Lisa Tobias is the new women’s basketball head coach for a small university in California. Her dream job is to move up the coaching ranks and reach the professional level, so no love distractions allowed during the basketball season. Celeste Bouchard is an English professor at the same small university, Glassell University. Having broken things off with another professor and suffered from the fallout, Celeste swore off dating anyone from the university. That is, until she meets the coach.

The story is narrated in third person point of view, alternating between Celeste and Lisa. Also worth mentioning, the mains are in their mid to late forties. Celeste was also overweight and dealing with self esteem problems still. I appreciate the author featuring a non traditional main and showcasing some of the concerns that come with it. Things like being self conscious and not being able to be confident on many settings, but especially in a relationship. Celeste also uses pole dancing as a physical and emotional form of exercise. I thought the choice of exercise was unusual and a great way to work through all her insecurities.

Unfortunately, I was not able to connect with the characters the way I like to. The first actual interaction was a misunderstanding that left me looking for more from one of the characters. The idea of wanting to be friends when they seemed to be at odds with each other was strange as well. The point of having a friendship in place sort of failed as communication broke down once again, but lust won anyway. I wish there would have been more positive interactions before they got together. The end seemed to come a little abruptly and decisions made on the spot contradicted when only a day before the path and dream were clearly going in a different direction. I do not want to spoil anything, although story was very predictable, so readers will understand as they progress through the story. 3stars

ARC generously provided to me by BSB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ah man, I loved everything about this book! Such a fun, small-town romance. Celeste and Lisa worked so well together, and it was refreshing to read a book about an older queer couple (most of the romances in general I read are about people in their 20s, which I also am so this book was a good change of pace).

Lisa is a basketball coach in small town. She dreams of working in a bigger university or going pros she doesn't plan on staying. She definitely didn't plan on meeting someone that will derail her plans.

Celeste is a professor at Glassell University she exactly where she wants to be after being at bigger university. She loves the small town life.

Celeste is hesitant getting involved with someone she work with again because the last time she did her ex Jackie spread rumors about her.

When they meet theirs a mutual attraction but they both decide to be friends with benefits because Lisa isn't planning in staying and Celeste isn't looking for something more. But that plan goes out the window when their feelings start to become deeper and top it off Celeste ex Jackie isn't taking no for answers.

This was a good read the secondary characters Athena and Olivia was interesting as they support Lisa and Celeste.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

This is an average romance, more on the bland side. Both main characters are around their fifties, and meet at the little university in which they have to work. Celeste is an English teacher who has worked there for several years and Lisa is the new coach of the women's basketball team.

The story focuses a lot, too much I think, on the insecurities of the two women, especially those of Celeste. She says that her childhood and adolescence was not very happy because of her physical appearance and that has marked her for the rest of her life. In turn, her relationship with another professor at this university that did not end well, has left her a little damaged in her self-esteem. Lisa, on the other hand, believes that this new job will be temporary, since it doesn't seem to be enough for her professional aspirations. So when they meet, although there is attraction between them, they try to avoid it at all costs, with too much effort.

What I liked least about the story and the reason I consider it average is that they are both too careful with each other, without much passion, although there are several hot scenes, but this heat is momentary and then they return to the cold or to the excess of politeness in the rest of their interactions. And the sex scenes are too fast and rushed.

It is not enterelly a sporting history, since the only thing the basketball in it does is create a link between both women, at first with Lisa asking Celeste to take care of one of the players who has some difficulty with her classes and later with Celeste taking an interest in an activity that is strange to her, since she has never been interested in sports

This is by no means a bad book, what happens is that lately there are better ones, but for sure it can be interesting and recommended.

Tip Off
Lisa is a basketball coach at a small university who dreams of being a coach at the pro level. She is super dedicated to her team but keeping her eyes and ears open for the next big thing. She has no time for a relationship if she plans to take her team to the championships. Celeste is an English professor who loves teaching at the small university. She broke up with her girlfriend, another professor who spread nasty rumors about her, and now the woman wants Celeste back. Unfortunately her attitude hasn’t changes and Celeste wants no part of her. She has vowed to never get involved with anyone at the school ever again. When Lisa and Celeste meet, they are attracted to each other, even though their first meetings don’t go well, they eventually become friends who end up wanting much more…

I really enjoyed this well written and delightful book. It was interesting, entertaining and full of goodness. Lisa and Celeste are so sexy and have wonderful strengths and personalities. I liked watching them dance around their desires while being there for each other in times of stress and joy. Their best friends are a lot of fun to get to know as well. They are the perfect companions to our heroes. This is one of those books you don’t want to put down, it drew me in and made me want to read faster because it was so good and yet read slower because I didn’t want it to end. I would LOVE to see a book featuring Athena and her girlfriend set as they meet each other and overlapping with this story. Read it and see if you agree that it’s a lovely book and needs another…

I keep reminding myself "late 40" ! OMG and I'm lazy as hell. I mean Pole dancing wow. I hope I'm that flexible when I'm 47-50 y old. However, I thought the story was ok. too long in my opinion but it's enjoyable. I liked Celeste more than Lisa. I felt for Celeste she was so relatable. very well written book. One thing thought, I kept thinking " what if the school knew that she pole dance ! is that even ok with them. I'm sure they would've kicked her out. immediately." I know the book never mentioned this point but the thought never left my mind. Anyway, recommended specially if you like sport " not that much here tho"

thank you for the author and her team for giving me free copy in exchange of honest opinion

This book was not for me .. it just didn’t click with me!

