I was really disappointed with this. When I got the ARC I was so excited and I couldn't wait. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. For me, I just found it really hard to connect to the story or the characters. It's not that it was badly written, that's not it at all. I just didn't find the characters likeable from what I was reading. I also just didn't get the storyline, it didn't work for me. This was a slow burn and by slow burn I mean the slowest burn imaginable.
I'm really happy there are lots of others that loved this, but for me it didn't work.

This book is a slow burn, rivals to lovers type romance. It’s cute. Cameron Caldani was every woman’s dream- a total, protective, gooey marshmallow. He was the grump to Adalyns sass. I loved how they got under each others skin, and broke down walls and defences. And in the end, your heart will melt for this duo.

It was a little slow at times, but the tension between the two lead characters kept me coming back for more.

It was laugh out loud funny, with some goat yoga and an accident prone FMC. Hilarious nicknames and misnomers from the spunky 9 year old girls on the soccer team.

All around heartwarming.

I’m anticipating a follow up book with two side characters, and looking forward to it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I'm normally a fan of sport related Rom Coms, but after 4 attempts I could not get into this one. I felt confused (which could be the covid). I did not find any of the characters enticing and really was not feeling the book sadly.

In the author's defence I am not feeling great so this could be a me issue and not a her issues

I am obsessed with this book. I adored it and am so sad that it’s over.

I truly felt the struggles Adalyn was going through. The perfectionism, independence, and wanting to put on a brave face. And I fell in love with Cameron. How he unabashedly showed his feelings for Adalyn and wanted to take care of her in every way he could.

And the side characters were fabulous. They all had their own personalities and really added to the story. All of them created funny moments that had me laughing out loud.

I highly, highly recommend this book!

The Long Game, Elena Armas
Out now

Sporty, sassy and swoony!

If adult rec soccer came with that offer then - sign me up!! ⚽️ 📝

But in all seriousness I enjoyed this rom-com centred around sports, especially with youth u-10 female soccer being represented. As someone who has been on the bench supporting hockey teams for years, I found highlighting females in sports and their banter very endearing. I have done many braids and honestly have had some the most fulfilling conversations with young players. Their innocence and un-jaded perspectives are refreshing (they can also cut deep with their bluntness!). I loved this piece in the narration.

This was my first book from the author and I know it won’t be my last. Thankfully, there was a bit of teaser at the end by the FMC’s bestie which has me hoping for a sequel with the curmudgeon couple that is Cam and Adalyn!


Thank you to @simonandschuster @netgalley and the author for my gifted advanced reader’s copy.

The Long Game is the first book I’ve read by Elena Armas, and while I didn’t really love it, I would still be open to trying another one of her books. I’m struggling to find the words to explain why I didn’t love it… I just couldn’t get into the characters and never felt attached to them, and much of the book kind of bored me. It was wordy and kind of repetitive in my opinion. I also didn’t really love the ending and find that she didn’t really get ‘justice’ for how royally screwed over she was.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Atria Books, and Elena Armas for the arc to read. All thoughts and opinions are given voluntarily!

Well, this one was a bit of a disappointment for me. I was really looking forward to The Long Game by Elena Armas but I really had to drag my way through it.

A few issues I had with this one were:
•Lack of chemistry between our MC’s
•The premise her being sent to a small town to manage a team of 10 year olds was absurd.
•In general our FMC was very unlikable but I did like that the MMC didn’t try and change her.
•This book was slow. Like not a slow burn but more like trudging through molasses.

The first 70% it feels like VERY little happens but if you can make it that far, the last 30% picks up a bit.

Anyway we’ll chalk this up as not for me and that’s okay.

Thank you to @simonschusterca for my advanced copy. The Long Game is available today.

such a cute book — featuring:
✧ forced proximity
✧ small town
✧ grumpy x grumpy
✧ dual pov
✧ slow burn [done in a good and non-dragged-out way]

adalyn is a little mix of unbotheredness and chaos, and i love it. she is intelligent, determined, and independent. love her. and she and cameron are such a power couple and just made for each other. their chemistry was instant and so fun to witness.
cameron. cameron had me gripping my kindle, jaw-dropped, and i don't know about you, but cameron calling adalyn darling and love and him wearing his skintight long-sleeved thermals had me rolling on the floor, obsessed. and his love language is acts of service?! say no more.
honourable mention to all the animals — the cats, goats, chickens, etc. — in this book; they really added such a fun touch to the story.
in all, this was such a delightful, enjoyable, and funny read.

thank you netgallery & simon & schuster canada for this e-arc!!

