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Kissing the Enemy #1

The Perfect Catch

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Her brother's best friend used to be Callie's friend too. But that was before he became a jerk, and then her coach, and now...her first kiss.

There's no doubt about it, Noah is avoiding Callie like the plague now that she's living in the dorms on his college campus. She'd hoped this weeklong softball clinic would help put their past awkwardness behind them--after all, he'd taught her everything she knows about the game. But her brother's best friend is more of a jerk than ever. Until he kisses her. And now...well, now she doesn't know what's going on between them. But it doesn't matter, not really. She's not here for Noah, she's only here to show the recruiters at the big showcase game that she has what it takes to play for a college team.

It's a solid plan...until it all falls apart. Thanks to Noah's overprotective interference, she's kicked out of the showcase game, and any chance of college scholarships slips out of her reach. But there might be a way to salvage her plan and her future. She just has to be seen, right? Noah's the new coach for a charity softball event and he owes her big time. She might just be able to save her scholarship chances if she can survive his coaching...and his kisses.

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2018

1044 people are currently reading
918 people want to read

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Maggie Dallen

205 books1,009 followers

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5 stars
313 (26%)
4 stars
393 (32%)
3 stars
379 (31%)
2 stars
88 (7%)
1 star
23 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
Profile Image for Belle.
227 reviews80 followers
February 4, 2024
To be honest, this was pretty predictable, but it was a light and quick read that kept me entertained. RTC
Profile Image for Kate McMurry.
Author 1 book124 followers
September 16, 2024
Review of audiobook version of delightful, G-rated, YA, sports romance

Callie Cooper and Noah Mason grew up together as next-door neighbors in the fictional small town of Fairfield in Upstate New York. Noah was Callie’s older brother Eric’s best friend from kindergarten through high school, though after graduation they have been attending different universities, with Noah staying local at Fairfield University, and Eric attending a university in San Francisco. Currently Callie is 17, a few months away from turning 18, and a rising senior in high school. Though Noah is only 18 months older than her, he is a rising sophomore in college.

Callie and Noah have been friends all their lives. The main thing they had in common for most of those years was that both of them are talented pitchers, her with softball and him with baseball, until some months ago, when Noah sustained an injury to his pitching arm that ended any chance of a future professional career. Ever since that time, Noah has been cold and distant with Callie, and she is convinced that it is because he is mourning his lost career, and it pains him to be around her, because Callie remains a star pitcher with years of play ahead of her.

Callie is scheduled to participate in a weeklong, summer, softball clinic at Fairfield University, where she will be staying on campus at the dorms. She is certain she will run into Noah frequently this week, because his mother has informed her that he is doing an internship at the sports health center on campus, where her softball clinic will be held. She is greatly hoping that he will have healed enough emotionally from his crushing loss such that he no longer feels the need to withdraw from her.

As she had hoped, Callie spots Noah immediately her first day on campus but, rather than welcoming her with the warmth of a lifelong friend, he acts as if she is an impertinent stranger when she bounces toward him and greets him with an enthusiastic hug. Callie is shocked and hurt. Why is he still treating her so coldly? And what will it take to get their friendship back to normal?

This is a fun, YA romance which offers several, ever-popular themes from that genre: “friends to lovers,” “forbidden romance with big brother’s best friend,” and a “girl power” sports romance with a heroine who is a talented athlete. Callie and Noah are admirable, sympathetic protagonists, and even though this book is G-rated, there is plenty of chemistry between this attractive pair.

This is the first book in a trilogy, and in it we meet, as important subcharacters, Levi and Kate and Ox and Maddie, who are the romantic pairings of the next two books in the series.

I have read this book in Kindle format, and this week I had the chance to revisit it as an audiobook. It is narrated by Liz Krane, a talented voice artist. She does an excellent job with both male and female characters, of all ages and backgrounds.

I rate this book as follows:
Heroine: 4 stars
Hero: 4 stars
Subcharacters: 4 stars
Romance Plot: 4 stars
Sports Plot: 4 stars
Writing: 4 stars
Audiobook Narration: 4 stars
Overall: 4 star
Profile Image for Ariel.
644 reviews131 followers
August 16, 2022
I've read a few of Dallen's books and enjoyed them all. This one was no different! If you enjoy sports romances, guy falls first, and brother's best friend tropes, this book is for you!