I liked the idea of it, the plot was very interesting but yet the delivery wasn’t.

So starting off with the MCs, I actually liked them both! The coach was a “stud” liked the other MC called her , she was a strong character and I loved her passion about basketball! The other MC, the professor was also a very interesting character. I liked how she was so self conscious but yet did something on the side that was completely out of her comfort zone (I don’t want to spoil her hobby on the side).

There was also very hot sex scenes and the chemistry in bed was off the charts! I give full credit to the author for her writing skills on that front!

So you got a good plot, very likable MCs and even nice supporting characters with hot sex scenes! My only issue was there was no storyline, and things didn’t add up. If only the author could’ve dropped a couple of incidents that didn’t add up to the story and put more depth into some other incidents, this could’ve been a very good read!

Overall the book was acceptable, and my rating is a 2.25 but I couldn’t get myself to round it up to 3. Having said that, I will be reading more of this author!

“I received an ARC for an honest review.”

There was much I enjoyed about this book and little I didn't. Reading about middle aged main characters with normal relationship challenges was a breath of fresh lesfic air. I'm referring to so many lesfic books with younger characters who haven't learned to communicate and cause unnecessary and overblown problems (needed to forward the storyline by the authors) between a couple. This book had good honest communication between the main characters and it just felt like a more authentic experience within the storyline. It's unfortunate that Celeste had to deal with an abusive ex, but often we forget that this does happen in real life. It's not always hearts and flowers just because it's two women together. It felt to me that the sex scenes may have been a little over the top, but it could be me coming off a few books with little to none. The obvious sports theme was, in my opinion, well done. The only thing I know about baseball is that the ball is orange, so take that with a grain of salt. It seemed realistic and was a chunk of the total storyline but it wasn't used as an easy filler by including easy to write blow by blows of the games. This author met a nice balance between the sport and the experiences and emotions of more mature women. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book a lot. It was a very easy read and a very sweet romance, with some totally hot parts included!!
A college-campus romance between a head basketball coach and an English professor. Both women in their 40s. I will definitely re-read this book.

Lisa Tobias is the women's basketball coach at a small, California college. She is instantly struck by Professor Celeste Bouchard, but the two get off to a rocky start when Bouchard thinks that Tobias is trying to get a basketball player special favors. A relationship really isn't in the cards for either of them - Celeste has relationship baggage and an abusive ex and Lisa has career aspirations that make sticking around unlikely. However, as they continue to bump into each other, they can't resist the attraction between them.

Don't know where this fits in the review, so just an add-on... but Celeste does pole-dancing for fitness and self-confidence, and it is awesome.

** I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. **

A mature romance. What happens when a basketball coach, who has her sights set on advancing her career, and an English Professor, who is avoiding dating any work colleagues, meet eyes for the first time and interest is sparked in both parties?

A good read, with the words just flowing off the page, and pages turning. There are a couple of awkward moments between the two protagonists, but this does not detract from the book.

Would recommend for a quiet weekend.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.
I do love a good sports theme romance and was really looking forward to reading this book, overall I liked it but wasn’t my favorite KC Richardson book.
Lisa Tobias is the head coach of the girls basketball team for a small University but she has aspirations to move on to a larger University. That doesn’t stop her for caring about her team and will do all she can to make them successful as a player and student. When her star basketball player starts having problems in her English class she decides to meet with the Professor to see what she can do to help. This is where she meets English Professor Celeste Bouchard where although there is some definite attraction between the two, a misunderstanding leads to an argument where Celeste later apologizes and friendship begins.
Celeste has some misgivings about entering into a relationship with a coworker since the last relationship she had did not end well and was abusive.
The sparks between Lisa and Celeste is hard to deny and what starts as friendship leads to more. I have to say the sex scenes were well written and hot!
Again although this wasn’t my favorite book this author has written, it won’t stop me reading anything she writes.

This book was about what I expected. It had a sweet story as promised by the blurb. I found it engaging, if a little heavy on exposition at times.
The main character's abusive ex girlfriend was over the top and heavy handed. She served a purpose in the main character's journey but she felt very two-dimensional. Problems throughout the book cropped up and then were quickly dealt with in a way that didn't feel authentic.
I liked the characters but wished for the writing to be stronger.