another, great book.

It was so nice being back in the Astor Hill universe for Gen and Grants story. There was so so much going on within the lives of these characters and so many emotions swirling around from sadness to happiness. And there were moments where the relationship dynamics between some of the characters reminded me of the relationship between characters in Magnolia Parks!

Overall this was a really sweet story with many heart fluttering moments, where we get to see behind Gen’s “cooler” exterior and into the true person she really is especially with the help of Grant 😍 our basketball golden boy.

This was my first book by Sydney Madison. I was intrigued by the synopsis. Gen and Grants story was so sweet and pure and came together so organically. They developed a beautiful friendship that blossomed into the most swoon worthy romance. Gen’s relationship with Will was so toxic and can’t believe nobody intervened before Grant. Both of these characters went through so much and you could feel the pain and trauma emanating from the page. I devoured this book so quickly. I cannot wait to dive back into Astor Hill! #netgalley #secondposition