I thought this book was a really nice YA sports romance. It had the perfect amount of romance that was balanced well with sports action.

The romance in and of itself wasn't my favorite ever, but it was good. It had the right amount of heat and tension to make things interesting. It had a conflict that lasted 70% of the book. And it was cute. I do wish there had been a conflict at the end to drive them apart so that way they could have come back together in the end, but that's alright. It was still nice. I was starting to get a little frustrated over their lack of communication, but the relief came at just the right moment.

Overall, I liked this book so I'll be picking up the other two in the series. It was a quick read so I expect the other two will be as well.

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Profile Image for Kaye.
7,177 reviews69 followers
September 2, 2018
AH SHUCKS!!!
Oh man, I fell in love with this little jewel. It grab me so tight it didn't let go until the last word. If you're looking for a sweet, breathtaking, heartwarming, humorous, beating the odds, love and adoration enhanced read, then look no further. This little baby will rock you right along with the characters as their personalities transform and blend into the roles they were created for. Maggie nailed this bad boy with all the twists and turns bringing us together for a show stopping love that goes distance. The characters are well developed and so realistic I felt I could just reach out and touch them. The scenes are vivid and detailed so you have no problem seeing them come alive before your eyes. Every story I've read of Maggie's just flows so smoothly as if it was always there. Maggie did a phenomenal job bringing this read together beautifully. Fantastic job Maggie, thanks for sharing this little gem with us.
Profile Image for Samantha (WLABB).
4,252 reviews277 followers
August 13, 2020
You know me. I LOVE sports romances, and this time, it's the heroine who is the sports hero. I enjoyed watching this softball player and her brother's best friend work through their feelings. There were some of those typical obstacles (the brother), but there were a few interesting developments too, as far as Mason went. I think it was the ending that put this book over the top for me. I live for endings like that.

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Profile Image for Pascale’s*ARC,Unwind,Read,Review.
2,359 reviews31 followers
September 1, 2018
This book is perfectly adorable. I loved the alternating pov between the two characters and the storyline was very fast-paced and fun. Some mild swearing but otherwise clean and no sex. This was one of my favourites of this author’s works (so far). I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Helena.
578 reviews9 followers
November 18, 2020
3.5 stars!
Great feel good story! Cute, fast paced , with likable characters and not too deep,exactly what i was expecting when i picked this ya novel from Maggie Dallen up. The narrator did a really god job too.
Profile Image for Aimee .
3,072 reviews298 followers
January 28, 2020
Young Love

Cute, young love. Friends to more. Great build up of attraction. The only drawback for me was the frequent mild swearing. Otherwise a fun diversion.
Profile Image for Kat In  Book Heaven.
95 reviews
March 17, 2022
It was sort of slow, with a predictable plot. There wasn't much of exciting things happening in the book, nothing unexpected. I guess you can say the book sort of fell flat and I wanted to leave it in the middle because it got boring.
10 reviews
January 4, 2021
Popular trope but awful execution. Extremely repetitive. We get it, she is “serious” about softball. Would have DNF’d if it hadn’t been so short.
Profile Image for Beth Rodgers.
Author 12 books40 followers
November 4, 2018
'The Perfect Catch' by Maggie Dallen is a swoon-worthy romance that captures the innocent, yet frustrating relationship between Callie and Noah. Even though the two have known each other for basically their whole lives, having grown up as neighbors, coupled with the fact that Noah and Callie's brother are best friends, they have not realized their romantic feelings for each other until recently. Once they do, they individually determine that the feelings must be one-sided, and that there isn't any reason to see if anything will happen between them.

They are content to stay out of each other's way, even though Callie wants to know what is bothering Noah so much since she used to be able to talk to him. Then one kiss changes everything. With her overthinking nature, Callie sets her mind on the idea that Noah would have kissed anyone in the scary situation they were faced with at the time. Noah, meanwhile, does his best to put Callie out of his mind, out of respect for his friendship with her brother.

When they are thrown together in a ball game with Noah as the coach and Callie as the star pitcher, their friction gets ramped up many notches, and they are forced to confront their feelings once and for all.

Maggie Dallen has captured the beauty of falling in love along with the uncertainty of it all. Definitely a story to add to any contemporary romance lover's must-read list.

