So much for senior year being the best part of high school.It all started when I caught my boyfriend cheating on me.I did what any girl would do—I got revenge. Of course, it didn’t stop there. Thanks to a condemning video, I also got eight weeks of community service and athletic probation right before basketball season is supposed to start. (There goes my spot as captain!)Thankfully, there’s a … as captain!)
Thankfully, there’s a guy at Marlowe Junction’s Helping Hands who makes passing the time more enjoyable. He’s gorgeous, funny, and a huge basketball fan.
Too bad he’s also my brother’s biggest enemy…
Courtside Crush is a modern-day retelling of Romeo and Juliet, perfect for anyone who likes their sweet romance with a dash of drama. It is the first book in the Varsity Girlfriends series.
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A wonderful well written rival school forbidden romance story. This engaging storyline stressed the importance of honesty, shows effects of lying, had drama, supportive families and friends, thru a rollercoaster of emotions that had me on the edge page after page for outcome. A really fun, enjoyable YA romance that was cute, funny, and endearing thru the trials of high school. The characters were well developed with laugh out loud banter and great supporting casts of family and friends. The narration was a great job of giving all characters their own voices along with portraying the emotions and spunk of each. Really made me feel as I voluntarily listened and reviewed this amazing story adding extra layer of enjoyment.
Super cute book!
Megan Meyer narrated this so well, bringing the book to life so beautifully. I kinda forgot that I was listening to just one person.
I loved this book. The characters and the story hooked me in and to be honest I could have listened a lot longer as it seemed to go past too quickly. I did spend quite a bit of time mentally shouting at the the characters as I got so involved in what was going on. I love watching all their relationships as they grew and changed.
A Terrific YA Story Enjoyable for Any Age! 4.5 Stars
Courtside Crush
Varsity Girlfriends, Book 1
By: Kayla Tirrell
Narrated by: Megan Meyer
This is a terrific story, it is well written, well told and I enjoyed it from start to end. It is not a typical young adult romance, it is so much more. Kayla Tirrell’s storylines are interesting and realistic. She captures teenage living, the challenges they face and the struggles they go through. The characters are well developed, I really liked Charlie, how she started to grow as a person and see the error of her ways. I also liked her best friend Daria, who always had her back. No comment on Anderson, but Jackson, I really liked him, he seemed more mature than others his age, I would love to hear more from him and what makes him tick. I loved the Romeo and Juliette theme in this story using the love of basketball and rival teams, well played! I highly recommend this story, it is entertaining and fast paced, there is never a dull moment, has plenty of drama, angst and some sweet romance. Kayla Tirrell thank you for another great story!
I listened to the Audible edition, Megan Meyer did a great job narrating the story and performing the voices of all the characters, giving each their own unique sound and easy to follow the conversation and dialogue. Thank you for the great listen
I loved it! Seriously, there was SO much to love about it!!
I loved Charlie’s crazy/mischievous antics. I loved the fun/realistic relationship that she had with her family. I loved her best friend Daria (that girl really WAS a great friend…not to mention a funny one, lol). And lastly, I love how AMAZING Jackson was (I’m not even ashamed to admit that I highlighted *quite* a few of his quotes, along with some quotes that had to do with him).
As far as content goes: there wasn’t any “actual” language, so I was really happy about that (everyone *does* has different preferences and viewpoints on what counts as profanity though) and there was only some mild suggestive content that mostly (if not all of it) came from Charlie’s ex…who I absolutely couldn’t stand, by the way. Saying that he was a jerk would be an *understatement.*
All this to say, it was a good read. A really good read. I wish it had some kind of epilogue, but I absolutely loved how the ending played out…so I can’t complain too much.
Oh! Preston’s costume was the best. I just had to say that. And even though I didn’t fangirl too much over him in this review, he most *definitely* ranks up there with Jackson.
Cute YA Romeo and Juliet story with some minor niggles.
Charlie and Jackson are likeable main characters, though Jackson – while I appreciate that he’s one of the good guys – stays a bit too bland and passive for my taste.
The sibling drama seems a bit blown out of proportion, and we don’t get real closure on the storyline with the ex.
That being said, I liked that Charlie had a friend like Daria in her corner, and that even somewhat-nemesis Sammi turned out to be a decent human being.
Looking forward to reading more books in the series (and by this author in general)!
This book was so sweet! Charlie and Jackson were super cute.
A cute short story. Though you get a happy ending, I would have liked to see what happens next. A nice sweet read.
