A spicy, sports romance with real emotional stakes. Cassie Connor scores with a swoony quarterback and a heroine who holds her ground. Fast-paced and fun with just the right amount of drama.

⭐⭐⭐

if you're looking for a light, spicy, sports rom-com, then this one delivers! i can't lie, when i first requested this book on here, i did it for the cover because i was getting all the taylor swift & travis kelce vibes! in reality, this book had a total miss congeniality meets the super bowl vibe. fake dating meets forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and a second chance romance?! buckle up because you're in for a treat.

under high pressure, these two lily, a security guard, and tate, star college quarterback, are forced together once again. will they be able to fake it til' they make it? the spice is there, no doubt about that. and if you’re a sucker for swoony athletes and sassy heroines, then you might want to check this one out! this book is filled with all the banter, spice, and chemistry. considering this was a second chance romance, after heartbreak, it took me awhile to get through their back-and-forth tension.

Thank you to NetGalley, & Cassie Connor, for the eARC of this book.

PS: i saw someone reviewed this book and said "i recommend it to anyone who enjoys Elle Kennedy or Grace Reilly books" and i have to agree COMPLETELY with this!!

I had really high hopes for this book. It has such a cute cover and the description is fab but it just fell a bit flat for me. There was too much backwards and forwards going on in the book and I found some things a little too unbelievable in how the plot went.

This is my first book by Cassie Connor and it won’t be my last. What a fun, reasonably lighthearted and spicy read! If I’m being 100% honest, I started off getting the ick quite early on in this book due to the characters but they turned it around and I ended up really enjoying Lily and Tate’s story.

If I overlook the slightly over-the-top and unrealistic elements of the story, this is a fun little read. I loved that the fmc was given the role of protector and the fact this brought forced proximity with it, ticked all the boxes for me! It’s escapism at its finest and a book I’ll be recommending!

🎧 Audiobook Review 🎧

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I want to thank NetGalley for approving me for an ARC of this book.

I love a good sports romance story so this one appealed to me straightaway. I expected it to be fun and entertaining with some spice thrown in, which is definitely delivered on.

The set up between Lily and Tate was great and it delivered on the Miss Congeniality vibes. The added threat also gave the story a different edge to a typical romance. The push and pull between the characters started to get a bit tedious towards the end and I'm not a fan of the miscommunication trope either.

Where this story lost me was the final reveal about the threat, it felt messy and clunky and unbelievable.

I thought this book was super cute. It was a little far fetched for me, but I really enjoyed this quick read. Lily and Tate have a past and after overhearing Tate and his dad talk, Lily leaves without letting Tate know what she heard. Thinking she meant nothing to him, when it was the furthest thing from the truth. Tate isn't happy that Lily is back in his life, but over time he realizes it isn't for the reasons he thinks. He has to come to terms with what happened before and they both need to open up, all while Lily is protecting him from danger.
As I said, it was a little over the top at points, but the bones of the story and how much love they still have for one another is really what I was focused on. 3.5 Stars.
Thanks, to Harper Collins UK, Netgalley and Cassie Conner for an early copy.

What an interesting story?
two former lovers meet again after eight years, devided from an ocean.

Very good for reading, interesting characters, some surprises

Have fun reading!

Thanks to HarperCollins for this ARC in exchange for my honest review, The Big Game sets up a sweet second chance romance and it starts off feeling like a rom com, but as the story rolls on, it skirts the line between rom com and romantic suspense to mixed effect. I felt like the stakes were a little hard to prioritize - I wasn't sure what I was supposed to really be invested in. The flashbacks also didn't add to the story to give me an understanding of why these two people needed to be together. The spice did spice, but in some moments, it felt a little disjointed in terms of pacing and what was going on surrounding the characters plotwise. I didn't feel like the fake engagement really advanced the plot either. That said, I think there were some fun moments, reminiscent of The Bodyguard by Katherine Center that were fun.

What a fun football romance! Cassie Connor’s book is very light-hearted and is both easy and quick to read. There is plenty of strong attraction and chemistry which leads to a whole lot of spicy and steamy moments in the book. This second chance romance is easy to devour as Connor pulls the reader into Lily and Tate’s story.

Once college sweethearts, Lily walked away from Tate without any explanation. Years later, they finally reunite under circumstances neither can believe. Tate is the NFL player he always wanted to be and Lily is Tate’s bodyguard. Tate is resents Lily for leaving with no explanation. Lily finds it difficult to do her job when Tate pushes back and she discovers that she might not be over him after all. Nothing goes smoothly because they don’t like each other very much but Tate’s life is being threatened and Lily refuses to fail at protecting him. As they spend time together, lines are blurred, boundaries broken and reset until it is impossible not to admit their feelings. But nothing can get in the way of the Super Bowl game and Lily feels the threat and she has to protect Tate at all costs.

Be sure to add this to your TBR list!

Miscommunication trope right away.
Honestly there was really no reason explained as to why things happened the way they did.
Fake dating
Ex lovers

The Big Game by Cassie Connor is a fast-paced, steamy romance that combines a high-stakes sports backdrop with the irresistible chemistry of a second-chance romance. If you love tropes like enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and fake dating, this book is a fun and thrilling ride you won’t want to miss.

The story centers on Lily, whose heart was shattered years ago by Tate Donaghue, her college sweetheart and former star quarterback. Now, Tate is a high-profile NFL player, and Lily finds herself assigned as his security detail ahead of the biggest game in NFL history. Their forced proximity ignites long-buried emotions and unresolved tension, but also adds the pressure of having to work closely together while navigating the past.

