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End of the Line #1

The Friend Zone

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From the bestselling author of the #Lovestruck novels comes a rousing romance about following your dreams, second chances, and playing the game of love.

Disgraced college quarterback Logan Hunt was on his way to NFL stardom when he messed up big-time. Now the Texas star player with a bad temper has a new Seattle’s EOL College—as in End of the Line, to his fellow misfit recruits. It’s Logan’s last chance. If he can follow the rules. No parties, no fighting, no swearing, and oh, no dating the coach’s daughter, Jess. Simple. Yeah, right. For Logan, there has never been a rule he’s more tempted to break.

The deal is “just friends.” The pretty, confident, and fiercely smart math whiz is fine with pizza, tutoring, and keeping Logan in line. But the closer Jess gets, the more receptive she is to his warm heart and spirit—not to mention his irresistible off-field passes. With defenses down, they’re both heading into the danger zone.

It’s more than thrilling. It’s love. It’s also a game changer that could sideline Logan’s NFL goals—and more important, a future with Jess. But dreams are worth fighting for, right?

299 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2019

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Sariah Wilson

38 books3,067 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 669 reviews
Profile Image for Christy.
4,081 reviews34.6k followers
August 12, 2019
4 stars

 photo 0D5B9079-5B64-4B4E-8F5E-143294718125_zpszm8qvmu5.png

I saw the cover for this and good things about it, so I picked up the audio book for free through KU. I mean, college football player… give me all the new adult sports romances! Add in a slow burn, friends to lovers romance and I was so here for it!

Logan Hunt is off to a new college for his second chance. It’s not as big of a school as he’s used to, but the coach is great and he’d lost his shot at a big college when he let his temper get the best of him. This new coach is strict, but he’s following all the rules to a 't'. He can’t risk losing this opportunity.

One of the coach’s rules is no dating. And no one is more off limits than the coaches daughter, Jess, who also happens to be Logan’s math tutor. These two try to fight their attraction for each other, but the struggle is real. They have so much chemistry and the more they get to know each other and become friends, the harder it is to stay away.

I loved the banter between these two, as well as watching them really get to know one another. This had just enough angst to keep me completely invested and tons of sexual tension, though it was a rather ‘clean romance’- just an fyi. I loved both of the main characters and the audiobook was great to listen to.

This is my first book by Sariah Wilson and I can’t wait to read more, especially from this series. If you’re looking for a sweet and slow burning friends to lovers romance, pick this one up.
Profile Image for Maria✦❋Steamy Reads Blog❋✦.
662 reviews2,694 followers
June 13, 2019
Soooooooooo...
Who's constantly on the hunt for jock/tutor college romances?


I've never read this author before and I really enjoyed the writing. I didn't even care that there's 0 sexy times in it.


I loved the character interactions and the slow burn. And god damn, this trope gets me every time. Read it if you like college romance, hot football players, jock/tutor & forbidden relationship tropes.
Profile Image for Oceana GottaReadEmAll.
731 reviews1,274 followers
May 23, 2023
A PERFECT CLEAN SPORTS ROMANCE.

Jess and Logan COMMUNICATE their feelings.
They respect each other’s needs and fears.
They passionately kiss without thinking or talking about the bedroom.
They laugh and banter and it’s adorable.
There’s no foul language.

We need more of this. I’ll be watching this author.
Very impressed.
April 25, 2019


“Sometimes we don’t get to have the conversations we want to have.
Life isn’t always wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end.
We just gotta keep moving forward, even if we don’t get the answers we wanted.”


Story 🌟🌟🌟🌟
When Logan gets kicked of his team he feels like his life is over.
No more football. No future at the NFL.
But then EOL and their football coach take Logan in their team.
But there is a catch. You need to follow some rules, one of them is the “no dating rule”.
Because football is his life, that would never be a problem for Logan. Until he meets Jess, the Couchs daughter who happens to be Logan’s actual dreamgirl.
Jess is helping Logan with math and Logan starts to help Jess by giving her some advice on getting the attention of her crush Ben.
But after some time they realize that the thing between them is not only a friendship, it’s something more.

