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

#amreadingromance #bookstagram #review #romancebooks #romancelandia #romancereader #romancereads #books #bookrecommendation #arc #netgalley #2024debut #harlequin

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.