Quarterbacks Don’t Fall For Invisible Girls

Invisible Girls Club #1

by Emma Dalton

Every invisible girl deserves to be seen.

I’m the Invisible Girl. No one at school knows I exist, least of all star quarterback Brayden Barrington. What sucks is that I have a major crush on him. What sucks even more? He only has eyes for my dad, a college sports recruiter. When Brayden concocts a plan for us to fake date so he could get close to my dad, of course I say yes. Massive crush, remember?

With the help of the new friends I make at my school’s book club, I can navigate this confusing path of pretend. Sort of. Not really. I’m not the one pretending, but I’ll end up with the broken heart. Because Brayden and I live in two different worlds and he’d never in a million years choose a girl like me.

Or would he?

Quarterbacks Don’t Fall For Invisible Girls is the first book in the Invisible Girls Club, a sweet YA contemporary romance series. If you like invisible girls who snag the boys of their dreams, this book is for you!

Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, Sports, Young Adult, Fake Dating, Football, High School

335 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2021

About the author

Hi! I'm Emma and I write sweet YA romance novels that will make you swoon. When I'm not writing, I love to read, play video games, get lost in a good movie, and I eat way too much junk food.
My sweet YA books include The Invisible Girls Club series, The Hotties Next Door series, and Crushing On The New Guy. I also write sweet adult romance books under Emma Lynne, including the Single Girls Club series.
I love hearing from my readers, so please don’t hesitate to email me or follow me on Facebook.

Reviews

[{ ° Olivia ° } · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐ it was really cute the only thing was that it was SO unrealistic to a point where it was a little cringe I would recommend it though!

[Helen Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so darn cute! This is a sweet book about a shy, unpopular girl who’s helplessly in love with her school’s quarterback. But there’s no way that the school’s most popular boy could fall for someone like her–an invisible girl–right? (Wrong!) This is a perfect pick me up. There’s very low angst, no violence, and even the jocks in this book say “darn” when they’re upset. It’s so freaking cute, and I loved it!

[Elaina McClendon 📚🌸 · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, i absolutely loved this book. It was so relatable. I practically grew up being “invisible girl”. It was like that at school, sometimes at home. Reading this makes me feel seen.

[Loren Hinkson · Rating 3 out of 5]

repetitive and no character growth

I had a hard time with this book. The main character has self esteem issues as can be inferred from the title, but it's overplayed in this oddly repetitive, surface-deep way, as though the author had maybe only met an insecure high school girl tangentially or seen them on tv. Throughout the book there doesn't really seem to be any change in how she sees herself, even when her circumstances change and some of the "facts" of life she believes shape her world and her place in it are disproved--she just sees people who accept her are some sort of "amazing" unicorns who assign her value and attention she doesn't merit. I was also hoping that the MRS would eventually come clean or the secret would come out, and the male MC would have to own up to his scheme and prove himself, but that never happened.

[Ala'a · Rating 1 out of 5]

So. Cringe. My eyes almost fell out from all my eye-rolling.

