Unfortunately not too much into the book and I can already tell this book isn’t for me. The writing is fine and the narration is great but too much spice not enough plot for me. I want to thank NetGalley for sending me this audiobook to listen and review, betrayer was great but the book just not my taste.

✨✨Audio book review ✨✨

Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (of course idk what chapters since audio lol sorry)
Narrators: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Notes on narration: this is a dual narration which I really enjoy! The narrators both use a heavy southern accent which works perfect for this story. I really loved the narrator who read for Rebecca’s character she did a great job conveying the character’s emotion using just her voice. All together both narrators made this a pleasant reading experience.

✨✨Onto the book review!✨✨

Thank you @netgalley and @blackstonepublishing for sending me this audiobook!
I love a sports romance and haven’t read a basketball yet so this was the perfect opportunity! The characters both go through so heavy trauma in this book so check your trigger warnings for sure! The FMC Rebecca deals with religious trauma as well as abuse of power from her parents. Eli the MMC deals with death of a parent and alcohol abuse from his father in this book.
There was nothing more gut wrenching than the chapter that opened up with the words “5 years later.” The two MC’s were apart for so long with questions unanswered and a huge miscommunication! The way that these two were so wishy washy about their feelings for each other the entire book made me want to scream at them to just kiss already lol!
This is the second book in an interconnected series, it isnt required to read the first book to understand what is going on but it is recommended per the publisher and author. I’m gonna be honest i had no clue this was part of a series I don’t pay attention to descriptions just pretty covers and sports lol, so I did not read the first book but I had no issues and wasn’t aware of the first book until I finished the second. All together I really enjoyed this book and I think if you want a sweet and spicy basketball small town romance you should go give this a shot (lol basketball pun). #netgalley #beneaththestands #sportsromance #bookreviewer #bookish #bookrecs

Sugarlake series is one for the books! It always has been. Back when I first got into reading in 2020/2021. I stumbled upon this series and it has always stuck with me. I finished the first 3, and most recently finally finished book four. I had an audible critical I listened to the first, then this one! Thank you!

Eli and Becca are two people who the tension is strong but the love is stronger.

Becca, Eli’s younger sisters best friend finds herself fiercely attracted to Eli when shes in Florida for college. Their attraction is fierce and so powerful she realizes the love she has for him is sham due to the fact her mama has fed her lies all her life. Growing up in Sugarlake under the eye of the preacher she’s made a name for herself but not the one her parents are proud of.

Eli, his whole life he wanted to be the star basketball player, until the injury that took him out of the game and in the coaching position happened. He was alone, with only wanting the care of his family he never received he found it in Becca and gave a piece of his soul to her and she never fully gave it back. When he finally returns to Sugarlake the feelings he had for Becca FIVE years ago are still there and still overpowering him, even with his fiancé in the room.

I loved the audio of this book! They both gave the perfect sass and twang I needed for the Tennessee couple! I felt the emotion with Becca and her parents and I felt the heartbreak Eli was going through with his mom and with Becca!

please read trigger warnings in this book as there is a lot, and talked about a lot, most from book one carry over.
-parental alienation
-death of parent (off page)
-OD (off page)d

This is the second book in the Sugarlake series. I accidently read the series out of order and I’ve already read book three. So I decided to come back and listen to book two. This was an emotional, spicy listen. I thought the narrators did a great job bringing the story to life!

I’m a sucker for the best friend’s brother trope. I didn’t fully believe in the relationship between Eli and Becca. He wasn’t always nice to Becca. Their romance also move quickly which felt a bit rushed to me. There is a lot of past trauma for Eli and Becca to navigate. It made for an emotional read.

Overall, this was an emotional and engaging romance. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

The collision of Becca and Eli’s lives wasn’t quite what I expected. After all the tension and long-standing animosity between them, their shift into something more happened surprisingly fast. While there were moments I genuinely enjoyed—especially their playful banter—I didn’t always love the way Eli spoke to Becca. Some of his comments rubbed me the wrong way.