Character 🌟🌟🌟
Even though I liked the characters in this story I thought there were a bit pale.
Of course Jess and Logan both have a tragic background story, but by really really looking at them you realize that they seem too perfect to be real.
Sure Logan has anger issues - but only the first 100 pages, after that he gets to be this perfect gentleman.
Jess is this slightly sarcastic and Disinterested Girl that happens to be the daughter of the football coach. But then after she starts tutoring Logan she begins to be this giggly girl.
I know I know, that’s what love does to us right?
But that is not exactly true.
If you have anger issues, you’ll have them even if you’re in love.
If you have trust issues and hate football players because of a thing they nearly did to you, you’re not stopping to mistrust men just because one is nice to you.
But all in all there were funny, kind characters that I liked a little bit.
My favorite character was Bash. Because he was honest, he loved football and he loves food. Perfect best friend, I know.

Relationships 🌟🌟🌟
Ah, a friendship to love trope. And a forbidden one too.
I loved that even though they were crazy for each other they tried to follow the rules.
But then in the end Logan started to have a crazy problem with lying to the coach (even though he lied to him a pretty long time)...
Even though sometimes it was much of a cliche I liked the original story of it.

Writing style 🌟🌟🌟
The story was good. The writing was good.
Everything was good.
But not phenomenal, fantastic, beautiful.
Just good.
I liked that there were some text messages involved in the book. I liked that there were 2 POVs and that we saw what both of the characters were feeling.
But I think there is a lot of space to improve.
Profile Image for Tracy  C.
537 reviews39 followers
May 19, 2019
I loved every minute of this book!! From Logan and Jess's first meeting to the very last sentence, I was engrossed in their story. I loved that Logan and Jess really got to know each other because of the "rules". Since they are not able to have a romantic entanglement or physical relationship but they want to be around each other, they really get to know each other on a deeper level. Despite both of their past traumas, they haven't lost their sense of humor and the banter is fantastic. I especially loved Logan's little nicknames for Ben! This has such a great cast of characters (I'm looking at you, Bash, and your creative swearing), a slow simmer romance and fantastic writing.
I didn't want this story to end. Hands down my favorite Sariah Wilson by far.
Profile Image for Aimee (Getting Your Read On).
3,028 reviews271 followers
June 11, 2019
Oooooh friends, this book was so yummy. I know that when I love a book it comes out mostly in the adjective "yummy" but I just cannot help myself. That's because this book is so good I figuratively ate it up. And I would literally eat it up if it were actually food. Which it isn't. But, it did have pizza and gelato in it. 😀

This book was so much fun to read. The dialogue was witty and flirty, the attraction and chemistry had an amazing build that became combustible. Oh man, did it ever. The explosions were worth waiting for. 😍🔥

There was depth and struggle for the characters and I love how they took the place in life they were in very seriously. They trying to make good choices and live up to their potential. Logan and Jess were easy to like and easy to root for. I am really hoping that this is the start of a series that will include Bash! He needs his own story! I need more of him.

So yeah, my yummy siren is singing out loud and constantly with this book. I would love to sit down and read it again right now because it made it me happy. Sariah Wilson is so good at writing books that I love. This one might be my favorite. (do I say that every time?!) This book will be released on June 11th so pre-order it now! I do believe it will also be on KU if you have that.

Content: kissing, a couple make-out scenes, mention of child neglect and abuse, mention of date rape drug and almost rape with no details.

- I received a complimentary copy of this book but I have pre-ordered my own copy.
Profile Image for Antonella.
3,697 reviews512 followers
May 11, 2019
* I received a copy of this from Montlake Romance and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first read by Sariah Wilson and I'm pleasantly surprised.
THE FRIEND ZONE is not your typical New Adult, sports romance. I guess we get here some serious issues in plot line told in such relatable and likable way that you can't do nothing but love.

This is a love story between Logan, a football player who gets second chance finishing his degree and also play ball in collage and Jess, coach daughter who has been trough some stuff at her former collage and stays away from athletes. To keep things friend zoned is a set of rules that Jess's father installed. So there is no drugs, no drinking, studying, no swearing and yeah no dating. So even as the initial attraction is there Logan must follow the rules.

What follows is bunch of no dates where our hero and heroine get to know each other.
To show each other that they are more then what meets the eye.

This is very cute and sweet read.

