I could not get into this writing style. The first few chapters didn’t hook me and I wasn’t into the whole family aspect buying the football team.

This book definitely wasn’t ‘grumpy/sunshine’ but I’ll let it slide because I really did love it. I’ve always loved sports romances so finding this book was definitely a win. I loved seeing how a small community came together to create a new football team after being left behind by their previous one. Throughout the creation of Crawford, the support and love it rallied was so heartwarming and inspiring, and I can’t imagine a better way to keep the community alive. Having Ben come down to help out—simply because he loved what Lily and her family was doing—was something that could have been nothing, but turned out to be everything. As his relationship with Lily grew, I came to love them together more and more. But when it came time for him to leave, Ben definitely didn’t handle things as well as he should’ve. Though I’m all for a bit of angst. Towards the end, he wasn’t always aware of how his actions would affect Lily, and I felt really bad for her. But things were resolved and I’d love to see how their story plays out in the future!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6498111243
My thanks to The Publisher Avon Books UK | Avon , The Author Becky Ward & NetGalley for an advanced reader copy (Release Date: June , 5th, 2024).

Lily is a 24 year old business student finishing her degree while working with her father and sister to build a club soccer team from scratch after their home team chooses to relocate. Lily deals with the stressors of working with her family to create a new team for their hometown while finishing her last set of exams before receiving her degree and, also, falling in love. From start to finish, this is a story about working hard and earnestly even if there is uncertainty in what may come; no efforts are wasted so long as you try your best.

I enjoyed this family/chosen family story a lot. It was wholesome and very community focused. There were fully realized characters outside of the main character and her love interest, which made the book more immersive. I loved how integral soccer was to this book as well. Overall, this was a cozy, relaxing read.

I had to DNF this book. I read 200 pages. I liked the concept of this book. A professional athlete is helping other athletes. There is a bit of forbidden love. I just couldn’t get into the storyline. I appreciate the chance to read this book. It just wasn’t for me.

I'm a sucker for sports romances, and Playing the Field was pretty freaking cute. I really liked Lily and Ben's chemistry and dynamic, but hated their third act breakup. It was messy and honestly pointless.

In this book I felt I was both rooting for the romance and for the team! I enjoyed the ride of both! I loved being in the world of Britain throughout the book and loved the journey the author took us on. Definitely would recommend this book to others. Feel good story!

If you love an underdog story, this one's for you!
Lily and her family start their own football club after the one they've supported for years moves, they have a vision and passion as well as a desire to succeed that's really endearing in this story. Lily meets premier league player Ben and the attraction is instant. There are so many obstacles in their way, how will they make their romance work?
I'm really into the sports romance trope that's hugely popular right now, that and being a football fan made this a really enjoyable read.

⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Going in I was really excited for this, I love sports romances and don’t feel like I see enough British ones and I love the cover!

This book is but too heavy on the sports for me and I wish that the MMC had shown up a little earlier so I could feel really invested in everything.
I liked all the characters in the beginning but I just feel like too much of the book was dedicated to the setting up of the new football club for my personal tastes. I was kind of wishing the time away until Ben arrived and I was hoping for a bit more tension between him and lily when he finally did arrive on page. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the third act conflict. I might have enjoyed this more with another POV.
Overall it’s a well written book but I think going in I was expecting more romance and banter for a contemporary sports romance.

I want to say thank you to the publisher, author and to NetGalley for giving me this opportunity to read this arc.

It was my first sport romance read. It was really good. With the supposed bad boy and the hard working girl. But you can’t △⃒⃘Lways believe what they say in tabloids.
I love that the family loves soccer, and they build a community of soccer thinking more about the community than money.
Now a days all is greed and no more support local community.
Between lily and Ben. I loved how they started a little reserve, but not trying to impress each other. They just felt so natural between the two.

Playing the Field gives definite Ted Lasso vibes with Ben and Lily. The first part of the book is heavy on the football club but you see the MC's attraction for each other grow. While this is a cute rom-com sports book, I'm not sure it was my fave from Becky Ward.

Thank you Netgalley for an arc of Playing the Field by Becky Ward

⭐️⭐️ | 🌶️🌶️

This entire book gave me very strong Ted Lasso vibes.

