AUTHOR: Meryl Wilsner GENRE: Queer Sports Romance PAGES: 336 pages RELEASED: 19 September 2023 SYNOPSIS: Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team for ten years, even though she’s only 26. But when she’s sidelined with an injury, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t—a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends with benefits with this class clown she sees as her rival. Phoebe Matthews has always admired Grace’s skill and was star struck to be training alongside her idol. But she quickly finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find. As the World Cup approaches, and Grace works her way back from injury, the women decide to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position. Except, when they are off the field, Grace is worried she’s catching feelings while Phoebe thinks they are dating. As the tension between them grows, will both players realize they care more about their relationship than making the roster? When you get to work up a sweat on and off the field…
It’s been a dream of Phoebe Matthews to play on the US Women’s National Team, even better if she can play alongside her idol Grace Henderson. But before she can take on the World Cup, she’s drafted by the New Orleans Crewe, which ticks off her dream to play alongside Grace. As they spend the week before the rest of the team arrives for pre-season practice exploring the New Orleans food scene, the attraction between the pair is undeniable. Neither of them want a relationship and Grace doesn’t do friends-with-benefits, but it doesn’t stop them from starting to casually hook up. And when an injury puts Grace out of play and practice for a few weeks, Phoebe finds herself spending more time at Grace’s apartment than her own. As the pair grow closer, and Phoebe has her eye on a spot on the World Cup team, Grace fears that Phoebe is only using her to get ahead in soccer and she’s about to get her heart broken all over again. This was one of my most anticipated releases for the year and Meryl certainly did not disappoint! Ya’ll know I can’t get enough of sports romances, and I’ve been absolutely loving sapphic romances, so combining my two favourites was just fabulous! Phoebe and Grace had instant chemistry and I loved following them go from a flirty friendship, to hooking up, to realising they actually wanted to be in a relationship with one another. They were sweet and swoony and fun, and weren’t afraid to get down and dirty both and off the field. Especially off the field, locker room and all. There were a few times where I felt like things just popped up out of the blue, especially when it came to characters doing or saying something without a prior inner monologue to explain how they got to thinking about that idea or action. It just seemed like a paragraph or scene was missing to keep things flowing from one thing to the next. I really enjoyed Meryl including ADHD representation, although we didn’t really get to see it explored as much as I would have liked. And there was a hint of undiagnosed autism, which also would have been good to see explored more rather than mentioned near the end almost as an afterthought. If you were obsessed with the Women’s World Cup earlier in the year, this 100% needs to be your next read! Meryl can honestly do no wrong and I can’t wait for whatever they’re cooking up next! |
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