2.5 Thank you Netgalley and Afterglow/Harlequin for this ARC.

From the moment I saw the cover I was hooked because it’s very beautiful. Then it being a sapphic romance like “YES PLEASE!” However, that feeling didn’t last through the book. The beginning was soooo good. Made me feel like I would be blown out of the water but that wasn’t the case.

What I liked:
-2 black fmcs.
-The spice was doing its thing.
-Liked this being a female sports romance.
-Loved Shae’s venture outside of basketball.

What felt flat:
-There seemed to be nothing else to really draw you in besides the spice.
-Could’ve been more build up/development of their relationship.
-Didn’t fall in love with either character.
-Khadijah’s list was a bit much.
-Shae giving off the stereotypical of how lesbians “move fast”. Like girl how you trying to meet the parents after a few get ups? Chill.

Overall: 5/5
Spice level: 3.5/5
Tropes: workplace, trainer/athlete, opposites attract, one night stand 

I think this is going to be a favorite of the year! Shay and Khadijah had such explosive chemistry, and it was at times cute and other times frustrating the way Dijah pretended not to be into Shay. But it was completely understandable given her reasoning. 

Dijah was smart and ambitious and driven, though it caused her to leave opportunities for fun and love behind at times. 

And Shay was warm and open when it came to the potential between her and Dijah. 

I loved our characters and their supporting circle of people around them. The pacing and flow worked well. This new to me author just found a fan!

Sapphic sports romance? Sign me up!! I ate this up. I loved the story and characters so much. I hope to read more from the author in the future!!

4.5 stars

Sweet, spicy, and sporty, this lighthearted Sapphic romance was the perfect post-Olympics read.

Rigid Dijah is about to start a new job, but first her sister wants her to let loose at the club. Dijah meets Shae, a fun and gorgeous woman, and they hit it off immediately, but Dijah pumps the brakes because she wants to focus on her career. When Dijah walks into her new job as athletic director for the WNBA team Atlanta Cannons, who should she see but star player and team captain Shae Harris.

This had a good mix of sports and romance for me. The thing that annoyed me most was that Dijah was called out for her mixed signals and KEPT GIVING MIXED SIGNALS over and over. But when she eventually got her act together, it made for a sweet romance. I adored Shae. No notes. Highly recommend for fans of Sapphic sports romance.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Harlequin - Romance | Afterglow Books by Harlequin and NetGalley provided an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

The good:
➕ Black sapphic characters
➕ Both main characters were successful professional women
➕Fun side characters
➕ Sweet heat

The not-so-good:
➖ The initial “surprise” at the beginning of the book was wholly unbelievable.
➖ Khadijah wasn’t likable. I didn’t connect with the character or root for her. She was way too hot and cold.

Ultimately this book was just “ok”.



#LoveandSportsball
#NetGalley

This sports romance follows Khadijah (Dijah) Upton, an athlete trainer, and Shae Harris, pro basketball star, as they navigate their way through the upcoming season. Dijiah is dragged out to a bar by her sister, where she meets Shae, not knowing who she is and ends up hooking up with her. When Dijah goes to work the following week for her first day on the new job as a women’s basketball team athletic trainer, she comes face to face with Shae, whom she never planned on seeing again, who happens to play for the team Dijah just got hired to work for. Dijah wants to keep things professional, but finds it increasingly more difficult to avoid her obvious attraction towards the stunning and charismatic Shae. Shae, known for her countless hookups, wants to pursue a relationship with Dijah because she is different from all the past women she has been with. As the season progresses, lines begin to blur, feelings become more complicated, and the stakes are higher than ever.

I really enjoyed this story a lot because the characters were so complex, well developed, and for the most part likable. Dijah was extremely frustrating because her feelings were obvious but she was so back and forth that it just got to be annoying. Even though she had good reasons at first for being hesitant, they just became more and more unrealistic as literally everyone gave her the approval, even the coach, and yet she still couldn’t commit. Shae was such a ray of sunshine, her character and how sweet, caring, thoughtful, and even though she was a professional athlete, I still felt like I could relate to her. Their chemistry was undeniable when they were together, but the way Dijah treated Shae made it hard to root for them at times. You just wanted to shake Dijah and be like, forget your damn list, Shae is so obviously in love with you, how could you be so stupid!!!”

I especially loved the smaller moments throughout the story, the roller rink date, the trampoline birthday party, and the dinner with Shae’s parents, because it made Shae’s personality and true character shine. I loved seeing Dijah’s dynamic with her sister, so I was kind of bummed that we didn’t get to witness Shae’s relationship with her brothers. Being so far from home, I could really feel Shae’s connection to her teammates, especially her friendship with Courtney and Tina, who were absolutely phenomenal characters and supports for Shae. The team dynamic was real and relatable, between the bus rides, sharing hotel rooms, practices, team rivalries, injuries, coaching staff, and typical female athlete drama.

