I usually enjoy sports romances and especially soccer ones but something about this book didn't click for me. I wasn't the biggest fan of either the hero or the heroine.

LOVED this book! Rio and Eva’s story was unique and kept me up late finishing it. I loved the inclusion of immigration into the story as well.

This book was very predictable. There were no huge surprises, no real reluctance on either side for getting involved (minor on her part) and was just overall very slow. I gave up reading 70% of the way through because I was just bored with it.

New-to-me author Rebecca Crowley has published a number of standalone romances in addition to two series. Homefront deals with American military heroes and Elite Operators is a South African set romantic suspense series (I’m intrigued by this one!). She’s set her sights on soccer with her new series, Atlanta Skyline, and Crossing Hearts is a well-crafted and very enjoyable sports romance that also delves into a timely subplot of the challenges faced by immigrants to America.

Chilean soccer star Rio Vidal has recently been acquired by an American team, the Atlanta Skyline. Though he’s wealthy now, his poor and humble roots have given him a down to earth approach to life. Having his attractive translator Eva Torres by his side is no hardship, and he’s interested in pursuing more than just a professional relationship with her. But his number one goal is proving that the team that has acquired him has made the right choice.

As a professional Spanish language translator for pro athletes, Eva is used to being around good-looking men but sometimes her heart leads her astray. Her last relationship was with a soccer player who moved on to a new life without her, a man she foolishly thought felt the same way about her as she did about him. Once burned, twice shy, she’s got her guard up where men are concerned, especially one as appealing to her as Rio. Eva has plans for her future that don’t include being just a ‘plus one’ for another famous athlete. A sex only fling would let them burn off some of the excess attraction between them and Eva’s resistance to Rio is short lived in the face of his flirtatious pursuit. But when they develop feelings for each other beyond simple attraction, will it lead to something more permanent?

Okay, I’ll admit it. The cover of this book is what drew me in (hello, hot soccer player!) and combined with the synopsis, I was excited to read this story. The first thing that sticks out is that unlike the majority of romance heroes, Rio is short at just over five-and-a-half feet tall. It’s a disadvantage for most sports, and as a soccer player it means he has to be quick and maneuverable on his feet. His height disadvantage means he always feels like he has a lot to prove on the field, especially now with his new team. He’s not short of confidence though – he knows he’s fit and attractive, and his elite sports status means he doesn’t lack for female companionship. But he isn’t an arrogant man. He’s friendly and hardworking and dedicated. He’s used his wealth to better the lives of those living in the poor area he comes from in Chile, and supports his family. It’s not hard to see why a woman would be flattered to have his attention.

Eva, a smart, passionate and caring woman, is drawn to Rio despite her best intentions to keep things professional. There’s a bit of conflict involved due to her position as team translator, and this makes her hesitant to reveal that she’s attracted to him. Eva wants to be an immigration lawyer, and when she isn’t working for the soccer team she volunteers at her local Catholic church (that Rio is happy to attend with her as a fellow Catholic) where she assists undocumented immigrants. Eva herself is the daughter of a Mexican illegal immigrant who was deported when Eva was twelve. She was fortunate enough to be taken in by a neighbor, but naturally it still affects her. It’s a timely political storyline dealt with in an empathetic way.

The story is told from dual points of view which I always appreciate. Rio and Eva’s attraction results in some steamy love scenes and emotional moments as they connect on all levels, both of them eventually sharing the truth of their difficult pasts with each other. As for the soccer aspects, the business of running a sports team is dealt with well and there are several on field scenes that are exciting to read, and show the author has a good grasp of the sport. We see Rio’s successes and challenges; he’s trying to make a name for himself on the team, keep up his physical game by extensive training, build a working relationship with his teammates and learn how to speak English. All this, and he successfully romances Eva too! The happy ending after a few ups and downs is wholly satisfying. If you enjoy sports romances, Crossing Hearts delivers an exciting and passionate read. Rebecca Crowley has made herself a new fan.

This review has been posted at All About Romance and feedback updated with the link. An abbreviated version will be posted on sale sites.

this book was given to me for an honest review.

3.5 stars


I just want to start in saying I love sports romances. I love seeing everything that happens around them and how they evolve in the story. They have such challenging jobs and when you come from another country it only can be harder for them to learn everything they need to do. I loved the whole blurb of this book. Soccer player falls for interpreter. It's a unique twist on a romance.

