The Cheerleader is a different kind of college sports romance

Not because it doesn't have all the angst and drama of college sports and struggles with the emotional rollercoaster of new love and the massive changes about to face them as they young mena nd women move into adulthood.

No, this story is different because it takes place in 1975. I call it a retro romance. It's not exactly historical and not exactly contemporary.

Even the names are a little old fashioned, but not medieval. These are the people who came of age in the cool post rebellion period of the sixties and before the serious business era of the eighties.

There was no aids. There were no house mothers. And birth control was routinely dispensed in the women's clinic.

But one of the biggest differences was that the drinking age was 18.

The upshot of all of this was a very confusing time where social change impacted how girls and boys courted.

The old rules about going out and giving someone your letter jacket or class ring or "going steady" no longer applied.

The problem was, there were no new rules to take their place.

Free love? Equal footing for girls?

Not exactly. These college kids were brought up with the old rules, observing them and understanding them, even if they liked the idea of changes and the new free love concept.

It didn't always translate. Girls still worried about their reputations because boys still talked and thought about girls as fast or easy even though the rules were supposed to allow free love.

What did that do to romance in the 70's on college campuses?

It made things very interesting, filled with turmoil, confusion and a sense of being unsure. There was no one set of rules and everyone had different ideas.

Suzie, Liz, Bryan and Eldy had to figure things out for themselves and made some mistakes along the way.

If you love romance stories with friendships, a strong commuity and the complications of a love trianble, you'll enjoy this story.

THE CHEERLEADER is available now at shop.StephanieQueen.com