Lavender & Linebackers by Kathryn Andrews is live!

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Ex-childhood best friends

Enemies-to-lovers

Football player and cheerleader

Workplace romance

Forbidden romance

Second chance romance

Slow burn

Found family

Interconnected standalone

Lavender and Linebackers is a contemporary sports romance about a rookie linebacker and a professional cheerleader, once childhood best friends and now enemies, who are forced to work together on a major marketing campaign despite a rule forbidding them from being together.

When fate forces time with the enemy . . . tackle it.

Ryder Monroe
Alice Monarch is my biggest regret. My childhood best friend turned enemy.

I knew there was a possibility I’d see her. I just never imagined it would be on day one of my rookie season as a linebacker for the Tampa Tarpons. I’m a football player. She’s a cheerleader. There’s a reason the handbook strictly forbids it.

What I never saw coming was the organization pairing us together for a major marketing campaign. Saying no isn’t an option. It’s in my contract that I’m required to say yes. Now I’m stuck with her for months, representing the Tarpons around town. I hate her, and she hates me.

The only problem? I can’t stop looking at her. She’s smart, kind, even more beautiful than I remember, and the more time I spend with her, the harder it becomes to understand why I let her go.

Alice Monarch
The rules are in place for a reason. Football players and cheerleaders are off-limits.

For years, I’ve compared every man I’ve ever met to Ryder Monroe. He was my first love, my best friend, and the one person I never imagined living without. Until he ruined us, left town, and ghosted me.

Now, years later, we’re being thrown back together. Okay, “forced” isn’t entirely accurate. I chose this because the Tarpons agreed to sponsor my youth cheer team, the Mighty Monarchs.

This team is my everything. I’d do anything for them. Even work side by side with the man who broke my heart. It doesn’t matter that Ryder still has the most irresistible smile I’ve ever seen or that he can still make my heart race. My career and sponsorship are on the line. The only problem? The more time I spend with him, the harder it becomes to remember why I swore I’d never forgive him.

*****5 Absolutely Incredible Slow Burn Stars*****

Lavender and Linebackers by Kathryn Andrews is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. When I tell y’all this book completely swept me up and took my heart by storm, I mean that with every fiber of my being. Alice and Ryder and their second chance at at all with their incredible and undeniable connection gave me life in this book. That coupled with the incredible world of characters that this series brings, Kathryn Andrews, charming and beautiful writing, and a love that was years in the making made for the perfect romance from start to finish. This book is not only one of my favorite books. I’ve read this year, but it might just be one of my favorites from Kathryn Andrews. And that is a big thing to say because I have LOVED every single book I’ve read by this author, but this one is truly something special.

This book and the story I got with these characters completely blew me and my heart away. The emotion of it all, the tension of it all, the angst and yearning of it all, I was here for every breath of it. I could not help but be consumed into everything that Alice and Ryder shared together. Those two may have been ex besties and enemies, but they soon become SO much more in this book and I was LIVING for that more in every incredible word of this book. What Kathryn Andrews infuses into this book with her characters and their love story is something I will truly never forget.

I do not say it lightly when I say that this is one of my favorite books I have read from her and this year and honestly ever because that is how much I absolutely loved every second I got with Alice and Ryder and their unforgettable love story.

Lavender and Linebackers had it all. It had the ex best friends, enemies to lovers, grumpy, sunshine, goodness that bought alllll of the connection and fire between these two. It had a found family of characters that I have LOVED getting to fall in love with across every book of this world and series. It had the best force proximity and second chance romance vibes as Alice and Ryder were forced to be together again and face the world of feeling and hurt and longing that had blossomed and grown over the many years they’d known each other and been apart. It also had the forbidden romance goodness between a cheerleader and a football player that added just another incredible layer to this utterly consuming story.

This book follows Alice and Ryder who are at the precipice of living out their lifelong dreams and are forced back together again in a way neither of them expected.

You see the two of them used to be best friends, and honestly, there was definitely some more happening between them. But things happened and their friendship broke apart, and they haven’t seen or talked to each other in years. And in those years, a lot of hurt and emotion took root, but these two kept working their butts off to make their life long dreams come true. But on their very first days in their dream careers as a professional football player and professional cheerleader, they are brought face-to-face again and told that they will soon be spending the next months very close together. You see their new football team knows that they used to be inseparable and decide to use that as their new marketing campaign, so these two who currently can’t stand to be around each other, soon realize they will be spending a lot of time together.

The sparks are flying, all of the buttons are about to be pushed, and these two are bound and determined to get under each other’s skin because of the way they make each other feel and what they bring out in one another. They are also both determined to keep some very strong walls and boundaries between them because they can’t let themselves and their hearts feel the world of emotion and feeling they are trying to feel. But the more time these two are together, and the more they learn about the lives they’ve led while apart and see each other in the truth and vulnerability of who they really are, the more they both realize that they not only have to figure out what went so terribly wrong in their past, but also what they could both do to see a future together.

