For a long time, I’ve wanted to write a Young Adult novel.

So, um, I did.

Brady Mickelson knows how to play the game. Not just basketball, but the game of life.

As the new kid at school, all Brady wants to do is fit in, make friends, secure a starting spot on the basketball team, and maybe, if he’s lucky, shed his v-card along the way.

With his skills on the court, making varsity is a lock.

But the other stuff? Not so much.

The friends come fast and furious once he makes the team but the one friend he really wants is Amy Mitchell, and he sure wouldn’t mind losing his virginity to her, either. He thinks he might get his chance at the kick-off party for basketball season…until she bails on him and disappears. The night goes further off the rails when Brady mistakenly walks into a room and finds Amy with three of his teammates.

Brady doesn’t want to get involved in the messy aftermath of that night. But Amy becomes a shell of her former self, and everyone has a different story about what happened in that room. Brady has a feeling he knows, but no one, not even Amy, wants to do anything about it. When new rumors surface—rumors that implicate Brady—he’s forced to take action.

Even if it means losing friends, and even if it means kissing his hopes of college ball goodbye.

Because everything Brady wants—and the one thing he needs—is in jeopardy.

And he might not be able to play the game after all.

This is a contemporary story with some tough subject matter. I’ve spent the majority of my adult life working with teens in some capacity and I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on what their lives are like. They swear, they have sex, and they have to make difficult decisions. It’s teens doing things that not everyone might deem appropriate. If you aren’t comfortable reading about those things, this probably isn’t the book for you. And that’s okay! But if this does sound like something you’d be interested in reading, I hope you’ll check it out. It’s currently available exclusively at Amazon.