okay honestly this is 2025 and if i’m not feeling it at 60% in… i’m DNFing. i get the storyline, but unfortunately the MCs are so juvenile for people supposedly in their late 20s and it feels so FORCED, no chemistry

all opinions and reviews are my own - arc provided by netgalley and publisher for my honest opinion

I connected with the characters almost immediately, this was so fun to read! The book is fast-paced, and the second chance + enemies to lovers romance happened in a really satisfactory way ❤️

TWs - attempted murder, stalking, bomb threat in a highly crowded area

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

An entertaining read.

Misunderstandings, a lack of communication, pride and hurt feelings contributed to the demise of state and Lily’s relationship 8 years ago. Their stubbornness has kept them apart until she’s hired by his team owner to provide close protection for him against death threats.

Tate lives for football and is completely resistant to the idea of a bodyguard, even more so when he learns it’s going to be Lily guarding him. Watching him struggle between being frustrated and upset with her and then equally turned on by her warrior-princess mode is so entertaining. He’s turned on by her take charge and competent attitude and frustrated by his attraction. When he realizes someone truly is trying to harm him, he gets bit more serious.

Lily has her own frustrations with attraction. She has been raised to be self dependent and not let anyone knock her off her stride, but watching her struggle to tamp down her attraction and then her feelings of love toward Tate was endearing.

These two had a bumpy journey to a HEA, but it was a fun and entertaining read about.

I received a free ARC from the author; and I am voluntarily leaving an unbiased review.

I love this new take on the fake relationship trope!

The Big Game is a second chance romance between a football player and his new bodyguard. They have to fake an engagement to keep him safe from threats. Of course there's so much tension and angst as they work through their feelings, both old and new.

I flew through this book; it's just that good. I really love the characters and all of their relationships. Fingers crossed we get a sequel with a side character! If you're looking for a quick, fun read, this is it!

Thank you to the publisher for the e-copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ho letto questo libro dopo aver ricevuto l'arc tramite NetGalley. Gli ho dato ⭐️⭐️⭐️-
La trama mi era sembrata molto interessante, ho iniziato a leggere perchè ero curiosa di sapere di più sui trascorsi tra i due protagonisti e sul motivo per cui Lily si ritrova a dover proteggere Tate come guardia del corpo. È un libro che alla fine ho letto con piacere, è abbastanza scorrevole e dinamico e la chimica tra i due mi è piaciuta molto. Ci sono state però alcune cose che non mi hanno convinto. È principalmente basato su una situazione di misscommunication e zero confronto tra i protagonisti ed è una cosa che va avanti fino alla fine con mille tira e molla.
Nel finale poi è tutto troppo veloce, tante cose non vengono approfondite e rimangono in sospeso. È una storia che aveva tanto potenziale ma che è arrivata solo per metà.

This did give off some Katherine Center vibes with the female bodyguard for a male, etc. but dammit was I entertained! I couldn't flip the pages fast enough and really did enjoy the enemies to lovers 2nd chance aspect, and I love seeing a FIERCE female in action!

I obviously enjoyed this book more than most readers. I felt it was a unique take on a second chance love story and I read it in one sitting. If you are expecting a lot of football in this book, you aren't going to get it and not only that, what you get isn't really accurate, so expect nothing regarding the football aspect of this story. It does get 4 stars from me because I was entertained and it kept my interest except for the football game. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy.

This wasn't really my cup of tea. Lily and Tate's characters felt underdeveloped and came across very juvenile for people in their late 20s/early 30s. Plus the plot was a bit OTT lol

Overall it wasn't the worst, but it could have been better.