Their hearts and futures are both on the line, their past is a bit of a mystery that needs to be pieced together, and their present is a glorious slow burning culmination of connection, fire, questions, vulnerability, and more emotion than you can shake a stick at….and honestly, that’s just scratching the surface of what you get and this phenomenal romance with Alice and Ryder.

Suffice to say, I loved every aspect of this book and every bit of what this story brought to life between this couple. I was here for the slow burn of it all. I was utterly consumed within every bit of their incredible and unadulterated connection that built and built fiercely over the course of the story. But most of all I was just completely invested in every second and emotion and breath of what Alice and Ryder share together. Those two have a world of history and this book and it’s events force them to come face-to-face and heart to heart with it all. The tension between them, the level of fire that is so fierce between them, and the pull that just keeps bringing them back together again in every way that matters is just part of what you get in their phenomenal story.

From the very first moment, I started the prologue of this book, I immediately fell in love with Alice and Ryder. I loved what they brought out in one another, I loved what they made each other question and feel, but most of all I love that they just clearly imprinted on each other’s hearts and souls in every way that mattered. In a way that changed everything for the two of them. And even if it took them years and so many moments of hurt and longing and emotion to figure out what that looks like and what it all meant, it was there and it was true and it was real, and so so beautiful. It was them. And getting to see and experience that with them of the course of this book just pulled my heart to theirs fiercely.

Alice is a true gem of a character. I mean, she is goodness and sunshine personified. Not only is she an incredible cheerleader, but she is just a genuinely good person. She owns a nonprofit, she cares deeply, and she wants to bring so much good to those around her. She is truly a light and that shines through every moment you get with her. You can’t help but smile and just be happy in her presence, and it is impossible not to love her. She truly has such a heart of gold, and I loved getting to see her celebrate that and getting to see those around her bask in it. She also gives it her all in every way that matters and that shines across this book and the moments you get with her.

Not only do you get all of those incredible moments where her light, beauty, and true magic shines in this book, but you also get moments with her where she is so real and vulnerable and honest with what she felt. She has experienced a lot over the years that her and Ryder were apart, and this book brings all of that back up to the surface for both of them. It forces hard conversations, it pushes for explanations, and it breaks down the many walls that both Alice and Ryder have built around their hearts. But what I loved about Alice is that she was so true to herself through all of that, and still pushed herself and Ryder out into the open with everything they felt, even when it wasn’t easy. And through it all she was still there with her heart of gold that felt everything, and that believed in all of the beauty possibilities that could be. I just absolutely loved that about her and just loved getting to spend time with her character. She felt like one of my besties and I could have spent a million more moments with her.

Now Ryder was his own gem of a character. That man definitely puts the grump and grump, but he also has his own heart of gold. He has so many feelings that are buried behind the fortress of walls he has built around his heart to protect himself. But even through the bricks of that wall that he’s so carefully built over the years, you see that he is such a genuinely good guy. You see that he cares, you see that there is so much connection to be had, and you see that he cares about those around him with his whole heart. You also see that that world of feeling for Alice never ever went away, even though he tried to pretend it did. And the more that that man tries to push against and fight against what is right in front of his face and heart, the more he soon realizes that this is a losing battle and one that he might actually not want to win.

What I loved about Ryder’s character was that I just felt so pulled to him. I felt pulled to his heart and his emotional journey. I felt pulled to his dreams that he was right on the precipice of. I felt pulled to his vulnerable side that was right there at the surface, especially when Alice was around. I felt pulled to the pieces of his past that helped me understand so much of what made him who he was in the present tense of this book. I just felt so pulled into everything that I got with his character because I understood every bit of where it came from through what this author created with him. I just loved that grumpy man so much not only because he was such a genuinely good man with such a sweetheart under that grumpy surface, but mostly because the true depth of his feelings were right there all along. And when they’re brought to the light and the surface, it is nothing short of everything. In fact, it’s utterly breathtaking with what you experience with him and Alice.

Trust me on that.

Let me tell you that the more pieces you get of Alice and Ryder and their story will have you knowing that these two have to find a way back to one another. There is something just so truly right and special and meant to be about those two that you feel in your bones reading this book and that pulls you through every breath of this story with them. It not only shows you that they have to be together because there can be no reality without these two basking in the world of feeling and love that they so clearly share for one another, but also because there’s just no world in which they’re not endgame together. It is those truths that pull you through everything these characters go through because you feel it in your soul through every breath of this incredible book that Alice and Ryder have to find that happily ever after because they are meant to be and find each other in every lifetime.

Those two are just beyond meant to be for each other, and even in the moments where they push each other‘s buttons and drive each other crazy and make each other question everything, they also know that there is no denying the world of connection and love and history between them. Getting to be with them in this book as they put all the pieces back together again, as they find their way back to what once was, and as they weave together their own presents for the possibility of building an incredibly beautiful future together is absolutely EVERYTHING.