Now I'm curious about other side characters and their story, they definitely caught my eye.
Would recommend to all New Adult/ sport fans.
Profile Image for Jacob Proffitt.
3,134 reviews1,823 followers
July 6, 2019
I really liked this couple. Amazing banter and a situation that forced them to become friends before anything else was even possible. But I'm abandoning it at half way because I'm so tense at the setup that I just can't any more. Which is fine by me because they're obviously in love, they'll make an amazing couple, and the picture in my head right now is more than enough.

The main problem with this is that I don't buy the whole no-dating rule setup by this coach. Negative motivations* imposed from outside can make for great conflict, so I was kind of looking forward to seeing them work through that. But what I discovered is that if the external negative motivation (no dating) aligns strongly enough with an intrinsic motivation (in this case, Logan's determination to get a degree and make something of himself) then it doesn't really matter if it's external because it still kills plot dead.

* Negative Motivations: I kind of hate that the term "negative motivation" isn't widespread, yet. Since it isn't, I'm going to save off this little jag to append to my reviews that feature the term. Jennifer Crusie blogged about it a bit back and it changed how I understand story. The problem with the term is that if you've never heard it before, you'd assume it meant motivations that are harmful or immoral. Not so. What it refers to is motivations not to do something. The thing is that many of us are motivated to not do things for a lot of different, perfectly valid and reasonable, reasons. The problem is that in a story motivations to not do things are a huge drag on the plot—particularly considering the fact that most negative motivations are overcome by the character simply deciding they don't care any more (or, rather, that they do care and are now motivated to do the thing). So not only do you have a counter to action but you also have a situation where to overcome it, all a character has to do is change their mind. Which means eventually, the reader is rooting for the character to get over him/herself already and do the thing we want them to do. Conflict drives story. Conflict between a reader and a main character drives readers away from story.
Profile Image for Jenny Jo Weir.
1,549 reviews83 followers
May 2, 2020
This book was amazingly hilarious and clean. I loved the love story and romance of it, without being dirty. It's a book you can recommend to anyone and feel good about it. There were so many funny scenes, where I busted out laughing. I seriously enjoyed this one from start to finish. It was an extremely enjoyable, feel good book.
Profile Image for ♥ WishfulMiss ♥ .
1,185 reviews118 followers
June 19, 2019
The Friend Zone is a cute college romance between two unlikely (but adorable) people who become best friends out of necessity and who fall irrevocably in love despite their insecurities, doubts and outside forces doing their best to keep them apart.

I wasn’t surprised by some of the cliché plot devices used (I did mention it was a college romance right?) but I still really enjoyed reading this one. It was sweet how Jess and Logan got to know each other, learned to trust each other and eventually, learned to trust themselves again too. Both have had some hard knocks in life but I liked that they both weren’t so jaded that they were still able to explore an innocent friendship without having to lash out or act cruel towards each other. Their relationship progressed throughout the story and although it has a bit of angst and drama thrown in, it wasn’t over the top or exaggerated.

I loved Logan, he is great book boyfriend material with his kindness, compassion and genuine niceness. There wasn’t anything I didn’t like about him, he was great :) After losing his full ride at his last school, Logan jumps at Coach Oakley’s 2nd chance to redeem himself and show everyone he is serious about his future. Whether that’s on or off the field. When he hears about his coach’s unusual rules for his team, Logan doesn’t think there’ll be a problem. Until he meets Jess, Coach Oakley’s daughter. Suddenly the no dating rule poses more of a challenge than he’d originally planned on.

Jess lets her past color her judgement of Logan when they first meet. His good looks, easy charm and his easy flirtatiousness is so not her type. At least that’s what she tries to tell herself. When she’s enlisted to tutor Logan, Jess begins to see Logan isn’t at all the arrogant or obnoxious player she thought he was. And suddenly all others pale in comparison. But he’s her father’s player and breaking the no dating rule could cost Logan everything.

This story took some twist and turns I wasn’t expecting and I loved that the author had characters that were honorable and had integrity. It was refreshing to see and made me love the characters all the more for it. I loved the friends to lovers trope here and this slow burn read simmered enticingly from beginning to end.

