3.5/5 Stars

First Meets Foul is my first read by Jacqueline Snow and I can’t wait to read some more by her in the future.

This is Luca and Lorelei’s story. Lorelei moved into her brother’s football house for the year and one of her roommates happens to be Luca, his best friend. Who is a grumpy grump playboy who tries to stay as far away from Lorelei as he can.

But things between them start to heat up and the carefully constructed wall between them gets knocked down. But will their no strings attraction turn into anything more?

Lor and Luca were both fun characters, with totally different personalities. I felt for both of them when struggling to stay away from one another.

John William Maddux and Macie Miller did a great job narrating these two. They were perfect for this college aged romance.

Looking forward to seeing who Dean, Lorelei’s brother, will crave in the future!

Sports romances are my weakness, and First Meet Foul absolutely delivered! With its perfect mix of banter, tension, and heartfelt moments, this brother’s-best-friend romance hit all the right notes. I loved the dual narration on this audiobook it helped the story remain engaging for me the entire time.

Luca stole my heart from the moment he said, “vent or fix.” He’s not just a focused athlete trying to help his grandma, but also emotionally intelligent, caring, and utterly swoon-worthy. His push-pull with Lorelei, forbidden as it is, was deliciously angsty and full of charm. Speaking of Lorelei—she’s a force. Strong-minded and determined, she’s the perfect mix of sunshine and grit. She knows her boundaries, cares deeply for others, and is impossible not to root for.

Their chemistry was off the charts, and the progression from “just one time” to full-on emotional entanglement was captivating. The brother’s-best-friend trope was handled so well, adding just the right amount of drama without overdoing it. Plus, the dual POV gave so much depth to both characters, making their connection feel authentic and real.

Special shoutout to Luca’s grandma, who had me laughing out loud—what a fantastic side character!

If you love angsty, slow-burn college sports romances with witty dialogue, lovable characters, and plenty of heart, First Meet Foul is a must-read. Jacqueline Snow has me hooked, and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series.

I really enjoyed the dual narration and I love Macie Millers narration. Thank you for the ARC.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

An enemies-to-lovers story is all about how love can catch you by surprise. It often blooms when you least expect it, reminding us that sometimes our hearts know what we need, even when our minds are hesitant. No matter how hard you try to resist, love has a way of finding you at just the right moment!

First Meet Foul by Jaqueline Snowe is a perfect pick for fans of angsty, slow-burn sports romances. With sizzling chemistry, witty banter, and heartfelt moments, this brother’s-best-friend story delivers all the feels.

Luca Monroe is swoon-worthy—a driven athlete with a tender side, balancing NFL dreams, caring for his grandma, and his undeniable connection with Lorelei Romano. Lorelei, a determined and resilient soccer player, is navigating heartbreak and an intense internship rivalry, all while living across the hall from Luca in the football house.

Their forbidden dynamic crackles with tension, and the dual POV adds depth to their emotional journey. With standout side characters and just the right mix of humor and drama, First Meet Foul is a touchdown in the world of college sports romance.

Lorelei Romano is a junior in college, and a soccer star. Her twin brother, Dean, is the captain of the football team. The school year starts out great for her, she has a hot boyfriend, is moving towards her dream marketing career, and living with her bestie. Unfortunately, she is left heartbroken and about to be homeless, so she must move into the "football house" where her brother lives with some of his football teammates. Lo can't fight her attraction to Luca, even though she believes he hates her and romance with any of her brother's teammates is forbidden! Told in duel POV with duel narrators, this is a funny, romantic, and hopeful story.

Spicy sports romance trope as anyone who has read any Jacqueline Snow Novel should expect. She is the perfect read for fans of Meghan Quinn or Elle Kennedy type of authors. Lo, the FMC was a fun, spunky star soccer player and Luka a grumpy focused football star with forced proximity. These characters were fun and well developed, but my favorite was Luka’s grandma. I would love for the author to write a novel with all these characters but have grandma as the main character and a little less spice. The female narrator was perfect, the male narrator was food, but I would have expected a deeper male voice. The book may be a vulgar for those who aren’t into spicy scenes, but the story is cute (skip the spice scenes and enjoy the novel).

Audio

This sometimes hilarious, most of the time angsty romance is about Lorelei and Luca. Two collegiate athletes that are finding their way and hoping forever is in the cards!

The audio was really good. Engaging and the narrators did such a good job at switching between characters, especially from make to female and vice versa!

This story was so good and one that I was hooked on from the start. It took a bit for the steamy romance to start as they navigated their feelings and what they could be. As both juggled life and sports they had to decide of what they are is more.

The secondy characters were amazing. Luca’s grandma was a hoot and I could not get enough of her sass.

Luca and Lorelei though, gah these two have my heart. I love how much they both had to grow and that Lorelei knew her with. She didn’t mess around when it came to her heart and I loved that about her!

Such a lovely football centered romance. I didn’t think I was a sports romance girly but this book was so fun. Definitely worth a read.

This book was everything I needed from a romance! It had the banter, the tension, the cute and giddiness and overall just the perfect setting! It’s a brothers bestfriend kind of romance and it was done so so right!!

I went into this with almost no idea what it was about but it succeeded all my expectations! I was expecting the female main character to be very pick me but she was everything but! Lorelei is such a strong minded person. She knows what she wants and will stop at nothing to get it. She puts others before herself and cares so deeply but she also knows her own boundaries and will not cross them.

Luca on the other hand has his mind set on one goal. Get drafted and earn money to help his grandma and get her out of the nursery home she’s in now. That is until his teammates sister moves into the room across the hall.
They decide to hookup one time just to get each other out of their systems but little does he know that will only make it harder! How will he combine Football with his attraction toward Lorelei? On top of that, he knows she is super off limits.