I did appreciate getting both perspectives, which added depth to their dynamic, but overall, the story just didn’t wow me the way the first book did. It had its moments, but it didn’t quite capture the same magic.

“You can’t always have the thing you want most. Sometimes, no matter how bad you want it... it’s just not meant to be.”

I loved the narrators of this book! It was a quick listen and I enjoyed the story. One thing I will say is that I hate time jumps…so if you also hate time jumps, know that there is one in this book. I really like interconnected standalone books because I don’t feel like I have to read the whole series to know what is going on. I loved Eli and Becca, the hate lust was too good and their banter was so entertaining.

Tropes:
🏀Sports Romance
🏀Best Friends Brother
🏀Forced Proximity
🏀Enemies To Lovers
🏀Second Chance

This book was steamy and fast-paced from start to finish. The romance kicked off right away, and the spice followed soon after, which made for an engaging read. As a best friend's brother romance, it hit the trope sweet spot. I especially enjoyed that the main characters were Southern—their mannerisms added charm and made me laugh at times. While I did struggle to fully connect with the characters on a deeper level, their chemistry was undeniable and flowed naturally throughout the story. The plot was packed with emotional highs and lows, which kept things interesting and held my attention. I received the book as an audiobook, and the narrators did a decent job overall. However, I would have preferred a duet narration. When the narrator voicing Eli acted out Becca’s lines, I cringed the entire time—it really took me out of the story.

Oh my goodness! I had the asbestos time listening to this book.
Emily writes the best stories and now I'm on the hunt to read book one.
From the first page to the last, this book held me spellbound. The characters are so richly developed, and the storyline is beautifully crafted.
The chemistry between our characters flowed well and their growth independently was refreshing. Side characters were also entertaining.

I really wanted to like this book—I found it through the author’s net gallery and thought it had potential as I have loved listening to book 3. But it just didn’t click for me. The story jumps back to the heroine’s childhood pretty early on, and I personally struggle with long flashbacks. I would’ve preferred a quicker recap and more focus on the present. I pushed myself to though it but there was a line that just completely threw me off. It felt crude and made it hard for me to connect with the hero. I also had a tough time with some of the heroine’s choices—yes, she was young, but it was frustrating to see her accept being treated poorly and being weak.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

I really enjoyed this book! Almost as much as the first!

I haven't read book 1 in this series and feel like I should have before reading this one to get a better feel for the characters. But saying that it didn't take away too much from the story.
I loved Eli and Becca and their story to get where they needed to be. There was a lot going on throughout this book, Eli and Becca having their own flaws and trying to get through them to be together. There's some serious issues discussed throughout and the author did a great job of handling them.
I listened to the audiobook and it was narrated duet style, and both narrators did a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life.
Cant wait to read more of this authors books!

#BeneathTheStands is part of a series, but easy to enjoy even if you haven't read the first book. This isn’t just a love story—it’s about healing, forgiveness, and choosing yourself without losing the people who matter most. Be prepared for some emotional whiplash as both main characters have a lot of baggage and a lot of healing.

My ALC was provided by #NetGalley and I am so glad that I got the chance to listen! The Southern twang was perfection and added so much to the story. I only wish it had been duet narration. Although both narrators were perfect for their roles, neither were great at the other genders.

-Basketball Romance
-Second Chance Romance
-Enemies to Lovers
-Best Friend’s Brother
-Small Town Romance
-Family and Religion Trauma

This book was ok. I found the spice to be random and I got a bit bored in some parts.
I know some would Love this book but it was just ok. Not something I would ever buy and read again.

(ALC provided by NetGalley) so the first half of this book was an easy 5 stars. It had all of the tropes (forbidden love, enemies to lovers, sports romance, etc etc). However…. The second half of this book was red flag city. I can’t get over how terrible Eli was to Rebecca. How can that be overlooked so easily when she’s so upset with her parents being so terrible to each other at the exact same time. I did not like that pat of the storyline at ALL. The narration was decent, except when the male narrator did a female voice or an accent. That was pretty cringy and took away from the storyline a bit

Thank you so much to Netgally for providing me with an audiobook of Beneath the Stands by Emily McIntire

This was an amazingly narrated story! Becca’s southern accent was so much fun to listen to!

