Review: "Sideline Infraction" by Emily Silver

Sideline Infraction by Emily Silver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With his best friends and teammates all starting to pair off, Alex Young, star quarterback of the Denver Mountain Lions, sometimes wishes he could find love himself. He's afraid to risk losing his career by revealing to the world that he's gay, however, so he limits himself to anonymous off-season hookups. Everything changes when Alex meets high school math and statistics teacher Carter Brooks, son of the Mountain Lions' head coach. Looking for a way to help his students understand the real-world applications of statistics, he comes up with a project involving football and arranges for his class to meet with his father's team. After a bad experience when he was in high school, Carter never expects to find himself attracted to one of the players, but he can't help being smitten with Alex. The connection between them quickly grows, but when Carter finds out that he's still in the closet, will Alex be forced to choose between his football career and the man he loves?

I really enjoyed Alex and Carter's story. Their banter was a ton of fun and I loved how playful they were with each other. They were both incredibly likeable, sympathetic characters, and even though I've never been in Alex's position, I totally understood his fears about the impact coming out would have on his career. It was very emotional to watch him wrestle with the decision to come out, knowing everything that he was risking. I wish the world were a kinder place so that these kinds of decisions would never even come up!

I highly recommend "Sideline Infraction" for all contemporary/sports romance fans and look forward to the next book in the series.

*Review copy provided by the author. All opinions expressed are my own.

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