thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This was a cute friend's to lovers, with an extra side of angst. Elin and Hawk have been best friends for 15 years but are finally single at the same time. Longing glances lead to a kiss lead to let's not ruin our friendship and see where this goes until someone starts having feelings. What could go wrong? While cute, the story was missing the depth that you'd expect from friends that are that close and I take issue with yes they might be going on coffee dates with other people but then meeting up after?? The third act break felt rushed but I will say the resolution was more than a perfect ending for Hawk and Elin. I just wish there had been an epilogue!!

Thank you Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I loved the storyline and how the characters grew throughout the book. This was the first book I read from this author, but I will be keeping up with the future publications from this author. I love sports romances and this one is high up on my list of ones that I have loved!

Slow burn, friends to lovers, sports romance. I overall liked the characters but the story felt choppy at times. I sometimes felt like I had missed a page or a sentence while reading. Also the characters' romance went from 0 to 100 and it didn't exactly make sense to me. I wanted to root for them because I did like them but with the way the story progressed I had a hard time.

this book and couple were very cute. i always like a friends to lovers, which i have been reading a lot of recently. you would think at some point they all start to look the same but they don't. feeling ballsy was again a unique read, with lots of fun characters to get to know. i especially liked reading about the relationship between team members.

thank you to netgalley and the author, for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review

I thought this book was cute, if a bit slow for me. As a former soccer player, I loved that the backdrop of this was soccer and I feel like that’s underrepresented in the sports-romance books, so it definitely gets points for that from me! However I did find it a bit slow and like it dragged on in some parts. To be fair, friends to lovers books aren’t always my cup of tea, so if you find that to be a trope you enjoy, I think this would be a great book for you!

3.5 ⭐️

the vibes of this were SO cute. it’s a friends to lovers which I thought was tastefully done. the main reason I gave this only a 3.5 was it started a little slow & felt like it dragged a bit, but then definitely redeemed itself for me in the second half. I was completely hooked once Elin & Hawk finally started to really grow into their relationship. the spores aspect of it was also something I loved.

I was so incredibly happy when Elin & her terrible ex finally ended things, I just almost wish there was a quicker pace to the entirety of the book.

but it was a quick, fun & cute read & I would definitely recommend this book to other friends!!

I really did give this book my best effort. I am not gonna lie... I struggled with everything about this book. The cover is fire and I was so excited. I was so let down. I honestly forgot the characters name and her personality is like a flag in the wind. One second she is reserved and shy then bam, she is talking about dicks. I'm sorry what happened? The writing was honestly really hard as well to get into. Each chapter did not feel like it was connected. I did enjoy parts of Hawk, but other than that, I was not impressed.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

When Elin Axelsson agreed to be the goalie for her local team, she never expected it would take over her life. All of her friends play in the league, including her best friend of 15 years, Hawk, and her boyfriend, Nate, who is soccer mad. However, her relationship has been spiralling for years, and when she discovers that Nate has been cheating, and she embraces singledom, she finds it harder to fight her feelings for Hawk. She would do anything to avoid losing him as a best friend, but kissing him, and more, seems to be too enticing to fight.

This was a strange book, at least for me. I liked it, don't get me wrong, but after every chapter, and definitely after I finished it, I was left wanting more. Hawk and Elin were the perfect couple, who had basically been dating for years, without realising it. Elin and Nate's relationship had been sour for nearly 3 years, but she didn't really want to give up if there was hope. I wish she had a bit more of a backbone when it came to Nate, but she did get better as the book progressed. Hawk was lovely, though her gave off some mixed messages at times. It's clear he's been into Elin for a while, though like her, didn't want to risk their friendship. My one big issue with this book was how brief some of the events were, and then they were skipped over. The email incident was barely spoken about, when I would've expected it to be a lot bigger. And then the angst towards the end of the book was contrived, and then everything was resolved too quickly, and dramatically too. Like I said, I liked it, but I wanted more from the book. Maybe I'll read book 2 when it comes out, and hope that some of the questions I still have are answered.

I had read this book hoping it would be a good choice for one of our future book club reads, but it just didn’t click with me.

I wasn’t able to download the book so I can’t give feedback I don’t know why this problem has occurred I’m very sorry for this

Elin Axelsson is the worst goalie in her indoor soccer league with the best attitude. After her soccer fanatic boyfriend cheats on her, Elin breaks up with him in spectacular fashion on the soccer field. Adrift and homeless, Elin’s best friend Hawk Occhipinti offers his support and his empty condo to Elin. It’s been five years since Elin has been single and she’s finding the dating scene difficult. Hawk, on the other hand, is a master at playing the field and offers up his expertise to get Elin back into the swing of things. With both friends single at the same time for the first time, they find themselves spending even more time together, lines begin to blur, and they start a friends with benefits relationship. Neither of them wants to jeopardize their friendship, so they set down ground rules…the most important of which is don’t let feelings get involved. What they don’t realize is that their feelings have always been involved.

Beck Erixson has written a fun, soccer rich story with plenty of heart. The relationships are the strongest and best parts of the book. Elin and Hawk have a deeply forged friendship that was beautiful to read. Elin’s bonds with her soccer team were wonderful, hilarious, and sweet. Erixson has created great characters that the reader can really root for. Elin is all heart, a supportive friend who is funny, kind and upbeat. Hawk is outgoing, charming, and devoted to his loved ones. They’re truly lovely people. Sometimes the writing was a bit disjointed. The thread of the story bounced around and I lost track of who said what and who thought what. The story was solid, nothing flashy or groundbreaking, but a smooth read. It was cute, warm, and happy.

