Adalyn is caught in an embarrassing video that went viral. Her father sends her to a small town to “fix her image” and fix a young girls’ soccer team. She’s surprised to see Cameron Caldani, a soccer star, and even more surprised when she realizes that he’s coaching the soccer team.

Adalyn and Cameron were abrasive towards each other at first but as they signed each other up for all sorts of activities in town, they slowly showed interest. I loved that Cam realized he was interested in Adalyn first.

The whole small town was cute and the secondary characters were just as engaging. I loved the little bits of comedy thrown in by Josie, the lovable Mayor, and Maria, one of the girls on the soccer team.

There is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of the book that I didn’t love. I’m still going to read the next in the series but I wish that it had ended more succinctly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC. This is a great romance for the fall. The Long Game is out now.

This book was SO cute! The characters were ridiculous, their relationship was slow and painful, but so fun to read and “watch” grow. The supporting characters were adorable. It was far fetched and parts were ridiculous, but it just added to the charm. I really enjoyed this book and it was the perfect mix of light hearted and real. And I don’t even like soccer!

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy!

4⭐️ 3🌶️

Here’s some tropes:

- Desk fucking
- Slow burn
- Grumpy/grumpy
- Dual pov
- He falls first
- Forced proximity
- Small town
- Dirty talker

THIS FREAKING BOOK!!!! If you’re thinking of picking this up, please do yourself a favor and get the audiobook because when I tell you I read this in a day, and was panting and sweating so fucking much I needed an ice bath…

This is by far the best work we’ve gotten from Elena Armas (thank you NetGalley and Atria for the ARC) and I freaking loved it! I could not put it down!!! Shane East did such a great job with his deep British accent and it was the perfect casting for Cam, he is literally Cam and no one can tell me differently.

This book felt like a breathe of fresh air because it was SUCH A SLOW BURN!! Like the longest slow burn! 85% in and the tension was breaking me so hard and I kept getting reminded why I have such a love-hate relationship with this trope! But the wait was sooooo worth it… like extremely worth it!!

I liked this far more than her prior books. There was good plot and I was so entertained throughout. I loved Ada’s mother so freaking much! This hit close to home cause Cubans and miami.. hello?? I was ready to punch her father and her stupid looking ex so hard. There’s a bit of a third act break up but at the very very end and it’s not long and even tho it’s still unnecessary in my humble opinion, it made the reunion all the sweeter.

Excellent tension, chemistry, humor, development, SPICE… oh the spice. This man can dirty talk and direct a scene like no one’s business. I’d love to see them in a Dom/Sub scene because this was so the vibe and it left me with cravings!!!

LOVED IT!!!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This was the perfect romance to warm my heart and give me all those deep swoony sighs. We have enemies to lovers with friends to something more added to the mix. There is the hilarious "meet cute" plus a small-town setting with all the quirky neighbors. The characters have hidden emotional depth and personal growth throughout the story. There are cute kids and goats! There are true villains who make you boo and hiss as well as the hero/heroine who you become so invested in and cheer for until the very last page. The side characters are also a nice touch to the storyline. Cam is the perfect book boyfriend and Adalyn is a worthy love interest. The book would make an awesome movie or tv series. I am still smiling...

5 stars

If you love Ted Lasso and are looking for a book that feels good and makes your heart sing for the love between the hero and heroine this book is for you. This is an enemy-to-lovers trope sports romance with a grumpy hero who is absolutely and entirely into the heroine. It was difficult to put down and I really enjoyed this slow-burn romance. Even though it was a slow burn, the chemistry between Adalyn and Cameron could be felt throughout the book. I adored this book and would definitely recommend it. I also hope Josie and Matthew have a book in their cards.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

I received a widget for this book and although I haven’t read the authors other works, I have seen rave reviews all over booksta, so I figured I would give this one a chance since the synopsis sounded like something I would enjoy and I was in the middle for something more lighthearted after reading a few dark books in a row. And it included goats and chickens? Count me in! It had the basis of what could have been fab, but just ended up being fine.
Adalyn works for the Miami Flames soccer club which is owned by her father and one day she is hoping to take it over. Until one day she is caught on camera flipping out on the teams mascot in a random attack. The video goes viral and her father resends her off to a small town in North Carolina to manage a girls soccer club until the whole thing blows over. Unfortunately for Adalyn, a grumpy retired English professional soccer star is coaching the team while trying to maintain a sense of anonymity and he also happens to be her new neighbor. She has to learn to work with him to lead the team to the championships so her dad will let her come back to Miami but the sparks flying between them could complicate things for everyone, especially since Adalyn doesn’t like to let anyone help her with anything.
There’s lots of heart to the story and with some editing so it didn’t feel so repetitive and slogged down in some spots, this could be a fun and entertaining read and I even kind of like the way it ended with the hint of a next book on the horizon. But the amount of times that the word “darling “ was used was about to make me quit by itself.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

