I really enjoyed The Big Game! It was a cute story and the spice was spicy. There were a few times throughout the book that the language differences showed, but I appreciated the authors note about that. The ending was pretty abrupt with no real closure to the major event that happened, and it felt unrealistic that things would have just carried on that day. That being said, I could not put this book down. It was entertaining the whole time and was a cute & quick read.

This book was adorable. I loved the characters and their love story. I am becoming more of a fan of sports romances and this did not disappoint!

a decent read. a predictable storyline however the characters were fun and the story was interesting so it kept you reading

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

I ended up DNFing this because it felt like a badly written fanfic. I'm actually kind of surprised this is traditionally published, to be honest.

I dont know anything about American football, as I'm not American, so I can't speak to that but everything else felt so...ridiculous.

Lily and Tate dated in college - she was a cheerleader and he was a football superstar on his way to the NFL. After overhearing a bad conversation, Lily flees back to England to be with her ill dad and doesn't actually tell Tate anything. As you might expect, a common theme of this book!

Eight years later, they meet again when Lily is hired to be Tate's bodyguard after threats against him. It's coming up to the Superbowl, and the team doesn't want anything happening to their star player. The sparks fly because Tate and Lily now hate each other.

Lily felt like a fanfics perfect main character. Her dad is ex-SAS and taught her everything she knows, and for some reason he's also a member of the aristocracy (lol because we can't just have a normal Brit). She felt too perfect, and I just didn't vibe with her.

The communication between Tate and Lily was...immature for two in their late 20s. You'd think they were still in college.

So yeah, I ended up DNFing because it all just felt very cringe. I know there's people who are going to lap this up, and I hope you enjoy it more than I did!

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

Thanks so much to One More Chapter for an ARC of this book. I’d never read one of Cassie Connor’s books before so I was going in blind to her writing style but based on the description of the book I thought it had quite an interesting concept.
The characters had quite a bit of depth to them and whilst Lily is quite a larger than life and unrealistic character it was quite enjoyable to step into her story.
The mystery of who wants Tate dead was the most interesting part of this story to me and the romance while still front and centre seemed a bit lacklustre to me. I don’t know if that’s due to the misunderstanding between them that led to their initial break up, or the time it took for them to actually discuss their breakup - not sure but it just didn’t vibe too well for me, though the spicier scenes were well written.

My biggest annoyance with this book though would have to do with the cover and obvious Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce inspiration, especially when it comes to the end of the book where they describe Tate’s uniform as being blue and white, plus his number is never mentioned in the book, and the book is riddled with Taylor Swift lyrics and references. I’m a Taylor Swift fan and can understand other Swifties who write stories putting in little nods but it just feels very cash-grabby in my opinion.

I’d probably give this more of 3.5 stars if I could. It wasn’t the best book ever but it also wasn’t the worst.

I liked the main characters but like so many enemies to lovers or second chance romances the dislike is drawn out for sooooo long. And even when they finally would admit their feelings there would then be a lot of second guessing.

Also, and this is just my personal feeling, maybe when flashbacks are in the middle of a chapter I like them italicized or set apart just for ease of reading.

It was a fun read if you like bodyguard/spy romance books.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK/One More Chapter for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Tate and Lily are college sweethearts that split up due to a misunderstanding. Their paths cross again eight years later when he’s a pro football player and she’s hired to be his bodyguard. She’s tasked with protecting his life leading up to the Super Bowl and being with him 24/7. The two are forced to face their feelings and deceive how to proceed.

Second chance romances are hit or miss for me, and this was sadly a miss. There wasn’t really any romance and the couple wasn’t a convincing match to me. Even though it was first person dual POV, I didn’t feel like we ever really saw deep emotions or connections between the two. Their relationship always felt surface level and unconvincing.

The Big Game by Cassie Connor is a delightful romantic novel that combines heartwarming moments with sizzling chemistry.
I absolutely love her two previous titles and was so excited to jump into a new one!
She did not disappoint!
The characters are well-drawn and relatable. The chemistry between the two leads is palpable, making their journey an enjoyable and captivating one.
This was such a fun read! I can't wait for more by this author. I would absolutely recommend.

Sinopsis en español:

Han pasado años desde que el corazón de Lily fue destrozado por su novio de la universidad y mariscal de campo estrella, Tate Donaghue. Ahora, es un jugador de la NFL de alto perfil, y desafortunadamente para Lily, su última asignación de seguridad.

