Mouthful

C.R. Grissom

Mar 2020 · Gladiators of the Gridiron Book 1 · Tule Publishing

About this eBook

Life after high school still blows

Between a judgmental beauty advice columnist mom who sends clothes several sizes too small, and social media sex-shaming her senior year of high school, Faith Lacerna needs a self-confidence boost. Being a freshman at Fortis University in Silicon Valley will be fine, as long as she doesn’t attract attention. Except wearing oversized hoodies in sunny California isn’t the best choice for blending in. 

When football jock Caleb St. John shows interest, she recommits to studying anything but the hot tight end. Caleb wants to lose himself in football, avoid his unfaithful ex-girlfriend, and – unlike his cheating dad – live his life with integrity. He knows there’s more to Faith than baggy clothes. Her humor and audacity spark more than Caleb’s competitive nature. 

Faith doesn’t want to be interested, but Caleb’s kindness and sense of adventure has her hooked. She soon realizes she needs to confront her hurts and fears if she wants to embrace a relationship with Caleb and not let the past intercept her future.

Ratings and reviews

5 Stars Review by Meaghan Late Night Reviewer Up All Night w/ Books Blog C.R. Grissom’s debut novel Mouthful is a contemporary, college romance which looks into the effects verbal and online bullying can have on a young woman and the length it takes to overcome trust issues while developing new relationships. Faith has been through the wringer at high school and has a hard time trusting any man (with the exception of her father) after a football-playing jerk humiliated her online. Since then she has found ways to protect herself from the inevitable hurt from the outside world, hiding behind her baggy clothes. Caleb is the attractive football player who walked in on his girlfriend getting a little too friendly with another man. Keen to get to know Faith he introduces her to his friends from the football team and Faith makes fast friends with his teammates. Throughout the book we see Faith struggling to trust Caleb and that he might just be different from the men in her past. And on the flip side, we see a frustrated Caleb who hates how hard he has to work to earn her trust. A misunderstanding and some poor communication between the two disrupts the bond they have built and it takes a friend to help them see the light. “I need to know what happened to her. It had to be a guy. But females can be vicious with each other, too. I’ve never had to work this hard to earn anyone’s trust.” This was a beautifully written book, which was easy and fun to read. I did find the ending and resolution was a little rushed but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of reading Faith and Caleb’s story. I am keen to see what C.R. Grissom does next!

I really enjoyed this one. It has plenty of heart and humor, but it also has serious tone. The characters go through some tough situations. I'm not gonna lie reading the first part of this book was tough. I hate bullying and I can relate to Faith a bit. I loved Faith and Caleb. She deserves the people she has met in her first year of college. She needs that support system. There are several secondary characters that I hope get their own books at some point. They added a lot to this book themselves. This a book I gobbled right up. It made my heart happy to see where the characters end up.

Debut author, C. R. has a touchdown that touches so many topics that young adults are facing now. It deals with self acceptance, social bullying and trust. This book pulled me in from the very beginning, told in different voices between Caleb, Faith and Beau. Loved the friendship between Faith and Beau. Beau really helped Faith with accepting who she is and beauty is really what is on the inside. The relationship between Caleb, football jock and Faith was perfect. Caleb was so patient with Faith and her lack of self confidence with her baby image. Loved watching their relationship progress through out the story. I identified with many of these topics growing up, so it really hit home. I can't wait to read more from this author. I highly recommend.