Thanks to @simonschusterca for letting me read in advance a digital copy of this book through Netgalley! I've read this one willingly. This is my honest review.

I am a big fan of Elena Armas. Her Slow-burns are always flawless and this one didn't make exceptions. I was hooked and I couldn't stop reading.

It was perfectly paced with a touch of humor and the teasing was almost torturous. Oh my god, the yoga scene was 🥵🥵🥵. ( IYKYK)

I don't even know how the FMC, Adalyn, did to resist that long. I would have literally melted. I love how strong she is, how competitive, but also vulnerable. She has so much depth and Cameron brings all her softness to the surface. He was my perfect amount of grumpiness. I loved him. For me, he topped Aaron. That's how much I loved him ! And the praise kink 👌🌶️. I don't even have words.

Trust me, you don't want to miss this book. You're gonna be charmed like me with this cute little town with their goats and their girls soccer team ! Add this to your TBR ASAP and read it !
I loved it so much that I preordered it right after finishing it !

Unfortunately I was not a fan of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲. ⁣
⁣
After a video of Adalyn attacking her FC team's mascot goes viral, she's banished to a town in North Carolina to help out a girls soccer team. This felt like a case of the punishment not being proportionate to the crime because after all the sports scandals that I've read about on social media, this didn't seem like a big deal. The continuing fallout from the video didn't make sense to me either. ⁣
⁣This forced proximity, enemies to lovers romance in a small town setting could have worked, but I couldn't get over the oh-so-many cringy endearments. If I had listened to this on audiobook, I likely would have DNF. Two of the secondary storylines were just tossed in there.⁣
⁣
I was a fan of the baby goats, kids, and the treatment of mental health.

This was the slowest burn book I’ve read in a long time but IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT.

“Good girl” 😳👌🏼

Coach Chamomile was everything, even if he did take forever to kiss Miss Adalyn.

If you’re looking for a slow burn, tension building, he falls first (and hard) this might be the one for you.

4/5 stars.

Another hit from Elena Armas!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5
Spice: 🌶️ (but long to get there!)

I adored this romance between our fiercely independent heroine Adalyn Reyes & former pro soccer goalie, our grumpy British hero, Cameron Caldani. Set in a small town, the two find themselves co-coaching/managing a girls’ little league soccer team.

This was a verrrrry slow burn, but the tension was perfection and it made complete sense for these characters. That pottery scene 🥵 damn.

I believe Lucas Martín will always be my #1 love, but Cameron Caldani gave him a run for his money! The way he called her darling & love… so much swoon 🫠

What you’ll find in the Long Game:
⚽️ Neighbors
⚽️ Enemies to lovers
⚽️ Former pro soccer player
⚽️ British hero
⚽️ Grumpy/grumpy
⚽️ Co-coaching kids soccer
⚽️ Forced proximity
⚽️ Goat yoga
⚽️ Hilarious 10 year old Maria
⚽️ Small town
⚽️ Dual POV/first person

Thank you so very much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an advanced reader copy of one of my most anticipated books of the year!
All opinions are my own.

Deliciously slow burn, he falls first, enemies to lovers sport’s romance. All the best tropes rolled up into one.

After a media scandal, Adalyn Reyes is sent to the small town of Green Oaks, NC to turn around their soccer team… which turns out to be a group of under 10 girls whose coach is none other than retired professional goaltender Cameron Caldani.

The antics these two get up to absolutely cracked me up and Adalyn was like a fish out of water in this small town in her power suits and heels. However her transformation within this book was so well written and the confidence and ability to let go and have fun that she gains with Cameron’s help is *chef kiss*. While I typically dislike slow burn romance because I’m impatient as hell - this book delivered on all the steaminess I could have ever wished for once that slow burn turned to a wildfire.

Highly recommend that everyone go read this book (out tomorrow 9/5) but be prepared to be thrust into your sports romance era again girlies.

Forever an Elena Armas stan.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada/Atria Books for the chance to read this gem in exchange for an honest review.

