A fun new queer royal romance that is perfect for fans of RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE! This was such a fun read!

NORA PHOENIX – THE PRINCE AND THE PLAYER ****
Over the years that have been multiple gay novels with a sports theme premise, enemies to lovers, will-they-won’t-they? This novel adds into the melting pot another familiar trope – the prince who hides his true identity. Norwegian this time.
It’s surprisingly well told, for such a familiar story, and you root for the on-off I-can’t-stand-you couple. What was surprising in a simple love story was the number of pages with descriptions of sex, usually something that slows a story down. In this case the author describes it well, in un-embarrassing terms, by which I mean it is not cringingly awful. The author has skill at telling a story. It’s not Shakespeare but it’s an easy read that doesn’t engage the brain too often. Recommended for the beach.

A good read and an excellent way to start a series; looking forward to the other princes! I hadn't read anything of hers that wasn't cowritten but I enjoyed it very much.

I loved this book. The enemies to lovers trope + college romance + sports (soccer) elements all amounted to a excellent novel. The main characters were easy to connect with, even with their differing backgrounds and and somewhat polar-opposite life experiences. It was truly a joy to follow along as they grew closer and their relationship developed.

The whole latter half of the book, I was on the edge of my seat battling with the tug-of-war of emotions this story was making me feel. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and give it 5/5 stars. I will be checking out more books by Nora Phoenix!

k you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Nora Phoenix for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was thrilled to get sent the ARC for this book as it sounded as though it ticked all my tropes:

✅️ Grumpy x Sunshine
✅️ Enemies to Lovers
✅️ Forced Proximity
✅️ Opposites attract
✅️ Bi Awakening
✅️ Sport Romance

I read it so fast. My first time reading Nora and won't be my last especially as I've found out this is the first in what is intended to be 'Prince Pact' series. 

We get dual POV with Farron and Tore and the tension, Chemistry and subsequent spice is wow. Loved both their characters development throughout the story.

I also love that I understood the football references (mainly thanks to Ted Lasso) and enjoyed all the side characters. Some of whom I am sure are to be the leads in the next novels.

If you enjoyed Red, White and Royal Blue, Ted Lasso and She's the Man (it gave me those vibes!) Then you'll love this book.

Desperate to read more!

I found the Prince and the Player to be an overall enjoyable read. I have a few aspects of the book that would benefit the story greatly, though I still enjoyed the book in general.

First, I liked the relationship between Farron and Tore a lot. They clicked very well and their chemistry is why I finished reading the book. This is where my main issue comes in. I would have liked to see more of that connection between the two leads because they are the entire pull of the story. This could have been solved by fixing the pacing and length of the book. Since there were only around 200 pages, a lot of the story gets rushed to fit a lot of moments that should have gotten more time. The main relationship needed to develop more throughout the story.

There should have been more focus on Farron and Tore's families and personal lives before jumping into the main part of the story (Their conflict and relationship). This is why the pacing felt so rushed in the beginning. I would have liked to see more of Farron's family and upbringing to understand why he has such strong feelings towards rich people and Tore instead of telling me why he has those feelings. There was a lot of telling and not showing throughout the book that frustrated me. Similarly, I need to see the actual duties Tore has instead of just telling me he has responsibilities. It was hard to connect with their upbringings and struggles if I couldn't experience it with them.

This is all to say that I enjoyed the book, and I think there should have been more of it. I would have liked to see more development between their conflict and their relationship, and why they connected at all, but that couldn't happen in 200 pages without being rushed. I am excited to see more of this series and I plan to keep an eye out for the next installment.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC of The Prince and the Player. I will be posting my review on Goodreads and Amazon on the publication date.

Starring Tore and Farron in an enemies to lovers’ football (soccer) romance. Tore makes a pact with his friends that they will all spend a year aboard way from there royal or noble lives to just live as themselves for once. As a result, Tore ends up in the United States at a college playing soccer. Farron team captain of the soccer team, but now this rich kid has shown up out of the blue to play for his team. Immediately Farron hates everything about Tore, spoiled privileged rich kid.

It was okay, i enjoyed the idea and concept of the book.but i wish for more. I still liked reading this book

I am absolutely obsessed this book! I wasn’t even half way through it when I stopped and preordered it. I love a good sports romance and I especially love when there is a good gay awakening. This book has everything you could want, princes, secret identities, Bi soccer players, and a romance for the ages. I’d recommended this book for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and sports romances. This book had some truly wonderful spicy scenes as well as some heartwarming scenes that truly showcase the different worlds they come from and how just because they’re from different worlds doesn’t mean they don’t share some struggles in common. I adored this book and I loved Farron and Tore’s story and I would highly recommend this to anyone. Happy reading!

