I loved this sapphic soccer romance with an HEA. This is my second ever sapphic soccer romance and I'm obsessed! This book definitely reminds of Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner so if that's your vibe then you'll love this book!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I loved this!!! Honestly Liz Rain is now an auto buy for me.
The characters are so full of life, I did NOT root for the mc’s at first but I was won round slowly like Keeley.
Genuinely what a great read

I'm a huge football fan and was really hyped for the Women's World Cup, watching every game I could even if it meant waking up at 4am to do so. So a sapphic romance set within women's football was an immediate read for me and should've been something I loved. Unfortunately it wasn't.

Personally, I like my sports romances as just that, heavy on the sports and heavy on the romance. Unfortunately, this didn't really feature football too much outside of some occasional references. I don't think we even really had a game until about 80% (chapter 19) through the book. Of course this is a personal preference, but if the story itself doesn't really change if it's put in a completely different setting then I don't think the setting has been given enough importance or woven into the story as much as it should have been.

This was an exes-to-lovers story but I think the transition between them not being together to getting back together just happened way too quickly. We only really got one side of the story and I didn't really feel the chemistry which made it hard to root for the romance. I think if this book was at least 50 pages longer and had more worldbuilding and a better explanation on the characters motivations it would've worked better for me.

Reading this book regulated my nervous system. I loved the setting, the sportsmanship, the competition, and the romance. This is a great read I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Onside play is an enemies to lovers, second chance sports romance. It primarily follows the MC, Keeley McGee’s POV. She is playing for Australia in the Women’s Fifa World Cup. Her ex, Christine Delacourt is playing for the USA. As the girls face off to get the win for their countries, they have to try and keep their history off the field and focus on the game. The tension had me reeled in immediately. As did the backstory. The girls in a lot of ways are polar opposites and it’s made for some heated moments.

As an Australian football fan who loves the Matildas, this book really filled the void for me. I’m a sucker for a good sport romance as well, and Liz did not dissapoint on the rivalry tension, nor the overall romance. There were some aspects of their rekindling that were a little too quick in my opinion, but I really enjoyed the story. Keeley’s friend Viv, and friend/teammate Fletch were AMAZING side characters. I loved them SO much.

Thank you YLVA and Netgalley
⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️

I have always had a love of queer soccer books. Queer soccer books that involve the world cup and women's national teams are always better. The actual soccer scenes in the book are very well written, as someone who played soccer for 14 years it always felt like I was back on the field for a minute. The excitement and anxiety before games is very realistic.

Christine is an interesting character in that, she only cares about soccer and throwing her whole life into the game, She works her way up into the position she earned on the national team. Keeley similarly worked hard for her position on the Australian national team.

The first meeting for me was a bit much. There was no build up of chemistry that lead to the first meeting back which was a little weird for me. Keeley was way too forgiving of a simple sorry after she was left by Christine for no reason at all. I feel we could have used a little more character development for Christine so we could have a better idea of why the original break up happened and what happened in between that time.

I received an advance review copy from Ylva Publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Liz Rain's latest work fillled the hole left in me when the Women's World Cup ended. This second chance romance had plently of steam and just enough action via alternate timelines to keep the reading pace steady. If you're looking for a quick, enjoyable soccer focused story then this one is for you. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Ylva Publishing and NetGalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

As a big fan of women's professional soccer, I was excited to read Liz Rain's "Onside Play," hoping to find a story that would combine my passion for the sport with a compelling romance. However, I found myself unable to connect with any of the characters, which ultimately left me somewhat disappointed.

For me, the characters in "Onside Play" felt one-dimensional and lacked the depth needed to fully engage me as a reader. Keeley and Christine's personalities were rather clichéd, with Keeley as the spirited, impulsive athlete and Christine as the aloof, enigmatic star striker. Their interactions, while filled with sexual tension, lacked the emotional depth and complexity that would have made their second-chance romance more compelling.

Despite these shortcomings, "Onside Play" does have its moments of sensuality and passion, and the pacing of the romance is well-executed. However, these moments were not enough to make up for the lack of depth in character development.

I was excited to read this book. I enjoyed Rain’s previous book, Perks of Office, immensely.

Added to that, it’s a book about football, and the World Cup that’s being played in Australia/New Zealand in 2023 (right now as I write this). I’m a big fan of football (go, Matildas!) and lesbian romance so it’s a perfect match.

Unfortunately, the book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Admittedly, those expectations were probably too high, but the story just didn’t gel as much as it could.

It’s not that Keeley plays for Melbourne Victory – although I would have been happier if she’d played for Sydney FC ;-) – or that the romance is between an Australian player and a US player. After all, the Sam Kerr/Kristie Mewis relationship is an endlessly cute coupling that the media can’t get enough of. It makes sense that players who switch between teams throughout Europe, Australia and the USA will fall for each other.

The problem for me was that I didn’t much like the Christine Delacourt character. I couldn’t understand why Keeley was so into her. Perhaps if the book had been written from Christine’s POV she wouldn’t have come across as such an arse. It’s difficult to be invested in the romance when it’s hard to care for one of the protagonists.

It’s a shame because the rest of the book is very enjoyable. I liked Keeley and the secondary characters a lot, and the football setting is fantastic. Overall, Onside Play is well worth reading, and hopefully other readers will like the romance more than I did.

