[PRE-ORDER] Sidelined Souls (Celestia Cove, #2) by Sarah A. Bailey

Release Date: 9/22/2026

sports romance • childhood friends-to-lovers • second chance romance • small-town romance • emotional romance

Some loves never really leave you. When childhood best friends and first loves Archer Ramos and Allie Evans find themselves back in each other's orbit, the boundaries they promised to keep suddenly become much harder to follow. With their futures pulling them in different directions, they must decide whether the connection they've shared all their lives is worth risking everything for.

The Vibe

Set against the sun-soaked backdrop of California surf culture, Sidelined Souls brings together two people who have known each other almost their entire lives. Archer is focused on his final college football season and the professional future he's worked toward, while Allie is building a life of her own after finishing culinary school and pursuing her passions.

Their friendship has always been the foundation of their relationship, even after heartbreak convinced them they were better off apart. But spending time together again brings old feelings rushing back, making their carefully established boundaries increasingly difficult to maintain.

Warm, emotional, and full of heart, this is a romance about growing up, finding your way forward, and discovering whether a lifelong connection can evolve into something lasting. Readers who love childhood sweethearts, second chances, and deeply rooted emotional connections will find plenty to fall for.

Tropes & Tags

• Sports romance
• Childhood friends
• Second chance romance
• Friends-to-lovers
• First love
• Small-town romance
• California setting
• College football
• Professional athlete
• Culinary school graduate
• Emotional romance
• Lifelong connection
• Forced proximity
• Contemporary romance

Books in Series (In Order)

• Tattered Tides, #1
• Sidelined Souls, #2
• Defensive Desires, #3