After dumping her cheating boyfriend and suffering through the crapshoot that is online dating, Elin begins dating lessons with Hawk, her ladies' man of a best friend.

Feeling Ballsy is a slow-burn friends-to-lovers soccer romance with a nice mix of spice and heart. Elin isn't perfect, and neither is Hawk, but they work so well together. Obviously, they decide that they aren't going to sleep with other people while they have lessons and that they'll back out if anyone catches feelings... what could go wrong?

As someone who played soccer for a long time but wasn't very good at it, I could definitely relate to Elin, who loved to be with her friends but was easily the worst player on her team. I also feel like soccer should have more representation in sports romance, but that is a discussion for another time.

I don't know what it is about the "Let's hook up but not date, and not ruin our friendship" trope that just does it for me, but I love it. I will say that pacing was a bit of an issue with this book– it was a bit slow initially and wrapped up super fast. Overall I enjoyed the book and will definitely add it to my list of cozy soccer romances.

Thank you, @netgalley and @Beckerixon for the copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

First I want to thank Xpresso Book Tours for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the story of Elin and Hawk, two best friends who do most things together (indoor soccer, family events, etc.) but their timing never works to "be together". When Elin ends a 5 year relationship, will this finally be the right time for them to take their friendship to more.

What I liked:
-Soccer, I love soccer and anytime it can be brought into a story I love seeing it
- Bees, Elin's indoor team is a group of super supportive women who are not great at the game but continue to play season after season
- Hawk, he is the best guy friend always making light of awkward/hard situations and is encouraging Elin to date even though it was killing him to do so
- First encounter, I loved when Hawk described the first time he was Elin it not only showed he "saw her first" but the reasons why he noticed her was just

I really wanted to like this book with the soccer elements and the friends to lovers but I think what really threw me off was the pacing of the book. I would be reading and there would be some time jumps and I felt confused and a bit out of sorts which kind of took away from my enjoyment.

This was a fun friends to lovers romance with a great supporting cast that will keep you cracking up throughout the whole story.

The blurb created some expectations for me but sadly it fell flat. The writing was confusing, it needed editing as there were typos, and the scenes went back and forth.
It was just confusing, idk.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book received from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book, it was such an adorable story
Best friends to lovers (which is my fav trope)
There is such a fine line between friendship and love

Nate- Elin's boyfriend.... He is so annoying and I can't stand him
Elin - the main female character, this story was her POV so it was her story
Hawk - Elin's best friend and so much more

There is a soccer theme to this book.

Elinand Nate's relationship is not that great but so much more happens. I think she has her issues but she can def do better than Nate.
Hawk is not a fan of Nate but he kinda deals bc he is a good friend to Elin and wants her to be happy.
Hawk is a great friend, so supportive, encouraging, and there for her through anything. Their friendship is perfect and just go together perfectly like peanut butter and jelly.
The secondary characters are good and add sooo much to this story.
You gotta read this book to find out what happens with Elin's relationship and her friendship.... Worth the read :)

I got the opportunity to read this ARC thanks to the publisher and also NetGalley. The above review is my own, honest and voluntary.

Unfortunately I did not like this. The story did not flow and I was confused much of the time I was reading. I also could not bring myself to like the characters or believe their romance. I was disappointed because I was excited to read a soccer-based sports romance, but this really was not for me.

This was…just okay. I love a good friends to lovers, and these two MCs were pretty sweet, especially together. My issues with this book lie in the writing and the world building. We’re never outright told where this book takes place, but then all of sudden they drive to Philly, and then they talk about NY. I have no idea where these MCs live. The timeline was SO jumpy and all over the place, I had a really hard time following along because the story didn’t seem all the fluid, it just jumped a bit from thing to thing. The story honestly kind of dragged, and felt like it took me forever to finish.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Xpresso Book Tours. All opinions are my own.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy!

Man, I really wanted to like this book. I liked Elin, but I struggled with Hawk at the beginning (I feel like having a calendar that not only marks, but ranks, your sexual encounters was a bit... yikes). I liked Hawk more towards the middle, but the end was really jumbled and fast. There was little build up to the third act "what are we" and it felt a lot like whiplash.

Truly, I liked the story. A few details could be changed here and there, but at the heart of it, the story was good. The problem for me is that there needed to be so many more edits. For one, there is a character named Liv and at one point, she's referred to as "Live" in the middle of a sentence. Took me a minute to figure that one out. I was also frequently left confused and having to reread sections - wait, who said that or wait, where are we? I gave up trying to piece that together about halfway through. Then, there seemed to be a number of unnecessary scenes. I love a good sperm/egg art gallery as much as the next person (I guess ???), but it certainly was an unnecessary scene. With some good editing, this could be a really good story.

I would honestly give this author another chance. My hopes would be for a more thorough editor in the next book!

*I received this book as an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

3.5 ⭐️
🌶️

Literally such a cute book. It’s my first time reading a soccer romance and I’m obsessed. It’s a friends to lovers story and the ending had me in tears.