I'm so glad Elena Armas branched out into sports romances. Like so many readers, I'm deep in my sports romance era and this was *chefs kiss*.

Adalyn is in control. Always. Except that one time. Now, after being exiled to work with a rural kids soccer team she is trying everything she can to prove to her father (and owner of the Miami Flames pro soccer team) that she can do the job. There's only one thing standing in her way. A very grumpy former soccer player, Cameron Caldani. It's fine though, she only sort of ran him over with her car.

Can they work together long enough for Adalyn to prove to her father that she is still put together and fully in control?

The tension in this book was so goooooood. It was drawn out the perfect amount to where I was almost mad but then it was so good. This is her spiciest novel to date but it was done really well. I'll definitely be back for the sequel.

I love an enemies to lovers slow burn romance. I would've loved even more cute interactions with the girls on the team, their personalities were so fun. Another fun read from Elena Armas.

This was very cute. I can’t say that it’s my favorite Elena Armas book - I think I’ll forever be obsessed with The Spanish Love Deception, but this was an easy palette cleanser.

This slow burn was painful but in a pleasant way??? I could not put it down and was so enamored the entire time. Highly recommend!!

Adalyn Reyes was a professional soccer executive, working long hours for the MS Miami team, the Flames. Yes, she was working for her father, who owns the team, but she still worked hard. Until that day. The day that the man in the mascot costume showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time and Adalyn, normally so cool and composed, ripped his head off. Literally. She ripped the head of the phoenix costume right off the man’s shoulders, and someone recorded it on their phone and uploaded it to the internet. Of course it went viral. And Adalyn got sent down, or up rather, to manage a team in North Carolina.

Adalyn refuses to show how upset she is. She packs up her designer suits and her high heels and has her assistant find her a place to stay. But as she’s driving there, and her GPS starts leading her onto dirt roads, she starts to question the direction her life has taken. And when she finally finds the cabin, she accidentally hits something trying to maneuver her car, and bangs her head hard against the steering wheel. She then tries to back up, and hits something else, and tries to go forward again and ends up against a tree, unconscious.

When she wakes up, she finds out that the first thing she hit was a rooster, the second thing she hit was a man, and he’s yelling at her in her car, trying to figure out if she’s okay. She slowly comes to and realizes what she’d done. She had been sent there to help the Green Warriors, an underperforming soccer team, turn things around and make them a media darling. And no grumpy bearded mountain man yelling at her is going to stop her.

Meanwhile, Cameron Caldani is trying to figure out who this crazy woman in his driveway, trying to run him over and then yelling at him for living in the cabin he’s been staying in for a while, claiming she rented it. After several minutes of bickering, he realizes that she hadn’t rented his cabin. She’d rented the rundown shack next to it, despite it being barely habitable. But what’s really frustrating is when she showed up at his soccer practice, recognized him, and then fired him.

Cam had been one of the best goalkeepers in the world, working in the Premier League and then the MLS, where he had retired from suddenly with no explanation. He’d moved to North Carolina, where no one would recognize him—well, almost—and grew out his beard so he could live in peace and quiet. However, the local mayor and diner owner Josie had recognized him and convinced him to coach the Green Warriors.

There had been a time when the women of the Warriors had been champions. But that was a long time ago, and now he’s starting over with kids. These girls were all under ten, and one of them insisted on wearing a tutu with her practice clothes. He didn’t have much more success wrangling them as he did from stopping one of his cats from getting out and chasing the rooster around. But he enjoyed coaching them. Or he had until Adalyn showed up, fired him, and tried to take over the team.

It doesn’t take long before the girls’ parents see the viral video of Adalyn and want her removed from the team. Josie intervenes and convinces the parents that she and Cam would make a good team for the Warriors, with each bringing their expertise to the team. And they need it, if they’re going to compete with the other local teams, the established teams. To compete, they’ll need all the help they can get.

