Tip In (Lakeside Green Coyotes Book 1)

As a former college basketball player who met his non-athlete, non-basketball-loving wife in college, I was thoroughly impressed by how this book nailed the experience of being a college athlete, particularly one dating a non-athlete. I wasn't a top-tier player like the character in the book, but other than that, spot on. Everything, from the big, obvious stuff like the time commitments, to the little things, like getting back late from traveling and going to your girlfriend's place just so you can see her, to the emotional part of loving the sport. It was all *chef's kiss*. It's so rare to see someone capture the reality of that experience this well. And if that had been the only strength of the book, it would have been enough, but the story is also engaging, and the characters are likeable, even when they are being neurotic about stuff. It's hard to write two characters who are both falling in love AND not wanting to fall in love and still make them likeable the entire time. This author pulls it off nicely. If there's one weakness in the story, I'd have to say it's probably how anti-climactic the ending is. (Vague Spoiler!) It's HEA, for sure, but the "Grand Gesture" is not exactly all that grand. Things just... work out? Out with a wimper, not a bang, as it were. It certainly works, logically, and I suppose it's more realistic (and a bit refreshing) that things get cleared up with a couple of conversations, but it didn't quite deliver the emotional catharsis I was…

This book centers around Theo, the current phenom of women’s college basketball, and future number one overall WNBA draft pick, and Maya another student at her college who while dedicated to her studies and preparing for grad school is a bit of a party girl and also a total commitment phobe. The story is fairly low angst considering one of the main characters is so terrified of and resistent to commitment. Most of the conflict stems from the fact they spend a lot of the book not knowing where they stand with each other and too afraid to ask, but that is pretty typical for lesbians. (I say that as a lesbian.) They meet at a party and spend a lot of the next part of the book flirting with each other and feeling each other out. Once they get together and are on the same page things go mostly okay with only a bit of angst and conflict (that does make sense narratively) toward the end. I would say my only really big complaint about this book was that it was just a little bit boring honestly. Tropes: 🏀 sports romance 🏀 celebrity/non celebrity 🏀 (smidge of) fake dating 🏀 playgirl falls in love

Josie Mae put this one through the hoop for me! There were so many subtleties to this femme/disaster and gentle butch FF romance. I really felt how guarded Maya was despite her growing feelings, and the patience and understanding Theo showed should be a lesson to everyone in relationships.