I initially thought this was gonna include a third act breakup which I really really hate! But luckily it did not! It was filled with annoyingly cute scenes and the communication between Lorelei and Luca was absolutely perfect. I adored this book this book so much! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

First Meet Foul by Jacqueline Snowe
Audiobook narration by John William Maddux and Macie Miller
Releasing January 14, 2025 on Spotify

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Lorelei Romano had everything going for her - rooming with her best friend, having the most amazing season on the soccer team, and her baseball player boyfriend. That is, until her apartment building is sold - leaving her with a month to find some where new to live, and her boyfriend breaks up with her “to focus on his game”. The only solution? Beg her twin brother to move into his house with his football team.

Luca Monroe is the tight-end on the football team and his goal: get to the NFL. With a rough upbringing, the most important thing to Luca is succeeding so that he is able to financially take care of his grandma. This means strict schedules and routines to keep him focused. What wasn’t part of that plan was his best friend’s twin sister moving into the room across from his.

First Meet Foul is a super cute sports romance that follows Lorelei and Luca while he helps her with a school project that involves the nursing home his grandma is living at. Their chemistry is evident immediately! There are a lot of cute moments between the two especially when Luca is helping Lorelei make her ex boyfriend jealous.

We love a duet audiobook and this one was so fun! There was some miscommunication between the two characters which Lorelei downplaying her feelings and many times i wanted to smack Luca in the head. If you’re looking for an easy/cute/romance this is a great one to pick up!

Special thanks to @netgalley @jaquelinesnowe for allowing me to listen to this ARC copy of the First Meet Foul audiobook!

I love romance books and sports romance is a genre that I usually love. First Meet Foul was on the cusp of me loving but I ended up just really liking it.

I’m going to start with something stupid. I’m weird and get hung up on dumb things all the time and I have a hard time moving past it. I had that happen here and I don’t even know if it was intentional by Jacqueline Snowe. I love Gilmore Girls so the main character's name being Lorelei of course made me think of that. Then when you got other characters' names being Dean and Luca I just sighed. There is nothing wrong with this and it didn’t affect my review, like I said I’m weird and I just had to mention it.

The story here was a bit of a slow burn and I found myself screaming for Lorelei and Luca to just get together already. Luca is a tight end on the school's football team, and Lorelei’s brother Dean is the QB. Lorelei is also an athlete playing on the soccer team. Lorelei has a problem and needs to find a new place to live. She asked her brother for a favor and let her stay with him and some of his teammates.

Luca has had a crush on Lorelei since the day they met but being his QBs sister she was always off limits. Lorelei and Luca both truly care for each other and it was fun to see them start to lower their walls. I was a little surprised by some of the interactions we had, for example, Lorelei walking in on Luca early on in the story watching something on his computer, and doing something with his hands was just as awkward for the reader as it was for Lorelei.

For me, Dean was the star of this book. Mild spoilers here but once Dean figured out what was going on he had no problems with Luca and that was so refreshing in a story like this.

Yes!

Finally a leading female character who ALSO plays sport!
She also said "Yes!" quite a bit when the grumpy best friend of her football playing brother finally...well, I will leave that up to you to read about. Just maybe don't listen to those scenes in public if you are listening to the audio version like I was.

I got an advance copy of this audiobook and it was enjoyable. There were no great shocks but I wanted something light and fun in a sport romance and this book delivered. I loved the grandma character and it looses a star for me because it was so predictable. As in, I was given two books to read yesterday and the blurb read nearly exactly the same!

Can we please have a fierce female character who has the love interest follow her professional goals...please?

What a great enemies to lovers, sporty, pining for the forbidden, romance novel! The characters were witty, well thought out and very easy to follow, which is well needed in an audiobook and something that is lost on many contemporary romances.

I was in the mood for an audiobook, so when First Meet Foul found its way to me it was perfect. It’s a typical romance book with a perfect amount of steam.

The banter between the MCs Luca and Lorelei, but also among the rest of the characters is fantastic, and the book is written in a fun and easy language.
I several times had to stop myself for shouting at the characters because it got so involved in their feelings and dilemmas.

I really like this book. So much that ended up only sleeping for 3,5 hour, simply because I couldn’t put it down.

This Audiobook was so Good! I really enjoyed the story, and i think the Voice Actors did an incredible job with their parts! It was such a fun story and think they Did an incredible job with it!

I really liked the lead characters even if she had some stuff going on that I thought could hvae been handled by the writer, I am looking forwad to others in the series

Lorelei and Luca’s college-set sports romance was reasonably effective. I also enjoyed the narration.

I've enjoyed everything I've read by Snowe and this was no exception. The audiobook was fantastic. I adored the MCs, the sports and marketing aspect. It all blended and worked so well and I loved the ending!

I have the second book, The Summer Playbook, on my Kindle so may have to pick that up sooner than later!

Huge thanks to NetGalley & Spotify Audiobooks for an advance copy of the audiobook release of First Meets Foul!

This book sweeps you off your feet with the perfect love story. You will love how each character makes you fall in love with who they are. I was so sad when it ended. This book will leave you craving more.



Thank you Netgalley & Spotify Audiobooks for this advanced readers copy.

This book started off strong as an enemies-to-lovers college sports romance. It was cute, with some genuinely funny moments, and my favorite character by far was Nana Nanette—she was absolutely hilarious and the kind of woman I’d want to know in real life!

That said, the overall story didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While there were some enjoyable elements, the main characters felt a bit immature at times, and the ending fell flat. After all the suspense and buildup around their relationship, the conclusion felt anticlimactic.

I’d give this book 2.5 stars. However, if the author ever wrote a book about Nana Nanette’s life, I’d be first in line and probably give it 5 stars!