And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips: My Book Review

Check out my latest book review of And the Crowd Went Wild by Susan Elizabeth Phillips to see what I think of her latest sports romance in her famed Chicago Stars series!

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

And the Crowd Went Wild Summary:

After a mortifying—and very public—humiliation, Dancy Flynn is desperate to find sanctuary far from the crowd. But where can a washed-up sex symbol hide? How about making an unannounced appearance at the secluded lake house of the sweet, sensitive high school boyfriend she hasn’t seen in almost twenty years?

But Chicago Stars quarterback Clint Garrett is no longer the kid Dancy remembers. Now he’s a gridiron superhero, still holding a massive grudge against her for breaking his teenage heart. With no room in his life for either complexity or distractions, he banishes Dancy to a refurbished old railroad caboose tucked away in the woods…and out of his sight.

Except Dancy’s not good at staying invisible. Her efforts to rebuild her career clash with Clint’s desperation to regain his focus, all made more challenging by a rescue dog, a local woman in trouble, a meddling mother, an ex with an agenda…and the sizzle of rekindled emotions.

As Dancy attempts to get her life on track and Clint tries to get his groove back, can these two one-time lovers navigate their rocky pasts and complicated present to find themselves…and each other?

And the Crowd Went Wild: My Review

I absolutely adore Susan Elizabeth Phillips as I credit her for making me obsessed with sports romance ever since I dived into her Chicago Stars series. She is one of the all-time greats because her romance books are so much more than “boy meet girl and they live happily ever after.”

And the Crowd Went Wild has everything I love about a SEP book (and gave me similar vibes to Dance Away With Me which I absolutely loved as well) – a heroine with some significant life struggles who takes quite a few hits but rises as the strong woman she always was; a hero who overcomes his own struggles while supporting the woman he’s falling for; a quirky cast of characters and a setting that reels you right in.

I absolutely LOVED Dancy and this woman stole the show (as she should since she’s an actress!). SEP opens this book with a bang, with Dancy having one horrible night that made my heart bleed for her. We learn that this woman has had to live through some major life challenges (one is rape as a teen that she recounts and another is a miscarriage so be aware of these trigger warnings). And despite the fallout of these occurrences and her recent humiliation, the woman is a FIGHTER.

The way that she did not hold back her words when it came to Clint, the way that she took in a wounded dog, and the way that she stood up for a complete stranger and then herself made her another SEP heroine that you desperately want to have her happily ever after.

Her snark toward Clint when he wanted her anywhere but on his property was signature SEP and I only wanted their verbal foreplay to continue page after page.

Clint was an interesting character too, as a star quarterback struggling with his game and having his peace and quiet disrupted by the woman who had broken his heart so long ago.

I haven’t read the previous book in the Chicago Stars series (I know I’m circling back now!) and I think some things were alluded to from that book but this can be read as a standalone if you haven’t read any SEP book in this series.

The nod to The Boxcar Children was a great touch, though I have not read that book (gasp!). I felt like I could envision the caboose that Dancy was staying in and fixing up so well and boy do I wish it was a place I could escape to one weekend and read book after book.

If you are after a romance book that provides rich characters, a worthy second chance romance and a strong heroine with a sharp story that is always a cut above the rest then you deserve to read a SEP book, starting with this one.

I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

*I received an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

More Books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips:

• Dance Away With Me by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• When Stars Collide by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

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• Best Sports Romance Books
• Best Sports Romance Book Series
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