Ted Lasso is mostly about the game, the players/owners as individuals, and the drama within the league, with only a segment here and there dedicated to on-screen romance.

And that is exactly how I felt reading Playing the Field. There was so much detail in the beginning of the book about how they were starting their own team that it almost felt like reading an instruction manual. The book picked up the pace with the player tryouts, which I did find interesting because it at least provided us with more details about something other than the sport itself, but I kept waiting for the romance. For this to be a true sports romance, I feel like the characters needed to meet long before they did. By the time Ben finally walked into the picture, it started feeling a lot more like sports fiction than a true sports romance.

Which was unfortunate for me, as I do not love sports. I love sports romance, and the actual in-depth details of the sport had me skimming heavily over certain sections. My eyes glazed over very often, and I just never felt excited to pick it up and continue reading. A sports romance should have more giddy excitement and banter. As it was, there was not enough established tension between Ben and Lily before they got together for me to find their relationship timeline believable.

While there were a handful of good scenes of the two of them together, I feel like we didn’t get enough of that before the club and studying started to overshadow it. While the steam was decent, they went from staring at each other in a mirror for some post-shower coitus, to the comfort of monogamously studying on the couch too soon to feel realistic.

All that said, I would have still given this book 3 stars if not for what transpired next.

🙈🙈🙈🙈 SPOILERS BELOW 🙈🙈🙈🙈

I hate a third act breakup when it’s well done. But I hate nothing more than a third act breakup that was an absolute mess. It was unnecessary, and if I were Lily, I would have never taken Ben back.

Ben’s PR team setting him up with a fake girlfriend to fix his image was absolute nonsense. They could have used his real relationship to help his PR, and it would have been honest and significantly less risky. “But Georgie is the country’s latest sweetheart.” GUESS WHOSE ENTIRE FAMILY IS ALSO BECOMING THE COUNTRY’S SWEETHEART FOR STARTING THEIR OWN FOOTBALL TEAM? HIS ACTUAL GIRLFRIEND. And then for Ben to go along with it—it proved to me he is actual garbage that never deserved Lily in the first place. She should have never taken him back. She should have just lived her happily ever after dating a coach from another team just like Phoebe suggested.

Or better yet—the couple doesn’t break up. They could have just struggled along for a while doing the long-distance thing and hating it, and then Ben could have done what he ends up doing in the end anyways, getting transferred to another team that’s closer to Lily.

Thank you to NetGalley and AvonBooksUK for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After their favorite football club announces that it is moving sixty miles away, Lily Crawford’s father comes up with a brilliant idea, as father’s do: we’ll just create and operate a new local football club ourselves. Are they qualified to do this? No, but they have an incomplete business degree, experience coaching children, a GoFundMe page and moxie for days. Ben Pryce is a professional football player best known for his temper. While on suspension due to an altercation with a fan, Ben decides to pop by and peruse his brother’s new amateur club. In an attempt to clean up his image, Ben ends up assistant coaching Crawford United.

The first 20%ish is very much dedicated to building and establishing the football club. So the romance between sports fans and the game is present right out of the gate, but the romance between the MCs doesn’t begin until later in the book. It can feel a little slow at the beginning, but I didn’t mind this because it was absolutely necessary to lay the foundation for this football club being a community effort.

Ben and Lily are instantly smitten with each other, but she does not want to tell her father she’s spending any time with the well known (and combative) playboy of the Premier League. After all of the world building around the football club, their relationship seems to creep up on the story REALLY fast. And then it takes off REALLY fast. And everything else happens REALLY fast. I sort of wish Ben showed up in person just a little bit sooner.

Overall this is pretty cute sports romance and very Ted Lasso-esque! If that’s one of your shows I think you’ll dig this quick read.

Playing the Field is out on June 5th!

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this eARC via NetGalley! All opinions are my own

Thank you NetGalley, Avon books UK, and Becky Ward. for this ARC of Playing the field

I love a sports romance with a bit of Grumpy Sunshine thrown in for good measure.

I love the story, and the chemistry- the will they won't they sizzle between Lily and the Ben( the professional football player who comes to save their new football club)is palpable and I really enjoyed how this easy, well paced romance played out.