Para Tate, Lily se fue hace todos esos años sin siquiera una mirada hacia atrás, y mucho menos una explicación. Pero fingir que está enamorado de ella ahora es más fácil de lo que le gustaría admitir...

Con la cuenta atrás para el juego más grande en la historia de la NFL y la intensificación del nivel de amenaza, ¿pueden Lily y Tate superar el pasado, o van a torpezar la pelota y su relación, cuando más importa?




Reseña:


Dos ex amores que no esperaban encontrarse de nuevo y ahora tendrán que trabajar juntos porque el famoso deportista Tate está recibido amenazas y su guardaespaldas será nada menos que la única mujer que alguna vez amo, Lily. Esta será su oportunidad para aclarar malos entendidos y ver si vale la pena una segunda oportunidad.



Gracias NetGalley por el Arc.

I enjoyed reading The Big Game by Cassie Connor. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

This was a fun roncom, it was light and breezy, having watched football and being a girl for you. The majority of my life I was frustrated by some of the glaring football mistakes/issues - however, the author in the acknowledgments does admit that she is British and 2. Excuse yourself for the mistakes. So that was honestly my biggest distraction. From this book was the timeline of football events and how football works and teams work et cetera so if I take that away, the story was fun - to people who have not seen each other since college, when they were in love and ready to take the next step. We're torn apart. Now both are at the top of their field. One is a quarterback for a football team. Going to the super bowl, the other a bodyguard, .... It's been a long time since tate and lily have seen each other. And this is probably not the greatest way to be reintroduced. Tate is being threatened as a popular player. One of the teams going to the Super Bowl, so Lily is hired to be his protection. He's against it, but they have to fake it to make it, and there is a lot of Build up to the game a lot could have probably been solved by these two talking to each other.But they are not good at that, but sometimes that's how life and relationships work will Trent make it to the big game? Will they continue to work together? I could see this book becoming a series. Especially with Trent's best friend. There was a couple of good secondary characters that I could see more of.-- the book has a little bit of spice for the people who do like that in their books

Thank you, not galley, for the park in exchange for an honest review

I had an inkling who was behind everything, but man!

Felt a little slow at parts, and then...

Damn...That ending!

I'm a sports fanatic, especially football, gal from Texas, so I was thrilled to be able to read Cassie Connor's The Big Game. I like how she prefaces that she's from the UK, so she might not have all the lingo down, so at least I didn't go in with expectations and be let down. She did a great job, overall, with the football lingo, jock and cheerleader interactions. That was not a turnoff.

Lily is a cheerleader dating the hot football star Tate, and after winning the football championship at their college, the sparks they had flew out the window, at least for Lily. She overhears Tate talking with his dad about how she is a distraction to his football career. When she receives a call that her father is in the hospital back in England, she flees without another glance at Tate. Fast forward eight years. Tate is now about to enter the biggest game of his professional career, and someone is stalking him. Enter Lily, who is now a bodyguard for hire. Tate absolutely wants nothing to do with her, but as the stalker turns deadly, the pair are thrown together, and they discover the sparks still fly.

Some like the very spicy level, but I must say this was way to spicy for my overall enjoyment. I found myself skimming through the large bits of steamy scenes so I could get down to the mystery unfolding. Connor's writing is not bad, I just could have done without a lot of the sex and actions leading up to. Otherwise, the story line was enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for this ARC. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this view are completely my own.

I'm sorry to say that this was a bit of a mess overall.
There was no chemistry between the characters; she folded too quickly, and the plot made little to no sense. The ending felt so rushed that I still don't really understand what happened.

The disclaimer at the beginning was not as cute as the author thought it would be. I'm sorry but if you want to write about a subject, the least you can do is do a little research so that you know what you're talking about.


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

1.5 ⭐️
Thank you so much to Netgalley, One More Chapter and the author for providing me with an advanced reader copy for review purposes!

When I read the synopsis of this, I told myself “sure, why not”. It sounded interesting, and I’m an avid sports romance reader. But once I started reading, it didn’t take me long to realize this wasn’t going to be a book for me.

I had a few issues with the writing style, there were quite a few times where I had to go back and re-read the entire paragraph in order to understand what the author meant. Then, I found the plot a little messy, a lot of things could’ve been explained better or in a more believable way. Also, I’m not an expert but it felt like there was a lot of confusion around the football part of this (which is probably due to the fact the author is British, but I guess an editor could’ve helped).

