I expected to love this one but it was just fine 🤷🏻‍♀️ The concept is great but it was honestly just really boring for about 75% of it and then the last 25% was great but it just took too long for me to really be invested in the characters! It was also hard to distinguish Grace from Ava and I think that made it even harder for me to get into it in the first half especially. This isn’t one that I would recommend enthusiastically but it’s not one I’d dissuade anyone from either because I do think it has really good bones!

I never thought I'd be reading a romance novel about bowling but here we are! I actually used to be in a bowling league so this was perfect for me. I really enjoyed the characters, they had some great banter, even though I'm not usually a fan of second chance romances I devoured this one. I think because the characters were so relatable and fleshed out. If you're looking for a character driven romance novel, I would highly recommend checking this book out!

I was happy to finally get a chance to listen to this Sapphic Southern romance featuring two high school teachers. Written by a new to me author, it was good on audio, I liked the unique Bowling focus (the first for a sports romance book for me) and thought the relationship between the two FMC was okay. It won't be a standout for me but I would still recommend it to fans of authors like Alyssa Cole or Synithia Williams Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. Early into the book, the plot line seemed promising. When we meet Ava and Grace, we almost immediately learn that they are former best friends with a complicated history. Ava is grappling with the fact that Grace is now teaching at the same school after no communication since their senior year of high school. My biggest complaint for this book is that it relies too heavily on the miscommunication trope. Ava has numerous opportunities to get to know grace for who she is now, but instead chooses to continue icing her out for something that happened when they were 16 years old. Also, the book felt like it was being dragged out. The points of the conflict were repeated often, but the resolution doesn’t take place until the last 10% of the book.

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.

So enjoyable! Love the diversity of this book best.

A Strike for Romance and Rivalry
Karmen Lee's The 7-10 Split is a delightful blend of sports romance and second-chance love. The novel follows Ava and Grace, former rivals and friends-turned-enemies, who are forced to team up to coach their high school's bowling team.
The chemistry between Ava and Grace is palpable, and their banter is both witty and heartfelt. Lee skillfully balances the tension between their past and present, creating a compelling and engaging narrative. The author's vivid descriptions of bowling alley drama and small-town life add a unique and refreshing element to the story.
While the plot is straightforward, the characters are well-developed and relatable. Ava and Grace's journey of self-discovery and reconciliation is both heartwarming and inspiring. The novel's focus on female friendship, ambition, and the power of second chances is refreshing and empowering.
Overall, The 7-10 Split is a fun, feel-good read that will appeal to fans of sports romance and contemporary fiction. It's a perfect book to curl up with on a rainy day and lose yourself in a world of bowling balls and blossoming love.

dnf @ 44%

Thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The pacing of this book was just too slow for me. I dnf’ed at 44% of the book and feel like not much actually happened during that time. A lot of the character’s internal thoughts were so repetitive and Ava/Grace didn’t have distinct enough voices for me to continue reading.

friends to enemies(?) to lovers gets me again! i also am a sucker for a book that is partially about public school educator politics (even if they didn't always feel perfectly realistic). and making it sapphic? yes please. i don't care about bowling, even at the end of this book, but i managed to really care about ava and grace anyway.

I am a huge proponent of Black sapphic romances and am so excited to see more being published trationally, and I was so excited to try Karmen Lee’s book. Sadly, I was bored and had trouble getting into the premise. One thing I’ve found is I really struggle to believe high school experiences have that much impact on adult life and experiences and decisions, so that’s a point I struggle with, and that made it hard to get into this book.

I received an ARC from Harlequin-Romance via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

Unfortunately, this book didn't click with me. There were too many issues that I couldn't get past to be able and enjoy the romance.
1. It's way too repetitive. Between Ava and Grace talking to friends/family and their inner monologues, the readers hears the same sentiments over and over.
2. The reasoning behind Ava and Grace's friendship ending and Ava not wanting to know Grace in the present was ridiculous. It was completely immature actually makes no sense and as an adult she had no business using it as an excuse. It put her in a very bad light.
3. The miscommunication/lack of communication was used badly here. All they needed was ONE conversation and things would've been settled.
4. The worst thing, the romance was boring. There was no tension and everything felt very surface level.

Even with how this one turned out for me, I'd be interested to read something else from Karmen Lee to see if this was just a one off.

Okay so first of all, YAY for a bowling book! The story overall though was kind of boring. I wanted more drama or tension or SOMETHING. Even the reason why their previous friendship fizzled out wasn’t really very substantial or exciting. I just wanted more from this book overall.

3.25 ⭐️

The 7-10 Split follows Ava and Grace, once high school best friends turned rivals, who reconnect when Grace starts teaching across the hall from Ava. Their friendship had fractured years ago when Grace transferred to another school, igniting a bowling rivalry between them. Now, as co-coaches of the team that brought them together in the first place, old wounds resurface, and long-unspoken truths come to light.

