Courtside Crush

Varsity Girlfriends, Book 1

By: Kayla Tirrell

Narrated by: Megan Meyer

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 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.

©2019 Kayla Tirrell (P)2019 Kayla Tirrell

A Terrific YA Story Enjoyable for Any Age!

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🎧

Teenage Love!

This is a great story! So real in so many ways. It was so easy to see the student hierarchy and how it affects the students decisions. Every choice make so save someone else's feeling always seem to backfire. This story shows that even the best intentions can backfire. The love story was heartwarming. The main characters showed more caring and understanding than some adults. Overall this was a very heartwarming story with a great happy ending.

great storyline I was hooked from beginning to end

I loved it! I can't wait to read the next one. Storyline had me enthralled.

Lovely amusing romance story

The narrator is great and the story is great. I kept on listening to this fun, sweet little retelling of Romeo & Juliet. I love Charlie and Jackson, they’re great people and cute together. This is my first book of this author but I love her worldbuilding and dialogues so I’d love to read or listen more from her. This also is my first time reading a series made up by different authors so I’m curious to the (to me unknown) authors of book 2 & 3. Glad to see that this author will return to this series with book 4, can’t wait for that one!

a great clean rival YA romance

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.

Great Book

I'm not a huge fan of high school books but I LOVED this story! It will make you cringe but was so fun! The narrator did a great job!

Hoops Vs Romeo and Juliet

Cute lil love story! Wish it would of went on more then the abrupt halt....narration was good, but seem to be lacking that catch on some parts!

Great YA story - with a parental caveat

I totally disliked Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (and this is coming from a geek who actually loved his comedies), but I figured there was no way a YA romance would end so stupidly, so liking the description otherwise, I decided to give it a try.

Frankly, I was expecting this to be the usual fluffy YA story, but it got surprisingly intense toward the end. It was hard watching Charlie do something that I knew would be a terrible mistake, but I've seen adults trust where they should know better, so it's not that incredible for a 17 year old to do it..

Jacob seems pretty awesome, though I wish we had gotten a little more insight into his character. I love that he tried to keep Charlie from feeling like she had to choose between him and her brother.

I love the happy yet realistic way that the story ends. I have 6 siblings & can vouch that the family part is true too life. :-)
I'm looking forward to the rest of the series (and I hope a certain character gets reformed or gets his somewhere along the way)!

The narrator read well & was a great choice for depicting youthful voices!

*Clean romance level: sweet kisses

*Parents, of younger teens especially, may want to discuss Charlie's situation & how she handled it versus better ways that she could have done so.

Such a Cute High School Contemporary Book

I absolutely love listening to YA contemporary books and Courtside Crush is no exception.

The high school scenarios were very realistic. I liked the various relationships between the characters: love, rivalries, family, friends, etc. I felt the various story lines and settings were well balanced throughout the novel. The book was well paced and never felt too slow or too fast. I did not realize until part way in that this book is a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I did not enjoy Romeo and Juliet when I read it, but I did enjoy this story. I hope to read more from Kayla Tirrell because I really enjoy her story telling.

Megan Meyer did a great job with distinct voices.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request, and I have voluntarily left this review.

So many lies and secrets

I have such mixed feelings. I really like almost all the characters. Anderson, is weak and so lame. Charlie is way too immature to be a senior, and way to immature for Jackson. I was hoping for more for her. Her character was so unrealistic. She let so many people walk all over her, and the way she acted out in childish fits was too irrational. I really like BFF Daria. No lies. I plan to listen to her story next. Jackson was so sweet and supportive throughout this book, I think he’s my favorite character