Against the Boards

by Caitlyn Best

1770 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 17, 2026

Reviews

[Beth Durbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The storyline was good with the friendships and camaraderie between the group. I liked the book, but there were some repeating in the book and it was quite long, 1770 pages. Because of the length it took me longer to finish, because I read other books during reading it. I did not want to DNF it, I wanted to finish it because I liked the story.

[Jess ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay sooo… this book was decently good, but whew it was a commitment. At over 1700 pages, this one took me a minute to get through. 😅 I’m not even mad about long books, but the emotional back-and-forth between them wanting a relationship and then not wanting one… over and over… gave me serious whiplash.

I will say — the banter? Chef’s kiss. 👏 I genuinely loved their chemistry when they were just being together. And I adored how close she is with Parker. Those friendship moments felt authentic and grounding.

There were definitely parts that felt super relatable, which kept me invested. But at the same time, there were stretches that dragged and honestly could’ve been tightened up. There are also a lot of side characters — I get that it’s probably setting up future books, but it felt overwhelming at times.

Overall: solid read, just needed some trimming and less emotional ping-pong for me. 💭

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.5/5)

[Kelsey Seltzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great plot, great character development. Serious commitment of a contemporary romance at 1770 pages.

I was hooked from the beginning with how relatable some of the characters are. Brought me back to reliving some of my college days. I loved the banter between characters & the forced family trope.

Several parts were really heartfelt and tugged at my emotions. Those were really well written. There seemed to be lots of “filler” parts where it felt like a repeat of previous events. At times I found myself questioning if my kindle had jumped back a few pages and I was rereading pages.

Overall, I think it was good.


*I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[April Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Omg where do I even begin. I absolutely love the story and the plat. The characters are wonderful and the way they are all described lets you picture them perfectly. It was a bit long, my longest book in a long time but so worth it. Casey and James are picture perfect and it was great to read about them. Not a perfect life but one that allowed them to mesh well with each other. I can not wait to read the others.

[Tania Percy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed reading this book, didn't want to put it down at times.
Loved the friends group, the fun, emotions and especially the banter between them all.
Liked how it wasn't just all easy life for the characters, but still such a nice read too.
Great if your into Sports romance, collage hockey, grumpy girl/golden retriever energy boy, hockey house chaos.
Thanks for letting me read your book Caitlyn Best!

[Christina Carberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book so much! At certain parts of reading I really didn’t want to stop reading even though I had to! The characters interacted with each other perfectly and the banter is what I feel actually made me rate it a 5!

[Misty Salazar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and would definitely read again. the friend group is great, the banter is funny and cute. overall very cute read.

[Shawna C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The friendships we wish we had

The friendships and comraderie between this friends group is everything we wish we all had during college years and adult years. The book did have quite a few repeats that showed up, but the storyline and feelings were amazing.

[Charlie of LitAndLiterary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A forewarning: this book is not for the weak of will. Well, not really, I'm kidding, sort of. The thing is, this book is significantly longer than your average contemporary romance novel, and it requires serious commitment. 

Now that that's out of the way, let's go to the review proper. 

The characters you meet at the beginning of the story are not the same people you will grow to be fond of at the end. If there's something that this book effectively illustrates, that is growth. I had to exercise temperance and patience as I read through how they navigated young adulthood and personal relationships. 

The second thing I really liked about this book is that it showcases love in a found family. So much so that there were instances during my reading that I kept asking myself if I'm still reading a romance novel. This book is so much more than the romance aspect, and felt more like a novel about young-adulthood, which technically, it is as well. 

If I had to choose a character that really stood out to me, it would be Julien. I love me some of that fun bilingual golden retriever energy, and who is guaranteed to know how to French kiss. His energy would probably drain me but I feel like we could be real buds.

Now, let me go back to the first thing I said about this book -- its length. Honestly, I think that there were too many filler scenes in between the real plot devices. There were instances during my reading where I surfaced and asked myself, "What's going to happen next?", or "Where is this book even going?", because there were too many lulls in between the plot twists. There were too many parties, and too many dates on-page, and while they are okay, they did not really move the plot along all that much. I think this is what really affected my enjoyment of this story.

All in all though, this is a solid contemporary romance novel with character growth, but be sure to read it with patience, because it is a lot. And for all it's worth, there is happiness at the end. 

Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for a review. 

[BookishBabes98 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where do I even start with this book? First. WOW. Just wow. This (almost obviously) has been my longest read of the year and. I loved it. It’s a slice of life show written down. This is the rom-com you loved but always wanted more of. You get the play by play, the weekly events, the daily events even. The beginning third is a set up and everything else after falls into place so perfectly. The way this author describes feelings is so perfect and so beautiful that I want them to see all of my memories and write me a book about. I remember getting to maybe chapter 34/35/36ish and just thinking how warm it is. It feels like the softest blanket and pillow is wrapped around you. It makes you remember all those innocent moments at the start of a relationship and how loving they even if you don’t know that’s what it was.

It’s a beautiful story with character development and you’re really just along for the ride. There were things that I didn’t love (the excessive use of ‘chirp’- which to be fair, at first I thought it was such a cute term but then it was everywhere), there were things that I thought could’ve been taken out or used in a different story line, but even then 5 stars. It’s just a nice read to come back to. If you feel the page length is daunting (it is a little), then read this in between other books. It’s a safe place to rest and is going to welcome you back without you having to remember 8000 plot lines. I would recommend this to anyone solely on the vibes it gave me!

[Abbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started off well with a good storyline of friends, college, sport and the daily ins and outs of young adulthood. This book was a massive 1766 pages. There were parts that were repeated and lots of inconsistencies (one part said James was there with his friends and then in the next sentence it said ‘James walked in’). I would consider turning this into two books or condensing the book due to it being so large. There was definitely parts that could have been left out and felt like it was going around in circles. I would like to see what the next book will be like but would skip it if its length is anything like this one.

The banter and chemistry between Casey and James was well written. The friendships were in depth and thought out.

I received a free copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Melissa Shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok

Good storyline , but felt the book was really drawn in the first half of it and quite repetitive in some places . Could have cut the amount of pages in half and would have been a fantastic story