I received an arc copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Canada. I really enjoyed it. I also really hope all the typos get fixed before release day 🫠

Okay but it was so good!! Cameron Caldani is book boyfriend goals!
Adalyn Reyes is an MC that every woman needs. I saw so much of myself in her and just wanted her to love herself and believe she deserved all the love she was getting.
The children—especially Maria made the story so fun and so cute. And we love when animals play a role in a romcom.
Lots of laughable cute moments throughout the book. Great side characters.
The slowburn was BURNING! Oof I was waiting for something, anything! To happen.
The payoff was not disappointing either. I thought the progression of their relationship from hate to friends to love was so well done.

Docked a star because of the writing style. The chapters just end. Like a big scene will be happening and then bam nothing. Next chapter will barely touch on previous chapters scenes and it just is jarring and leaves the reader wanting more.

Synopsis ⬇️
“A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children's team in this smalltown love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer” - Shortened Goodreads summary

My Thoughts 🩷

It was a slow start for me, but once I got halfway, I got more into it and started picturing it as a movie. I LOVED Ted Lasso & It Happened One Summer so I was a little disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this book as much. I still plan to read the authors other books eventually!
〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️
Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Atria Books for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a cute, fun romance. It was a slow burn, maybe a little too slow for me.
It had 3 of my favorite tropes.
-enemies to lovers
-forced proximity
-big city to small town

It was my firsr soccer romance and I enjoyed it.

Thank You Simon & Schuster for the Arc

This will probably be an unpopular opinion but I didn’t enjoy this one.

I didn’t love the Spanish Love deception either so I’m starting to think this Elena Armas isn’t for me.

I found Cameron and Adalyn sort of annoying and unlikeable. Nothing really happened until like 70% in and even then it wasn’t great.

If you were a fan of her other books you’ll probably enjoy this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this copy.

2.5 STARS - Elena Armas and I aren't not destined to be bookish besties. And that's okay.

I was not a fan of Armas' debut The Spanish Love Deception, but I wanted to give her another try and I was intrigued by this soccer-themed romance that is touted as 'in the vein of Ted Lasso'. Those are big soccer cleats to fill.

This book has all the makings for a cute, steamy and sporty RomCom with its endearing small-town setting, Ted Lasso vibe and the promise of some saucy scenes and good banter. But for me, it fell flatter than an soccer ball with a hole in it.

When I reread my review of The Spanish Love Deception, I notice that I had similar issues with this book. This is another 'sloth-like slow burn RomCom' that had an enticing blurb, but suffered from an underused secondary cast, cringy sex talk and ended up being a frustrating read. Readers are once again repeatedly reminded that the male lead character looks like a real-life celeb (Henry Cavill in TSLD and Brett Goldstein - aka Roy Kent - in this book). The hints to picture Cameron as Roy Kent are not subtle - his curmudgeonly demeanour, English accent, snarly growls and hairy chest. Roy is a great character, but Cameron paled in comparison with his annoying hero complex and the overuse of the word 'love' - which I assume was to show his Britishness.

I just wasn't a fan of the main characters. Adalyn and Cameron were hard characters to like - they were whiny, entitled and unreasonably irritated with each other from the get-go and for the absolute silliest of reasons. Despite having their POVs, their relationship felt disjointed, leaving me to wonder why they suddenly luuurve each other after chapters of them being snitty about every little thing!

The book is filled with one-dimensional characters (including an overly loquacious and philosophical 9-year-old soccer player), an unexplained emotional pivot that leads to an awkward romance and a story that relies too much on a popular TV series to tug readers along with a story that didn't flow well and left me with too many unanswered questions. Why was Adalyn's original living arrangement so dilapidated? Why are we expected to believe that a silly viral video would change Adalyn's life so drastically? And most importantly, what happened to the chicken?

Needless to say, I struggled with this book that took me two weeks to read (when I normally read a book in 3 days). This is just not my cuppa tea, love. If you enjoyed Armas' earlier work, then this book may be a better fit for you so take my curmudgeonly Roy Kentishness with a grain of salt.

I always love a sports romance! These two went from enemies to coworkers to lovers during the novel and it was perfect. I’m always a sucker for romance, however it did seem like the lead up was just too long for my liking. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this one and can’t wait to read more from Elena!

The Long Game by Elena Armas was a delight to read. A viral video of an altercation finds a disgraces soccer exec banished to a middle of nowhere small town to help out a struggling local soccer team. The catch? The team is made up of unruly little girls and a grumpy coach that can’t seem to stand the high maintenance city exec.

This was a classic enemies to lovers with perfect small town vibes, farm animals ❤️, witty banter, a bit of steam and all the feels. This was my first by this author and I will definitely read more!