Rivaled

Kensley Panthers Series, Book 4

De: Nicole Dykes

Narrado por: Tim Paige, Liam DiCosimo

Noah Asher

Coach. That's who I am. The strong, levelheaded, always-dependable coach.

But then my wife left me. And my daughter—well, according to the town—she ran off and left me too. Now, I'm branded with scandal. My reputation is at stake, and I have to play by the rules if I want to keep my job.

Then along comes Chance Leighton—a rule breaker with a scandal of his own. And worse, he's not from here. He's a Big Bend Bear.

I need to keep my head down and follow the rules of this town. This town that's kept me in its perfect package since day one. But he makes me want to rebel. To break free and live my life how I want.

So I have a choice to make. A choice that rivals all others. One that'll change everything.

Chance Leighton

He's the coach. I'm an outsider.

There's no bigger rivalry than the one between the Big Bend Bears and the Kensley Panthers. But here I am, forced to work alongside Kensley's stubborn, grumpy coach.

There's no way he'll give me a shot. He sees me how they all do—wrapped up in scandal and exiled from the only place I've ever called home. Just for being who I truly am.

He follows the rules. He believes in a strict structure. It's worked for him. But I want to chip away at this town's idea of him and see the real man.

Can rivals become friends? Can they become even more? I don't know the answer to that, but we're about to find out because he's so much more than who this town makes him out to be.

It's up to him, but I'm ready for the challenge if he'll just reach out and take it.

©2023 Nicole Dykes (P)2023 Podium Audio

Needed More confrontation against homophobia

More confrontation with the homophobia of the small town and board members.

Good love story well acted and athletics

Absolutely love this book

Nicole is such a talented author. I love how all of her books are low angst to the point love stories. There is just enough drama to make a good story As always Tim and Liam put on a great performance

Coach

Great story, just as good as the rest of the series. Narration is outstanding. love this series. well written with a great group of characters.

Great love story! 5/5⭐️ 3/5🌶️ narrators are amazing!

This whole series is wonderful. I couldn’t wait for this one to come in an audiobook. Definitely worth the wait.

Love love love!!

I was a little worried when I saw this one was going to be about the coaches and them falling in love, but I shouldn't have been. This was one of my favorites of the series easily!

I loved how golden retriever Chance was but how much hurt he held in him. I wanted to hug him so badly and I loved how he embraced his situation with Noah and didn't push him but also in some respect did (in good ways, not peer pressuring him to come out of the closet). Noah was so stoic but so adorable and I loved seeing his walls come down, admitting his attraction to Chance who pushed his buttons haha. I adored how things happened for them haha Chance wore him down, that's for sure. It was so realistic, them just hanging out, eating pizza and watching movies and getting to know each other. I enjoyed these sweet moments but oh does the steam hit well too haha. Listening to Noah get to experience things with a guy for the first time was done really well, hearing the dynamics change between the two depending on the day was refreshing. The love was able to blossom between then and it was so genuine I forgot I was listening to an audiobook.

Narration was good, there were some side characters that annoyed the crap out of me (like the older folks haha) but I still couldn't give this less than 5 stars. I enjoyed the performances, the narrators elevated the story and tension and love and made me as a reader fall so hard for these too. Also for Noah's daughter and her hubby! I was so happy to hear they got together, wonder if the author gave them a story (must check back catalog, who doesn't love a former student/teacher romance hahaha). The narrators did a good job with the town and the reactions (horrible older generation and others stuck in their ways) but also with the others who support love is love (a cameo from some of our favorites from the books before and their family were nice faces to see/hear and how they were there for them was heartwarming. I also enjoyed the glimpses of football in the storyline. Seeing some of the next book's love interests (who we meet previously in the series briefly) and that it's football season so it great timing.

Really am enjoying this series, spacing them out between some of my heavier/angstier listens because these are nice palette cleansers and I have a feeling I will be checking out this author's back catalog after finishing this series soon <3