The entire concept with a female bodyguard was new to me and the blurb with a second chance plot sounded so good. So I really had some high expectations from this book. But the plot was a bit absurd and the push and pull between Tate & Lily was just too much to handle. There was definitely chemistry between both of them but there was no actual emotional connection, atleast I didn't feel it. Still, the plot was engaging and I liked how Lily was so capable but since this was a football romance, I expected some details about the game yet I didn't feel like I was even reading a sports romance tbh. So, this book unfortunately fell flat for me.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review

2.5⭐️



Lily y Tate fueron novios en la universidad. Ella pensaba que él la amaba hasta que escuchó una conversación entre él y su padre, lo que le rompió el corazón. Decidió no enfrentarlo y regresó al Reino Unido con su padre. Ocho años después, Lily es una de las mejores guardaespaldas y Tate un famoso jugador de fútbol americano. Por causas del destino, ella tiene que protegerlo porque está recibiendo amenazas. Para que nadie sospeche que ella es su guardaespaldas, deciden fingir que están comprometidos, lo que le permite seguirlo sin levantar sospechas.
Pasarán tiempo juntos y podrán aclarar malos entendidos.




El libro tenía buenos elementos para ser una buena historia, pero no hay un desarrollo adecuado. Capítulo tras capítulo, todo termina en el mismo punto. En la parte final, cuando se revela quién es el villano, la trama se corta abruptamente y no se explica la razón detrás de sus acciones. Se supone que se sospechaba de un cómplice, pero al final no se menciona si era cierto o no. Hay varios temas que no tienen un cierre.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

You'll enjoy this if you go into it with zero expectations. It's a light, quick, fun read - I really enjoy the author's writing style, and loved her previous books - but if you're a football fan, don't expect a "football" romance. I hope the editors get to work before publication, because clearly there was no research into American football. It doesn't take place on a "pitch" and it isn't a "match" and what position was the MMC supposed to be playing?? The premise was great - a bodyguard for a pro athlete getting death threats - but not executed well, the ending was beyond ridiculous, and yet I had fun and it only took a few hours to read, so 3 stars instead of the 2 I initially thought to give. I highly recommend her other books.

I have to admit, this wasn’t my favorite book. Everything felt so rushed in the present tense, i couldn’t quite connect with the characters. There was a lot of push/pull with both characters.the plot kept me drawn in, i just didn’t enjoy the characters very much.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

There’s not much to say on this one except the book was a bit of a disappointment. There aren’t a ton of football romances out there and I really liked the bodyguard angle but this one just didn’t work. The characters were way too hot/cold for anything believable to blossom between them. By the books midpoint I so annoyed by all the back and forth that I had to push myself to read it.

2 stars. Great concept but the execution was lacking.

4 🌟

I was SO pleasantly surprised by this. Tate and Lily were college sweethearts. After not speaking for 8 years, Tate is a successful NFL player, and Lily has just been assigned as his security detail. Queue drama, tension and chaos.

This book had me gripped from the prologue, it was such a unique take on a sports romance, with some added mystery and danger. I was not expecting it to take the dramatic turn it did, but I loved it. It was such a fun read, I read the whole thing in one sitting!

"The Big Game" is a fun and spicy sports romance, at times a bit chaotic and dramatic, but overall, a great palate cleanser! I love that it's the fmc who is the bodyguard, rather than the mmc, as is common in so many other books. This book features many popular tropes such as forced proximity, second chance, opposites attract, and enemies to lovers. I had a great time reading it! If you're looking for a sports romance with spice and Miss Congeniality vibes, read this book! Even if you don't know anything about american football or the super bowl (like me), you'll still be able to follow the plot perfectly.

Thank you netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Grace Edwards from HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and Cassie Connor for the early access copy of The Big Game.

The Big Game follows the story of Lily and Tate. It’s been years since Lily and Tate have seen each other after they broke each other's hearts in college. Tate is now a high-profile NFL player, and unfortunately for Lily, her latest security assignment.

The Big Game is an enemies-to-lovers, second chance romance, with a twist of danger and mystery. It felt like reading an action movie along side a steamy romance.

If you are a fan of:
Forced Proximity
Enemies to lovers
Second chance romance
Fake dating
Spicy Romance
This would be a great fit.

