Feeling Ballsy is a slow burn friends to lovers novel. The story line followed the main character's playing for a soccer league and the female lead asks her best friend for help to improve her game. The friendship was very special and I think that them being more than friends felt forced. The writing style was not something I enjoyed, but overall I think it is a powerful representation of self empowerment.

Mein Leseerlebnis

Mit dem Einstieg in den Liebesroman habe ich etwas gehadert. Denn die Beziehung zum Ex der Heldin umfasst die kompletten ersten sieben Kapitel. Der Ex wirkte auf mich wie eine Mischung aus Nulpe und Arsch, daher fand ich die Szenen mit ihm wenig unterhaltsam. Auch machte es für mich überhaupt keinen Sinn, dass Elin überhaupt mit ihm zusammen war.

Der Rest der Liebesgeschichte hat mir wesentlich besser gefallen. Ich fand es unterhaltsam zu sehen, wie aus besten Freunden ein Paar wurde. Emotional berührt haben mich die Geschehnisse leicht, aber nicht so tief wie erhofft. So ganz wollte der Funke nicht überspringen.

Alles in allem bin ich rückblickend trotzdem froh, dem Roman eine Chance gegeben zu haben, denn als nette, kurzweilige Unterhaltung für zwischendurch hat er für mich funktioniert.

🖤🖤🖤1/4

Für wen?

Wer Liebesromane mag, in denen beste Freunde zusammenkommen und in denen die Heldin am Anfang des Romans noch in einer anderen Beziehung steckt, sollte sich das Buch näher anschauen.

I love a good sports romance. So what sets this one apart? Well, for one, these aren't professional athletes. Elin plays on a sort-of league, club for adults, soccer team as a goalie. Her long-term boyfriend and best friend of 15 years also play in the same league but on men's teams.

Elin isn't even that good of a goalie or player and that is made clear in this book (even if I didn't believe this at all times). Her long-term boyfriend, Nate, is basically a man-child at 30 who thinks he's hot shit in the league and is always offering lessons and pointers to anyone and everyone.

Elin's bestie, Hawk, is great. He's funny, sweet, caring, the whole nine. He's also a well-known man whore, for lack of better words. Elin and Hawk have been besties for 15 years and several times throughout those years Elin found herself beginning to like him, but they were always dating other people when the other was single (the timing is never right type of trope while also having the trope of not wanting to kill your friendship with a relationship).

So when Elin discovers that Nate has been unfaithful to her, she calls it. She hasn't felt a spark for a long time (they haven't been intimate in three years!). And of course, Hawk is there to help her, offering her his unused condo as a place to stay.

The chemistry and just overall great friendship between Elin and Hawk made this book so easy to read and enjoyable. I didn't feel a whole lot of pain when Elin caught Nate cheating because she didn't and you could kind of see the writing on the walls on that front.

So, Elin and Hawk are one another's wingman when it comes to dating. Hawk has dated all her teammates essentially. But one night by a fire changes things between them with a single kiss. What does this mean for their friendship?

They start this weird relationship-but-not-a-relationship thing after that. They're both still dating other people but come home to one another and make out, etc. Except, Hawk isn't seeing one or going on dates the whole time because he's hopelessly in love with Elin.

They eventually get their communication figured out and make it known how they feel about one another, ending with a scene where Hawk just straight up proposes to Elin.

Overall, this was a fun, relatively quick read where I fell in love with Elin and Hawk. I definitely recommend it!

review: this book has a wonderful friends to lovers story and a tiny bit of spice to kick it up a notch. I do think the story dragged on a little too much and that the plot was a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed reading about Elin and Hawk and their friendship turned romance. Elin is a relatable character who struggles with her emotions and desires, and Hawk is a great character who provides lots of comedic relief. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes sports romance and friends to lovers and slowburn.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to NetGalley and the author Beck Erixson for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This just didn't do it for me. I didn't particularly care for the writing, dialogue, or the romance. It all felt boring and bland. Nothing stood out enough to make me excited.

This book was one you kept cheering for the female and male characters to score. This book was cute and made you laugh and smile. The other thing I loved was this book was not about some winning team, but a team of women who just enjoyed playing soccer and hanging out and talking about life and hook ups.
I would for sure recommend this book to others. A easy and fun read.

