This is the third book in the series by Anita Kelly (Love & Other Disasters, Something Wild & Wonderful) depicting an LGBTQ+ contemporary romance. We meet our main characters: Julie Parker, the head coach of a high school basketball team, and Elle Cochrane, a former basketball star. Julie has been tasked with coaching the Bobcats alone and is thrown for a loop when an extra player has been suddenly added to her roster — Vanessa. She’s given one more surprise: Vanessa’s foster parent is Julie’s famous childhood hero (crush?), Elle Cochrane.

We witness Julie and Elle’s interactions as they work together to encourage and support Vanessa and the rest of the Bobcats team. Their connection only deepens once Elle agrees to be Julie’s assistant coach for the season. She sees it as an opportunity to keep an eye on Vanessa, to carefully dip her toes back into the sport she once loved, and maybe even a way to get closer with Julie.

Both Julie and Elle come to rely on each other and begin to suspect that their friendship is evolving into something more as they also eventually agree to practice dating each other in an attempt to help Julie explore her sexuality. Chock full of miscommunications, identity exploration, mental health and chronic pain representation, and serious commentary on foster care — this book doesn’t hold back in all the right ways.

The plot dragged in some parts and it was significantly less spicy than Kelly’s previous books, but it felt appropriate for the characters’ stories and neither aspect took away from my overall enjoyment of this book! To those who have read Kelly’s other works, you’ll love this latest addition to their series. To those who haven’t yet picked up Kelly’s books, there’s no time like the present! AND these books don’t need to be read in order to be understood or appreciated.