This is a good book. The two main characters are Zara and Elias. Zara is a freshman at college, artist and daughter of the college football coach. Elias is a senior at college and a quarterback for the football team. One of the rules for the football team is no one makes a move of the coach’s daughter. When Elias meets Zara he knows she is the one for him. He convinces Zara to give him a chance, even though she knows her father’s rule. They start dating. The coach finds out about them dating. He kicks Elias off the team. Zara and Elias fall in love.

This is a very spicy but sweet romance about love at first sight.
This is a story about how rules, are sometimes made to be broken.
Zara is fun, caring and wants to be her own person, whilst Elias is serious and seeking something that he didn’t think that he needs.
There were some really fun, spicy, and extremely sexy scenes. It was really funny reading about their first meeting from each other POV’s.
This book didn’t just introduce the main characters but also their friends. Each of their friends was a fun and unique character that could easily make this story into a great series.
This is a great book that has an emotional impact. 5 stars!

Elias O’Shea is Hawthorne U’s campus heartthrob and star quarterback but he just isn’t feeling like himself anymore. Anything that brought him comfort or feelings at all just wasn’t hitting right anymore. Or so he thought until he met Zara Fox. The instant Elias saw Zara walking towards him on the football field he knew she was meant to be his. That is until she called his coach, dad.

Zara Fox knew the rule her father had in place for her and her sister: NO football players, especially his team. Starting her freshman year at Hawthorne U was her new, fresh start and she was looking forward to starting her new life. As an inspiring artist (like her mother), Zara was going to focus on her school work which only involved art. What Zara didn’t plan on was meeting Elias the first day of classes and become the center of his attention and obsession. Their forbidden love wouldn’t lead to anything, right?

I love, love, love Elias as the MMC and love his obsession with Zara as soon as he saw her. This author does an amazing job with insta-love stories and I’ve read many of her books before this one. I cried many tears, but who doesn’t when the love story is so good? Some TWs include: parent deaths. Tropes included: insta-love, Alpha male vibes, Boy Obsessed, strangers to lovers, sports (football) + more.

2 stars

Lovestruck is a Football romance following the perspectives of Elias and Zara. The writing was pretty good, the story moved at a fast pace and read really quickly. It is an instant love scenario which is not my favorite, I loved the sports setting and all the references. That being said I did not like reading the sections from Elias' perspective, mostly at the beginning of the book because he was so full of himself and the way he talked about himself, I just could not stand it. I like when characters have confidence and self-assurance, but he just came off as conceited and stuck up. It calmed down in the second half of the book, so it did get better while reading. I also had a problem with Zara’s father and coach of the college team. I know he was supposed to come off as protective and worried about his daughter, but it came off as very controlling, I mean he did not want her near any of the players, very unprofessional and crossing so many boundaries. I did end up powering through this book near the end not really enjoying it or disliking it. Overall, this book was not for me, I do see a number of aspects that others might enjoy from it.
I received an advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

This is a 3.5 star book for me rounded up to a 4. Lovestruck is best for readers who enjoy instalove college sports romance. For the most part, I did like Elias & Zara. They had good chemistry together. I like a little crazy in my MMCs and Elias delivered on that with some of his slightly stalkerish behaviors in the beginning of the book. Zara was on the younger side; a talented artist, quiet, reserved and I'm glad she made Elias work for her a bit. I am a huge sucker for when the guy falls first and hard. What I don't like is when the FMC is so completely inexperienced with guys while the MMC has basically been a huge player since HS. I know there's a few years between them, but still. I also wasn't a fan of Zara's father. The side characters were really also really good!

Most of what I didn't like about this book is a 'me' thing, I think. Lovestruck is a standard sports romance with the typical tropes of star quarterback falling for the off-limits coaches daughter. Thank you to The Author Agency for the advanced reader copy and for their patience with my late review! I would probably check out what comes next in this series.

I enjoyed this book! Characters were developed nicely and had a good plot. Definitely recommend this to anyone!!

This book fell flat on me because it seemed like I’ve read it before. The elements of the romance seemed all stuffed together and it just wasn’t flowing for me.

A solid 4 star review. This was my first book by this author. I’m so glad I read it and will be adding some of her other books to my TBR list.

Can we please just talk about Elias and his perfection? He is literally what guys should strive to be. The only reason I gave this book 4 stars was it all felt a little too easy.

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy by NetGalley for an honest review.

Thank you for the arc net galley. I for one love sports romance i give any sports romance books a chance. Now for this one i love the cover and the blurb oh wow so good. Coach's off limit daughter sealed the deal for me. Now i dont care much for watch football anymore. Dont care much for the sport along with a few others but that didnt stop me from loving this book. The fact i dont like football did not stear my decision to not read this book and really write a review on it. I loved it for my first football book.

please note that the trigger warnings and topes/themes may contain spoilers
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
HEA: yes
spice: several open-door spicy scenes
TWs: car accident (fatal), cancer (fatal), heart attack (fatal), death of a parent (recounted), death of a parent (off page, bur during storyline)
standalone: yes
final thoughts: OMG THIS WAS SO CUTE!! Instalove sports college romance with lots of tension and a MMC who is feral for the FMC. I couldn’t put this down- it was so cute! Were there some tropes and points in this book I didn’t love? Sure, there always are in a book. BUT the way it was written made me overlook any plot holes or dimples in the story because it just sucked me in

read this book if you love

😬 angst
😳 forbidden lovers (coach’s daughter/quarterback)
💖 instalove
🏉 sports romance (football)
🍪cinnamon roll MMC
👮 blue collar FMC (artist)
👮 blue collar MMC (quarterback)
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 great side characters
🏫college setting

LOVE STRUCK By Julie Capulet

Elias O’Shea isn’t just Hawthorne University’s star quarterback—he’s the campus heartthrob. With the looks of a Greek god and an easygoing charm that leaves women swooning, he’s at the top of his game. The NFL is within reach and endorsements are pouring in. But behind the scenes of Elias’s perfect life, he has a problem: he's a romantic, and finding his heart’s other half is proving impossible. It’s starting to throw him off his game.
Until the unthinkable happens.
She walks into his life.
Making her way along the sidelines, she’s heading toward Coach Fox. Did she just call him...Dad?