Would I recommend? I enjoyed it and would recommend :)

* * * ARC provided for an honest review * * *
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


SAFETY INFO:
Profile Image for Katie (hiding in the pages).
3,124 reviews267 followers
April 18, 2019
"Trust me when I say we will never, ever date. Ever."

I can always count on Sariah Wilson to deliver a swoony romance with humor and this one didn't disappoint. This is Logan's last chance to play football and his new coach has sooo many rules. Break one? You're out! No second chances. Jess, the coach's daughter is so tempted and as his math tutor, they both agree to stay friends--just friends.

Jess hasn't ever been as tempted by a man as she is by Logan, but friends it is. She will not be the reason he's kicked out of school and the football program. But try as they might, the sparks ignite and threaten to rage like an out-of-control forest fire.

I don't think I've ever felt such an underlying passion, much like an impending volcanic eruption, with a "just friends" story. The chemistry is sizzling and had me yearning for that first kiss to happen already. But what I loved the most is that Logan and Jess build a strong and unbreakable friendship, as they strive to keep the rules. I loved the way they put each other first and tried to help each other accomplish their goals, and I especially loved the swoon. This one is definitely another winner!

And just for the record, these characters are the best and I'm hoping that Bash gets a story (hint, hint).

Content: mild+ romance (some innuendo, implied attempted rape, kissing)

*I received a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.*
Profile Image for Lucinda.
Author 20 books1,316 followers
April 19, 2019
I have to preamble this review by saying I don't usually read NA books (I certainly don't read YA; don't get me started on that), but I really enjoyed this one.

Right from the start, I could see the doomed relationship between Logan and Jess and I knew they were only going to fall harder for each other, wondering how they would solve it all by the end.

I admired Logan's fortitude and moral character. He tries so hard to be the opposite to the man who raised him, keeping his goals in sight and knowing what he has to do to get there. He's honest, he's kind, and he's a good friend. Not only that, but he listens to Jess and he pays attention to her.

Jess has gone through something hard in her life and it has changed her. In the beginning, I got the sense she didn't take Logan seriously. But as she gets to know him, and experience what a good friend he is, she opens up to him, and they both discover they see each other, they understand each other.

I loved watching them fall in love and how strong their attraction was, both physical and intellectual. The ending was really great and adorable!

Highly recommend!

ETA: That cover!!!!

I got a copy from the publisher through Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.
Profile Image for Melissa.
2,318 reviews237 followers
June 20, 2019
So my opinion of Mrs Wilson has changed so much since her first books. I could barley read her first series and now I can't get enough of her books. Her Lovestruck series was brilliant. This one had more snark and more sass. She builds an amazing love story and pulls me in. She knows how to write tension and the build up to the kiss is freaking amazing. If I had any advice for this author it would be to develop the supporting cast. Interaction with other people really can give you great insight into a character and that was all this book lacked. Had some fun laugh out load moments and I know I will get that from her latest books. This is not a book for a young teen. There is alot of talk of sex and being attracted to the opposite sex. I would be ok letting my 17 year old read this. It has some great kisses....if I didn't already mention that;}
Profile Image for Kathy * Bookworm Nation.
2,107 reviews634 followers
February 13, 2023
I decided to grab this football story to read while I “watched” the Super Bowl with the family. It was just as fun the second time around. I enjoyed the college football setting, the “forbidden” love angle and the characters were fun and likable. An entertaining story!

Content Rated PG+
Clean romance, some steamy kisses. Mild violence - talk of a past attempted rape attempt at a frat party. Talk of neglectful childhood with abusive parents. Nothing overly descriptive. No language.





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Profile Image for Princess.
420 reviews95 followers
May 15, 2019
I received a copy of this from Montlake Romance and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I have never read a book by Sariah I didn’t like and this was no exception. A sweet romance about two people who had suffered and needed to see love. Logan was so funny and they really brought out the best in each other. Another win for Sariah!!
Profile Image for book bruin.
1,269 reviews335 followers
August 1, 2021
CW: death of parents related to cancer (on page) and automobile accident (discussed/off page), slut shaming, cattty behavior, mentions of: attempted rape/being drugged, childhood abuse (physical and emotional), starvation, and poverty, parental drug addiction and imprisonment.