But in order for that to happen, Adalyn and Cam will need to learn to work together. They will need to put aside their many, many, many reasons to bicker and focus on the girls. But working together and living so close means that they will also have to deal with the traumas that brought them to North Carolina, making them vulnerable in ways they never expected. And when that vulnerability turns to attraction, Adalyn and Cam will have to decide just what to do with those feelings, and deal with the consequences to their careers, to the Green Warriors, and to their own battered hearts.

The Long Game is a sweet, slow burn romance that will help fill that hole that the end of Ted Lasso has left in your heart. Adalyn and Cam are both smart and strong characters, and their ability to get under each other’s skin is almost legendary. Soccer fans need to snatch this up, as it’s got a lot of soccer fun. But it’s also got a lot of other things going for it—goat yoga, a small mountain town, an endearing mayor who can make macarons and pies, cats, an Italian Nonna, hand-washed clothing hanging from antlers, Manolos, pottery, and a good old-fashioned enemies-to-lovers story.

There are also some darker edges to the story, particularly for Adalyn and her incessant unwillingness to ask for help. The reasons for her stubbornness and pride are heartbreaking but make her all the more compelling. I absolutely loved this book. These are fantastic, fascinating characters, and their chemistry jumps off the page. I was especially drawn to this book because I am a soccer nerd, but if you aren’t, don’t let that stop you. The soccer talk is minimal and won’t leave you feeling left out if you don’t understand it. This is just a stellar romance, so funny and sexy and surprising. It’s a triumph.

Egalleys for The Long Game were provided by Atria Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

There were parts of this book that were very strong and parts that lacked for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not a soccer player, but I didn’t feel the connection to the sport at all. And that’s key to building a sports romance is having that connection. I also thought that this book was very character driven. Which is good, because we explore the traumas that both of our characters have felt. I think we needed a bit more meat of the book and a little bit more plot. I just got bored at the simple “oh crap she hurt her foot” in this chapter, “oh crap she lost her phone” in this chapter. It got old quickly. I also didn’t like the “you don’t have to wear heels to be pretty” mentality. I mean, yeah, you don’t. But over and over again is annoying as a female who likes to dress up. I think there was a lot that needed to be improved before this was published wish is frustrating. Dive deeper into Cam’s trauma, talk more about Ada’s mental health, explore more of Josie’s and Adalyn’s relationship, etc. It’s not a bad book, it’s just needed some more improvements to be a GREAT one. I just got bored at times and skimmed the sex scenes.

thank you to netgalley and atria books for providing me with this e-arc in exchange for my honest thoughts <3

after a video of adalyn reyes attacking the mascot of the miami flames goes viral, her father, the owner of the team, sends her to a small town in north carolina. there she is tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team. the green warriors are not what she expected and neither is their coach. cameron caldani is a goalkeeping prodigy, so adalyn wants to know what he’s doing coaching her team of nine year olds. their first meeting doesn’t go well by any means, but adalyn is desperate to end her banishment. even if it means working with the tattooed, grumpy man.

the long game is a looooong one. the slow burn does take quite a bit of time to even get set up, but once it did the sparks were sparking. cameron feels like the picture perfect book boyfriend between being a roy kent stand in with a thigh tattoo and two cats that he adores. but, what really sold me on cameron was how down bad he was for adalyn. he was ready to do whatever it took to make her dreams come true. even still, to me he takes the back burner to adalyn reyes, the queen herself. she is for the people pleasing oldest daughters and everyone of them should read adalyn’s journey to becoming her own person. i really liked this one! the soccer was everything to me and the small town was so charming. definitely looking forward to the next in the series <3

It is obvious to me how much better Elena Armas’s writing has gotten!!! This book felt so heartwarming and lovely, like I was getting hugged by a giant soccer player 😉😉honestly I could see myself in both of these two, from my need to protect to my need to always stand up for myself and be brave. I might have even gotten a little teary near the end. Overall, incredible, and I CANNOT wait for Matthew and Josie’s story!

Enjoyable romance. Predictable, but cute and lots of laughs and sweetness.
I wasn’t personal a big fan on soccer, but I did enjoy the dynamic of the emotional injured love interest and the bond the MC made with the kids.

