New town, new football team, new attraction. Jonah feels like he wants to be friends with Calvin and maybe something more, but Calvin has been punishing himself and denying anything that may mean losing his family.
From the blurb:
Calvin Duke
I messed up. Big-time.
I broke the rules for Big Bend. For my family. For myself.
I’m just trying to get through high school without causing myself any more pain by crossing any more lines.
But of course, life has to throw another obstacle my way.
This time it’s in the form of a brand-new quarterback. One who breaks all the rules and doesn’t seem to mind.
I know I need to resist him, but why does he have to make it so difficult to do what I need to do?
Jonah Zimmerman
I’m the coach’s little brother, but I’m not in his shadow.
I make my own way in life and make my own rules. Always have. Always will.
But when I meet the left tackle of my brand-new football team, it’s not my rules I’m going to break.
I should keep my head down, focusing on getting to college, where I have a full ride with a bright future. But all I can think about is him.
Getting him to go just a little offsides, to open up and be himself—yeah, that’s my new goal for the year.
SNik's review:
Fourth in series (Big Bend Bears), but can be read as a standalone. Small town. Teammates. Found family. Slow burn. Dual POV. Heed content warnings.
Kicked out by his father, Jonah is living with his brother, and he sets his sights on another football player that he feels protective towards. Calvin is deep in the closet, being bullied for kissing a boy last year and still denying it, until meeting Jonah who wants to be close but Calvin can’t let his family find out.
I did enjoy being back in Big Bend, even though the small town hate gives me the chills and stresses me out. Jonah is such a fabulous character, someone young but confident in himself and having such a strong pull of attraction but full of compassion for Calvin. The found/real family here is so supportive and important and I was so happy to read about Calvin and Jonah being together and would have really loved to see them years further into the future. Two jocks, a gentle giant with a golden retriever type, this was a fun read.
Heather's review:
We're back in Big Bend! I do like the way this book started with some animosity and morphed into friends and then lovers... As always, these young men had an up hill battle with balancing their sexuality with the inherent small town homophobia and Calvin's family's expectations, which added a dimension to the book and created some outside tension and angst. I enjoyed the characters, their slow build and also watching them blossom despite the prejudice around them.
Off Sides is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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