A beach read for sure. Very formulaic yet engaging. A little slow going in places, but at the end, I was rooting for Daisy.

James Sullivan the quarterback for the Sharks is not putting football as number one now, no now he putting his nine-year-old daughter as number one, especially after his divorce. Still, he must play the game to provide. For him another new change happens when the team gets a new conditioning coach in Daisy Katrakis, he remembers the name from her being one of his friends’ sister but she does not look anything like he remembers. Daisy is attracted to James and likes that he has finally taken notice of her but she holds him off because it has taken her so long to get the job and she does not want to ruin her opportunity by having a fling with the quarterback that she knows she would be the one being fried and talked about. Really liked all of the back and forth between the characters and adding the child works as well. A good story with good characters.

This was my first Leslie North book. I'm always looking for a great sports romance, but unfortunately this one didn't quite fit the bill. I enjoyed the characters and set up, but throughout the book the stakes just weren't very high. I had a hard time believing the conflicts both main characters faced. The book is titled as "enemies to lovers" but I didn't see that aspect at all. More like friends to lovers, since the characters were friends from childhood. Overall, it was just an OK read for me.

This is book 2 in a series about a football team called the Shark's. In this story we meet James, Emma and Daisy. James is a single dad to Emma and Daisy is his new strength and conditioning coach. But she is also the sister of his best friend. This was a really awesome at work, forbidden type of romance with it featuring a hot, quarterback single dad. It was fun and romantic and I adored all the characters in this story. I am really loving this new series.

This is the second story of the series, but can be read as a standalone.

James Sullivan is the quarterback for the Sharks. To his surprise, the new conditioning coach is a friend's younger sister, Daisy. She also had a crush on James when they were kids. To James' surprise, Daisy is all grown up now. As much as he is interested, he wants to keep things professional between them. Nowadays, his daughter is his number one priority.

Daisy has finally made it professionally; she's a female coach in the NFL. And James is still as hot as he ever was. She tries to keep things professional between them, as well, but their attraction is too strong. She agrees with James that his daughter is a priority in his life.

Things are going well until the press gets wind of their relationship and makes things difficult for them. Daisy has worked too hard to get here so she'll have to choose: love or her career.

James and Daisy are so great together and Emma, James' daugher, is going through a tough time. You definitely want to cheer them on, but the press can be cruel and life isn't always fair so tough decisions need to be made.

I'm definitely looking for more stories in the series.

Pretty good book.. .. Football, some humor, best friends sister, single father.... I really enjoyed reading this book.... Leslie north is an amazing author...

Book: Red Zone (Leslie North)
Rating: 5⭐️
Genre: Contemporary romance, adult fiction
Smut: 🔥🔥

Summary:
Daisy Katrakis has made it through big time as she lands the position of a NFL coach. Life is good, her career is moving forward, and she meets her brother's old bestie James - a hot quarterback for the team. One thing leads to another but soon the bliss is turned into a struggling to combine personal with professional as the relentless torment of the press and the social media seem to smother out the flame.

Favourite character: Daisy.

To whom: To lovers of romance, well paced books, strong characters who work hard to reach their goals - and smut.

Additional notes:
Simply put: I live for this book. Real life and relatable, with topics such as single parenting, career hopes, determination, and passion thrown in the mix. THANK YOU! I could so relate to Daisy and the choices she made, plus James was every bit the guy a girl could hope for.
And the cover - straight to the Hot Covers' Hall of Fame, bookdragons!


✨Thank you so much Relay Publishing, Leslie North and NetGalley for sending me this book to read and review!

Ver good book. The two main characters are trying to overcome some obstacles in the way for them trying to find love. They eventually find their way to be together.

arc provided by netgalley. i really went into this book with high expectations and a lot of hope to find a cute sport romance with hot moments. but neither the character or the story made it for me. it was a bland story with no chemistry between the two mc who felt like cliche paper sheet ready to be introduced in a random arc. sorry but this is a no for me

3.5 stars

I devoured this book. As soon as I started I couldn't put it down. Sports romance plus single dad romance? Yes please!
I really liked this book. It was fun, entertaining and captivating. I liked Daisy, our little firecracker! And James was the sweetest guy and the best dad to Emma. I liked their interactions and their chemistry was amazing!
The drama was great and although there were things that were a bit too angsty/dramatic, Overall this was a really good romance book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading Red Zone. The author does a good job reconnecting Daisy with her brothers best friend James.
James is a great dad to Emma and while he doesn't need anyone him and Daisy have a connection.
While I enjoyed it the relationship had a lot of ups and downs in a shirt time frame.
Nonetheless it was entertaining.