I wanted to love this story, but overall, it was just okay. The pacing was slow, especially in the beginning, and everything seemed to happen in a rush during the final 50 pages. The progression from friends to dating, a third-act breakup, then back to being friends and reuniting romantically felt too quick and difficult to follow. It left me wanting more depth and development.

While the premise had potential, it felt like a YA novel featuring adult characters in an awkward way. I love YA, but this didn’t quite deliver what I was hoping for.

CAWPILE Ratings:
Characters: 6
Atmosphere: 6
Writing Style: 7
Plot: 6
Intrigue: 6
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 6

Overall, I just needed so much more from this story.

I was a little apprehensive with this story however the premise of two former rivals that return to their high school and coach a bowling team was interesting and very fun to read!

If there's one thing about me, it's that I love a slow burn romance and The 7-10 Split was yearning personified. I'm not clever enough to come up with a bowling pun, so I'll just say that I had a fantastic time reading Ava and Grace's story.

The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee is a cute & steamy forced proximity reunion between two teachers with an interesting past & an emotional roller coaster of a present that just might bowl your way to your heart.

The 7-10 Split is great for fans of…
🎳 Sapphic Romance
🎳 Teachers
🎳 Forced Proximity
🎳 Bowling
🎳 High School Friends to Strangers & Rivals to Love

I love books with interesting jobs & hobbies & this one had both. This has two teachers including a woman in STEM as well as coaches for the bowling team, which was fun.

This felt a bit like a second chance with their reunion as adults. Some of the reasons for their falling apart confused me a bit so I lost a little of my connection to the love story. However, I still enjoyed this read.

I appreciate the neat things this romance did. It was a fun $ fast read for an afternoon.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the gifted copy, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

I loved the set up of this book! A sapphic sports romance, with that sport being bowling, I thought that was super interesting. I ended up enjoying the sports aspect more than the romance. I still liked this book and had a good time reading, but I didn’t really find myself rooting and swooning for the couple. Maybe I could not get invested in thr writing style and that is what did it for me? Either way I thought it was okay at the end of the day and I would still recommend it if you are wanting to try it out! It was not a waste of my time by any means!

CW: death of a parent (recounted), panic attacks (mentioned), cancer, classism, car accident, misogyny, grief

Closed Door Mod: Chapter 24 (some parts), Chapter 28 (some parts)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin - Romance for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ava Williams doesn’t mind being a teacher, though it’s not quite her dream career. However, when her former best friend shows up to their small town as the new science teacher, she can’t imagine things could get any worst… Until she finds out that in order for her to start her long-awaited bowling team at the school, she has to co-coach the team with said friend…

I was looking forward to reading The 7-10 Split as the bowling concept for a sports romance was interesting (which did worked well for the book), but I thought the book was just okay. Don’t get me wrong, the conflict between Ava and Grace was what really shines in the book. Their constant banter adds both the fun and tension in the first book of Lee’s Peach Blossom series. I also liked Lee’s select use of side characters to help support the MCs while maintaining their own personalities.

However, I had two major issues with the book. One, Lee had a tendency of simply telling things that happened off-page instead of showing readers these things happening. Especially when it comes to these off-page events impact the story on-page and you’re sitting there trying to recall where Lee had brought it up earlier. I think this could have been remedy by having more scenes or flashbacks illustrating these moments instead of just laying it out there and hope for readers to put the pieces back together. Secondly, I felt that the conflict and plot development for the last 15-20% of the book was all over the place. I’m not going to go in full detail due to spoilers, but it just seemed a bit unorganized and that Lee had several ideas as to what to do with the ending but couldn’t make up their mind over which ending to choose.

Nevertheless, I would pick up on this series again. For the most part, I did found the book enjoyable and I feel that readers who are fans of M.A. Wardell’s Teachers in Love series would get something out of The 7-10 Split. I just think there’s some areas that Lee needs to work on while writing the rest of the books in the Peach Blossom series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, this book really was not for me. I was excited about a sapphic sports related romance but ultimately this really didn’t have many positives for me. The characters felt flat and one dimensional. The writing was jumpy and moved from one topic to another so quickly it was hard to keep up. And for a sports romance there was so little about bowling. It felt like the author knew very little about bowling and chose to write it anyway. Nothing was given room to breathe and plot points came out of nowhere. This was just not for me.

This one was super cute. The rivals to lovers trope is always a good one, but this one left me wanting a bit more. There wasn't really anything else going on in the background, so I got bored and kind of had to force myself to finish. Again, I liked this one, but I just wished for a little bit more.

✨ Queer/Sapphic
✨ Rivals to lovers
✨ Black author
✨ Teachers
✨ Slow burn

Karmen Lee is hands down an aut0-buy author for me at this point! I absolutely love her writing and stories. This was so cute and funny -- a true romcom!! I felt like the story built up and ended well while also leaving room to hear more from the couple in the next book in this series/Peach Blossom.