This book was like a modern fairytale.

I loved the whole dislike to love trope and Tore and Farron really had great chemistry with each other.

I initially didn’t get why Farron was so hateful towards Tore but I got why he might feel the way he did. Tore being incredibly nice to Farron the whole time made it so funny cause it would piss Farron off more 😂

I would definitely recommend this for fans of RW&RB, but much like RW&RB this is almost a fantasy book. Like we know nothing like this will happen in real life but it’s a great escape from reality.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC

"She's the Man" meets "The Prince and Me" meets "Red White and Royal Blue"! Enemies to lovers never gets old. This book is written in dual first person following Tore, a Norwegian Prince studying abroad in the USA to play college soccer, and Farron, captain of said soccer team. I enjoyed the banter between the two main characters. Tore is sweet, charming, and you can't help but love him. On the other hand, I had trouble liking Farron. Although, he has his reasons for being mean and cold, it just seemed unwarranted at times, His jealousy was a bit unbecoming for the captain of a college team, but he eventually comes around and you see a different side to him. Overall, I enjoyed this book. If you are big fans of Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston then I recommend giving this book a go!

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book.

4.75⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for this lovely book and for the opportunity to read it as an arc.

That being said, this was such a cute read with emotional and heartfelt moments. Both characters felt like they were real humans, with real struggles and emotions. Starting with Tore, he’s the most sunshine boy I ever met and I swear I want him for myself😭❤️
His dynamic as a prince in disguise on an Ohio State university was interesting yet nothing new but the way it was written gave me fresh energy. ✨

Something I wish we got more is moments in Norway and more about Tore’s background, his life and how he and Farron lived after getting together. 😩
Then we have Farron, the broken boy who works at Walmart and has a vendetta against rich people💀, and who he ends up falling for? You guessed right, our bright boy who is not only rich but also the sweetest person on earth.
Farron is a character I wish we got more chapters of, I wanted to see more about his struggles and his family, especially the conflict between his dad’s side.

Other than that, I really love the whole grumpy sunshine part of this book, because you see two different people fighting each other and finding out they want those same people close by for some reason. Even tho it was a little earlier than I’m used to bc I wanted more push and pull from them, the writing made it feel like months have happened and hundreds of chapters passed but it was merely the 40% mark.

One thing I really hope we get in next books from this author is more heartfelt and emotional moments between the couples, more scenes with them together in bed just chilling and talking about the future or their fears, bc it’s something we didn’t get here and I wish we did. And last but not least, man my heart hurt for Tore, he was doomed from the start and I felt his struggles with his feelings toward Far.

Thank you for the arc Nora and I need this to be a series to get Floris’s, Grant’s and Nils’s stories 🙌🏻🥰🤗

This Norwegian prince meets grumpy soccer captain romance totally dragged me in from page one! 🔥

Tore Haakon von Glücksberg just wants a year of freedom from his royal duties, so he makes a pact with his friends to escape to America and be a regular college student. No crown, no responsibilities - just "Tore" playing the sport he loves. And OF COURSE he joins the soccer team where he meets Farron who is basically if "trust issues" and "bad attitude" had a baby... but make it hot.

The chemistry between these two? EXPLOSIVE! They start off absolutely hating each other (classic), but that tension quickly transforms into something way more interesting. Their enemies-to-lovers journey was hands down the best part of the book - watching them go from clashing on the field to being completely obsessed with each other was the chef's kiss.

What made me happy me was how the author handled their sexual identity journeys. Both guys initially identify as straight, but their attraction develops naturally without making their coming-to-terms process the entire plot. For a new adult book, I really appreciated this approach - they realize they're into each other, deal with it, and move on with their lives.

The pacing was super quick (sometimes a bit too quick), which kept me entertained but occasionally left me wanting more development, especially for Tore. Sometimes I wanted to be like "slow down bestie, let me enjoy this moment!" But also I finished it in one sitting so who am I to judge?? We get to see a lot of Farron's life outside their relationship - his family dynamics and personal struggles - but Tore's character felt less developed beyond the whole "prince wanting normal life" setup. Besides one wedding scene at the beginning, we don't get many glimpses into his world.