😊What i liked -

✔ Sport/Forbidden Love/Insta Love.
✔ I liked Zara's personality. very simple and artsy.
✔ It was cute how Elias joins the art class just for her
✔ I liked a few of the side characters too.
✔ It was cute and swoony.

🤔What could have been better -

✔ It was a bit slow for me.
✔ The emotion quotient in a scene where it should have been high was a bit subdued.

📚Who Should read :

👶Beginners
💝Romance Lover
💕Forbidden Love Romance
🏈Sports Romance


📈My Rating : 3/5


Thank you, Julie Capulet, for a copy.

This is a very insta love story, which I normally don’t like unless it’s shifters. But this one I did. Because Zara resisted Elias, at least a little, it made it more believable. This is a very easy read. You could see what was going to happen with Zara’s dad and the team. But I didn’t mind that. The no third act break up more than made up for it. I’m looking forward to seeing if we get a book about Isla and Jake!

🏈🎨🩷🔥⏩

Thank you Julie & netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It was my first time reading a love at first sight book and I flew through it!! I read from start to finish all in one sitting, I couldn't put this down! Elias fell HARD and FAST!!! The only thing I wish were different was I wish we got to know more about Elias' family. Given his reaction to when he received the news about his dad at the beginning of the book, you'd think his reaction to his dad's death would be a bit more emotional?!? I was shocked at how it all seemed to be brushed off??

Overall, if you're looking for a love at first sight, instant love, he falls first AND HARDER, i would 1000% recommend this book!

Lovestruck: ★★★☆☆ (3) 🌶️🌶️ (2)

Pub date: available now!

Overall Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Loved this forbidden love/instant love story! It's he fell first/ virgin FMC. Loved the dynamic between the two and Elias determination to win her love. The things he did for her would make anyone swoon.

Spicy Rating
🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of 5

I know I say this a lot in my reviews, but the instant chemistry is beautiful! Especially since it's a forbidden love for both FMC, Zara, and MMC, Elias. Their emotional connection made the spicy scenes even better and felt deeper than surface level.

I hope there are more books in the series! I definitely want to read them! ❤️




All opinions shared of are an expression of my own thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

I absolutely loved this book! loved the characters and the love story. can't wait to read more about the boys and their romances

Love at first sight 😍 this book was really cute! I loved reading Elias and Zara’s story and devoured the book!

Whilst I'm not an insta-love lover the coach's daughter aspect was to hook that dragged me in! There are definitely things to like about this book such as the shared grief and loss histories Elias and Zara share, as well as the fast friendships between the team members and Elias (though how some of these are forged/expressed are a bit dicey ... see later in this review), and Zara's new college friendships. There's also the opposites attract aspect with the jock and artist as well.

What I struggled with was the "bro" mentality depicted between the guys with the exception of Gabe and Bo and their attitudes towards females. The friends talked about going out to find a stop-gap for Elias so he wouldn't think about Zara and instead of girls being talked about as being emboldened and entitled to sexual freedoms like they were, they were on page assumed to be slutty and not worthy of the team's attention for anything other than sex. Elias actually says the one friend he has who is a girl, is because he hasn't slept with her because she's a lesbian.

Elias was being saluted (and also low key made fun of) for being a reformed womaniser not getting any action for six months (though lets face it he only waited a day or so after meeting Zara getting into Zara's pants) whereas Zara was depicted as pure and virginal, and how wonderful she was "his" because no one else had "had her". Not sure if it could have screamed girls who have sex aren't worthy any louder! I think at one stage he said something about "taking" all her firsts. Good grief - how about these being offered not taken. (see point below).

I appreciated the history of both their parents having formed rapid attachments and being success stories in their marriages as far as that went - so both Elias and Zara came from a position of believing relationships born from instant attraction could work.

BUT I really got the impression Elias absolutely steam-rolled Zara and given she was at college for all of one week, she was really not in a position, to advocate strongly for her own needs. He's about to graduate, she just got there. At one point Elias says he's not going to rush her, but at the same time he's got his pants undone and says he'll stop at any time. Bro .... I think that equates to rushing - you've known her a week and had her naked both times you've seen her! I just wasn't convinced about the consent, not to mention no condom being used (she's on the pill you know, yeah for a month, uhh...).

Elias also goes too far with the social media with his millions of followers and some other things (don't want to spoil the plot) that again, do not allow Zara to make a decision of her own. Similarly with the multiple phone calls and messages after ONE night - some call it infatuation and flattery - others call it love bombing and it's a trait used by manipulative and narcissistic people. If the hat fits Elias?

On the surface I can see people's thinking what a great hero, rich, handsome, and expressing his love. But I wasn't totally convinced as there were a few too many red flags.

I'd like to see what happens with the rest of the gang but want to see some growth in these characters, a bit more human decency, some sex positivity for the women and girls, and a few less bro-hoes.

2.5 stars rounded up

hot and sweet! absolutely adored our MMC and how he totally fell i. love at first sight! the forbidden romance is so hot!

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and or the author for giving me the chance to read and review The Lovestruck.

Love everything about this book from the plot to the interaction between the characters.

INSTALOVE done right, thankfully. I loved this book so much.
I do wish it was a series though and not a stand alone because I quickly became obsessed with Elias and Zara.