First Down

A Sweet Romance

By: Kaleigh Whitford

Narrated by: Tes Sharvelle

All's fair in love and football…Elliot Graves thought he knew what the goal was. Until he fell for his best friend.

Elliot has everything a high school Junior could ask for. A sweet cheerleader girlfriend, a supportive family, and a spot as the starting receiver on the Crystal Falls football team with his best friend, Camden Holt. These are supposed to be the best days of his life, so why does it feel like he's missing something?

When Elliot and his long-time girlfriend have a falling out, he's forced to face feelings for his friend Camden that run deeper than he realized. Feelings that could jeopardize more than just their friendship. If he's wrong he could lose everything: his football prospects, his friends, the respect and acceptance from people around them… But what if he's not?

He soon finds himself falling fast for his best friend… and Camden's falling too. The closer they grow, the more right their new relationship feels to them both.

Can they take their love to the endzone? Or will their play fall apart in the first down?

©2024 Kaleigh Whitford (P)2026 Kaleigh Whitford

YA sport

First Down by Kaleigh Whitford is a great YA sports romance. Tes Shervelle did a great job with the narration. The story is entertaining, interesting, sweet, romantic, witty, emotional, and more.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review. recommend.

Great storyline

I read the book, and now listen to the audio. Great storyline and it comes to life with the narration! A few instances had me tearing up with emotion when I was hearing it, where when I read it I may have simply sighed…a good read as well as a good audio!

The Narration Wasn't the Right Fit

I had a really hard time with the narration on this one. I want to be clear that I think Tes Sharvelle is a talented narrator, but for me, this just wasn't the right fit for an MM romance. I struggled because the male characters sounded much more feminine than I expected, and since they were teenage boys and football players, it made it difficult for me to connect with them. I kept wondering if a male narrator might have suited the story better.

Eventually, I switched from listening to reading because I just couldn't get immersed in the audiobook. Once I did, I realized the narration had been my biggest hurdle. I really enjoyed the story itself. The romance was sweet, the characters were easy to root for, and the relationship developed in a way that kept me invested.

I wasn't quite sure how to rate the narration because I genuinely believe Tes Sharvelle is talented—it simply wasn't the right match for this particular book. My two-star narration rating is not a reflection of Tes Sharvelle's talent; it reflects how poorly I felt the narration fit this specific story. Unfortunately, that mismatch took away from what was otherwise a very enjoyable book for me.

Relaxing read

Loved the lighthearted storyline. It had me laughing out loud and talking to the characters.