This was a fun, sweet story! Elin is a sweetheart who I loved right from the start. She’s struggling with numbness & boredom in her relationship with Nate, & leaning on her best friend Hawk. Nate is kind of terrible right from the start, stuck in his glory days and kind of insufferable even before we found out he cheated. The first part of the book before Elin finally realizes how terrible he is is kind of drawn out but I appreciated learning how Elin was feeling in the relationship even before that.

Hawk is a sweetheart right from the start. This definitely felt like a classic friends – lovers romance, because there is clear tension, chemistry, passion, and love between hawk and Elin that it was so clear they deserve each other right from the beginning. both of them were just great MC’s, their budding romance was so fun and sweet to read, especially with the villainess Nate as part of the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this. Thank you for the ARC!!!

Felling Ballsy is a cute best friends to lovers romance with a soccer setting.

Elin, her long-term but crappy boyfriend Nate, and her best friend Hawk play in a non-pro soccer league with the other interesting secondary characters.
I enjoyed this sweet story, I loved seeing Elin standing up for herself and moving on from a lousy relationship and Hawk helping her find herself along the way. Despite the MCs being friends for over a decade their feelings developed naturally and were believable. There are enough spicy scenes between the two and no unnecessary drama.

I did feel like the beginning was a tad bit too slow for me, it took a while for Elin to break up with her ex and for her and Hawk to start progressing from friends to lovers but once it did I was hooked. I also felt the ending was rushed and ended abruptly, I wished there were just a few more scenes between the MCs.

Overall, I would recommend this quick light-hearted romance especially if you love the best friends-to-lovers trope.

Thank you Netgalley and the author Beck Erixson for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

*** Thanks you to the Publishers and to Netgalley for providing with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***
An friends-to-lovers drama with soccer players. Fun adventures, team hijinks, and great characters make this a quick, though sometimes angsty read.

4.5 Stars. This is a fantastic friends to lovers book. Elon and Hawk have been circling each other 15 years. Always the wrong time wrong place for them. I really enjoyed how the line between these two was slowly crossed. Hawk is a top book boyfriend after that ending. And I really enjoyed the soccer setting.

"Feeling Ballsy" is a contemporary best friends to lovers story that uses soccer as a main part of the plot. While Elin isn't all that great, she tries really hard and continuously wants to improve. However, unlike her not-so-great boyfriend, she isn't only invested in soccer. She likes other things too and that is an important part of her life. This was a very enjoyable story and I thoroughly liked the way it moved along. OH and highlighting women's empowerment meant a lot to me. As a woman who has never been dainty, the fact that Elin was highlighted as strong AND beautiful struck a chord with me in a good way. Some of the only criticism of the book I have is that the ending felt abrupt and I wanted more of Elin and Hawk. Overall, it was delightful!

This book was pretty cute. Elin, her boyfriend Nate, and her best friend Hawk all play soccer with other non-pros. Nate is … pretty terrible from page one, Hawk is amazing from page one, and well, I was hoping from the start it’s a friends to lovers trope.

I had a good time reading this. It was sweet, cute, and entertaining. (Yes, it does have some spice, so if that isn’t your thing I’d skip this one) Elin and Hawk were strong leads, Nate was more than villainous enough, and the secondary characters were pretty great. If you want a low key romance to escape for a bit, I highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Xpresso for an arc of this book.

It took me a little while to get into this book. From the synopsis I knew Elin and her boyfriend break up but I felt like it took forever for that to actually happen. Then it took a while for anything to happen between her and Hawk. But once they finally kissed I really started to enjoy the story.

Elin and Hawk had a cute friendship and I’m such a sucker for the friends to lovers trope. I absolutely loved the last few chapters and the ending had my rating go from 3 to 4 stars.

I will say, some of the scenes (especially in the first half) were written a bit confusingly. I would have to reread it a few times and still not entirely understand what the author was trying to get across.

I really appreciate there wasn’t any crazy unbelievable storyline just to add drama. I hate when contemporary romances add in a totally unnecessary plot line to make the third act break up and ending more intense.

If you’re looking for a fun, quick friends to lovers romance, this is for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC to review!