When social media twists truths and lies it can hurt people and cause problems.
Daisy, in Leslie North’s newest book Red Zone, tries her best to ignore all the lies written about her on the internet, she knows it is best to dismiss them, but finds it impossible.

James Sullivan is the quarterback for the Savannah Sharks and Daisy Katrakas is the new strength and training coach. James is surprised to see Daisy when she starts her job with the Sharks. Daisy was the little sister of James' high school best friend and now, she is grown up and hard to resist. James and Daisy just can’t stay away from each other; they love spending time together and have a passionate relationship. Everything is going well, until the internet brings a spotlight on their relationship.

Daisy is one of the few women in the league working as a strengthening coach and because she is a woman, she has to work extra hard to prove herself. Daisy is excited to finally achieve her goal of working with professional football players. She finds it both challenging and fun and she also likes working with James. Unfortunately, some people blame Daisy whenever the team loses.

James and Daisy have great dynamics and chemistry between them and I found it easy to sympathize and relate to them. I enjoyed this refreshing story.

After First Down I kept my eye out for the next part of the Sharks Football series. Because of course I wanted to see who would be the next Savannah Shark in the next part.

And yay, it was James Sullivan, the hot Quarterback with his cute nine year old daughter in this story. And Daisy, the new conditioning coach. Working for a NFL team has been Daisy’s dream. And now she landed her dream job with the Sharks, where her high school crush works: James. No biggie. Of course she will look at James his gorgeous body for professional reasons only.

James barely recognizes the little sister of his best friend since high school. Little Daisy has grown up and is now a hot lady, who has his team breaking into a sweat. And not only from her harsh workouts.

Although Daisy and James try to keep things professional, sparks start flying. And of course the press has a field day in dissecting their blooming relationship and the current results of the team. So Daisy has to chose between romance and her credibility as a coach. What will she chose? Find out for yourself in this hot read. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Complementary copy given for honest review and opinion from NetGalley. Opinions are my own. This book was filled with sports, woman power and love. The main characters have a history from their childhood and Leslie North does what she does best, she draws you in and holds you captive. This is a book that it hard to put down. 5 stars!

Loved this sweet, second book in the series! I just adored how Emma and Daisy’s relationship eve loved along with Daisy and James. Daisy’s brother and James were friends in high school and Daisy happens to get a coaching job on James’ team. Daisy is trail-blazer as one of the few women in the NFL and is totally bad-ass! Jane’s and Daisy try to fight their attraction but eventually give in. James is so sweet and I love him and Daisy! This is another great sports romance and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series!!

Thank you to NetGalley and to Relay Publishing for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sports romances are a favourite of mine and I quite enjoyed this book. It was light, fun with the right amount of steam and angst. Though I did enjoy it, I wouldn't say that it was a memorable read or that I was particularly invested with either of the characters.

I did love getting a glimpse of how difficult it often is for a woman breaking into a male-dominated sport/career and the various obstacles she may face as a result of that. James and Daisy worked well together but James often failed to see how his actions could affect Daisy's career. While Daisy at times unfairly foisted her insecurities on James.

I ended rating this book 3 stars

Leslie North never fails. Again this was a brilliant and sweet romance. As soon as I see her name I request the book and I'm never disappointed.

Leslie North books tend to be hit or miss with me with this one landing somewhere in between. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. The chemistry between James and Daisy was great and each character was an interesting person outside of that relationship. My 'meh' attitude about the story was more that Daisy is so concerned with what her relationship with James will do to her career, but she doesn't really do much to hide it. It's more luck that they don't get caught than planning on either of their parts. The character of Emma was also well done (this is not always the case with children in these types of stories) and I loved the relationship between Emma and Daisy - which also made it hard to believe that Daisy would end things with James the way she did. I understand why she was upset with the way James handled himself in the press conference, but she didn't really let him explain his side of the situation. In the end I was glad that neither character gave up their career for their relationship; it's not quite a "you can have it all" message, more of a lesson on prioritizing what's most important in your life. The way Emma's school peers and their parents were all bullies and gossips was a little far-fetched, but not so much that I felt the story then lost its credibility.

3.5 stars

I liked it and it’s an enjoyable read but overall I didn’t overly engage with it.

I wasn’t a fan of Daisy, I didn’t really see how she was the best candidate for this much coveted coaching role in the nfl. I felt more thought needed to go into her background and I didn’t buy the whole family connection with her family.

Second in this Shark series. We meet a retiring quarterback and the new female coach, sparks fly. Drama, angst, a small amount of romance and some less than stellar steam, makes this a just “ok” read. Had potential but fell short. More story and less “yuck”, is needed.