Through every single incredible word of this book that Kathryn Andrews brings to life with this couple, you feel it so deep in your heart that these two have to find a way back to one another. And getting to be with them as they do just that, as they put the pieces of the past together, as they spend more and more time in the present realizing the truth of their feelings has always been right in front of them, and as they both look towards the future they had long stopped hoping for, but finally have a chance at again, is truly nothing short of everything. It’s honestly more than that because you feel so emotionally connected and invested to the two of them, what they make each other feel, and what they share together. The magic and the fire and the vibrancy of it all is truly unforgettable and incredible to experience, and it pulls every piece of your heart into the story with this couple.

Trust me when I say there is truly no resisting the heart of it all with Alice and Ryder, and when it all comes to be for them, you will be living and loving and experiencing every breath of it in a way that will truly give you it all. And just prepare yourself now for the feels of it all because it will not only give you everything to experience what you do with the two of them and the slow burn buildup of what they share, but getting to be there in the moment when it all changes for them will truly take your breath away. And then some. It will definitely bring some tears to your eyes because it is truly one of the most beautiful moments I have ever read in a romance book, and it honestly blew my heart and soul away to see what these characters truly felt for one another.

Getting to feel so connected to these two just made for a hell of a love story that I know I will never forget. Kathryn Andrews put you in the heart of this story with Alice and Ryder and her beautiful writing allows you to feel it all with them. But more than that, it just allows you to experience every bit of connection and love and yearning between them while also experiencing the best found family of characters that you could ask for.

This world is one that I will never tie of and getting to be with all of these characters, being a part of this incredible football team, and just getting to see all of these players find their perfect match has been the reading experience of a lifetime. I honestly can’t say that enough. Getting to be with all of them in every new book of this world and getting to experience the incredible connection they all share is truly the best thing to feel. It just pulls your heart even more fiercely to all of these characters you know and love, knowing that they are there for each other through thick and thin. This found family is truly something special, and you feel that in every breath of this book with these characters, in every single one of their interactions, in the group text chats, in the “you’ve been caught” moments, and in every moment where they push each other to be the best versions of themselves. I am already counting down the days until I can be back with this incredible world of characters because they truly are family to each other and to you as the reader, as you experience every single fantastic moment with them.

Lavender and Linebackers is Kathryn Andrews at her best. This book is just the epitome of the perfect romance. It has so much connection, so much heart and emotion, but most of all it has a couple that you love and believe in with your whole heart. It has a love story that puts you and these characters through the ringer a bit, but you honestly love and treasure every second of it because you just get to experience everything with these characters as they find their way back to one another. They may start off as best friends, who then become enemies, who then become reluctant coworkers, who then become so much more, but through it all, you know that they are soulmates and meant to be, and that their hearts and they’re true selves will see themselves through it all.

Getting to live an experience every second of this book with Alice and Ryder will definitely not only have you loving the two of them fiercely, and believing in every possibility their second chance brings them, but it will also just have you knowing that there is no ending that exists without the two of them together because it has always just been the two of them. In the past, in the present, and in all the futures they can imagine, it’s always the two of them, and it always will be because they are beyond meant to be. Their love, their undeniable level of connection, and what they make each other feel and believe in and hope for will truly see you through every second of this book with the two of them. And it will have you knowing that their unforgettable and hard fought love can see those two through every piece of their past to create an utterly beautiful future together.

I truly could go on and on about how amazing this book was and how much I loved this couple, but I honestly wouldn’t even come close to capturing what it was like to experience their love story. Their love and what these two give each other will truly steal every piece of your heart, and you will gladly give it to Alice and Ryder because these two may fight like hell and push each other‘s buttons, but they also feel everything for each other and are there when it truly matters. Getting to see these two find their way back to one another is truly nothing short of everything and Kathryn Andrews allows you to experience the beauty and the magic and the yearning of it all in a way you’ll never forget. Trust me on that.

Lavender and Linebackers delivers one of the most consuming, effervescent, and unforgettable romances that I have read this year and honestly ever, and I for one cannot tell you enough how much you NEED this book in your life. Alice and Ryder will show you every piece of their hearts in this book, and you will take all of them and will honestly bask in what it allows you to experience with them as those pieces come together in their love story. The heart of it all, the fire and connection of it all, the beautiful vulnerability and emotion, and the truth and light and sparkle that shines in every moment they are together will have you knowing that these two have to find a way to repair their broken hearts because they are the most deserving of a happily ever after…together. As they were always meant to be.

Kathryn Andrews delivers the most incredible romance in this book with this couple so just trust me when I say that you NEED this book in your life as soon as humanly possible. You will love getting to experience every breath of what you do with Alice and Ryder and getting to be a part of this incredible found family of characters that you will immediately want more of. So just do yourself a favor and run yourself to this book. Run yourself to it with an open heart ready to feel and live and breathe every effervescent and vibrant and consuming word of it as you fall so in love with this couple and what they share together. You will love it and them and every moment along the way that pulls you and them closer to that much deserved happily ever after.

Trust me. Alice and Ryder are absolutely EVERYTHING and their second chance at it all will blow you and your heart away. And then some.💜