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Verdict: A big, emotional sports romance with real chemistry and convincing downhill racing — held back by cheesy dialogue, a slow middle and a heavy reliance on jealousy, misunderstandings and awful exes.
Best for: Readers who want an athlete heroine with an adrenaline sport and don’t mind drama.
Heat level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ per our sports list; reader reviews focus far more on the chemistry and drama than on the love scenes
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.6/5 — a 3.85 Goodreads average across 441 ratings, 3.74 on StoryGraph from 20 reviews, and 4.4 stars across 345 Amazon ratings)
Tropes: Athlete / doctor, meet-injured, opposites attract, jealousy, exes causing trouble, HEA.
Switchback is S.W. Andersen’s 2017 contemporary lesbian sports romance. Sierra Cody is a rule-bucking pro downhill mountain bike racer; Dr. Kara Davies is a chiropractic research physician. Sierra’s crash lands her in Kara’s on-site medical tent, and neither woman is prepared for what follows. It is set in Oregon.
It holds a 3.85 average across 441 Goodreads ratings, with 67% of them four or five stars, 3.74 on StoryGraph from 20 reviews, and 4.4 stars across 345 Amazon ratings.
What Is Switchback About?
Sierra lives fast and races faster. Kara prefers her lab and her research. After the crash, the doctor who is supposed to get the racer back on her bike finds herself pulled into Sierra’s world — and Sierra finds a reason to slow down.
Past relationships, jealousy and misunderstandings keep getting in the way as the two try to build something that lasts.
What Works in This Book
- Chemistry: Readers repeatedly single out the connection between Sierra and Kara.
- The racing: Readers say the downhill scenes feel realistic, which is rare for a less common sport.
- Emotion: Several reviewers call it an emotional read.
- Extras: Readers enjoyed the nerd references and Sierra’s friend Ronni.
Book Synopsis
A daring downhill racer who breaks every rule crashes into the medical tent — and into the life of a doctor who has always played it safe.
As Sierra heals and Kara lets her guard down, both have to decide whether a relationship is worth the risk.
My Review
The pairing works: the racer and the researcher are different enough to spark, and Andersen writes the sport with obvious knowledge. When the book focuses on the two of them, readers are hooked.
The complaints are consistent, though. Readers call the dialogue cheesy, say the book drags, and tire of the jealousy, misunderstandings and cartoonishly bad exes. One reader was put off that Sierra sleeps with her ex and doesn’t take responsibility; another found the portrayal of female racers clichéd. Grammar errors come up too.
My honest note: Worth it for the sport and the chemistry if you can live with the melodrama.
| Element | In Switchback |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Sierra Cody (pro downhill racer) & Dr. Kara Davies (chiropractic research physician) |
| Core tropes | Athlete / doctor, opposites attract, jealousy, meddling exes |
| Setting | Downhill mountain bike racing, Oregon |
| Heat level | 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (our sports list) |
| Length | 396 pages |
| Ending | HEA — readers mention a ring |
| Content notes | Sports injury, sex with an ex during the story (per one reader), jealousy |
How Spicy Is Switchback?
Our sports list rates it high, but reader reviews say little about the love scenes; the talk is about chemistry and conflict.
StoryGraph has no user-submitted content warnings. Note the ex subplot above.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want an extreme-sport heroine and a big emotional arc. It is on our sapphic sports romance list.
You may want to skip it if: jealousy plots, misunderstandings or infidelity-adjacent drama spoil a romance for you.
In short: Fast on the trail, slow in the middle.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
On Goodreads the split is 29% five stars, 38% four, 21% three, 7% two and 2% one. On StoryGraph, every reader who answered tagged it lighthearted and character-driven, with loveable characters — a lighter picture than some Goodreads reviews paint.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Chemistry first. Second, the realistic racing. Third, the emotion. Fourth, the friends and nerd references.
What readers argue about and complain about: Cheesy dialogue, above everything. Second, the slow middle. Third, jealousy, misunderstandings and exes. Fourth, editing.
The comparison worth making first: Hotshot, another athlete-led romance from our sports list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Switchback have a happy ending?
Yes. Readers describe a happily-ever-after, and more than one mentions a ring.
What sport is Switchback about?
Downhill mountain bike racing. Sierra Cody is a pro racer; readers found the racing scenes realistic.
Is there cheating in Switchback?
One reader objects that Sierra sleeps with her ex during the story and never really takes responsibility for it. Check that before you start if it is a dealbreaker.
How long is Switchback?
Long for the genre — 396 pages on Goodreads and a 398-page print length on the Kindle listing.
Is Switchback on Kindle Unlimited?
Not when we checked; the Kindle edition was listed at $4.99. One older reader review mentions reading it on Kindle Unlimited, so availability has changed over time.
If You Loved Switchback, Read These Next
Try Gold or Hotshot. For more, browse our sapphic sports romance list or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Switchback sets out to pair an adrenaline-junkie racer with a careful doctor, and the chemistry and racing deliver. What holds it back is the dialogue and the drama. Worth it for sports-romance fans. Check Switchback on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Switchback ranks as a good sports romance — thrilling ride, bumpy dialogue.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ 3.85 average across 441 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 67% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 3.74 on StoryGraph from 20 reviews
- ✓ 4.4 stars across 345 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Strong chemistry
- ✓ Opposites attract
- ✓ Jealousy plots
- ✓ Misunderstandings
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Loveable for StoryGraph readers
- ✓ Friend Ronni
- ✓ Cartoonish exes
- ✓ Ex subplot divides
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Realistic racing
- ✓ Cheesy dialogue
- ✓ Drags in places
- ✓ Grammar errors
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Emotional
- ✓ Big arc
- ✓ Tagged lighthearted
- ✓ Hopeful
Heat Level ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ 🌶️🌶️🌶️ on our list
- ✓ Chemistry-led
- ✓ Little reader comment
- ✓ Adult romance
Ending ★★★★☆ 4.2/5
- ✓ HEA
- ✓ A ring
- ✓ Satisfying
- ✓ Standalone
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 3.3/5
- ✓ $4.99 Kindle price
- ✓ 396 pages
- ✓ Rare sport
- ✓ Not on Kindle Unlimited
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