While there was definitely tension and conflict between characters, there wasn’t anything special about the plot, except for finding out who wins the championship game. For the most part the balance between professionalism and passion was well thought out, I just wished for more time with Dijah and Shae as a couple rather than so much time spent back and forth. The spice was great and well varied, but again, their overall development together may have needed a little more time. In the end though, I really loved this sports romance, and can’t wait to see more from some of the other characters because truly, the team dynamic won me over more than anything!

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early digital copy!

I really liked Shae and Dijah, and the two of them were good together. Though Dijah was fairly relatable, her insistence on sticking to her arbitrary "list" (and not 1) having an adult conversation with Shae about it or 2) understanding why it's not fair to Shae to expect her to abide by this list when she doesn't know what it is or why it's important to Dijah) was pretty frustrating.

I loved the idea of a professional sports-level athletic trainer who doesn't really know anything about sports--their game of HORSE was adorable. The rest of the team that we got to know here was promising; I'll definitely be looking forward to more books in this series.

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Khadijah has worked her butt off to be a pro athletic trainer, despite not being into sports... So, of course, right before she starts her epic new gig, she unknowingly has a one night stand with a player on her new team. While Khadijah wants to forget it and be taken seriously at work, Shae isn't so eager to just move on. The relationship dynamics are well explored between coworkers, family, and friends, as well as the love interests in this read.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.
Meka James you absolute spicy sports sapphic LEGEND!

This fast paced read was what a goose lives for.


Shae and Khadijah navigate an undeniable draw to each other amidst one night stand turned coworker realization in a basketball team environment.

While getting to know a bit about each of Shae and Khadijah’s previous love experiences, work experiences, and family dynamics, we see them try to figure out how to work alongside each other with the push and pull of a deep attraction.

This one was a fast read for me, I found myself drawn into the glow of my kindle easily gobbling up every word.

-Spoiler-
While I didn’t loveee the list and I was a bit perplexed as to how Shae was willing to both acknowledge the list, while also critiquing it, it didn’t interrupt the flow or ending enough for me to really ruffle my feathers too much.

This is THE read for WNBA forlorn sapphic romance fans.

I wasn't feeling it with this one unfortunately! I'm a big queer romance lover so I was disappointed. I felt like the characters were not developed enough here - yes, it is a romance so there's not always the most depth to the characters. However, I felt like I didn't really get a sense of who either character was. It felt like our main couple was mad/annoyed at each other for the majority of the book, and the "I love yous" were a bit of a surprise to see considering they only started actually communicating in the last few chapters.

The development of the surrounding cast was done well, with several side characters appearing and interacting with the main couple in meaningful ways!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Romance for the eARC!

Love and Sportsball is the first sapphic romance I’ve read. It follows Shae and Khadijah. Let me start by saying I love the writing. This author did a fantastic job with details. The chemistry was in the room, okay. 😂 Their chemistry had me smiling. This is also the first sports romance I’ve read where the FMC is playing sports. Two black FMCs? I knew then I wanted to read this book. You don’t get many queer books where both MCs are black. Being a black woman myself I absolutely love it. There was some will they won’t they moments that had me screaming lol. I be wanting characters to get it together. Things felt rushed a certain point in the book which I wasn’t mad at. I do think their relationship was a bit underdeveloped. All and all this was short, sweet, and steamy read.





I received an ARC copy from NetGalley in exchange for a review. These are my own thoughts and opinions.

One thing you should know about me? I will NEVER turn down a sapphic sports romance. Love and Sportsball checked all the boxes of my ideal book: deliciously steamy scenes, forced proximity, found family, fun and witty banter, and of course two amazing and enjoyable FMCs. This book had me giggling and kicking my feet late into the night, and I didn't even regret the book hangover I had at work the next day,

I hope to read more from Meka James, as Love and Sportsball scratched the perfect itch in my brain!

Short and sweet sapphic romance. perfect for basketball fans!

Thank you to Netgally/Afterglow books by Harlequin for the eArc

Love and Sportsball is a romance novel about an athlete and her team's trainer. It opens with some very hot and sexy and chapters that immediately had my attention. Unfortunately, even though the writing was good, the story lost my interest about halfway and I couldn't make myself finish it. The characters seemed very stuck where they were and it was dull to watch them do and say the same things repeatedly. Honestly, it is a solid romance novel and I might have liked it more if I hadn't recently read a good amount of romance. I think it's a solid 3 stars.

