Imagine nickelodeon making a hallmark movie.

This was painful. The writing and pacing were so annoying. The characters were irritating and were incapable of communication. The author chose to not tell the reader what was going on as a way of creating tension which was just lazy. This was genuinely bad.

Another excellent read from Elena Armas! As a lifelong futbol supporter, I was thrilled to read a footie romance! Thanks for the eARC, @atriabooks though I obvi went out and purchased a physical copy myself 🤗

Hated the way Adalyn was treated and forced out of the ⚽️ club but loved that we got to see her experience out in “nature” 😂 I enjoyed the way we slowly got to unravel Cameron but loved all the things we learned about him. Obviously the stars of this book were the sweet little girls on the team, so many chuckles! Really enjoyed this one and can’t wait to dive into Elena’s next book 🙌🏻💕

Writing style was not for me, I tried to get into it several times and I simply did not enjoy it. It's a standard ex-sports guy romance which I typically enjoy but this one just fell short.

DNF. Unfortunately, I'm just not connecting with this author's writing style. But, I know there are so many people who will enjoy this story!

Elena Armas has written yet another cute small town slowburn romance that captures the hearts of readers within this genre! the characters were super likeable and the moments were extra cute!

3.5 stars. I enjoy a good sports underdog story but this one was a little underwritten. Plotlines came and went without resolution. The inciting incident with Adalyn and the mascot didn’t ring true to her character in the rest of the book. Cam was kind of controlling and not just in a fun way. The kids on the team were unrealistically precocious. For a book supposedly about soccer, we see shockingly little soccer played or coached or even discussed.

The cats, Willow and Pierogi, were by far my favorite part. The small town setting was charming, too.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This sweet rom-com was a perfect summer afternoon read. I've been missing Ted Lasso, and Armas's story filled that hole in my heart. I immediately followed this up with The Fiance Dilemma, and reading them together was a sweet, relaxing summer break.

Did Not Finish.
I didn't like either of the characters, but especially Adalyn. Neither felt redeemable and I wasn't willing to continue reading to figure out how their relationship evolves from intense dislike to instalust.

3 stars!

This was fine, but SOOO long. I think it came in under 400 pages, but I was literally so bored. Also some of the "spicy" scenes left me feeling a little weird and not in a great way. Also I kept fixating on some of the language that was very repetitive and once I saw it I really couldn't unsee it. However, did I have fun while reading? Like yes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really cute prom, I hadn’t read this author before and was new to me. I am hoping that others will enjoy this one as well that that are friends lovers are enemies lovers fans.

I think that Elena Armas has written some very magical love stories, especially when it comes to The Spanish Love Deception and The American Roommate Experiment. I was so excited to dive into The Long Game, as her first two novels really sealed her fate for me always wanting to seek out whatever it is that she writes next.

However.

My goodness, this story dragged.

DRAGGED.

I know that Elena is known for her slow-burn, but this hardly even felt like a burn at times. It just. Kept. Dragging. On.

With slow burns, there still need to be those moments of tension where you feel like everything is going to be leading up to something AMAZING. Sadly, that did not happen with this book. I found myself walking away from it for days at a time due to a lack of interest, and then reading it almost out of obligation rather than excitement.

I really hope that she catches lightning in a bottle again sometime soon, but unfortunately this novel was not it for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to review - Ms Armas doesn't disappoint with character creation, though we'd like more scenic development.

Spanish Love Deception was fantastic
The American Roommate Experiment was a bit of a let down for me, found myself bored a bit. It was good don't get me wrong but the slow burn was snail's pace.

The Long Game as you can guess was also slow burn but man oh man did I zip through it. I loved the characters and the storyline. The secrets, the betrayals, the spice, the realness in a way...redemption for me from TARE so I cannot wait to read the Fiancé Dilemma -- off I go! Thank you NetGalley!!!

I surprisingly enjoyed this! I was not aware (because I like to go in blind) that this was a sports romance and I really really don’t like those. On top of that, it’s soccer - and I’m so soccered out I can’t even express it. However, this story was sweet and honestly hilarious. It was a mess but also perfect. There are some open door romance scenes toward the end and by that point I was convinced this was a “clean” romance. However once it started it didn’t really stop. If you enjoy rom-coms, I think you’ll enjoy this as well!

It’s such a sweet story. Even though it was a bit long, I enjoyed how they learned about each other and how he became protective of her. The girls, the chicken, the rooster, the goat and the cats were pretty amusing.

I look forward to reading the next novel of what I assume Josie and Matthew. That will be interesting. Overall, three and half stars from me. I received this ARC through Goodreads and Atria. Thank you! As usual, all of my reviews are purely my own opinions without any influence from any publisher

DNF @ 30%

Oh wow……this was….you know….!

Listen I was gonna try and push through this but I’ve decided to choose peace today!

The characters are all INSUFFERABLE!!! Adalyn is so ridiculous and self-centered I cannot take her seriously. Maybe she has some sort of character development or growth later on but I don’t care to find out. Cameron has the personality of a wet 1 ply paper towel. The side characters are lame and one dimensional.

The interactions between Cameron and Adalyn make no sense, on one hand this is a long book and therefore there should be plenty of time to build up a genuine bond and relationship. However, the author tries so force this strong bond and connection from day one but also wants us to believe they hate each other oh but also deep down they somehow really understand and seem to know each other already ???

For example, pray tell, why did Cameron say “Right now, Adalyn was a shadow of the woman that had been busting my balls since her arrival in town.” AFTER KNOWING ADALYN FOR 24 HOURS LMAOOOO what do you mean shadow of the woman you knew you don’t even know her dude bffr.

Then we have Adalyn LITERALLY firing Cameron on sight, and then she blackmails him into coming back to the position SHE fired him from and I’m supposed to…think this is cute and quirky? No thank you!

I also just don’t feel the chemistry between the two. My final straw was when they’re in the middle of GOAT YOGA at a COMMUNITY EVENT and Adalyn is losing her mind because he’s helping her with yoga poses and she’s deadass fantasizing about him and thinks to herself “Because nothing, not one touch or brush or caress or moment of intimacy, had felt like this.” That is so ridiculously embarrassing. I couldn’t recover from the second hand embarrassment so I’m calling it quits.

Additionally, the dialogue is stilted and awkward, the scene transitions aren’t smooth, the amount of pop culture references was absurd, and the repetition of dialogue was insane.

Anyway, I know some people enjoyed this but it really just wasn’t for me. I hope this book ended with the town rallying together and chasing Adalyn and Cameron out of town.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this eARC!

“The Long Game” by Elena Armas follows Adalyn Reyes, MLS exec and daughter of the Miami Flames owner, as she is exiled to North Carolina following a PR issue- one involving her violently ripping the head off of the team mascot. There she meets famous goalkeeper Cameron Caldani who is hiding out from his famous life, looking for something more simple. As the two team up to help a struggling soccer team (of nine year old girls), they find they might have more in common than they thought- they might even be in love?

This book was a spicy love story with a dash of soccer. Cam was definitely giving Roy Kent vibes at the beginning, but that quickly dropped off when it was apparent that he was in it for the long haul and this wouldn’t be an enemies to lovers situation. Think less grumpy sunshine romance and more miscommunication romance trope.

While certainly entertaining and an easy read, this book was just okay. I wanted to absolutely love it, but it all felt pretty easy and straightforward. There was also a chapter I *might* have skipped because I definitely didn’t need THAT much detail…

All in all, I gave this book 3 stars. It was fun and I would probably have loved it as a made for tv movie, but as a book I wanted something a little more.

Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review! This book is part of a big ARC backlist, so it’s out now! I’ll be picking up the second book in the series soon!

DNF @ 37%
eh the characters were kind of annoying and acted very illogical and i found the plot a bit boring. Nothing really engaged me n this book.

“Adalyn Reyes was beautiful. And she was also a hot mess. She was a beautiful hot mess of an inconvenience I wanted out of my hair.” —Cameron Caldani
There is so much to love about this release from Elena Armas. The Long Game combines a sports romance trope within a small town, with hints of Ted Lasso, and it hits just like my favorite grumpy sunshine romances.

The Long Game is my first by Elena Armas. When I was told that Elena Armas writes slowburn romances, I was immediately intrigued. Sports romance combined with a slowburn romance immediately had my attention. Someo of my favorite romances are sports based and written by an author who writes exclusively slowburn romances (if you know you know).

“I wonder who made you believe you don’t deserve to be fussed over,” he said so simply and honestly that I could only blink.
Adalyn is the daughter of the well-known Miami Football (Soccer, for Americans) Club owner. Adalyn has found herself in the center of the blowback from a viral clip of her attacking the team’s mascot. This is where a bit of mystery within the story takes the forefront of Adalyn’s journey throughout The Long Game. Adalyn is tight-lipped about the surrounding circumstances that leads up to the viral video disaster. Ultimately, Adalyn is sent on a redemption mission to a small town in North Carolina. Her goal is to make the local girls soccer club into a winning team.

The roadblock she encounters comes in the form of one former soccer superstar, Cameron Caldani. Not only is Cameron (Cam) a surly coach (Coach Roy Kent—is that you?), he’s also the man who owns the cat who won’t leave her alone, and also happens to live on the same property she’s renting for the summer. Through a series of what can only be described as comedically unfortunate events, Adalyn and Cam are continually put into situations together that ultimately thrust their bonds forged in animosity into the fires of desire and end up hopelessly gone for each other. All of this while having to work together to get these girls a winning season.

“I’ll always give you more than what you ask for, love. Even when you don’t know what you want.”
Don’t forget this is a slowburn. The glances, tentative touches, and the fact that Cameron shows affection through acts of service, whereas Adalyn ultimately needs words of affirmation create such delicious tension and angst. The Long Game plays out until the very last pages and I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t warn readers about the twist at the end that I did not see coming. This twist also sets up the next (standalone) book in the series, which I will be happily adding to my own reading list.

I truly adored The Long Game. Elena Armas writes such strong women, men who are so gentle with their actions but grumpy in their words, and scenes that are so funny that I found myself giggling more often than not, so basically, you need to read this book.

This was tough. I'm a huge sports romance fan and I love enemies to lovers, but this one fell flat. The reason they were enemies was flat, and they just magically became "not enemies." It was weird, and could use some more editing.