Nolan Lennox had things figured out. Named after a baseball legend, she enjoyed being the Tomboy, her closet filled with her brother’s hand-me-downs, cut-off jeans and soccer shorts. But when her first trip to high school results in a broken heart from the first boy to ever make her heart flutter and cruel words from an older girl she once thought a family friend, Nolan starts to question the very person she thought she was and wonders if her humble upbringing can compete with the afforded luxuries of her privileged peers.

Throughout the next four years, Nolan struggles to maintain herself throughout her path of discovery, learning just how cruel teenagers can be through the pressures of underage drinking, sexuality and class. And despite how life seems to continue to work against her, she still manages to listen to her heart, falling deeper and deeper for the guy the entire town adores, even if he only sees her as a friend. Can Nolan strike a compromise between her own integrity and the boy she loves? And can she make him notice her before it’s too late?

Reed Johnson came to Coolidge High School with a lot of fanfare. The son of a hometown football legend and the brother of a local football hero, Reed wore all the pressures of carrying a town without hope into the spotlight. Thankfully, he had the talent to back it up. But when he meets a girl who makes him think twice about exactly what being a hero means, he starts to wonder if following in his brother’s footsteps might be all wrong.

Nolan Lennox was everything that was opposite of expected. She didn’t flirt, she didn’t drink and she didn’t sleep around. Nothing about her was easy, but something about her made Reed want to try harder. Though she didn’t look the part, she seemed to be spending a lot of time in Reed’s thoughts, and he wondered if she could be the one who made it all worthwhile. But could Reed handle letting her down? And would breaking her heart break him beyond repair?

Waiting on the Sidelines explores young love to its fullest, exposing how real young heartbreak and passion is and how important it is to discover yourself and hold onto your own identity. The story follows two young characters as they deal with mature situations, including the prevalence of bullying and promiscuity in today’s high school setting. Ultimately, Waiting on the Sidelines is a story of hope, honesty and those powerful, first true loves—the ones worth holding onto at any cost.

Waiting on the Sidelines is about the anxieties young girls feel over not being good enough, pretty enough, sexy enough, rich enough or daring enough to fit in. It’s about wanting someone so badly but not feeling confident enough in yourself to put your heart on the line. And it’s about desperately craving attention, but also fighting to blend in. My story follows Nolan Lennox, a girl with a boy’s name, as she matures through high school and struggles with being tortured by a cruel bully and loving the emotionally flawed quarterback who is beloved by their small Arizona town. Character-driven, Waiting on the Sidelines takes you along for every heartbreak, celebration and moment of self-doubt Nolan has as she becomes a woman. Readers experience the rush of Nolan’s first kiss as well as the crushing shame she harbors over her own weakness and inability to stand up to her tormentors. Ultimately, you are immersed in the small town and will come away feeling as if you are also one of Nolan’s closest friends, and possibly in love with the same, irresistible boy she is.