Beth Rodgers, Author of 'Freshman Fourteen' and 'Sweet Fifteen,' Young Adult Novels

*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*
323 reviews3 followers
September 10, 2018
Maggie Dallen has created a story about baseball, softball and love that will keep you in your seat until you have finished reading this book. Maggie has done an excellent job of describing what athletes who love the game go through to get that scholarship to college to help out their families. It takes perseverance, tenacity, good grades and the willingness to stick to it. She has created characters that are very believable. It is devastating when one of those athletes is injured in high school or early in college and is unable to accomplish their dream of college and pro ball. Callie Cooper, her brother Eric and Noah Mason grew up next to each other in a middle class neighborhood. Friends all through school neither Callie nor Noah expected to fall in love much to Eric's dismay.
Maggie also nailed it when Callie doesn't follow the rules at a camp at Fairfield University and is benched mid-camp and is unable to play the big game at the end where she could be seen by college recruiters.
This story is very believable and well written. I highly recommend this one. I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for The Mysterious Reader.
3,588 reviews66 followers
September 5, 2018
Maggie Dallen is the perfect YA high school romance author. (She’s also pretty darn impressive with Regency Period and adult contemporary romances, but that’s a different story). Somehow her high school romances resonate with my own (long distant) memories of high school like no other. That’s the case once again with The Perfect Catch (Kissing the Enemy Book 1). Callie and Noah’s romance is fun to watch even as it goes through all it’s teething pains. Total fun, and since it’s book 1 in a new series that means there are more to come. I’m presuming it’s the other gals on Callie and Noah’s mixed gender team, and am already guessing (hoping on) who they will pair up. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
Profile Image for Nadine.
1,905 reviews2 followers
September 14, 2018
Sweet

17-yo Callie is good at softball. I like softball; it was one of the few sports I was actually good at ;) Callie is sweet and innocent, but not shy. Noah is her brother’s best friend and he used to be her friend too. But now he’s so cold and distant. Rude even. She thinks she represents his lost opportunities. When she gets the chance to play for the recruiters, she wants to give it her all. But then she does something wrong. She never does anything wrong and the one time she does she gets caught and punished. The universe isn’t fair.

Alternating POV’s Callie and Noah. Which was good, because by just Callie’s POV in the beginning you could have thought Noah really wasn’t a nice person. It could have become one-sided and now it wasn’t, so that was really nice. There’s a lot of thought process giving us insight in their feelings. Maybe a little too much thought during conversations, but I did really like it. It was a sweet story.
Profile Image for Karen Voitik.
3,219 reviews
February 15, 2019
>Book Review – The Perfect Catch
>I am an independent reviewer. This book is the 1st in the Kissing the Enemy series and ends in an HEA. Noah is a college freshman who was injured and had to give up his dream of playing baseball. His BFFs sister is a high school senior ant at his college for a summer softball camp. He tries to ignore her, as he doesn’t think he should have a crush on her. She doesn’t understand his actions and is hurt.
>This book has a lot of “we gotta talk”, but nothing really gets talked about. The romance is sweet, but only really comes together at the very end. There aren’t many Noah and Callie as a couple scenes, which would have been nice. For a sports book, there weren’t many sports scenes either.
> This book is appropriate for a young adult (16+) audience. I am giving this story 4 stars. There needs to be more story.
Profile Image for Danielle Stowell.
48 reviews
Read
February 12, 2021
This book was a genuinely good book. I personally prefer a more adventurous and action packed books, so in my view this book was a little anticlimactic to me. This book is a YA romance novel and is the first book in the kissing the enemy trilogy. This book was about a senior girl named Callie and a college boy named Noah. They grew up basically in the same house and have been best friends in forever. Until Noah got a career ending injury in baseball. Noah sort of sectioned himself off from Callie and her family, but not for the reason you would think. Read this amazing YA romance novel and let your heart take you away through the athletic, drama filled reality that is teenage life.
Profile Image for Lindsey.
15 reviews
February 5, 2019
Callie just wants to get noticed by a scout while playing at softball camp and to have her friendship back with her brother's best friend Noah. But as luck would have it, her plans go up in smoke. Mrs. Rule Follower gets kicked out of the showcase game for sneaking out, so not like Callie. Noah is still being a jerk but he just might be the only one who can help Callie save her future.
If you are looking for a love-to-hate, enemies-to-lovers type story with a little sports action then this book is for you.
Profile Image for Jamie  (The Kansan Reader).
686 reviews105 followers
dnf
June 26, 2021
Normally, I try to get further into a book, but I am not feeling it. I tend to like stories like this but for some reason, I don't like being in either the hero or the heroine's head. I eye-roll every part. I'm really confused about what's going on between the two. Like did something happen besides the injury or is there something more?

