This book took me forever to read. Between summer ending, school starting, and spending time with my baby, reading wasn’t high on my to do list. I say all that to say—because I’ve read so sparingly, I feel it has influenced my rating. In theory, this seems like a book I’d normally devour, but because I didn’t, I feel like I need to justify that—silly, I know. Anyway, this was a good book and I’m glad I read it. It was my first Elena Armas, but it will not be my last. Hopefully I’ll be able to read her other books in a more normal pace. Thanks to NetGalley for this free read!

I'm not going to even put a rating, because I unfortunately couldn't finish this book. It had so much promise. Ted Lasso vibes, a quirky small town, mischievous animals, basically all things I love. I struggled so much though and finally had to give up at 30%. I couldn't buy into anything about this book: why a video of her going viral (which would only take a couple of days to die down) would force her into exile. The initial meeting of her and Cameron was awful. I couldn't find anything that made me connect to either of them at all by 30%. I didn't care about what happened. There's a difference between being an unbothered Queen, as Adalyn says, and being completely awful and unpleasant. Same for Cam. There is a difference between being hugely grumpy in a cute way and being a total asshole.

It also felt way too long. At 30% it said I still had over 5 hours to go. The writing could have been so much more succinct and flow better. Scenes were just cut off, and then we were in a totally new scene, I didn't feel any cohesion. It's a shame, I was so excited about it.

This is my first book by Elena Armas and I wasn't expecting it to be as funny as it was! It was also angsty with a lot of pining and tension, things I DID actually expect. When Adalyn loses her temper during a professional soccer game and the moment goes viral, her father and owner of the team banishes her to a VERY small town to manage a little league team where she butts head with their volunteer coach who happens to be a professional soccer player hiding from the public for his own reasons. Cameron is brooding but protective and Adalyn is closed up but longs for someone to really see her for who she is. This person is, of course, Cameron. A really cute, romantic, and sexy read, but the character of Maria steals the show at times!

I was SO excited to read The Long Game as a big fan of the author’s previous two novels. Unfortunately this book missed it’s mark.

The Long Game started a bit rough for me. It was hard to empathize with the main character, Adalyn as she is fairly unlikeable and one dimensional. When Adalyn meets Cameron, they are both so rude to each other it felt unrealistic. The whole enemies to lovers trope felt a bit forced to me and the book fell flat. Most adults don’t treat strangers with such venom upon meeting for no plausible reason and it came off as really childish. I just found this made me dislike the characters.

For a romance, there was no chemistry. The two characters hated each other and then fairly suddenly were in love. Even the conflict at the end was so stupid I found myself skimming and just wanting to be done. I also despised how much Cameron called Adalyn “darling” and treated her like a child or a helpless being. The amount of times that guy picked her up was insane and unnecessary.

I’m left confused how so many people rated this highly. My friend and I read it together, and found it to honestly be terrible and I only finished it to write this review. I rate this book a 2/5 stars, and thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my feedback. I will post my review to Amazon upon publication.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Elena Armas is becoming one of my favorite authors. Didn’t know if this one would top Spanish Love Deception, I couldn’t put it down it was so good. The slow burn of her books is just enough. The ending left me wanting more.

The start of this book felt kind of rocky to me. It wasn’t as fluid as I liked it to be and it did take a couple of chapters for me to get fully invested in this story. The connection between Cam and Adalyn wasn’t instant and the bickering between them felt more like actual hate than a burning desire between them.

Once my heart and mind were into this story, it ultimately consumed me. I loved how they slowly became friends and how their barriers crumbled with each interaction. The hate did morph into chemistry and I started feeling it through the pages. Even though I did start to enjoy Cam and Adalyn, it took too long for me to get there and the disconnect from the first couple of chapters stopped this from being a huge hit with me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for this ARC

4.5 stars! elena armas has DONE IT AGAIN! this book came up so short on 5 stars, that i'm considering bumping it up. i loved adalyn & cam's relationship and the banter??? AHHHH. the small town vibes, the kids, the goats, just perfect. i love futbol too so its just added points haha

Thank you NegGalley, Simon & Schuster and Elena Armas for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5stars rounded up to 3 for GoodReads
I was so excited when I got approved for this ARC. You mention Ted Lasso in your 15 second elevator pitch and I'm sold. Unfortunately, this book did not deliver for me.

The last 20-25% of this book is fantastic!!!! But so much of the book up to that point was a struggle.

I liked Cameron as the MMC but Adalyn as the FMC was kind of annoying. Seriously, nobody is that clumsy! She managed to fall down more than she could keep herself standing. It also was very unclear why they were ever "enemies" to begin with.

The little girl's soccer team with the grumpy coach had so much comedic potential but the soccer felt like a complete afterthought. Game one the girls aren't even good enough to know which goal they're supposed to score in and magically, a few games later they're winning. We had no chapters/scenes showing Cameron with the girls doing any sort of coaching and training to lead to this turnaround "success story" that Adalyn kept harping about.

Also, the PDA between Adalyn and Cameron around the kids was absolute ICK!!! So many times I was like "they remember there's a field full of 9-year old girls behind them, right?" I mean, she pulls him into the shed to have her way with him WHILE practice is still going on and parents are on the sidelines. What???!!!!!!

On that note, the chemistry between the MCs: one chapter the chemistry feels palpable and the next chapter, every interaction between them feels so unnatural and disjointed. By the time they finally got together I wasn't even sure I was sold on them as a couple.

