Love and Sportsball by Meka James is the kind of romance that delivers all the heart, heat, and depth you could ask for. This steamy sapphic story hits all the right notes, balancing well-developed characters, a touch of sports action, and plenty of emotional tension. I was hooked from the start, and by the end, I was left wanting more from this promising series. It’s not just the romance that won me over—it’s the way the story seamlessly blends the excitement of basketball with the simmering chemistry between two strong-willed women.

One of the highlights for me was the dual POV. Khadijah and Shae’s voices are distinct, yet their perspectives flow together beautifully. I felt deeply connected to both of them, which isn’t always easy to pull off in a romance with alternating viewpoints. Khadijah’s cautious, professional demeanor contrasted perfectly with Shae’s carefree and charismatic nature, creating a dynamic that kept me engaged and rooting for them. The tension between them wasn’t just physical—it was emotional, too, and that’s where the book really shines.

Speaking of tension, the spice in this book was incredibly well done. Aside from their initial encounter, which felt more like a way to set the stakes for the awkwardness to come, the intimate scenes truly enhanced the emotional connection between Khadijah and Shae. The chemistry between them practically leaps off the page, but what I appreciated most was how the heat was balanced with genuine emotional growth. Their relationship felt real, with all the vulnerability and complexity you’d expect from two people trying to navigate personal boundaries and budding feelings.

As a WNBA fan, I loved how basketball was woven into the plot. It was present enough to make sports enthusiasts smile, but not so overwhelming that it would alienate readers who aren’t big into sports. The game served as an important backdrop, adding stakes to their professional lives without overshadowing the romance. For me, this added layer made the story richer and more interesting.

Even though the side characters didn’t have a lot of page time, they felt well-rounded, with their own struggles and stories hinted at throughout the book. It’s clear that some of the issues they’re facing will be explored in future installments, and I’m excited to see where those stories go.

One of the aspects I loved most about Love and Sportsball was how queer-normative it felt. The sapphic romance is beautifully front and center, but the focus isn’t on the characters’ sexuality—it’s on their relationship, their struggles, and their growth. It’s refreshing to read a queer love story where being queer is simply a part of who the characters are, not the central conflict.

Look I’m always down for a one-night to forever love romance. And I’ll say I was pleasantly shocked by how long the steamy scenes were. I feel like I’ll often see each woman give and receive once a piece then it fades at the close of the chapter (which there’s nothing wrong with), but in this book the next chapter picks right back up again with some more fun spicy times and I’m here for it!

Also there’s a scene where they play Horse that is so damn cute it had me smiling stupidly at my phone.

This was a SPICY dual POV Sapphic workplace sports romance between a Black professional basketball star and her trainer. After a HOT one night stand, Khadijah and Shae realize they're going to be working VERY closely together and while Khadijah has no interest in starting a relationship right now, player, Shae loves a good challenge and isn't ready to let Khadijah go. Great on audio with dual narration, this is perfect for fans of books like Anita Kelly's How you get the girl or Karmen Lee's The 7-10 split. I look forward to more books in this new sports romance series! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and gifted physical copy in exchange for my honest review!

Dijah and Shae were supposed to just have a one night stand. Or at least that was the plan that Dijah had in her mind. Instead, come Monday there was Shae at Dijah’s job. She was one of the players on the WNBA team that Dijah was now the team trainer for.

Dijah doesn’t want to mix business and pleasure. Shae tries to respect her wishes but keeps applying pressure because of the mixed signals she is getting from Dijah. Finally Dijah gives in.

Things aren’t smooth sailing. Shae is really a go with the flow kind of person and Dijah is a planner. Dijah can’t get out of her own head and screws things up. Then Shae can’t get out of her head and it affects her game.

I really enjoyed this book. It was truly delightful. This was a well written romance with a happy-for-now ending. The pace and flow were perfect. There was a good amount of spice.

This is my first book by Meka James. I enjoyed the chemistry and sports aspects. The chemistry was vibrant from the beginning. The struggle to get the relationship going, then the angst that came, made this an enjoyable read.
The secondary characters were well done and played a minor part in most of the book.
There were times that the.book fely like it fast forwarded into a new scene without a break.
I will look forward to more books by this author and will continue to follow her.

Love and Sportsball was a good sapphic sports romance. Fairly spicy from the beginning. I liked all of the characters and the story was entertaining. Would recommend and I enjoyed the book!