Anyway, the plot was then left unresolved in the favour of the romance, but even in that department there were so many things left unexplained. Idk, I just didn’t enjoy this 🤷🏼‍♀️
3 likes

As the third book I’ve read by Cassie Connor, I have appreciated the unconventional storylines she has migrated towards in her last two books, especially in a genre full of rinse-and-repeat tropes. With that being said, I found that The Big Game burned bright and burned fast, with its intensity and intrigue tapering off after the first quarter of the book. The book starts off promising, pulling you right in and hinting at what seems like a sweet college romance, only to suddenly knock you off your feet with an unexpected twist. From there, you’re buckled in for one heck of a rollercoaster ride - the first six chapters are full of action, excitement, chills, and thrills. But, like most rollercoasters, the ride is over faster than you’d expect, leaving you wanting more. That’s exactly how The Big Game felt. The book had so much potential, but it kept getting in its own way by focusing too much on the repetitive, lust-driven back-and-forth between the male and female protagonists, rather than delivering on what made it stand out as “Miss Congeniality meets the Super Bowl.”

Tate and Lily were the couple everyone envied - big dreams, deeply in love, perfectly in sync. Or so Lily thought, until a conversation she wasn’t meant to hear brought everything crashing down around her. Eight years later, Lily has learned from her mistakes and swears she’ll never let the rug be pulled out from under her again. But being accidentally bowled over by a 6’3” football player rushing across the room? That’s a different story. Arriving at her new assignment, the last person Lily expects to see after being unexpectedly knocked over is Tate Donovan. Determined to keep her past firmly where it belongs, Lily is thrown completely off-kilter when she discovers that Tate - known to his teammates as “Don” - is the very reason she’s been hired.

Tate has been receiving death threats, and the team owner insists on round-the-clock protection. As the best in the business, Lily is assigned to the job. To keep things quiet and placate the press, the two are forced to pretend they’re engaged. The problem? There’s no way this is going to work. For Lily, Tate is the man who used her, broke her heart, and reinforced a lesson her father had always tried to teach her - that love and dependability are weaknesses. For Tate, Lily disappeared like a ghost in the night, offering no explanation, no goodbye, just silence. There’s too much bad blood to pretend to be anything other than enemies - but try telling that to the chemistry that still zips between them. With Tate’s life on the line and the most important game of his career quickly approaching, these two will have to figure out a truce, all while keeping what should be pretend feelings from becoming all too real.

I absolutely LOVED that Lily was MI6! I also enjoyed Tate's teammate Blake and the moments of insight, wisdom, and humor he brought to the book.

What didn’t work for me is how the book starts off incredibly promising, only to trip over itself. It can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a sappy romance or romantic suspense. Instead of seamlessly blending the two, it keeps shifting the tone and character dynamics, making it hard to respect the overall portrayal of the female protagonist. I adored the concept of Lily being a highly-trained, unflappable professional, with Tate as her one undeniable weakness - the person who short-circuits her otherwise honed and controlled demeanor - her kryptonite. That said, I was disappointed how much this angle was exploited. One moment, Lily is a world-class agent; the next, she’s back to being the college cheerleader to Tate’s football star. Again, I understand he was her weakness, but he should not have been her "off" switch. While there are moments where she draws on her professional skills, her overall demeanor feels very amateur for someone with her background and too inconsistent with the hardened, capable, professional we’re told she is.

I also wish the book had explored more of what happened during the eight years Tate and Lily were apart. We get a decent sense of Tate’s timeline through his friend Blake and a bit more when we learn that Lily had been checking in on him early on. But for Lily, we’re left with vague comments about distant, emotionless relationships and various missions. For a character who supposedly poured herself completely into her career, the lack of flashbacks or detailed moments from her past feels like a missed opportunity.

Before I forget - football fans, take note of the disclaimer at the start of the book: Cassie makes it clear that she’s not familiar with American football, and that definitely shows. I believe Tate is meant to be a Tight End, possibly even a team captain. This would explain his leadership role and how crucial he is to the team’s success; however, his position and responsibilities are never fully defined. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the author had Travis Kelce in mind while crafting Tate’s character, which might explain the assumption about his position and role as an offensive captain.

Going back to the overall book, while there are a few plot holes throughout, the most glaring one is the unresolved subplot at the end.