The small town element of this story was completely overlooked and it felt like a million missed opportunities in the storytelling. We had one local gossip/controlling parent in Diane that amounted to nothing. We had a local diner/coffee house (not even sure what it was, it was so unclear) that gets mentioned a few times but no scenes there talking to locals, building relationships. We had an end of summer BBQ/Dance and a Fall Festival that were so quickly rushed through they might as well not even have existed. Nearly every scene took place at Lazy Elk lodge, the rundown cottage or the land in-between with the few-and-far-between and VERY BRIEF soccer field scenes scattered throughout. Where's the story of Adalyn falling in love with this small town and it's residents, or falling in love with the team of little girls, for that matter? Just so many missed opportunities.

The side characters are severely underdeveloped and underutilized in propelling the story....so much so that even in the final chapters I still was having to remind myself who Robbie, Josie and Tony were any time their names were brought up. And 9-year-old Maria giving Cameron the "go get the girl" pep talk.....no 9-year old talks like that!

The big plot twist/reveal at the end with Adalyn's father felt completely out of place. I think I'm reading a romcom and then suddenly things got super dramatic and suspenseful. And who was the chick that saved the day at the end by filming everything on her phone? She was just casually brought in to the story and presented as if we were already supposed to know who she was...she and Adalyn certainly talked like they had a long history yet we have no context for who she is to Adalyn - again, underdeveloped characters!!

Let me say again, when things got good in the last 20%, I was truly mostly enjoying it but, unfortunately, the first 80% were struggle enough for me to not be able to give this more than 2.5stars.

Sadly this book fell really flat for me.

The Long Game follows Adalyn's journey from big shot Soccer Media Star to her fall from grace after a (VERY) strange incident with a mascot. The setup was a little bit weak, and I think could have been flushed out more. Cameron and Adalyn had some chemistry, but I felt like I wanted more interactions and moments where they let their walls down and showed their true selves, especially Cameron.

The writing was pretty disjointed, to the point where I was rereading sentences because I was getting lost in what was being said. I also found myself skimming towards the end.

Unfortunately this one was a big miss for me.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an arc!

Adalyn Reyes’ life has always revolved around her father’s major league soccer team. A viral video of her decapitating the team mascot’s head turns into a social media sensation and she is banished from her job with the team. She is sent to a small town to manage a soccer team but it is not what she expected. Through the sparks with the team’s coach, a champion soccer player, Holly gains a true friend in him and in the town mayor. The girls on the team will charm you with their antics.
A wonderful (and spicy) book about how life changes in an instant.
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After an interesting event with her company's mascot, Adalyn Reyes is shipped off to do some positive PR work in a small town. First day there, Adalyn runs into Cameron Caldani. Literally. She hits the famous soccer star with her car. Luckily, they are both supposed to work with the same kids soccer team LOL

To be honest.. I wasn't a huge fan of either of them in the beginning. It was a slow start for me. But then seeing them together started to draw me in. Mainly Cam. Not a big shocker there. I am notoriously harder to please with FMC and this one was no different. Although, by the end she had won me over a little bit. I was a big fan of the goats, kids and small town feel. But mostly just Cam. Somehow this still ended up being a solid 3.5 rounded up to 4.

I really enjoyed this read. It was just a fun click out of thinking and just enjoy the ride kind of read. It is a very much cinnamon roll hero, not so much grumpy sunshine, though it doesn't matter. I feel this is a wonderful rainy weekend or vacation read.

Super cute rom-com. my only complaint was that the progression of the relationship jumped forward very fast - I love the suspenseful build-up to the romance and this was missing that. Very steamy!!!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

When Adalyn is exiled to a small middle-of-nowhere town and she is forced to live in a dilapidated cabin next to grumpy Cameron, she things that she has hit an ultimate low that is until a spark ignites between her and Cameron.Elena Armas always delivers, and she does it again with this book. Cameron is book boyfriend gold. He is a tall, dark, and broody half English/half Italian retired footballer. I adore Cameron and Adalyn's dynamics and the interactions with the little league soccer team that he coaches and she manages.

I love loved the slow burn and tension in this book, Elena never fails with her hilarious characters and the small town cam and adalyn were in was perfect! It had so much heart, so many laughs and I was happy to see an fmc who didn’t change who she was for anyone. It was a great cozy read that gave me all the feels:)

Elena Armas has become one of my instant read authors after finishing this book. I really enjoyed the story of Cameron and Adalyn. Definitely a slowburn, but it made the actual event all the more worth it. I wish that I had seen more closure for the characters, but I think this will come if there is a sequel with ?Michael and Josie?? This book had me invested from the beginning and I read it in one day. I wouldn't stop until I finished at 12:30 am! Another hit for Armas.

Talk about a slow burn!! The banter between Cam and Adalyn was perfect. I appreciate that there was spice, but also a plot.

Received an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Elena Armas does it again with another fun, fast romp that had me hooked from the start. This book is part of a new series that is set in small town Green Oak. Adalyn was a fun heroine with realistic flaws. Cameron was clearly based on Roy Kent (which only occasionally pulled me out of the book), but still a fun hero to follow. I loved the dual perspective as well. The residents of Green Oak were so much fun. I am excited to read her future books set here as well.

ARC review - 3.75

I loved reading as Cameron and Adalyn’s relationship developed. I didn’t love them right away, but their characters grew on me. This book picked up quickly once you get 60/70% through it, so I wish the pace was more consistent from the jump.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was adorable and sure to be a hit with anyone who loves quirky small towns and the hilarious side characters that come with them. Adalyn is so prim and proper and the minute she goes head to head with Cam you can almost feel the sparks coming off the page.

My favorite part of this book was that it somehow felt like a grumpy/sunshine enemies to lovers trope but when I stop to think on it there isnt a set grumpy/sunshine role. Adalyn and Cam seem to switch off on those toles based on what will annoy each other more.

All in all this is a fun quick read.