Rio is pretty awesome. I loved how he came from another country to play the sport he loved. It was really difficult for him to learn just because of the language barrier, but he made it work with Eva. He knew what he wanted and that was to succeed, but he also wanted to find the love he was looking for also. He was a romantic, and you could see that with everything he tried doing. He was a workaholic. It got very obsessive at times. I know how it is to want to be the best, but he took it to the extremes a lot. He didn't give himself time to rest and at times it felt like he was going to hurt himself to a point he would not be able to play. Now with that being said, that was one of his strengths also. He was good at what he did, he just needed to learn to balance. His how personality was awesome. Layed back, but knew what he wanted. He had a lot of love and compassion too. You could see it through everything he did. Rio had this big heart and that is what makes you fall in love with him. Eva is a whole different ball game. At first I liked her a lot. but she seemed very too goody two shoes for me. Even though she doesn't acts better than anyone it was the way she was presented. She is a very good person and has had bad things happen, but I couldn't connect with her. I loved the chase between her and Rio at times, but Eva took it too far at times and made me skip through pages because she fought it so much. Between Rio working too hard and Eva playing hard to get it took away from the story at times.

I loved the whole story but it took me a while to get through and that was very disappointing. I hope that this series does well for the author because the characters can be very likable.

This was fun to read but seemed a little too good to be true. The humble soccer star with a heart of gold meets a beautiful translator with a heart of gold? Overall though, it was an easy, enjoyable romance.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆
3.5 stars of soccer romance

I am a big fan of sports romances and really liked the idea of a soccer star falling for his interpreter. It will be interesting to see what other new routes the author will take in future installments in this series.

Rio was a great character and he made his position very clear from the beginning. I did not, however, warm much to Eva. I bought into the fact that she wanted to be taken seriously in her job, but her constant vacillation with Rio became difficult to understand. But I am sure that other readers may have a completely different take on her.

There were some good issues raised and I was interested in Rio's approach to overtraining, to ensure that he was always picked – for a man who seemed so confident externally, his fears were beautifully revealed and explained. His confessions of his home-life and family also brought much insight into why he behaved in this way. It made the contrast with Eva even more compelling.

It is a well written story, easy to read, and also has some interesting team members who will feature in future episodes.


Sarah – ☆☆☆
3.5 stars

This is a sweet romance between a Chilean football star and his American translator. Football (or soccer to Americans) is the world’s most international professional team sport and I loved learning about the way teams work to overcome the language and cultural barriers between players, coaches, and managers.

Rio is far too good to be true. The national sporting hero remains humble and kind despite his fame and fortune. His only flaw is his obsessive need to overtrain. For me, there were moments when he was just too irritatingly perfect for me to like. With her charity work, deprived background, and church attendance, Eva is also pretty perfect. The two are well matched, but to really invest in a romance, I need some personality quirks and character flaws that make characters feel real.

It is only at the end that these two stopped being perfect. I found their slide from level-headed professionals to childish tantrums and poor communication more irritating than endearing. As a romance, this never really worked terribly well for me.

I did enjoy the sport. Football isn’t a high-profile sport in America and I enjoyed watching a national hero adjust to relative anonymity in Atlanta. The Swedish coach working with an international team is fascinating and I really enjoyed learning more about Eva’s job and Rio’s struggle to play well when his communication with teammates and coaches is so limited. I also loved Rio’s niche celebrity within the American Latino community.

New to the U.S. soccer scene, not to mention the English language, compact yet explosive Chilean soccer legend Rio Vidal is driven to define a role on his new team, Atlanta Skyline. But he must also adapt to a new culture—and accept that he can’t do it alone. His beautiful interpreter, Eva, has been his voice, his refuge. But she is becoming so much more. If only he could convince her he isn’t like the other men she’s worked with, players on—and off—the field.

As a translator for pro athletes, Eva Torres is used to dealing with self-interested super stars. But Rio seems different, and she’s blindsided when he locks eyes with her across a church pew. By now, after weeks of close contact with the endearing athlete with whom she shares a language, her thoughts are far from holy. She must remind herself flirtation is probably just his default style. Plus, she’s the only one he can really talk to. But when his ambition threatens to derail his career—and their deepening connection—they’ll both have to lay their hearts on the center line.

Review:

Two things that made this story interesting and intriguing for me were; one the story is centered around professional soccer and two that the main characters are Latin American.

That Rio is new to America and cannot speak the language gave a lot of realism to his character. Then add the unique and intimate relationship between Rio and his translator, Eva and you can totally imagine these characters being real.

Rio and Eva's love story was a slow build which made sense for them and the story. There is instant lust, but they work together and Eva is leery after being around professional athletes for so long. Once they give in to their feelings, it is sexy and sweet. Of course they have some obstacles to overcome but reading about them made me root for them even more.

After reading this first in this new series I cannot wait for more!

4.5Stars

*I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book provided by the publisher.*

***3 ‘Oh the angst’ Stars***

I waffled over my rating for this one because as a whole, I enjoyed the book. I loved seeing the U.S. through Rio’s eyes and experiencing his struggle to find his place in it. What I had a hard time with was the roller coaster ride that was Rio and Eva’s relationship. I didn’t hate it, in fact there were some great moments between them, but oh god the angstyness drove me batshit crazy and had me wanting to toss my Kindle into the freezer a few times.

I really liked Rio. He gives his all and wants to be the best at what he does so that he doesn’t disappoint other, but also himself. While a great trait he doesn’t know the meaning of moderation and balance and that gets him into trouble. But despite that issue, he is truly a genuine person and definitely falls under the category of what you see is what you get and watching as he worked to find his footing in his new life only endeared him to me even more.

For the most part, I liked Eva. She didn’t have an easy childhood, but she has worked hard to rise above it when it comes to her professional life and has more dreams that she that she is working on making a reality. She has a generous heart and truly wants to help those who have no one to turn to. But, and believe me when I say that it’s painful for me to say this, BUT the girl’s got issues and dear lord did she drive me batshit crazy. I understood where her insecurities came from, I did and my heart hurt for her, but damn the woman needed to have someone give her a huge dose of tough love and then a big hug.

The push and pull of their relationship because they didn’t communicate, kind of ironic considering their professional relationship, was frustrating and though much of it came from Eva, Rio threw his own issues into the ring as well. If having conversations in your head and assuming you know exactly what the other person is thinking/feeling was an event in the Olympics, these two would win the gold. It was crazy. But when they weren’t doing their best to keep the other at arm’s length and were chill, I really liked them together. There was an ease to their interactions as they got to know each other that showed how good they could be together once they both got over themselves. Their journey was a bumpy one, very bumpy, but they both did evolve along the way and became stronger for it.

This was my first read by Rebecca Crowley and overall I enjoyed it. I thought the author handled the hot topic issue with care and respect and while I’m no soccer aficionado by any means, and my knowledge is on the low end of basic, but her descriptions of what was going on either on the pitch or in training made it easy to visual what was going on. I’m interested to see what is coming up next for the series and will keeping an eye out for the next book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Crossing Hearts by Rebecca Crowley that I read and reviewed.
I am not a big soccer fan but I did enjoy this book. I found both Eva and Rio likeable characters and a great pairing as a couple. This was a great romance with an interesting storyline.
I am giving Crossing Hearts four out of five stars.

Loved it from beginning to end. Cannot wait to read more from this author

“Just a guy who loves soccer”

A wonderful story with beautiful characters!
Rebecca Crowley wrote an amazing tale with a unique and genuine hero and well fleshed-out characters. Rio Vidal is the most charming, goodhearted, boyish hero I’ve read in ages. The way he and the heroine, Eva Torres, a translator and interpreter, burst out from the pages is terrific. I loved that neither he nor the heroine are the classical stereotyped characters. The Chilean soccer legend “in the end is just a guy who loves soccer” (quote from ARC).
Anyone who is familiar with soccer or translators/interpreters tasks will also find this story refreshing in its approach to the sport and professions.
This is the first story in the Atlanta Skyline series, a “soccer-themed trilogy” by Rebecca Crowley.

Rio and Eva met cause he needed a voice in America and Eva was the perfect translator for him. During the weeks of getting to know each other and denying that the feelings were real Eva was not only his translator but someone that cared enough to say what he couldn't. After a lot of thinking he knew what he had to and that get her back.

Good story and characters, I read it in one sitting

Great story. The characters are deep and original. Eva and Rio are strong, confident and sometimes stubborn people but love overcome every obstacle.
I received a ARC from Netgalley for a honest review.

excellent read

This was a lovely sports themed romance to read. I liked that although there was attraction between them at the start, there wasn't an instant relationship but it grew.

I liked that he was from Chile and didn't speak English. We got to see that it was difficult for him when he was in America. No one really, apart from his interpreter, spoke the language he could so he was quite isolated.

Although I liked how the book ended, I would love to know more. I would like for there to either be a follow up book about these two characters or a book about someone else on the team with these two characters also featuring in it.

I love a good sports romantic book and soccer (lately) has been my go-to sport. So, I was exciting to get my hands on Crossing Hearts and to find a new author in Rebecca Crowley.

However, this story didn't work for me. I found the storyline to be predictable and maybe even familiar to something I have read before.

I loved the originality of this story line. I also loved how loyal he was, it was a good trait for him to have, made his character so much more loveable! Once he saw her and interacted with her, he never lost sight of her, didn't stray and have a fling or try to make her jealous he was loyal and I loved it! It was really refreshing to read a book where the characters fell in love and not lust. I loved that she was so upfront with what she wanted and that was a committed relationship with Rio. She just wanted him to love her back and love her with his whole heart and she would love him back. It was so good! I loved the ending and the epilogue where he takes off his jersey and has written on his undershirt asking her to merry him, it was so sweet and romantic and just a perfect way to end this book! I loved this love story and the author did a great job of making the reader feel some of the emotional issues the characters were going through. I was so sad when the PI came back to her and told her her mothers was dear. I was so heart broken and when she went to ROI for support and love and found everything she needed right in his arms I was so in love with these two characters. Great job, excellent book and just a great story line!!!