Charlie’s boyfriend cheated on her with a cheerleader, and what did she do about it? She did what any girl would do. She got revenge. But, it didn’t work out like she’d hoped. She was caught on video keying his car.
She gets eight weeks of community service and athletic probation right before basketball season starts up. Not to mention she might lose her chance of being captain and getting a scholarship to college.
Her luck starts looking up a tiny bit when she meets Jackson at Marlowe Junction’s Helping Hands. He makes her community service seem not so bad. She falls for him. He has the good looks and is a huge basketball fan. What more does the girl need to fall for him?
Only bad thing is, Jackson is her brother’s biggest enemy. What will happen when he finds out?
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In the beginning of this book, I really got the whole Carrie Underwood “Before He Cheats” vibes. I love how the main character seems tough, but is sweet and soft too.
This book honestly reminded me many times why I love reading. Between the wonderful Jackson, all the conflict between Charlie and her ex-boyfriend, and figuring out what to do about all her issues, this book definitely kept me intrigued the whole way through.
I, for one, am I big fan of books with great siblings and Charlie and Preston were great.
Preston is obsessed with winning the Senior Year Rematch, which is the big basketball game against Pinewood—Jackson’s school.
I loved how Jackson took some major needed action towards the end. He is definitely a swoon worthy book boyfriend.
You better get yourself a copy to find out what happens when Jackson wants to be official but Charlie doesn’t know what to do!
I am most likely to get a paperback copy as well for my bookshelf. I will definitely commend this book for anyone who wants a cute, sweet, slightly edgy and romantic clean YA read.
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For my content part of my review, there were a few uses of the word “crap” but besides that there was no foul language or anything inappropriate. Definitely a clean read and good for most any age.
Also, I don’t know ANYTHING about basketball and I understood the few basketball scenes perfectly! No need to worry about getting lost if you don’t know much about the sport.
This book was kindly given to me by the author. Kayla Tirrell
A great clean high school romance. I especially like how Charlie strongly handled the bullying after her punishment/probation.
Kayla Tirrell has become a go to author for me when it comes to wanting a good contemporary story! So far all of her books have sucked me right in and were fast and fun reads, Courtside Crush did the exact same thing. I read it in two sittings (would’ve been one if I didn’t have to go and be social, haha).
Charlie isn’t your typical girl next door, she’s not perfect and definitely admits that. She may have gone a bit too far this time. Even though her ex was a jerk (I can’t blame her for what she did), a video of her act lands her 8 weeks of community service.
Jackson is my favorite when it comes to all of the amazing characters this author has written. Jackson isn’t a bad boy, he helps his Aunt out with community service (looks good on college applications) and loves basketball just like Charlie. The only problem? Jackson is her brother’s number one enemy!
I loved the connection Charlie and Jackson had from the start. It felt like fireworks. The added modern day Romeo and Juliet made this love story a lot of fun (luckily it doesn’t end as tragic). Even though it was kind of a forbidden romance, I loved how sweet Jackson was. He really cares and isn’t your typical jock. I mean, buying Charlie a corsage for a Halloween maze is adorable!
Courtside Crush has all the elements I love in a contemporary: fun characters, fun family moments, swoon worthy romantic moments and great best friends! At times I felt bad for Charlie though and wish she fought more for herself, so she didn’t have to hide from her ex. I mean, he was very awful! The only complaint I have is I would’ve loved to have had more Jackson, maybe even his POV! He was just so sweet, I needed more!
All in all, another wonderful contemporary with a great twist on Romeo and Juliet. I loved the little details throughout the story! I can’t wait for the next book, because there are many characters who I would love to read about!
Courtside Crush was such a light and sweet romance read. I absolutely loved Jackson! Charlotte (Charlie) was also a wonderful character although she frustrated me at times. I thought she made things harder on herself by the choices she made. I even enjoyed the side characters. There was a little drama, betrayal and blackmailing but when you have a group of high school teens something is bound to happen. However, there were also sweet and heartfelt moments. I loved the relationship Charlie had with her brother Preston and her best friend Daria. I enjoyed this story a lot and I look forward to reading Varsity Girlfriends which is the next book in this series. This book leaves me wanting to check out previous books from this author. I will definitely be recommending this book to family and friends looking for a great romance read and it’s also a book I think my daughter would enjoy. This is also a story that can be enjoyed more than once.
I thought this book was such a great read. It was so funny and really brought me right back to high school. The characters were believable and the story was super cute. I would recommend this book!