From Tate’s perspective, the pain of Lily leaving him all those years ago without any explanation is still fresh, but pretending to be in love with her now—especially as they fake a romantic relationship for the public—is easier than he’d like to admit. As the game draws near and the stakes intensify, Lily and Tate are forced to confront not just the external dangers of their security assignment, but also their own emotional baggage.

The enemies-to-lovers dynamic adds a delicious layer of tension to their interactions, as old wounds and misunderstandings bubble to the surface. The fake dating aspect is equally captivating, as both characters are forced to pretend to be a couple, only to realize that their feelings for each other might not be so fake after all. What makes this romance particularly compelling is how the second-chance element allows for character growth—both Lily and Tate must reckon with their past mistakes and miscommunications in order to move forward.

With the NFL game looming in the background, Connor masterfully combines the excitement of high-pressure sports with the emotional drama of a rekindled romance. The writing is sharp, with witty banter and intense chemistry that keeps readers hooked from start to finish.

Ultimately, The Big Game is a page-turning romance that will satisfy fans of intense, enemies-to-lovers storylines. It’s a thrilling mix of heart-pounding sports drama and heartfelt emotion, with characters who must confront the past to secure their future. If you're looking for a read full of passion, drama, and redemption, The Big Game hits it out of the park.

The moment I saw the cover for this book I knew exactly what had inspired it, and I'm here for it!.

Lily and Tate had dated back in college, but after going their separate ways, they haven't seen one another for the past eight years... but that all changes when Lily is given the job of being the bodyguard for a hot NFL player... who so happens to be Tate.

In this role she has to pretend to be his fiancée whilst they try and eliminate the threats he's been receiving, but as they are forced to spend so much time in one another's company again, it's not long before old sparks begin to light again.

This book was brilliant, and kept me hooked until the very last page! With a whole lot of romance, and a fair bit of spice too... this is a must read for every romance lover!

*Thank you to Netgalley, HarperCollins and Cassie Connor for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.*

This book needs some heavy editing. There were times I needed to reread for clarity and the plot felt underwhelming at best. I love sport romances any other time.

The characters were alright but I struggled to relate and they personally lacked depth. I felt their chemistry didn’t quite make its way out of the pages and fell short. Overall, it was still entertaining.

I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge fan of sports romance, I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The storyline felt underwhelming, and I struggled to connect with the characters. While I appreciate the effort, it just didn’t deliver the excitement and chemistry I look for in a great sports romance.

This sounded spectacular, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. Mainly I struggled with the writing style. There was a multiple times that I needed to go back and re-read to fully understand what the author was trying to say. This really took away from the reading experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a refreshing and captivating experience, and I found the writing to be both engaging and accessible. The story flowed smoothly, making it easy to stay connected to the plot and characters without feeling lost or overwhelmed. The author struck a perfect balance, keeping things interesting while still making the content feel approachable. Overall, it was a wonderful read, and I would definitely recommend it to others who are looking for an enjoyable and easy-to-digest book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Lily and Tate haven’t spoken in eight years since their devastating break-up in college. Lily, now working at a security firm, is assigned to the protection detail of none other than the now famous pro football player Tate, who has been receiving worrisome threats. Spending all their time together, and posing as fiancés causes old feelings to resurface and leaves Tate and Lily wondering if they actually hate each other like they claim.

There were several things I enjoyed about this book. First of all I enjoyed the unique twist on the classic bodyguard romance where the female main character is the bodyguard to the male main character. I also liked the flashbacks we got into Tate and Lily’s relationship for college. I thought the book was well paced and the last third of the book was action packed and I could not put it down.

However, there were two main critiques I had of the book. My main problem with the book was that it was very lusty and while I believed the characters sexual chemistry, I never really saw or felt their emotional chemistry and connection. Personally, I romance books with some smut that can show characters building trust and furthering their relationship and but in this book it felt like smut for the sake of smut, which is personally not what I’m looking for in my romance books. The language used when talking about sex and attraction is very crude, throughout the whole book not just sex scenes, and made me think the smut was more about lust than love. My other critique is Tate and Lily supposedly hate each other for the way their relationship ended but I felt they started to get along and let each other in almost immediately.

Overall this was a solid romance book that I would recommend to certain readers. Fans of hate to love, second chance romance, and the reverse bodyguard trope who don't mind lots of spice should check this book out!

Thank you to the publisher One More Chapter, NetGalley and author Cassie Connor for this eARC

So maybe I wasn't in the right headspace when I read this as I wasn't feeling particularly romantic, but here goes my review anyways...

I liked the idea and set up of the novel -the gender swapped bodyguard and the second chance romance. Unfortunately it fell a little flat for me.
While I liked Lily as a character she didn't feel very believable as a seasoned/knowledgeable bodyguard as she misses and overlooks a lot of very basic and obvious security holes/flaws.
Our MMC Tate was kinda basic and kinda added nothing to the relationship, which kinda tracks
(told u I might not have been in the best mood for a romance).
And don’t get me started on the ending with the whole b**b situation…
I liked the book and enjoyed Connors writing but I would have preferred an ending where Lily realised she IS the endgame, left her mediocre ex behind and went back to her life as a badass.
3.0 stars

An overall good story about a cheerleader and a jock and their relationship together. I wouldn't necessarily say the situations surrounding the characters was entirely believable, but it was still a story I was engaged with nonetheless. Clear warning though - the spice is spicing for sure!

Nice read that got me all the chills
Mystery x romance

Read this if you like
🏈 second chance
🏈bodyguard x football star
🏈fake engagement