As for the romance itself, the undeniable chemistry between Lily and Tate fuels much of the story, but in this case, it ends up working against it. What was supposed to be a second-chance romance between two destined lovers torn apart by a misunderstanding instead comes across as two people who regretted never hooking up back in college and, eight years later, decided to rectify that. Their emotional connection felt shallow, overshadowed by lust rather than love. While I tried to give the benefit of the doubt, imagining their emotional depth was off-page, it would have been far more satisfying to see them connect on a meaningful level that didn’t immediately lead to another steamy encounter.

Honestly, The Big Game left me feeling conflicted. Yes, it was entertaining but you have to take a huge step away from anything resembling reality to not be bothered by some of the absurdities. As I mentioned before, the split genre is what divides my opinion of the characters. For a standard second-chance romance where a female and male protagonist are scorned through miscommunication and then forced into close proximity, the character dynamics make sense. She’s a strong woman who can’t resist the charm of the man who broke her heart. He’s the boy-turned-man who never stopped loving the girl who once had his heart. Both are trying to protect themselves while being helplessly drawn to each other. Got it!

The problem is that the female protagonist is supposed to be a tough-as-nails MI6 agent, one of the best in her field, and for most of the story, she acts like a lovesick puppy. If these were regular people trying to hide their feelings from one another - again, like a standard romance - it would be more believable. But she’s supposed to be a highly trained professional - not just recruited but trained from childhood. Watching her so easily lose control, become distracted, and act completely lovesick was more distracting than endearing.

My hope is that the version I received was an early draft, prior to the editors working their magic. If so, hopefully the misnomers used to describe American football will be corrected, a few of the plot holes patched, and the focus brought back to the heart of the story. I had high hopes for this book, and while I wouldn’t say I’m entirely disappointed - I did enjoy reading it and was compelled to finish it - it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I haven’t been as captivated by Cassie’s work as I was with her debut novel, Love Under Contract.

Thank you for letting me read and review this book on Netgalley.

"It’s been years since Lily’s heart was shattered by her college sweetheart and star quarterback, Tate Donaghue. Now, he’s a high-profile NFL player, and unfortunately for Lily, her latest security assignment.

For Tate, Lily left all those years ago without so much as a backward glance let alone an explanation. But pretending he’s in love with her now is easier than he’d like to admit…

With the countdown on to the biggest game in the NFL’s history and the threat level intensifying, can Lily and Tate move on from the past – or will they fumble the ball, and their relationship, when it matters most?"


This was a really good book. I loved the dynamic between the characters and I had a really good time reading it.

Tropes:
- Forced Proximity
- Enemies to Lovers
- Second Chance Romance
- Fake Dating
- Spicy

If you're looking for a light, spicy, sports rom com that feels like Miss Congeniality meets the Super Bowl, this one delivers exactly that! With a fun mix of forced proximity, fake dating, and a second chance romance, it’s a touchdown for trope lovers. The premise is super cute! NFL security guard and a star quarterback forced together under high-stakes pressure? Sign me up! The spice is undeniably there, and if you’re into swoony athletes and sassy heroines, you’ll find some fun banter and chemistry to enjoy. However, the connection between Lily and Tate felt shallow, leaning heavily on physical attraction rather than emotional depth. Their back and forth dynamic was more immature squabble than tension filled banter, which made them a little annoying at times. I wanted more heart in their second chance story. The emotional stakes felt low when they could’ve been so much higher. Overall, The Big Game is a spicy and entertaining read that doesn’t take itself too seriously. While it won’t top my sports romance list, it’s a fun pick for a quick, tropey escape with a side of NFL drama. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry and Tessa Bailey who don’t mind characters that fumble a bit before finding their footing.

In "The Big Game," Lily is reunited with her ex-boyfriend, Tate, 8 years after he broke her heart, serving as his professional bodyguard now that he's been getting threats against his life. Can Lily put aside her feelings and help protect him so he can help his NFL team win the Super Bowl?

The book rushed into the plot and I was a bit disappointed they didn't spend a little more time with Lily and Tate's backstory before jumping to the present. ***Spoilers ahead*** but what really made me angry was the author dropped the plot in the last few chapters!!!! People have been trying to kill Tate, they set a bomb in the football stadium during the Super Bowl, and his bodyguard is in danger. Tate manages to finds his girl in time, disable the bomb, and then they win the Super Bowl. THE END! They never explain fully who was trying to kill him and whether they caught the guy. Kind of important details to leave out of the ending!!!! What happened to the end of the book???? I would've rated the book higher but the ending killed it for me.

*** I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ***