Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Everything’s Better With You
AUTHOR: R.L. Merrill
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 312 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 31, 2023
BLURB:
Everything’s Better With You is a TED LASSO-inspired sports-themed funny romance featuring two guys who’ve pined for each other for 15 years while their careers soared and their bodies fell apart.
Retired quarterback and “nicest guy in the NFL” Leslie Payton met former college cheerleader-turned-reality-show darling Joe Judd fifteen years ago. They spent one magical night…talking. They’ve been pining for each other via text and phone calls ever since while their careers kept them geographically apart. When their alma mater recruits them to reinvigorate a flagging athletic program, Leslie is thrilled to finally have Joe close enough to see if their “what if” can become a reality. And the sooner the better before Leslie’s history of Traumatic Brain Injury catches up to him and he’s unable to be a true partner.
Joe has spent their years apart dancing on reality TV, Broadway, and concert tours, knowing full well the clock is ticking on his body’s ability to continue taking the abuse. Leslie wants forever to start now, and Joe doesn’t have that luxury, though Leslie makes him want things he’s never allowed himself to dream of with anyone else. But a lifetime of only feeling worthwhile for his performance ability makes him doubt whether he could ever be a good coach or enough of a partner for the best man he’s ever known.
As football and cheer coaches, they’re forced to be rivals in public, but behind closed doors, their chemistry is unstoppable. A wager triggers their competitive sides, but the secrets they keep come to light and present them with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Can they finally meet on the relationship 50-yard line and move forward as a team?
Recommended for readers 18 and up who love open and honest dialogue about sex, and challenges to toxic masculinity. Also included: mesh crop tops, gratuitous shirtless car wash scenes, phone sex therapy, and all the pining.
REVIEW:
Oh my, these two. Leslie, the “nicest guy in the NFL” who is now retired and struggling with the aftermath of all those hits and Joe, and “Twinkle Toes”, a dance phenom who never stops long enough in one place to put down roots. “No way, no how was he going to stop moving long enough to fall for a guy, not as long as he had breath in his lungs and feeling in his feet.” They met fifteen years before at a college Spring Fling and have loosely kept in touch since then. They’ve come back to Greenvale College for another Spring Fling, one where options have opened that might change their lives, if they are brave enough to go for it.
Both of them have physical struggles from their respective careers.
“Everything else in Joe’s life was glitz and glamour, though.
And pain.
Ugh, the pain.”
Joe has been offered the chance to coach the cheer squad at Greenville. Something dear to his heart, since he was one of the first males on the squad. He’s the “Godfather of Jackets Cheer”. He is also offered the opportunity to start a dance major there for the first time in Greenvale history. Likewise, Leslie has been offered the coaching position for football.
At first, I wasn’t sure about them. Joe really is all glitzy, crop tops and pizazz. Leslie is laid back, warm and enthusiastic. Joe is fashion, Leslie wears a mullet. But together? They are beautiful. But it’s never been enough in fifteen years, why would it be now? “An adventure,” Les turned to Joe. “Come have an adventure with me.”
The Payton family, Leslie’s mom and brothers, are very in your business and care for each other. The sad backstory comes in the form of Rick Payton, the patriarch of the clan, who was a beloved football player who ended up with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy from too many hits to the head. It changed this loving father to an abusive nightmare. The family kept it quiet but now Leslie is afraid his traumatic brain injury might develop into CTE. My heaven, but I loved Leslie. He’s got this awful secret hanging over his head and he just wants to make sure he does what he’s always wanted while he can still do it.
The story progresses through the pair working on the possibility of working at Greenvale and of a relationship between them. They’ve promised each other honesty and there’s a problem at one point with that. But I understood it. After what the family went through with their dad, I completely understood it. Despite this looming, the story is not angst-ridden. There’s a lot of happy, a lot of meddling relatives and a lot of love. I liked getting to see Joe and Leslie not only through the romantic lens but how they were at work. They both are such good people and you got to see it through their interactions with other.
There were two things that made me eye roll and they weren’t big things. Probably just a “me” issue. One is how they call each other Brother. Brother Barry, Brother Randy. Made me think they were all monks. The other had to do with Brother Sandy, who stepped way out of his lane about something. Again, minor.
And let me say – the Matrix scene was absolutely my favorite. “Prepare to be liberated.” Just yes.
RATING: 
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