This was one of the books that I was most looking forward to, and it did NOT disappoint! For a fairly short novel, this packed such a punch - it was truly an emotional ride, with lots of spice, enough time to connect to the characters (and the team as a whole)

I love not only the moment that women sports are having, but that we’re living in an era where this results in women sports tricking into everything else, including lots of books centering around pro teams.

This was my first (but hopefully not my last) WNBA romance, and the author certainly did it justice! I’m excited to see how the rest of the series plays out.

It's a fun workplace story, hot with realistic yet swoony moments. I wasn't fully taken by this one mostly because friends meddling is a trope I cannot stand.

I would like to give kudos to this one for stepping up the sapphic smut with toys because that's a rare one that's appreciated in the dynamic.

Khadijah gets dragged out by her sister for a night of fun and thanks to some sneaky setting up, leaves with a beautiful woman named Shae. After their great night, followed by an awkward morning, Dijah wants to put it out of her mind and focus on her new job as an athletic trainer for a WNBA team. Except Shae, her one night stand, is a star player on the team.

This book had me stressed a little, okay? The planner meets the Ms. Go-With-The-Flow is a great set-up for a love story and I enjoyed it. Dijah and Shae were equal parts sweet and nerve-wracking. Dijah had all the hallmarks of an overthinker and a worrier and as both those things, I identified with her. I also liked the show of her emotional struggles with wanting to map out the best future for yourself and trying to balance it with how she felt so deeply, but was scared to let it come across. She meant well, and though she had her hardheaded moments, when it was time to listen and learn, she did. And she apologized and ultimately stood up for what she needed to feel comfortable. I wish she hadn't been so rigid--and honestly after her second fuck up I was screaming at my Kindle at her, but I'm glad she learned a bit about intent vs. impact.

I also loved that Shae could meet her where she was. She was the perfect person for Dijah because where others would wonder why she kept putting herself out there, she saw Dijah and knew why. She knew there was more than what was being said. She dug deeper and I loved how fearless she was. I also loved that Shae was an optimist. She never gave up on trying to find what she was looking for. And she was willing to express herself, with no apologies. When Shae was happy, you knew it. And when she was pissed, you knew that too. She didn't hold back, and I loved her character.

The sports aspect was great, and not overdone. And the families were funny and a great supporting cast. I thought Jah took the immature little sister act a bit TOO far (especially leaving her at a lounge to find her own way home), but it balanced out a bit. Plus, Dijah and Shae had great chemistry and their passion was really, really good. The sexy scenes gave you insight into how Dijah was when she loosened up, and also how Shae was when someone took care of her and not the other way around. I like when physical intimacy can tell you something about the character.

I would have enjoyed a bit more about them, actually. It ended way too soon for me, considering there was so much back and forth. I enjoyed it though.

I was really excited to read this one. I have been in my sports romance era, and it's harder to find sapphic sports romance. There were parts of this book that I really liked, but overall I was a little underwhelmed by it.

It started out super spicy and fun when our two main characters met, but when they realized they both worked for the same WNBA team, they had to pump the breaks. Then begins a slow burn that really wasn't keeping my attention. I love slow burns, especially when the two characters want to be together but think that they can't. It normally makes the slow burn even better, but there was just something missing here that had me getting a little bored in the middle.

Once they got together things picked back up for me, but then at the end I got a little lost again when Dijah brought out a 5 page PDF of relationship milestones and timelines. It felt like this big thing that was then barely addressed, so it really took away from their HEA for me.

Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for the honest review!

I loved this story. I really appreciated seeing a romance that highlighted the experiences outside of heteronormativity. I loved the character development, and relationship growth between the main characters. I also appreciated the nuance of WLW representation, while staying culturally relevant. This book is so well timed with the influx in support for the WNBA. I would love to read more from this author

I’m a sucker for Black sapphic romance, but I just wasn’t feeling this one and checked out at 47%. A story that starts with a one night stand is very hit-or-miss for me, and this one was very much a miss, with too much emphasis on the physical chemistry and miscommunication.

If you watched the movie Love & Basketball but with a basketball star and physical therapist. Overall it was really sweet and tender but with a lot of miscommunication. Shae was really patient.

Love and Sportsball is a fun and steamy sapphic romance focusing on an athletic trainer and a player in the WNBA. I liked the voices of both characters, and the fun sports setting. This was a super fast read and focused more on spice than plot, but that is ok!