This was a cute new adult sports romance, but it also tackled some very serious issues as well. It was a great mix of some of my favorite tropes like tutor/forced proximity, helping the other get the attention of someone else, friends to lovers, and also some taboo thrown in since Jess is the daughter of the coach. I enjoyed the slow burn build up between Jess and Logan and how these two tried to keep each other in the friend zone. Logan had some of the funniest puns and I loved their banter. I did find that the story dragged at times though, as things went round and round. I also wasn't a fan of how long the Ben and Danielle storyline lasted, since they were only there to cause unnecessary drama. The ending was a little too perfect in how everything worked out, but it did leave me with a smile on my face. Overall, The Friend Zone was an entertaining read, but please make sure to note the content warnings, as many of the items mentioned play prominent roles in the story and character development.
Profile Image for Julie Carpenter.
1,544 reviews195 followers
June 19, 2019
I have to say that I absolutely loved Logan Hunt's character. He was a very complex character who was not at all what he seemed at first glance. As the author delved further into his character and his background, I couldn't help but think he was awesome.

I love books that leave me feeling inspired and wanting to do and be better. Logan's story left me feeling that way. I'm not going to give away anything about his story, just let you know I really liked him. Now, was he a perfect character? Nope, but he was trying and working hard and I really admired that.

Another character I admired...coach. Yep he was great. When I said coach just barely, it made me think of the old tv show, Coach. Lol! Haven't thought of Coach in forever. The coach in this story wanted his players to succeed. He set some hard rules for some players but helped them see he was trying to help them succeed, not only in football, but in all aspects of their lives. I really liked his rules and not bending on them even though he might want to for the players.

I also really liked another character in this book...Danielle. Hahaha! Ok, not really Danielle but I couldn't help mentioning her. Although, I had guessed her reasons behind the attitude she gave to Jess. And by the end of the book, I kinda liked her. I liked the comedic moments she and Jess brought throughout the book.

Absolutely loved Ben. Ha! Ok, that was totally tongue in cheek. Well, I loved Ben for the laughs he gave me...mainly the laughs he gave me through Logan. Bwahahahahahaha! I'm giggling thinking about it. Logan, you're funny and very punny! (Hey look I'm a poet!) Hee Hee! Ok, there's totally a double meaning behind me saying I'm a poet, and I only meant the first one when I wrote it, because you know, I rhymed funny and punny! But after I wrote, I'm a poet, I was totally giggling even louder because of something in the book. Those of you who have read it, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. Those of you who haven't read it yet, you will know...you will! *giggling continues*

I loved Jess too! I can't forget her character. Oh, I don't really know what to say about her. Not in a bad way, don't know. In the way that I don't want to spoil anything by talking about her. She's a complicated character like Logan. I loved their friendship and relationship. It was very complicated. But I loved watching them trying to keep in line with her dad's (yes her dad is the coach) rules. Yet, the more time they were together, they harder that was.

I really enjoyed this one, the characters and friendships and relationships were well written. One I think fans of Sariah Wilson will really enjoy.

Content: This book deals with an attempted date rape and the emotions from the attempted rape. It also has topics of death of parents, jail, and abuse. There is talk about alcohol and some very mild references to drugs. Some more passionate kissing. Some innuendos and references to the characters having past sexual relations but there is no sex in the book.

I received a copy from the publisher, Montlake Romance, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading!!!
Profile Image for Auntee.
1,319 reviews1,413 followers
June 28, 2019
Oh boy, the fact that it took me two weeks to finish this book astounds me. It wasn't bad...just moved too slow with not a whole lot happening thru most of the book. I can't really fault the writing either, which was ok. Just not exciting. Maybe I was expecting /hoping for something along the lines of The Deal by Elle Kennedy. Not even close. What really surprised me though was that it was practically G-rated. How did that happen? I'm sure some will enjoy this story...
unfortunately it just wasn't for me.
3 stars

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC via Netgalley.
Profile Image for Mara.
1,206 reviews88 followers
July 4, 2019
When I see a new book by Sariah Wilson I know it's going to have great dialogue between the characters, and a swoony yet clean romance with lots of sparks. Her latest didn't disappoint. It has great characters and dialogue and a sizzling romance between people that were trying so hard to stay "just friends".