[Anvi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m going to start this off by saying that this was a complete trashy read to me. I knew it from the first sentence and yet I continued to read it just to see how it went. I’m a bit of a feminist I realized as I read this book and so this review is for all the other strong females out there who like to read romances about likewise strong females. I understand that many women like this particular brand of romance and so I just wanted to acknowledge that as I explained my views on this book. Okay, then. Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll continue.
Let’s go chronologically, shall we? Oh, by the way, this book will definitely have spoilers and may focus on details many others wouldn’t but my eye caught anyway. Let’s start with the first sentence, “Brayden Barrington has got to be the most gorgeous quarterback in the history of Edenbury High.” You’ve got to be kidding me. From that first sentence, we already know that the girl is gonna be a total simp, the guy’s gonna get away with a lot, the guy’s on a pedestal in her mind and that this Brayden dude is gonna be obsessed with football (ok, that was an inference but whatever. STILL TRUE!). This guy is like the epitome of Mister Macho Man which must mean that the girl is gonna be GASP! A weak girl and surprise! Her mom’s deceased, she’s not close to her dad, she has no friends, and, to top it all off, she’s the invisible girl with no extracurriculars. First of all, there’s literally no such thing as being invisible in high school to the extent that people don’t know that you exist. You might be ignored but the entire “Invisible Girl” title really pissed me off [sorry! I curse in case you haven’t noticed tho I’ve been trying to stop). Everyone knows who you are even if you don’t really hang out with very many people and as for not having friends? That just sounds like a happy coincidence. I mean, this girl has been in the same district as these kids for her entire life! She would have definitely found her people in that much time if this happened in real life. But I digress. Back to my chronological complaining. Next up? They meet-cute. Personally, I think it’s overdone and leaves the girl feeling like a total social pariah which isn’t fair. In real life, the dude wouldn’t ask you if you wanted to go to the fucking hospital; you’d just brush it off and no one would care or notice but the girl gets picked in for bumping into someone because of course. Like, really? Everyone bumps into people! It’s the nature of high school! No one gets bullied for that! Okay, I realize that I sound like a petulant brat and I know bullying is a really big issue globally (don’t bully, whoever’s reading this!) but in my experience, no one really gets bullied to the extent that Teagyn bullies Kara especially for the things that Teagyn bullied Kara for. But we’ll get to that. The next thing I want to point out is Martina not seeing Kara when she was supposedly ten feet away. It’s a small thing but seriously. Ten feet away? That’s overdoing it. And then that scene in the bathroom with her scoffing off the idea that she could be a strong, confident young woman? It made me want to scream! She was overly self-deprecating and I couldn’t even pity her anymore. And then we have another golden boy comment mixed with an invisible girl comment: “Not only is this Adonis sexy, he’s modest, too. And friendly, approachable—at least to people who aren’t invisible. He’s just…perfection.” I had to reread that to make sure I read it right. This pedestal is getting higher and higher. The word perfection irked me too. Then, we finally get a bit of golden boy’s life and lo and behold! He has family baggage. I’m pretty sure that this was supposed to add depth to his character but it just didn’t work. It felt too forced and when I read the part about Brock being dead all I could think was ‘of course’. I’m not trying to be insensitive and I realize that it might sound that way so I apologize if it seemed rude but I’m afraid I can’t apologize for saying it because it was just wayyyyyyy too predictable. Anywho, moving on. The cafeteria scene where she asks Brayden if we can interview him for the paper she’s writing on him. There’s some hero worship-gag- and then an awkward interaction that had me cringing on the inside but I guess it could’ve gone worse. She could’ve spilled her lunch all over him or fell again but again, I digress. Then, she sits in the bleachers waiting for him only to have him not show up. Did I mention he gets away with a lot? Then she meets her new book friends. I found it kinda unsurprising. I expected her to join an extracurricular since she mentioned her interest in joining one-although she’s already in the newspaper club- and figured she’d make friends that way and I was right because this book follows a very classic template that I did not and still do not enjoy very much. Anywho, that happens. Next we have the home interview. I was surprised that it happened at home; I expected it to take place at school since it was a school sanctioned meeting but whatever. Kudos on surprising me.
I can honestly say that I was EXTREMELY disappointed in this book seeing as it has so many positive reviews.

[Misty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has potential

There’s no growth with the main character throughout the book. Her internal monologue is repetitive the entire time. The writer doesn’t allow her to latch on to the positivity surrounding her. Only letting the negative drive the character’s personality while the storyline continues on. The potential is in the side characters that become her friends. I finished the book because there were some parts that will pique your interest. But the wedge is driven with both leads internal monologues. Self doubt and lack of confidence is the main theme of this book. I gave it 3 stars because finally in the end…
SPOILER***



She finally puts herself first, but then self doubt again internalizes and at last minute we have victory and an HEA is formed.

The one phrase that annoyed me was “Thee Brayden Barrington…” It was too much.

[Amanda Holt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Would have DNF’d this if I didn’t download it right before a plane ride and only has this book for a plane ride. It was awful. I don’t normally review books but just needed to put this out there.

Don’t mention how “invisible” this girl is on every page like it’s just her personality, or her only personality. How she became friends with a book club and were instant best friends? 🤢 and instead of showing us, one of the character says, “we’re best friends now.”

SHOW. Don’t tell.