Playing the Field by Becky Ward
Rating: 3.5/5
Release Date: 5 June 2024

Lily faces a dilemma as her feelings for Ben Pryce deepen. She knows that mixing business with pleasure could jeopardise everything she's worked for with Crawford United. Yet, the magnetic pull between them seems unstoppable. As they navigate their growing attraction, Lily discovers layers to Ben beyond his bad-boy image.

Their secret romance adds another layer of complexity, especially as they strive to keep it hidden from the rest of the team and the community. But as they spend more time together, Lily begins to see Ben's genuine intentions and the struggles he faces, both on and off the field.

Meanwhile, Crawford United faces its own challenges as they strive to make a mark in the football world. With Ben's expertise and guidance, the team starts to show promise, but internal conflicts and external pressures threaten to tear them apart.

I found immense pleasure in this book; it eloquently depicts the concept of 'found family' as the community joins forces to back the team. The special bond shared between Lily and Ben is tangible. Though it starts off leisurely with a strong emphasis on football, the narrative quickly becomes engrossing, and the characters are irresistibly endearing.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Avon Books UK, and the author, Becky Ward, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Ben, a ‘bad boy’ professional football player, and Lily, a business major and entrepreneur, begin a steamy whirlwind forbidden and secret romance in Playing the Field.

Author Becky Ward has written characters that are passionate and full of heart, a community you’ll be envious you don’t live in, and a football team you’ll want season tickets to. Playing the Field is a more sports-heavy sports romance as the plot of the inter-workings of establishing a new football club is seen throughout, as well as football being a shared passion between Ben and Lily. Playing the Field is a fast-paced and fun read for football romance fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advanced copy of Playing the Field in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really fun romance. The concept of setting up a local professional football team felt unlike any other sport romance I’ve read, and I really enjoyed the ‘found family’ aspect of all the players and the local community coming together.

This book reads very British. As an American, usually books that take place in the US/UK are fairly interchangeable other than some spelling or landmarks. In this book there were so many British phrases and descriptions that I wasn’t familiar with and had to look up. I loved this, and felt like it added to the authenticity of the book!

I do wish there had been more dialogue on page. So much of this book took place in the FMC’s mind, where she’s relaying just her thoughts or interpretation of what’s happening, even when we’re in the moment.

I also didn’t connect with the MMC. It took me awhile to get on board, but then I felt that ‘fake dating’ someone who didn’t even know it was fake dating, when all his PR team wanted was him to be in a relationship - which he ALREADY WAS - was inexcusable and he never made a comeback in my mind. I wish this was a book without a HEA for the MCs, and instead we just got a HEA for the club.

I enjoyed this book way more than Ward’s first book, ‘The Dance Deception’, and it was written very differently. I’d encourage anyone who didn’t love her first book to give this a chance!

Lily and her family feel crushed when their local soccer team moves far away. So, they decide to start their own team, Crawford United. Ben Pryce, known for causing trouble, helps out as a coach and forms a special bond with Lily. Despite knowing it's not smart to mix work and love, they begin a secret relationship full of surprises.

I really liked this book; it shows how a community can become like family when they come together to support something. Lily and Ben's connection is so strong. Although it starts off slow with a lot of soccer stuff, the story gets really exciting, and the characters are easy to love. If you're a fan of Ted Lasso, you'll definitely enjoy this book!

I ended up really enjoying this book! I was a little concerned when I first started reading and thought it might be a DNF. but I ended up really enjoying the story and relationship once the more intricate details of the soccer club were established. Ben and Lily were cute and I found myself kind of angry for her when events transpired when he rejoined his club team.

Thank you for the chance to read this book.
I felt that there was a bit too much football talk for me to start with and it took a while for the romance to really get going. I personally would have had the male lead meet the female lead earlier in the book to make me more interested.

I really enjoyed this book. Initially, it took some time to engage me, but as a reader and a football enthusiast, I gradually found myself falling in love with it. It has a Ted Lasso/Footballers' Wives feel to it, making it a great fit for fans of those shows.

I would like to thank Becky Ward, their publishers, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.