I loved Logan!! He's had a tough life and his temper got him thrown out of his last college, which is how he ended up at Edwin O'Leary College, aka EOL. Which also stands for End of the Line as in last chance. Logan's holding onto his last chance with everything he has because getting his degree is so important to him. He doesn't care how many rules Coach has, he plans to keep every one of them. I loved that he didn't care if the other players were sneaking around doing things against the rules, he wasn't going to join them. I loved his nicknames for Ben, the guy Jess thinks she's into. My favorite was "Has Ben". 😂

I liked Jess. She had had a terrible thing happen during her freshman year but she didn't let it destroy her. I admire people (even fictional ones) that are great at math and Jess is. That's how she ends up spending so much time with Logan. Lucky girl. I loved her snarky comments about Danielle. My favorite "I despise her with the fiery, burning intensity of a thousand urinary tract infections." 😂

I really liked that Logan and Jess were friends for awhile before they admitted their feelings for one another and kissed, although it took so long I thought I might die from the anticipation, but it was totally worth the wait. I don't know where the author comes up with such great dialogue for her characters but I love it. I always start marking things I think are funny but have to stop because I'd mark half the book.

I almost forgot there's a cameo of Evan "Awesome" Dawson!! #Awestruck

As content goes there's kissing, some make-out scenes, talk of child neglect and abuse, mention of date rape drug and almost rape with no details.

Thank you Montlake Romance and NetGalley for my copy. All thoughts expressed in this review are mine.
Profile Image for  The Flipped Page (Susan K).
1,461 reviews40 followers
May 25, 2021
Romace, clean; can't wait to read the other books in this series!! OH MY GOODNESS
Logan and Jess's story is told from alternating points of view. It was so fun to see both sides of the romance through their own eyes. There story is such a great read. S.W. has sass, snark, tender moments, honest hurts and hungers, the wanting and warring hearts down so well. It is just so easy to get swirled into her novels, and this is no exception.
Logan's desire to get away from his past, to be a different person than he was, and beat the history and place he came from that was full of neglect and hunger, to take this second chance and be a player with integrity and honor, keeping the commitments he made initially just to keep his nose clean and stay on the team, but later as a matter of character. His heart-wrenching story, his fight to stay on the right side of his promise, and then choosing his heart home as his priority in his life, it was just a wonderful, magical read (sorry... seeing the unicorns and stars and romantic music and flowers just writing about this one). I always say, I loved the most recent book I have read by S.W. best, but she always creates a masterful story that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you want more. She is the master of the Cinderella Story of many varieties of retelling and this is another good one.
Loved the few cameos from her previous novel of Evan Awesome Dawson (#Awestruck), and his role in this one. I knew when I read the blurb about the situation that this was the coach that was mentioned in that novel. I am a fan! Always a pleasure to be gifted a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley to read for her. My opinions are my own, but I do have some bias. Her works are the best fix!
Profile Image for Alison.
3,345 reviews129 followers
June 11, 2019
Logan Hunt hasn't had an easy life, drug addict mother, obnoxious step-father, his only skill is playing American Football and he was on a dream trajectory until a bar fight got him kicked off the team and losing his scholarship meant he couldn't stay at school and graduate. A life of minimum wage construction beckoned until Coach Stan Oakley from Edwin O'Leary College offers him a final chance to play college football. Unfortunately EOL (or End of the Line as they call it) comes with some very strict rules, no drugs, no booze, no dating and maintain your GPA. Logan is all-in with any rules that will allow him to graduate, anything to avoid a life of construction work, he doesn't even care about getting drafted to the NFL, he wants to teach. Everything is going fine until he arrives in Seattle and meets Coach Oakley's daughter Jess, she won't take any of his cocky B-S and seems supremely unimpressed by football players in general, she has her eye on a poetry reading, math nerd called Ben.

This is a cute, sweet teen story of two people desperately trying to deny their attraction while Logan tries to Cyrano de Bergerac Jess in her relationship with Ben. Oh and there's a mean girl, a costume party, crazy golf and french films!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Bumped for release.
Profile Image for lucie.
522 reviews763 followers
Shelved as 'dnf'
June 17, 2019
DNF @15%

I simply didn't feel it and I was not interested in the story from the beginning. There was no spark between the characters, the hero and heroine weren't interesting and I didn't have the need to keep reading.
Profile Image for Michelle.
105 reviews2 followers
April 13, 2019
Am I a sucker for football/NFL stories? Yes. Add one of my favourite authors to the mix and hey presto, a book I’m chomping at the bit to read.