[Moriah Griffin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so painful to read

[Corrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute read

A typical girl gets the boy story. I really enjoyed reading this on a lazy afternoon. There is a hint of dealing with grief but shows not all athletes are show off's . All in all a great little read

[Kylie Dalton · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf. the literature is so childish. i can’t read this

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 35%. Just felt too fanfic writing to me

[Mackensie Plagwitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well that was something

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️ very cutesy and full of clichés but definitely younger than YA. I think they were like 16? It was also really repetitive at times and the dialogue was not great 🫢 The ending was kinda rushed, too. But if you’re looking for a sweet and kinda corny highschool romance with fake dating and some miscommunication then I’d recommend this to you.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good, but it made me mad and sad sometimes

[Sydney · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 Star

Quarterbacks Don't Fall For Invisible Girls is the first book in the Invisible Girls Club series by Emma Dalton.

I'm sorry. This was nauseating. I couldn't even finish it without skimming to catch the gist of their eventual realization towards romance. Maybe it makes sense that the tone would seem so immature, given the main characters are teenagers. But I got so frustrated just reading their thoughts.

This entire book is based on the fact that she's an Invisible Girl. And if it wasn't in the title, you would know given how many times the author overused this phrase. As if it was some commonly known turn of phrase, like wallflower. It felt completely forced every time she dropped it into the story.

Everyone kept making excuses for the absolute horrible person that is Teagyn, because her mother is demanding and puts too much pressure on her. Yes, please feel sympathy because her mother is legitimately horrible. But that in no way excuses the terrible and demeaning way in which she treats everyone besides those she deems worthy.

Then there's the part of this book where the coaches of the football team and cheerleaders (Coach Myers is Teagyns mom) decide to force Teagyn as head cheerleader and Brayden as the quarterback to go to homecoming together. Because some how that will get them more notoriety in the newspaper article that being written about their school? And it's in no way massively inappropriate to bully two children into such a manipulative role? This was disgusting.

I really wanted to like this book, I was excited to start the series. But this book was terribly difficult to process through. I couldn't get through a chapter without cringing. And I never truly rooted for them to work out.

Also, how does one "gently yank"?? Please explain.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kisses only. This is a book full of clichés from the mean cheerleader to the outcast group. I have read this trope of quarterback and normal girl in many different iterations this wasn’t my favorite. I thought it would make more sense for them to be seniors since they were set on recruitment. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure kids aren’t recruited that early. Their fake dating didn’t make any sense. I could see them telling her dad they were dating but why did the school need to know? The fact that the coach told him with whom to go to homecoming was bizarre (also QB dating head cheerleader does not make a newsworthy story). Other things: not sure how they fell in love since they didn’t talk much, the author clearly knows nothing about football since it says “the coach called a million time outs” ummm ya only get 3 a half and they’re not really for pep talks in football also there were memes about his catches (the QB doesn’t catch the ball), Kara’s lying got on my nerves, and what was with her calling him “boyfriend” all the time?

I should have stopped reading the moment I read the misuse of the word “thee”. Thee means “you” if one wants to put the article that sounds like thee in front of a name for emphasis it is still spelled T-H-E!!

[Kitlina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice, clean, fast paced book.
Very good for young adults, I could say 12 years and up.
No sexual scenes, just a few kisses. Some bullying, not done by the H or h. And dealt with.
The plot seemed a little childish for me.
The dialogue a little too mature for high school.
Such a dichotomy there. It's like the author tried too hard to pull this off.
Likeable H and h and really even the side characters were ok.
Although I wasn't too impressed with this I want to read the second book, so that's the 4* rating for.

[Abigail Packard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the biggest fan of this book. The characters were super flat and Kara’s motivations for dating the QB were flimsy at best. Not to mention that their thoughts were so circular; I kept thinking, “Didn’t I just read this a few pages ago?”

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is way younger than young adult. I’d say around preteen/young teen. It was slow & the main character never had any growth. Rough read for me.

[livlikesbooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m sorry but this felt like it was written by a middle schooler

[Rachelle Booth · Rating 1 out of 5]

God damn this was bad

[Aarna Thakkar · Rating 1 out of 5]

i couldn't get past the title. negative 20 stars

[Elise Dunnill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[cbelle]

DNF at 22%
this girl is a loserrrr. HE DONT WANT YOU HES JUST USING YOU. Also the writing isn’t the best.