I'm curious but not curious enough to continue on. Which is sad because it's not that long of a book. I just have no interest to help strive forward.

Let's assume this is another case of it's me, not you.
632 reviews4 followers
September 6, 2018
I loved the book even though sports are not my big thing! But, Callie could
describe how she saw Noah and you’d see him in all his glory! Intense with beautiful blue eyes and he would see her sweet, innocent & oh so, cute!
I have quite a few of Maggie’s books and they are always good and you can
see the characters, feel their emotions and love them! Read about the baseball players and the girls softball team. You’ll love it!
Profile Image for Jeff.
1,738 reviews162 followers
September 1, 2018
Surrounded by balls, can she find love? This is a very fun, very light, very breezy read about two friends who happen to be excellent at their chosen sports - softball and baseball - coming together after one of them tries to drive the other away. Excellent book, and I can't wait to see more in this series.
255 reviews1 follower
September 1, 2018
Another awesome sweet clean romance by Maggie Dalle ! Callie is at a softball clinic where she sees her brothers best friend who use to be her friend too but now Noah either avoids her or asks like a jerk but after one kiss all that changes. They go from friends to enemies to working together to help Callie show her skills to something more. Another great book can’t wait for more in the series!
486 reviews1 follower
September 3, 2018
Callie and Noah have known each practically all of their lives...after all he was her neighbor and her brother's best friend since he was 5 and she was 3! Noah always stuck up for Callie, taught her how to play softball and was a good friend to her...until a life altering injury caused him to view things differently and that included how he saw Callie! Great YA romance!
Profile Image for Library Lady 📚 .
Author 7 books254 followers
October 22, 2018
This is a cute, fluffy, feel-good YA romance. It harkens back to a more innocent time, when first kisses were obsessed over for days. It was really cute, and I stayed up until midnight reading it even though I had to work the next day. A "clean" romance for those who like that genre. Just some kissing and very mild swearing.
Profile Image for Kaitlyn.
281 reviews
January 5, 2019
The perfect catch

So I misjudged this book. I looked at the cover and thought it would be a good college teen romance. It was the opposite. This is a book I would have read and enjoyed maybe in middle school sixth grade. I didn’t like it at all. I’m happy it’s over. I’m sorry two stars.
Profile Image for Athenns Reed.
133 reviews3 followers
March 5, 2019
Great, Sweet Sports YA

This book was a really good YA. It was sweet in nature an even though sports themed in general it more focused on the characters so even a non sport person like myself could follow it. Great character development an i enjoyed the back an forth between Callie an Mason. I will be reading the next in the series for sure!!
Profile Image for Nicole.
191 reviews23 followers
April 22, 2019
Cute but predictable

The story was cute but it was incredibly predictable which normally I don’t mind. However I did find myself getting bored at some points and sort of just skimming some pages, especially in the later chapters. The book was clean & sweet & definitely my kind of book though.
1,025 reviews17 followers
April 26, 2019
Likeable YA, but several edit errors

This was a likeable sports best friends to romance story. But there were a lot of edit errors. Also, I felt like the author kept repeating a lot. I get that the characters had doubts, but the repetition drove me a little nuts.

Content: Clean
Language: Mild swearing. No fbombs
Religious: no

Happy reading!!
Profile Image for Morgan Rylie.
Author 12 books1 follower
July 1, 2019
A must read

Amazing! I loved how callie and Noah's story unfolded, but I loved how Noah was able to find himself after his entire world turned upside down even more. An athlete suffering a career ending injury at such a young age is completely devastating and I'm glad he was able to find a way to remain part of the game.
333 reviews1 follower
January 10, 2020
Adorable

This was a really smooth read. There was just enough angst to make it interesting, but it didn't drag on so long you got frustrated. Noah and Callie figured things out, and because of their solid relationship prior to Noah's injury, it created their foundation.
Definitely worth the read.
Profile Image for Vikki Bulmer.
246 reviews6 followers
October 22, 2018
The Perfect Book

I love Maggie Dallen's writing style, she doesn't draw it out, she gets straight to the point with a strong female character. The storyline was great, interesting and gripping. Couldn't out it down really.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews

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