And, as per Ms Wilson’s talent, I was not disappointed.

The Friend Zone is a brilliantly written tale about a talented college student on his last chance or bust.

Logan arrives at EOL knowing this is it, his entire future rests on not blowing this second and only chance to graduate and change the direction of his life. A life, a past he so desperately needs to escape. His new Football coach is willing to throw him a life line - that is as long as Logan follows a very strict set of rules. Rules that cumulate to the most important one - Don’t date, especially not the coaches daughter, Jess.

Easily done right? That is until Logan starts spending time with Jess and realises this girl is everything he never knew he needed.

Now, this is a pretty great premise right? Trust me, Ms Wilson does it justice. There were a few tiny plots that I felt bordered on a touch immature but then again, these are college students so it was understandable.
It’s a solidly good book with incredible writing and such a heartbreaking backstory that pulled on my heartstrings.

To be completely honest, I’m so glad I enjoyed it. In my tiny opinion, this is a much stronger story than #Awestruck and I couldn’t be more relieved.

What pushes it to a four star book? The page scorching chemistry between Jess and Logan. Good grief lady! Ms Wilson has outdone herself proving sex is not a requirement for two characters to sizzle. I needed to fan myself just from the minigolf scene. And they didn’t even kiss! But then, what did I expect from the ever talented Sariah Wilson?
Profile Image for Vicki.
2,377 reviews95 followers
March 8, 2020
I loved this book. It was a quick, fluffy read and a fun romance story about a guy named Logan Hunt who is a star football player who was given a scholarship to play quarterback for the Edwin O'Leary Owls. He is on track for and hopes to play on the NFL. When he meets his coach for the first time, Coach Stan Oakley has some pretty stiff rules, one of which is NO WOMEN. And, to make matters worse, Coach has a beautiful daughter, Jess, who just happens to catch Logan's heart.

Logan needs a tutor for match so Jess agrees to tutor him, and Logan is going to help her get a guy named Ben. All the while, of course, they both have eyes for each other but they try to play it off. Without giving more spoilers, I'll just say that they both somehow manage to show the other that they truly care about the other as a person. Each has been through some traumatic events and it takes time for them to trust each other, but especially Logan captures her heart by the way he handles it when he learns of what happened to her.

Love isn't always about looks or who makes the most money, and these two find something that not many people do.
Profile Image for Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review.
1,944 reviews27 followers
April 15, 2019
Aww, Sariah Wilson always delivers great stories! While I know nothing about football and I’m not in the YA age range, I can always appreciate a well-written story, and this certainly was one. The characters were great and she incorporated her signature humorous touch to keep things light, even when there were some heavy moments in the book. It was first a story, then came the romance. I always prefer those slow-burn storylines as I get bored when the romance comes too early. There were brief mentions of characters and hints from previous stories, a nod to her loyal fans, which I found fun. I always look forward with anticipation to her new releases and I was thrilled to receive this complimentary copy from NetGalley. As always, I was not obligated to leave a positive review and these are my own thoughts and opinions. I certainly recommend it highly.
Profile Image for Sentranced Jem.
1,134 reviews601 followers
June 14, 2019
I tried... I truly did but DNF at 52%

The first time I read it, I found myself skipping pages cause the storyline and the characters just didn't grab my attention. So I DNF-ed it at 34%.
After a few days, I thought perhaps I was being too harsh and perhaps I was had too much unrealistic expectations ...maybe?💁🏻‍♀️ Anyway, I decided to give it another go...yea... Shouldn't have bothered.
Apologies but I really did try. I hate DNF-ing a book but I just couldn't continue.

*ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Anna.
1,079 reviews7 followers
April 20, 2019
I voluntarily read and reviewed an copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book via Netgalley

What an adorable story with amazing book boyfriend!! I'm smitten with him!
Caring, tender, brave, honourable man!
The heroine was about immature, a bit so so.
This book is PG-12, only kissing scenes, no sex
Hero celibate before and after meeting heroine, heroine kissed someone else during their friendship.
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