Reviewed by Stephen K
TITLE: Stupid Love
SERIES: Five Foxes Romance #1
AUTHOR: S.J. Carter
PUBLISHER: Wolfline Publishing
LENGTH: 305 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 2nd, 2021
BLURB:
Face to face with an old grudge.
Riley Chase escaped the drama of Five Foxes High School when he went away to pursue his dreams of Broadway. After returning home to help a friend in need, now the only drama Riley can handle comes from his students on stage. But to keep drama club funds, Riley is forced to work with his old nemesis—the guy he’s hated since senior year.
Colton Effing Landry.
That old grudge is also smoking hot…
Since his senior year a decade ago, Colton has tried to make amends for his past mistakes—lying for a homophobic bully first and foremost. He never thought he’d be back at the school with so many bad memories. Still, he needs the job. But Colton’s first day as Five Foxes High’s new girls’ JV coach hits him with bad news. Two of his athletic teams are on the chopping block due to budget cuts.
And that’s where he finds Riley Chase.
Riley Chase, the guy he had a crush on back during high school. The same Riley Chase whose last words to him during their senior year were I hate you.
Not the way to kick off a new job.
A stormy past could lead to a nightmare of a fall semester.
Now they have to work together to raise the money to save their programs. It’s either that or let their kids down.
Can Riley really trust the guy who betrayed him all those years ago? And can Colton prove to Riley he’s not the same dumb kid he was back in high school?
Can hate really turn to love?
Stupid Love is an enemies-to-lovers, contemporary gay romance novel featuring a nerdy English teacher and a hot jock coach with a little angst, some sensual heat, an HEA, and no cliff-hangers. It can be read as a stand-alone novel.
REVIEW:
Note: Much of this book deals with the aftereffects of a sexual assault that occurred when the now-adult characters were still in high-school. Though more than a decade has passed the past events are repeatedly referred to and drive much of the plot.
If you had a second chance for a relationship with your high school crush, would you take it? What if he’s still not entirely out of the closet yet; and you find that, then as now, the object of your affection has “feet of clay?” Nerdy Riley Chase, high school drama teacher, who’s not quite given up on making it on Broadway, has to confront these questions, and others, when his high school nemesis, Colton Landry takes a job as a coach at the same school. Colton is attractive as ever and makes it clear to Riley that he’s come to terms with his own homosexuality. But Colton is still in the closet to everyone else, and what if there are other things that Colton is still concealing?
Told in the typical he said/he said style this is a classic case of enemies to friends and second chances. Riley has come into his own and is “adulting” successfully as an openly gay teacher, and is still emotionally supporting his best friend, the victim of the high-school era sexual assault.
As dark as the themes of this tale are, the 15 or so years that have passed since the assault occurred have buffered its most damaging aspects, and we see here three people that are all on their way to recovery. A somewhat parallel current era sub-plot involving a closeted gay student football player brings the old events into a sharper focus. Seeing how the now adult characters react shows just how much progress they’ve made, while still showing that more growth is required. While that makes the tale harrowing in spots, this is still at heart a romance, and the author’s promise of a HEA ending makes it an enjoyable read.
While this tale might be too much for some readers, most should find it an interesting tale of redemption, forgiveness for those that deserve it, and an acceptance of what cannot be changed for others.
RATING: 
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