[Alita Parke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited to read this book, so you can imagine my sadness when I started and found it wasn't quiet the romantic mind-blowing experience I expected it to be. Instead, it read more like a first draft or something straight off of Wattpad. And not just because of poor grammar and rough sentences. I'll try to explain:
1. The dialogue and train of thought is ROUGH. The conversations are not natural and cannot be described as 'cute' or even original, even at the peak of the romantic scenes. I don't like the way they speak. Period. It sounds forced and fake. For example, even in a fake relationship, no couple will call each other 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' constantly instead of names or pet names. It's so cringy.
2. The characters are flatter than a pancake. Or than Flat Stanly depending on which of my sisters you refer to. They are stereotypes and that makes it so hard to read. The only depth these characters have is that both lost a family member, which was shoved at you on the very first page as if to say "see? My character has depth." But that was a lie. They are skin deep. There is nothing original about them except that Brayden, the guy, is overly perfect. So perfect he isn't, if that makes sense. I want him to have some character, not just have 'perfect' be his only character quality. And character development? Virtually non-existent. Unless becoming popular and everything being hunky dory counts. (Spoiler: It doesn't to me).
3. Speaking of Brayden - his POV chapters are completely unnecessary. I'm not kidding. Everything you learn in his chapters you also learn through her chapters. It is just redundant.
4. This cliche is, well, cliche. There is nothing original about what she did in this trope. If her characters weren't stereotypical that would help a lot.
5. Info dumping. It's a thing, and this book could be the textbook 'do not do this' example. Readers want to feel like they know what is going on without having to be hand fed everything. And this was completely hand fed every step of the way.

I will say that I did really appreciate that this was a clean romance. There was nothing in here that wasn't appropriate. It has no smut, no spice, so I applaud her for that. That's hard to find nowadays.

[☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ ѕℓιм ☠︎︎༒︎✞︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

***Spoilers there’s some in this Review***

https://ladiikeiii.wordpress.com/2021...

The thing both Brayden and Kara liked each other but of them assumed that the other didn’t like them back. When in reality Kara always liked Brayden but with all the time that he spent with Kara he ended up falling for her not realizing he actually did. Both of should’ve taken notice of his actions and even her actions . With him not liking the things Teagyn was doing to _ to Karacactually helping him when she didn’t have to.

But I’m going to say this Kara was sooo annoying sometimes because it felt like she was obsessed with him or something like … gahh… the way she always was staring at him or day dreaming when was around or her friends and they were having conversations she’ll just zone out and she’ll think about Brayden..

I was like girl come on with the obsession I was waiting on her to realize she needs to tell him about her feelings but what happened was Brayden actually ended up telling her first…

Because she kept running away not realizing he wasn’t thinking about no annoying Teagyn when all he wanted was her.

Besides that I can’t wait until I read Dani and Easton book. I believe Charlie definitely needs one because she’s so against relationships and other things.

I also HOPE with her other friends none of them are like her because gahh. She was annoying, with her stalking and obsession with Brayden. Hopefully they don’t have her ways…

[Rosie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was truly a rough read. The writing/dialogue was staccato and felt incredibly forced. I get that it’s a High School/Teen Romance, but nothing about it was believable. I didn’t like the characters at all. The main character is supposed to be “invisible” but she just comes across as pathetic and weird. But not in “quirky is cute and her weirdness makes her endearing.” No. She’s stalkerish and it’s supposed to feel “fine” because it’s the girl doing the stalking.

Coming from a once total nerd and basically invisible teen — nothing about this was good. I almost want to give 1 star.

[Denise B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predictable

Good read if you're in middle school.
Very predictable. Found myself mad at main character for being a pushover. Not alot of depth in characters.

[Asha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eughhh. Þetta var svo sappy og EKKI á góðan hátt. Þetta var mest predictable söguþráður í heimi en ég var alveg til í það í byrjun, af því að stundum þarf maður bara að lesa predictable bók EN þessi bók var illa skrifuð þannig að það gerði þetta bara leiðilegt.