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NetGalley Review of Only on Gameday

Posted on December 28, 2025November 29, 2025 by caritagardiner
Screenshot 2025-11-26 at 8.13.01 PM

title: Only on Game Day

author: Kristen Callihan

publisher: Mira

publication date: January 6, 2026

pages: 416

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings: violence, destruction of property

summary: Since Penelope Morrow has had a serious crush on her mother's best friend's son August since she was nine-years-old, she's surprised when he asks her to be his fake fiancé to help his image after a PR nightmare in his rookie season as an NFL quarterback.

tropes:

  • fake engagement
  • famous athlete-normal person
  • family friends
  • such a crush I can't even look at you
  • big family-small family

what I liked:

  • big family antics
  • brotherhood
  • famous friend
  • pining

what I didn’t like:

  • secret-keeping as a way to keep them apart

overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)

As always, you can click on the photo above if you want to buy the book.

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WHAT I DO

I serve as a class dean and teach English to high schoolers at a boarding school in Connecticut. I’ve earned a Bachelor of Arts (Amherst College), an Education Master in Learning and Teaching (Harvard University Graduate School of Education), a Master of Arts in English (Bread Loaf School of English), and most recently a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a certificate in the online teaching of writing (Southern New Hampshire University).

As a writer, I hope to capture the complexity and joy of life in the New England boarding school world. On this site, I share what I know about trying to write fiction while deaning, teaching English, coaching, and doing the other tasks associated with helping to raise over six hundred other people’s children.

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  • 383. Why AI
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