Treading Water

by B. Sobjakken

When I started my first year of college, I had one goal in mind and it had nothing to do with school.

I wanted to earn a spot on the U.S. National Water Polo Team.

I never imagined that my new coach would be someone I looked up to.

Someone whose entire career I meticulously followed... and someone I had a misguided crush on.

The first moment I lock eyes with Fallon Harris is the moment everything changed.

The Olympics weren’t the only thing on my mind anymore.

He doesn't feel the same because everything that comes out of his mouth is anything but admiration.

Genres: Sports Romance, Sports, Novella, Romance, College, Forbidden Romance, Contemporary

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2024

Reviews

[Rain · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I tried to stay away from you, but I don’t think I can.”

I went into this story with my expectations way too high.

He’s 35
She’s 18
Coach/student
Water polo team

She had his posters all over her wall growing up (which was yesterday because she is still a teen).

The premise was set up quite similar to other coach/student romances, but didn’t have the same depth of character or heart.

Famous, sexy athlete turn coach meets young, promising water polo star and helps her find her potential.

Fallon (H) came off at skeevy at first. He finds an instagram video when she was 17, in a bikini, and well, yeah.

Sage’s (h) infatuation with him makes complete sense, what girl wouldn’t been head over heels with their crush and superstar taking interest in her? But why does this 35 your old man like Sage? She’s sexy, she’s talented…but what else? There is zero buildup of them getting to know each other, it’s just lust and infatuation, so that made it awkward. The sex is very graphic and really hot, but I wasn’t feeling their connection until later.

I really liked the storyline of Sage caring for her little sister. That family dynamic felt so real.

The end of this book saved it! It is a five star ending, even if rushed. This is the kind of romance we readers live for. It’s too bad the relationship development isn’t there at more genuine level. This story really needed another 100 pages to smooth out the lumps and bumps in the storytelling.

[Céloise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4☆ Love and waterpolo, May-December.

This was surprisingly good, especially in the second half. I liked that for once the coach-student forbidden dynamic felt like they were on more even ground as people, even though Sage was at the beginning of her professional career and Fallon was at the end. Sage acted more like 23 than 18 and also had prior sexual experience (I know, she's like an age-gap-romance-unicorn 😂 🦄). She grew up fast as the main parental figure for her baby sister much of the time. Needing to balance this with pursuing her Olympic dream and school took a lot of maturity and commitment without a lot of resources. Fallon came off more like a late 20s retired professional athlete post-injury, so once I started thinking of them as the ages they actually seemed, it read like a more 'comfortable' and believable age gap. And the author thankfully didn't force some cliché Daddy/lg thing into the mix. 🥳

I appreciated how the coaching aspect was somewhat realistic, needing to challenge and push someone without completely pushing them away. And of course it was funny how they were both a little obsessed with each other from afar long before they actually met. 🤭 That said, it was almost compulsively sexual between them at the start of things, and I wanted a deeper emotional connection to come earlier. Once they actually really got to know each other, I was more into it. **ending spoiler** I liked how Fallon (mostly) decided to put Sage's Olympic chances and her professional/personal protection from the media first, delaying their relationship for a little while--though it took some pressure from suspicious eyes first LOL. 👀

Overall, I liked the story and characters, including their supportive BFFs, and it felt really well-researched, as if the author was a waterpolo player herself! The heat was hot, the forbidden vibes were forbidding, and the eventual love was lovely. You get what you came for. 😉 💜

[nitya · Rating 3 out of 5]

- coach x athlete
- age gap
- very spicy 🔥🔥🔥
- they're both obsessed with each other
- some reviewers said that they wanted more about Sage bonding with her sister, I can't disagree

Content warning: past parental death, sexual content

[Corina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminded me a bit of Scoring Wilder and why I love the coach / athlete combination - just so sexy 😊

[Catheryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had no business being that good. It's a sweeter and spicier (and shorter) version of Kulti.

I loved Fallon and Sage. Individually they were great and they were better together. I liked that Fallon stepped back to let her achieve her goals and avoid any bad press. The spice was nice, though I did worry of they would get caught. I also liked the mutual pining before they even met. His reaction to her room was pretty funny.

Overall, I loved this book. I do wish we got a little more resolution from his family but it was ok.

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too technical
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━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🕮⋆˚࿔✎𓂃 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Mia S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hot for Teacher

Ugh too short! I feel like it just ended when wanted another epilogue or something! BUT still a great story, would’ve love to have known who ratted out but again that’s more in the drawn out story- which it totally could’ve been, but still a good story and oh my the steam was descriptive and awesome!

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 ⭐️
3/5 🌶️

Tropes & what to expect:
Forbidden romance
Coach x athlete
Sports romance
Age gap romance

This is a short novella so it's a quick read, but you guys -- listen to me and please listen to the audiobook! The audio performance was SO GOOD.