Love and Sportsball is a delightful sports romance featuring Shae Harris and Khadijah Upton. Shae’s dedication to her team, family, and fans is admirable, and her confidence shines despite some insecurities due to Khadijah’s hesitancy to commit. Shae’s button downed and flirty charm, paired with her chivalry and retro date choice proves to be irresistible. The supporting characters, such as Jah, Nikki, Tina, and Courtney add spunky energy to the story. While the story spans six months and feels slightly rushed, the flirtatious banter, spicy scenes, and emotional growth make it an enjoyable read. I do wish that there had been some more complex conflicts between the pair to see them truly overcome a lot together. Dijah’s strict adherence to arbitrary rules adds some complexity, despite seeming slightly irrational, and the irony of her working for a WNBA team but not being into sports is humorous. It was quite comical to discover that’s why the novel isn’t called Love and Basketball!

What to expect:
- Light sports romance
- Flirtatious banter
- SPICY scenes
- Emotional growth
- Strong supporting characters
- Established queer women
- Loving families

#loveandsportsball #gocannons #harrishoney #sapphic #sapphicromance #gameofhorse

I love romance books with female athletes so I was on board with the premise of this one immediately. And I was not disappointed. The chemistry between Khadijah and Shae was perfection from the jump and I was rooting so hard for them to make a relationship work. I did feel like there was a bit too much will they or won't they and that was a smidge frustrating. Overall though this was such a fun read and I'm excited that this is the first book in a series. There were some intriguing side characters so I hope we'll get to see more of them in future books.

Blog Link goes live Sept 20th
Imgur link goes to graphic that goes live on Instagram on Sept 20th
Will be featured in Youtube wrapup on upcoming vlog

**TL;DR:** This one might end up being very forgettable for me. But it was very fun in the beginning!
**Source:** NetGalley! Thank you so much to the publisher!

**Plot:** Dijah and Shae have a very spicy one night stand and the next week find out they’re now working together.
**Characters**: ****I genuinely liked Shae, she was chill and hardworking. But Dijah might have ruined the book for me. She was so uptight and in her own ass the whole time. Everyone else was fairly 2 dimensional.
**Setting**: Not the strongest by far. The only real setting I can recall with any clarity was Dijah’s office at the court.
**Romance**: I am honestly at this point still unsure why Shae kept pursuing Dijah, but she did and it worked out in the end but I don’t know that I buy the romance here.

**Thoughts**:

Love and Sportsball is a quick and spicy sapphic story that uses the ‘one stand and then whoops we work together’ trope. Thankfully there is no ‘boss and employee’ power imbalance here, but the two still need to tiptoe and figure out their relationship without upsetting the balance of the sports team. Shae is the star player with a bit of long and entangled romantic past, while Dijah is the new athletic trainer with a list and plan that she refuses to deviate from.

I honestly have already forgotten a lot of this one, and I finished it just a few days ago. I was very invested in the two women, and honestly loved Shae, but Dijah and her strict PLAN drove me up a wall and down again. I found myself frustrated by the lack of communication from her and I ended up so frustrated I gave up on her half way through. I’m not entirely sure why Shae kept pursuing her, honestly their chemistry was great at the beginning but I lost all sight of it by half way but the book continued out to a happy ending for them.

This one started off very full of promise and fun but I got really annoyed and lost sight of the chemistry. I can say I might also not care a lot for basketball? So perhaps that had something to do with my loss of interest? Either way this was fun but not my newest favorite thing.

3 out of 5 basketball courts

Thank you so much for this ARC opportunity! I really enjoyed it. This one is a sapphic sports romance and was a super easy and fun read. I loved the FMCs and their relationship. Very cute story.

If you’re looking for an easy, fun read, this is a good option. Every so often, I need a light, fluffy book that doesn’t have a lot of darkness or crazy plot twists. I feel like this book is exactly that. It wasn’t necessarily emotionally gripping, but I enjoyed it! I do wish we saw them official together longer!

Hard work has Khadijah Upton starting her dream job as an athletic trainer for the Atlanta Cannons. Then an evening of celebratory letting loose turns into a one-night stand with a beautiful stranger. It’s a reckless, wildly sexy encounter that Khadijah intends to forget…until her first day on the job lands her face-to-face with basketball star Shae Harris again.

Shae is a major player in every sense of the word, and Khadijah doesn’t plan to be the latest in a long line of “Harris Honeys.” Personal and professional just don’t mix. But Shae, who’s all about living life to the fullest, keeps tempting Khadijah to blur the boundaries. And the more Shae reveals about herself, the harder it is for Khadijah to resist her.

I loved the chemistry between the main characters. I love when a book starts out in the bedroom, then we have to deal with the fallout later, because — Oops! Now I have to work with you!? Totally up my alley. 🙂 Wonderful characters to read, engaging story, enjoyable writing. I'm looking forward to more from this author!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced digital reader's copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!