This wasn't my favorite- I've read better sports romances. It was the enemies to lovers trope, which I typically like, but this one fell flat for me. This book was a fast read and it was entertaining to say the least. I just didn't feel like there was much of a plot. I did really like Tate. 3 stars

Thank you to HarperCollin UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley for the ARC of The Big Game in exchange for an honest review.

First and foremost, I was really excited to receive this ARC. As an avid football fan and lover of all sports romance plots (I see what you did with the cover there-nice play on Trav and Tay), I had really high hopes here. I will say that the author does give a blurb at the beginning of the book where she acknowledges that some of the football facts may be a bit off because she is British and does not have a solid understanding of the sport, but in all honestly, I just assumed her publishing team would have edited things for accuracy. Fun fact: they did not. I know this is a stupid sticking point, but there were so many points about Tate's role as a football player that was so far off base, it just threw the storyline. Even after finishing the book, I have no idea what position Tate actually played. At one point she makes it seem as if he's a quarterback and then a receiver? Then she has him playing on the defense in the Superbowl. Honestly, so stinking confused. I understand that football may not be the author's first language, but why in the world would you pick to write a book centered around a sport you do not understand? I just cannot seem to look back this huge error in the overall storyline.

Another sticking point for me was the back and forth between the two man characters. Each of them keep playing this game of cat and mouse (she runs away, he runs away, she pushes him away) to the point that it actually gets obnoxious. There are so many interactions and reasonings as to why the main characters do something that just do not make sense nor are they believable. I found myself rolling my eyes more often than not and horribly annoyed with both main characters at several points (especially Tate).

I would also be remiss to mention that the ending is completely unbelievable. We have zero idea why Sven wants to bomb the Superbowl (super random), you end up having no idea what happens to him, and there is absolutely no way on God's green earth that the Superbowl would even continue after a bomb has been found and deactivated within the stadium just prior to kickoff. Is this an actual joke? There's just simply no way and another aspect that just has no believability to it.

Lastly, our two main characters spend the entire novel building up the the first time they actually seal the deal, being that it was put off after Tate's college championship game. You spend the entire book just waiting for the tension to break and IT JUST ENDS! You get nothing. No resolution to literally anything. Believe me, this is not a closed door romance as there is plenty of spice throughout the book but why in the world would someone just leave things so open ended on so many fronts? Overall, this book just left me incredibly annoyed and confused. If you are a lover of football at all with at least a nominal understanding of the spot, this book will just bother you beyond words. Would not recommend picking this one up unless you are fantastic at suspending your disbelief/all reason.

I have to be honest, this did not live up to expectations.
Advertised as Miss Congeniality meets the Superbowl, I headed into this book expecting a certain picture I can't quite put into words (though it may be best described as wanting to see the main character as Sandra Bullock...). The book definitely delivers on the Superbowl and secret agent parts, but for some reason this just didn't really work for me.

I guess the main reason why I had a hard time connecting to this story, is because the attraction between Lily and Tate 'The Don', felt more like lust instead of love. It all felt a little too superficial for me to be seen as true love. Sure, they already knew each other from college, but the time in which the story takes place felt rushed in regards to their romance.

The plot was quite entertaining. From being hired as a fake fiancée to help protect Tate, Lily is what seems to be the epitome of a bad ass, though at times I struggled with her attitude. The writing was comfortable and helped me speed through the book. The book definitely isn't bad, but I guess I got stuck on the expectations I had to alter while reading.

I read this via Netgalley ARC, and it was easy and fun, but someone really needs to review the specifics of American football during the short parts that actually go over game play bc I could not figure out what position Tate was supposed to play - his notoriety screams QB but one does not play both offense and defense ... It was fun and easy but the details are not well looked at (and the disclaimer at the beginning doesn't help - if you are writing about something you'd u don't know, you have to research it.)