3.5/5 Stars

Thank you to Atria Books and Elena Armas for providing me an arc to read and review.

I read the spanish love despection early last year and it was decent. The Long Game you can tell how Elena has just overall grown as an author, the romance felt more realistic and I felt like I could understand the characters more. I always love seeing an author grow because you can often feel how much the love writing and it leads to bigger and better things.

This book follows Adalyn Reyes, she has perfected her life to fit what she needs to progress in the world of soccer but when one incident happens and ruins everything she has worked towards, her own father ships her off to a small town to hopefully save her career. She meets Cameron Caldani who was a prodigy in soccer but is trying to just live in the down low for a while. When they both need to help a ragtag children’s soccer team on their road to redemption, they can’t help but possibly grow closer…

As I mentioned earlier I love the progression of the romance in this book Adalyn really just wants to focus on getting back to her life and Cameron just wants time to recover from a very bad experience and after their first interaction they want nothing to do with eachother. I love seeing both of them slowly accept that maybe they feel more than hatred for each other.

I really recommend this book, it was a fun romance and perfect for the fall.

This book was super cute, and way steamier than I expected. Grumpy & clumsy Adalyn meets even grumpier soccer star Cam and small town chaos ensues. All I can say is, everyone needs a man like Cam in their life!

Just run & grab yourself a copy, bc she’s GIVING! If you like sports romances, internet fails, men with accents, thigh tattoos, and slow burns: this is the book for you! 😍

After going viral for decapitating her dad’s soccer team mascot’s head, Adalyn gets banished to prove her worth as the franchise’s media director with a small-town team. Turns out, that team is coached by Cameron Caldani, an ex-pro footballer… and comprised of 9-year-olds. Can she lead them to success or will she prove her dad’s assumptions that she’s dead weight right?

I loved this book! It was a painfully slow process of the two main characters learning to trust each other because each had been previously put in situations where that trust and safety was compromised. Not only were these two fleshed out well and in a believable way, but each of the side characters from the soccer team to the goat (iykyk) were all given such strong personalities. Armas' care and love for her work comes across in every single chapter.

The only thing that bothered me with this book is that we went about 75% of the book without Ada and Cam even kissing to the last 20% of the book almost entirely about how every single thing turns Cam on. I don't mind a bit of spice, but the plot went out the window for most of the last quarter of the book and it felt overwhelming after so much tension and build up.

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for an advanced reader copy!

I read another book by author Elena Armas! Anyone who has read her other books knows how enjoyable her writing is, even with the cliché plots. As a good fan of romances involving sports, I couldn't pass up a book in which the couple is a famous recently retired English goalkeeper and the daughter of the owner of a Miami soccer team.

It all starts when Adalyn ends up hitting the mascot of her father's team in an act of rage, and as punishment she is forced to go manage a team in a small country town. In fact, her father is full of these "little" penalties whenever she displeases him. The author addresses this difficult father/daughter relationship, and how it has turned Adalyn into a controlling woman who never allows herself to make mistakes.

Cam is the coach of this modest team, made up of no less than little girls. Of course, Adalyn has no idea that it is a children's team. The relationship that she and Cam develop with the children is so cute, as they are the most honest and charismatic little people who will help the couple recognize their interest in each other! I liked the relationship they developed, but it wasn't my favorite couple created by the author.

Another interesting point is the problem with things that go viral on social media and could destroy someone's life. The situation that Adalyn gets herself into becomes a snowball after it ends up in the media, showing that even a serious woman can be completely depressed with the use of her image in a vulnerable moment being used as a joke.

--> What you'll find in the book: goats (yoga with goats, that's all I'm saying), cute cats, funny children, slow-burn romance and lots of affectionate terms spoken by a sexy Englishman.

3.5 stars. This was my first Elena Armas, and I enjoyed it overall. I loved Cam and all the soccer/Ted Lasso vibes. I loved the relationship between Adalyn and Cam. A lot of the plot points, however, fell short for me. I felt like the book tried to do too much. I could have done without the secret sister/angel investor plot line. I wanted more development from the main plot line of the book - the video of the blowup. It felt very repetitive at times because the book withheld the reason/backstory until the end. The ending confrontation between Adalyn and her father was not very satisfying to me, and the miscommunication between Adalyn and Cam came out of no where at the end and was so rushed to resolve itself.