I knew I'd love this one since the tropes are all my FAVORITES.

Thank you Must Love Audio and B. Sobjakken for the ALC!

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was very cute, I wish we had gotten more of Fallon's pov in the beginning because it felt that sage liked him more than he liked her but i get that it might come off kinda odd. you will find me in every age gap story thank you very much.

[AshReadThis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a super cute novella. I hadn’t read a water polo romance before this, and it didn’t disappoint.

Fallon was Sage’s childhood sorta celebrity crush (he was a water polo player in the Olympics) who became her college coach then her love interest. Their chemistry was a lot of fun and their stories were super sweet, with him moving across the country to coach for the school she chose so he could get to know her.

The spice was HOT in this taboo/age gap romance and I was here for it.

What to expect:
🍋 Age gap romance (10 years)
🍋 Forbidden romance
🍋 Coach x player
🍋 Sports / waterpolo

[Mer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was HOT but also really sweet. Brooke is such an amazing writer—her ability to make you fall in love with the characters so fast AND in a novella?! And she does it every time. Unmatched.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ 4🌶️

“Do you think I would risk my career? Your career? On what… a quick fuck?”

Yowza, this was delicious 🤭🤩

I was caught off guard at the abrupt way they just started to hookup but honestly the spice was so good, I just leaned into it. The way they teetered so much on the edge of getting caught cause they just couldn’t keep their hands off each other 🥵 and Fallon’s filthy mouth and breeding kink👨🏻‍🍳💋

“I shouldn’t feel disappointed that you can’t get pregnant”

Absolutely recommended for a quick and steamy novella

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To all the girlies who had an inappropriate crush on their coaches. Let me fulfill your fantasy, baby.”

My first ARC read and my first read of this author but certainly not my last! I’m going to be reading her backlist ASAP!

Tropes you’ll enjoy:
💗 age-gap romance (18 and 31)
🏊‍♀️ coach x athlete
💗 spiiiiiiiiicy
🏊‍♀️ sneaking around
💗 dislike to lovers

I instantly was hooked on Fallon and Sage. Sage has posters around her bedroom of Olympic winner Fallon Harris on her bedroom walls and then he becomes her college polo coach? Teenage me is screaming at the idea of the boys I had up on my walls becoming my love interest 😮‍💨

I did not put this book down, quite literally. I picked it up right after waking up Sunday morning and it went with me to brush my teeth, to make breakfast, and I didn’t get off the couch until I finished it.

[The Love Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - Quick forbidden sports romance between a water polo player and her coach! It wasn’t complicated. Lots of steam, a bit instalust between the characters (which I expected), and the ending was predictable.

I will say that this author’s books are a fun ride every time I pick one up, especially if you like the forbidden/taboo trope!

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio re-read 1/11/25 - absolute perfection! Avery Caris and Sean Masters killed it as Sage and Fallon! 10/10, a top audiobook of 2025, for sure! 🤩

Narration type: Duet
Listening length: 4 hrs
Listening speed: 2.2x

Original review from last year 👇🏻
——

Sage is a college athlete. Water polo is her sport and she excels at it. Her ultimate goal is to make it to the Olympics. She never expected her idol and crush, Fallon, to end up as her coach. Their shared passion for water polo brings them together in more ways than one. They know it’s forbidden…against the rules. But they just can’t stop.

💧 Coach x Athlete
💧 Age Gap
💧 Water Polo
💧 Dislike to Lovers
💧 Sneaking Around

Anytime I see a new release from Brooke, I know I’m about to have a good time. I’m here to say that she has delivered once again. She really blew me away with this one. She has delivered a solid story in less than 200 pages that could easily rival a full length novel or series. I honestly could have read about Sage and Fallon forever but Brooke really packs a punch in those 163 pages. You can also tell that she knows her stuff when it comes to water polo. I didn’t know anything about this sport and I can confirm that Brooke provided enough details to know that sport will never be for me. 🤣 Sage and Fallon are the real MVPs.

There just isn’t enough coach/athlete romances and this one was perfect. It has the forbidden vibes that I love to see.

[Annica ⚡️ annica_reads_books ⚡️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take my advice, and listen to the audio!

I'm pretty sure that if I had just read this book with my eyes, I would have rated it 4 stars, which is a good rating in my opinion. It's a spicy, sweet, short story about a student and her romance with her water polo coach. It’s short, and it’s the type of book where you go in knowing it will be fast-paced and quickly get to the point. The things I loved about this book were the mature characters (seriously, that's a gamble in an age gap romance), the fun spice, and the perfect duet narration! Sean Masters and Avery Caris were perfect for their roles, and I was never bored while listening to this. You'll bang this audio out in less than a day—it's only 4 hours long at standard length! The narration truly made this a 5-star listening experience for me. Highly recommend.