Keeley is a soccer player looking to make it to the big leagues. In college she trains hard for this and everything in her life takes secondd string to it. Then she gets a new teammate.

I was a bit confused by the back and forth between what happened between them in college and present time. I also had a hard time seeing why they liked each other as there were a lot of confusing and at times negative emotions going on.

Overall I did enjoy the story and would have loved to see more interactions between the two MC's and between them and the side characters. There was a lot of introspective thoughts of Keeley who sometimes seemed kind of juvenile in her thinking and actions.

An ARC was provided to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

this book was either too long and should’ve been a smutty novella or too short and should’ve been a full on novel. it didn’t develop the characters or their relationships enough for my liking and had a lot of football details sprinkled in there (i’m talking soccer, not the american version of rugby💀). i don’t understand a single thing about football so this was interesting 😭. because it was only 200 pages, everything went sooo quickly and we were just told they had fun spending time with each other but never shown much of it actually on page, except for a tiny bit of banter in the flashbacks but that was maybe one scene and it was short. the 3rd act conflict was very predictable and i would’ve liked this book more if the author had developed the rivalry between the two more. i mean they’re competing for world championship, they could’ve been big rivals or something, with a past! pretty unconvinced, 2⭐️

⭐⭐⭐⭐
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
⚽🥅🇦🇺🇺🇸👩🏼‍🤝‍👩🏽

This was a great Soccer/Football romance about second-chance, along with a bit of forbidden love.

I loved the play-by-play of the games. I loved the forbiddeness of the two characters, having to sneak around because they played for two opposite teams in the FIFA world cup. I loved the side characters and the love nad support they had for Keeley. Though as much as I wanted too, I didn't like Christine that much. I get that she was focused on the game, and wanted to win but how she treated Keeley was sad.

But the story was great! And spicy. Great scenes there, and very well written.

Thank you Ylva Publishing and Netgalley for a copy of the ebook. This review is left voluntarily.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Liz Rain for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second book I’ve read by Liz and was particularly excited about it as it reminded me of Sam Kerr and her girlfriend.

Overall, I did enjoy the story however, I felt there could have been a little more romance. One thing I did enjoy is that it wasn’t 100% predictable in terms of how things panned out.

My biggest critique would be that while I do enjoy the Aussie references, I think some of them were irrelevant. Like how she wore her “Brisbane Lions” pajamas as it didn’t connect to anything else in the story. Meanwhile, mentioning Stadium Australia was because it’s where some of the games would be played.

Overall, I just think more could’ve happened.

Very nice and easy to read book. It explains very well the struggles the main characters are facing and how they can pick up their relationship during the World Cup while being on opposite teams.

If you,like reading sports/soccer related stories I can recommend reading this story

I liked the book but i think i expected too much. I don't know much about soccer so there were some problems for me with that. Mostly, i did not like Christine and i still don't get why Keely kept trying. I was happy the romance worked out in the end, but it was a hard row for me. I really like both secondary characters, Viv and Fletch. I can see why they all were together and really liked the interactions.
Overall, a good book that was well written. I would try other books by this author.

I received this book for an unbiased review.

With the Women's World Cup currently happening, it was the perfect time to pick this one up! It's a lesbian romance following two soccer players, one who plays for the Australian team, and one for the American team.

Keely and Christine first met 4 years ago while playing on a team together in college, and we are getting alternating chapters between their rivals to lovers storyline in 2019, and the current day second chance romance in 2023 during the World Cup.

This reminded me why I love reading from Aussie authors! The Aussie references started on page 1 where a character is wearing a Kylie Minogue T-shirt. The character is also named Amber Hatfield, which I instantly thought may have been a fictional Abby Chatfield (although they are slightly different, their names are similar and they are both celebrities). There is also a reference to the beloved children's TV show Bluey, when a sleeping child was holding "a soft toy that looked like a blue cattle dog". We also got a lovely conversation about the iconic meat pie, and the fact that American's don't put meat in their pies like we do.

I also enjoyed the different Aussie cities and towns. The main character described her house in Footscray and because I'm familiar with the town, I could actually picture it. A refreshing change from reading books set in the US in places I've never been. Melbourne was also described as having the worst weather...and I agree. Sometimes the locations felt a little bit over-explained though. For example, the main character is from a town called Logan, and we were told it was "a city wedged between the sub-tropical city of Brisbane and the beaches of the Gold Coast", and later when the town was referenced again it said "my hometown Logan was only a half-hour drive from the middle of Brisbane city".

This was a very quick and easy read, it was definitely fun, but I didn't feel super connected to either of the main characters. I feel like I didn't get a good insight to their personalities or why they felt such strong feelings for each other.

I think that if you are passionate about soccer then you will love this (if you don't like soccer then you may find the chapters set during matches to be boring), and if you are looking for a quick, fun lesbian romance then I would recommend.

Thank you Netgally and Ylva Publishing for providing me with an arc to review.

This was a fun sports romance set during the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia, which I enjoyed since that's currently actually happening. Keeley was a fun character's head to get into and I loved her friends and teammates. If you're looking for a spicy, sapphic sports romance then definitely give this book a go.

The right book at this time for the womens World Cup in Australia/NZ
A must read for all football/ soccer fans
I very much enjoyed it and highly recommend it … a great Addition while watching the World Cup.

It was okay, not as good as I thought it sounded, the story fell flat a bit, I couldn’t quite get in the story. Fine for a summer read.