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Verdict: An emotional enemies-to-lovers debut: three years after her wife’s sudden death, New Orleans mom Sam Parker is thrown when Ashley Valence — the girl who tormented her in high school — moves home and joins her softball team. Readers praise the angst, the supporting cast and the forgiveness arc; others couldn’t buy falling for a former bully.
Best for: Readers who like difficult second chances, grief and a sports backdrop.
Heat level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.6/5 — a 3.92 Goodreads average across 179 ratings, 4.28 on StoryGraph from 19 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 103 Amazon ratings)
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, bully romance, widowed mom, second chance, small community, softball.
Other Girls is Avery Brooks’s 2019 debut contemporary lesbian romance from Bywater Books. Samantha Parker, 34, focuses on raising her five-year-old son Jake in her hometown of New Orleans, with her family and her best friend Drea close by.
It holds a 3.92 average across 179 Goodreads ratings, with 71% of them four or five stars, 4.28 on StoryGraph from 19 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 103 Amazon ratings.
What Is Other Girls About?
Sam’s wife Anna was the love of her life, and she can’t imagine loving again. Weekly girls’ nights and a winning softball team are enough — until Ashley, the former softball star who bullied her, returns after sixteen years and joins her team.
Tensions rise on the field, and so does an undeniable chemistry, no matter how much Sam wants to hate her.
What Works in This Book
- Angst: Readers call it an emotional rollercoaster and a bit of a tearjerker.
- Supporting cast: Drea, Jake and the dog Goose are favourites.
- Themes: One reader values its look at how school experiences shape us and whether people can change.
- Setting: The New Orleans backdrop and softball games add life.
Book Synopsis
A widowed mom’s high-school bully comes home — and joins her softball team.
Can hate turn into something else entirely?
My Review
Brooks handles a genuinely tricky premise with care: Sam’s trauma is taken seriously, Ashley has her own history, and the story is as much about forgiveness and family as romance.
Still, several readers struggled to accept a romance with a former bully, and some felt the book juggles too many issues without exploring any deeply. Others wanted more about the past and Ashley’s closeted history, and one thought the pacing odd.
My honest note: Decide first whether you can root for this pairing.
| Element | In Other Girls |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Sam Parker (widowed mom) & Ashley Valence (former high-school bully) |
| Core tropes | Enemies to lovers, bully romance, second chance |
| Setting | New Orleans |
| Heat level | 🌶️🌶️🌶️ |
| Length | 246 pages (paperback) |
| Series | Other Girls #1 |
| Content notes | Bullying, past child abuse, death of a spouse |
How Spicy Is Other Girls?
Steamy, according to our listing source; the emotional arc dominates reviews.
Readers flag bullying, past child abuse and death of a spouse.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want an angsty second chance with a widowed mom. It is on our single mom lesbian romance list.
You may want to skip it if: bullying history is a dealbreaker in a romance.
In short: Brave premise, divisive pairing.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
On Goodreads the split is 24% five stars, 47% four, 26% three, 2% two and 1% one.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Emotion first. Second, the supporting cast. Third, forgiveness themes. Fourth, softball.
What readers argue about and complain about: The bully premise, above everything. Second, too many threads. Third, pacing.
The comparison worth making first: Truly Wanted, another widowed-mom romance built on a shared past.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Other Girls a bully romance?
Yes. Ashley was one of the girls who tormented Sam through high school. Readers are split on whether that history can be forgiven — some couldn’t get past it, others found the redemption convincing.
What content warnings should I know?
Readers flag bullying, past child abuse and the death of a spouse.
Is it Avery Brooks’s debut?
Yes, and several readers call it a very good debut.
Is the title misleading?
A couple of readers say the title and cover don’t reflect the story — one even expected a paranormal book.
Is Other Girls on Kindle Unlimited?
Not when we checked; the Kindle edition was listed at $9.99.
If You Loved Other Girls, Read These Next
Try Truly Wanted or Presidential. Browse our single mom list or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Other Girls sets out to ask whether love can grow from a painful past, and it handles grief and forgiveness with heart. What holds it back is a pairing not every reader can accept. A thoughtful debut. Check Other Girls on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Other Girls ranks as a good but divisive single-mom pick — emotional, bold.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ 3.92 average across 179 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 71% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 4.28 on StoryGraph from 19 reviews
- ✓ 4.6 stars across 103 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Enemies to lovers
- ✓ Bully redemption
- ✓ Chemistry
- ✓ Divisive
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Sam
- ✓ Ashley
- ✓ Drea and Jake
- ✓ Well developed
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Debut
- ✓ Tells too much for one
- ✓ Needs trimming
- ✓ Warm
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Grief
- ✓ Bullying trauma
- ✓ Forgiveness
- ✓ Tearjerker
Heat Level ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ Steamy per our source
- ✓ Not the focus
- ✓ Adult
- ✓ Romantic
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Happy ending
- ✓ Unconvincing for some
- ✓ Series
- ✓ Hopeful
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 3.1/5
- ✓ $9.99 Kindle price
- ✓ 246 pages
- ✓ Emotional
- ✓ Not on Kindle Unlimited
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