The story was incredibly engaging by being well paced while covering large sections of time!

I had never read a book by Emily McIntire before this and this was a good first introduction!

The characters were well written and easy to connect with! I also enjoyed the depth of their familiar stories and all that both Becca and Eli overcame in the story!

I think this could have been a really great book, but the spice was so random. It just felt like spice thrown in to say it was spicy. I do really like the back stories of some of the characters and I wish Becca could have shoved her happiness in everyone’s face for sl*t shaming her so horribly.

I assumed this was a series in the way the Hooked, Scared, etc books are a 'series' and that they'd all be standalone. Which it's not but it honestly could be. So while I did not read the first book, I had no problems enjoying this book.

I received an audio ARC. I loved the narrators. I wish it was a duet read and not dual read because his voice for her is a little comical. But both narrators were super easy to follow at an increased speed. I thought I'd get tired of the southern drawl but it was really good.

I really liked the story. As someone who 'left the church' and all the drama that come with that I loved our FMC. I loved that the romance wasn't the entire plot. Both of our main characters experienced a lot of growth, which I especially liked because there is SO MUCH MISCOMMUNICATION! Like damn just talk to each other!

This book made me laugh out loud pretty early on "basketball voodoo" and it also made me tear up. Very well rounded. Never in my life did I think that I would love a sport themed romance.

Im a huge Emily McIntire fan. I was so excited to receive this ALC.

This was a fun second chance story. I enjoyed how I could pick up in the middle of the series and still understand.

Thank you!

Review: Beneath the Stands (Audiobook)
by Emily McIntire
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Beneath the Stands is a beautifully emotional and deeply moving story of first love, heartbreak, and the second chances we never see coming. Becca and Eli’s journey is raw, real, and layered with pain, growth, and hope. Emily McIntire does an incredible job exploring difficult themes with honesty and grace, while still delivering a romance that completely captures the heart.

The audiobook narration was stellar—each voice fit the characters perfectly, and the emotions in their performances made every scene hit even harder. I felt completely immersed from beginning to end.

This isn’t just a love story—it’s about healing, forgiveness, and choosing yourself without losing the people who matter most. A standout in the Sugarlake series, and an absolute must-listen for fans of emotional, character-driven romance.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Beneath the Stands as an ALC.

I think it's important to say that this book might be much better for someone else and that there were certainly redeeming qualities about it. I did love the small town aspect and, although it mostly takes place outside of it, there were many references to the pitfalls of being in a small town and the relationships of the people in it. In addition, I am a sucker for a good enemies to lovers trope, so I was certainly here for the angry banter / steamy tension between the main characters.

Unfortunately, I did not love the execution of the enemies to lovers plot, nor did I find myself rooting for the characters at any point. Becca, our main female character was way too in her head, to the point where it felt like she intentionally miscommunicating with Eli. Eli, on the other hand, was completely obtuse when it came to understanding anyone's feelings but his own. They were both so over the top frustrating, that it made it difficult to enjoy.

The pacing of this book felt wildly off to me as well. Our main characters went from hating each other to basically panting one another's name with nothing happening in between to really get them there. In the next heartbeat, they'd be back to hating each other and still...there was no real story that allowed the reader to come along for the ride. It was bit of emotional whiplash, if you will. The way in which Eli spoke to Becca and about Becca also left something to be desired because it went beyond being bossy and calling her out and really just more insulting and like he ACTUALLY hated her a bit. The time jump that came 3/4 of the way through the book came out of nowhere and really didn't seem like it fit. Lastly, in a race to wrap the book up because it did seem to be dragging out, it seemed the author threw in a near cheating trope just to rip the bandaid off and get to the ending.

In the end, this book might be a great read for some, but it just wasn't for me. I didn't like the way the characters treated each other and I found the pacing frustrating.