Thanks to NetGalley, Meka James, and Harlequin Romance for the chance to read and review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am in my WNBA Era so obviously I'm going to read a Sapphic WNBA romance?! I technically started this book back in June and read a chapter of it every so often and it was entertaining and easy to pop in and out of the story.

But then once I committed to actually finishing it it didn't really hold my interest. I had a hard time distinguishing between the two POVs and found the chemistry to be very told to us rather than shown. Which in the beginning is fine bc they have a one night stand and whatnot, but I wanted more of an emotional connection between the two.

I also found some of the characterization to be inconsistent. We were way into the book when Khadijah was like "I don't get sports" and I swear that was not mentioned earlier and it should've been. Same with Shae and the Roller rink?! (there is a small chance I missed it since I read the beginning of this over a long period of time, but ?!)

I loved the basketball parts and lowkey am surprised that Meka James said she wasn't a sports person in the acknowledgements because she did a great job and fooled me into thinking she was a massive WNBA fan!!

Overall this was not a memorable romance, but I enjoyed parts of it and obviously love seeing more basketball romances. GIVE ME ALL THE SAPPHIC W ROMANCES PLS

also my petty note is I *HATE* when people refer to sports as "sports ball" like pls we all know the difference between a basketball and a football.

This book is proof that I like sports romances.... But only if they're sapphic. I really enjoyed reading about the passion between Dijah and Shae -- there was tons of it. It did kind of feel like Shae was minimizing a lot of Dijah's feelings throughout the book though. She mentioned (a lot of times) that either she didn't feel comfortable starting a relationship because she was worried about being taken seriously in her career or that she didn't want to move very fast in the relationship. She set clear boundaries throughout the book that it felt like Shae toed the line of quite often which made me feel a little ick about.

This story is very cute! It's a great length and gives us the journey of the relationship of Shea and Dijah. Dijah very much needed to talk to someone about her issues but Shea being the saint that she was, tried to take it all in stride. There were a few points where I wanted Shea to find someone who wasn't Dijah to have a relationship with. But it ended in a way where I'm happy they were together. We got to meet two of Shea's friends and I hope they also get stories! Meka James wrote a tight story, not too long and not too short. I felt like Dijah and Shae were attracted to each other and the intimate scenes were very good. Not my first or last Meka James book!

I was really enjoying this but man I really got taken out of the story by the game of "Horse" which showed that no one did even a tiniest bit of research into basketball. Such a bummer to be completely taken out of the story by such a glaring error.

I would still recommend it as a book but if you're like me and get annoyed by sports errors... I'd skip it.

What does one do when the one night stand you though you'd never see turns out to be one of your co-workers? Apparently, you freak the freak out.

Honestly, it started real cute but as it progressed I couldn't take the emotional back and forth. With the way this book started I thought the vibes were gonna be cute and horny, but that ended real quick.

Shae was the strongest soldier cause she put up with a lot. Dijah...she was...something. She was freaking out about Shae and her getting found out but she didn't know how to act. You know how dumb it is to be worrying about a relationship everyone knows about? When everyone can see the thirst? Dijah had everybody stressing, me included, cause she couldn't get out of her own way. And don't even get me started on that whole contract/ relationship list. Why was that a thing? It wasn't even discussed properly to be a thing, why was it there?

TROPES:
-F/F
-Athletic trainer 32/ Basketball player 29
-Age gap(3yrs)
-One night stand
-Opposites attract
-Close proximity (co-workers)

LOVE AND SPORTSBALL BY MEKA JAMES

This is my first read from Harlequin's new Afterglow line aaaand I'm moving both their backlist AND Meka's to the front of my TBR. The writing was crisp and compelling, the chemistry between Dijah and Shae was off the charts, and if you know what's good for you, you'll pick up a copy and read this book ASAP!

What do you get when you take a WNBA player, a physical therapist, a blisteringly hot one night stand, and shake it all up over the course of a season? A gravitational force that's too strong for either woman to deny for long. But Shae wants to throw caution to the wind when they finally give in, and Dijah's not sure where a relationship fits into her carefully planned life - they'll both have to decide if they have a shot at more than the playoffs.

Here's a few things I think you'd like about Love and Sportsball:
An athlete actually listening to the PT
SO DAMN SEXY
The supporting cast (I NEED a Tina book)
Rollerskating dates
Checklist-making MC

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