Thank you, Must Love Audio and B. Sobjakken for the Advance Listening Copy of Treading Water. All opinions are my own and I voluntarily left this review.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could’ve been so amazing if it was longer. I was loving it, until the fucking third act breakup which ruined a five star book. We never really see them get back together , then bam the epilogue which was really unsatisfying. They were still hiding their relationship and it just pissed me off because everything was rushed.

[BookishAnya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would sell my soul for a full length book of this!

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read as it’s a novella. It was my first coach/player trope and I gotta say it just gave me the biggest ick. Not a fan of this at all. Story and writing was good but the tropes were just not for me.

[Sybrenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ this was a quick little read. For me personally it was just okay. I really do wish it was a little bit more drawn out and longer… but after seeing that it’s a novella, i can understand the pacing of the book. However, this book just left me wanting more. Like it was so fast paced and then short on top of that so it didn’t necessarily hit the mark for me. But the writing was nice!

[Danielle Overly Backlogged]

This sounds far too similar to Kulti and from what little I did read, I’m totally getting that vibe. This is a hard pass for me.

[Megan ~The Never Ending Book Basket · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It might be one of my favorites by this author. It was forbidden romance, it had all the fire tension, and I could not get enough these characters. I literally devoured this book. This author has such a fantastic way of writing that just sucks you in. You literally cannot stop reading her words and that was my experience reading this book along with every other book she’s written. I loved everything about this story. I loved the spice, I loved the connection between these characters, I loved the sports, I just loved it all. This author continues to prove why she is one of my new favorites and I cannot wait for more!

[veronica ☽]

I was genuinely surprised by this smutty sports romance novella 😇🤭Fallon & Sage’s chemistry was sizzling hot

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

who knew water polo could be so hot!! athlete x coach with lots of push it back in moments 💦

[Squishy Toeknee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of Kulti😎 and Balance 🫣 (ifykyk ) Cute lil novella 👏

[Sienasummerrreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short, spicy, and fun standalone novella. It follows Sage, who has a scholarship to Slater Hills for water polo and dreams of making it to the Olympics in a few years. Than comes along Fallon Harris, a four-time Olympic champion, who joins as the team’s new coach.

First off, pick up the audiobook—it was absolutely delicious and narrated in duet form. I usually struggle with short reads, but not this one! It was fast-paced yet had enough storyline and spice to make the journey enjoyable. I’m a huge fan of Fallon’s filthy mouth, and the sneaking-around element hit the spot perfectly. I really enjoyed this one!

Genre/Type: Adult Romance 18+
APK: Audiobook ALC
Audiobook Length: 4hrs
Narrators: Avery Caris and Sean Masters - Duet
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spice: 🌶️🌶️.5
Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone
Tropes or Themes: Sports (Water Polo), Age Gap, Coach, /Athlete, College, Mine, Sexual Content, Dirty Talk, Shower Scene, Pool Scene and Office Scene
Check Triggers ⚠️ 💫

All Round Romance Reader 
Sienasummerrreads 💕📚
TikTok | Instagram | Goodreads | StoryGraph | Fable | Everand | Amazon | Audible Reviews 💫

[cajareads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually quite decent. Loved the built up between the two characters. No insta-love although there is insta-lust but they do not act on it right away. Quite refreshing to see no mean girls drama in here. Not really sure about him planning to marry her in the epilogue though. I mean she’s like what, 20 years old by then. Still too young to think about marriage when she’s still in her early stage as an Olympian. One thing though I’m just glad there’s no pregnancy trope involved.

[Alaine McDaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treading Water- B Sobjakken
Narrated by Avery Caris and Sean Masters

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Narration 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧

Showwee 😮‍💨😮‍💨 this was a hot little number between a star college waterpolo player striving for the Olympics and her hot new coach she’s been obsessed with her whole life basically. I’m obsessed. I need more. The only, and I mean *only* reason why I didn’t give this 5⭐️ is because I wanted more and wanted this to be longer and drawn out! Especially with Sean Masters in my earholes!

Sean and Avery absolutely crushed this duet narration. Sean is very quickly becoming my favorite male narrator and he did not disappoint with the sexy dirty talking in this one. Avery did absolutely amazing bringing Sage to life, being the able to switch between caring for the little sister, aggressive athlete, and then being sexy and vulnerable with Fallon. So good, great performance.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

listen, the last several books i’ve read have been dark, deep and traumatizing so i needed me some lighthearted smut, and this book delivered, thank you ms. sobjakken 🫡

[Carina Chilcott · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25