Yes, it's trope-heavy and you can see the third-act breakup coming from miles away, but honestly? Sometimes that's exactly what you want in a romance! It was fun, steamy, and had me flying through the pages. It was a comfort food romance for me.

A solid 4 out of 5 for the book. I'm definitely curious about Tore's friends and their upcoming American adventures in the next books! If you're looking for a quick, entertaining read with serious sparks, this one's for you.

I absolutely loved The Prince and the Player by Nora Phoenix. Farron and Tore come from completely different worlds, one from poverty, the other from wealth, yet both struggle to define themselves beyond their backgrounds. Their journey from enemies to lovers was beautifully written. While I initially hated how Farron treated Tore, it added so much depth to their relationship and made their love story even more compelling. As a huge fan of Norway, I have to applaud the choice of setting; and the best part? I even learned some Norwegian, ‘jeg elsker deg’. You’ll have to read the book to find out the translation! What a beautiful ending to the story. A brilliant book by Phoenix, and I truly hope we get more in the future to follow Tore and Farron.

the idea of the book was so fun and refreshing! the prince went undercover to US where he played football or soccer (whatever they called it) with the college team. he met the captain with whom he shared an interesting chemistry that soon turned into a relationship.

this book definitely gave vibes of red, white and royal blue book (not sure about the name but you got it). the prince was very elegant, elite and sounded british to me, for whatever reason, even though he wasn’t. captain was cocky, little mean and unreasonable to the prince.

here comes the first thing i didn’t enjoy. i understood that captain was shocked by this “new” guy who came to the team and was not bad at soccer. i also understand that his attraction to prince, scared him, making his character mean and cold. but sometimes it was too unreasonable. prince did nothing wrong to deserve this type of treatment.

secondly, there was tension but not chemistry. they were fun together but i don’t seem them together in the future. i just don’t.

it was nice to see how the royal family overcome rules and were supportive of this new relationship. on the same line, the main conflict wasn’t much of a conflict. i genuinely don’t understand the hate toward the prince. he didn’t do that much? it being a royal change that much about him? he is still the same guy.

The Prince and the Player is a light romance about Tore, a Norwegian prince, deciding to leave his royal life behind for a year and play soccer at a small college in Ohio. There, he meets Farron, the grumpy captain of the team. Farron immediately dislikes Tore because of his wealthy background but, over the course of the soccer season, the two end up developing feelings for one another.

The plot strongly reminded me of the movie The Price and Me and it also had some similarities to Red, White, and Royal Blue (both of which I loved). I am not much of a sports person, so the soccer element was not my favorite, but fans of sports romance would probably appreciate that aspect. I did like the Ohio setting, since that’s where I’m from, but I didn’t especially love the writing style. The dialogue didn’t feel very natural and relied on cliches.

This book was a cute enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine story, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a fluffy escape. I’d give it 3.5 stars overall.

This was a fun, sweet story that I enjoyed but think I ultimately wanted more from the boys and their relationship. While I could appreciate their individual struggles with identity, I never felt fully invested in or convinced of their relationship.

I really liked the premise of the book and hope that there are more books in this series.

This was such an amazing story. I fell hard for Tore and Farron.
Prince Tore pleads with his family to allow him a year away to college in the united States. To enjoy some time learning, playing soccer and doing normal things without letting in he is a Prince.
His new teammates repect the player they have learned Tore to be. Aside from the captain, who seems to dislike him for no reason.
Farron is less inclined to accept Tore, after finding out how different their upbringing has been. Nit easily won over, the two find themselves at odds with everything.  You onow what they say how opposites attract. These two have chemistry for days!
A truly addictive , funny, sexy coming out romance. I really loved this story and hope there are more to come.
4.5 stars.

*4.5

The two of them have very different reactions to discovering that they were bi and I loved both of them. Tore just accepted it so easy and went I guess that's what I am now. Farron took a little bit more loving to get there but he realized that he couldn't be without Tore. I just thought they were really cute and I wish the book was longer.

I received an arc through netgalley.

A Norwegian prince that just wants to go play soccer without the constrains of duty and the soccer captain of the team the prince joins? Count me in. This book dragged me in and did not let me go. It was fast paced (maybe too much so at times), which definitely kept me entertained at all times. I loved how the dynamic between Tore and Farron developed, especially as they went from dislike into their “we just have to get it out of our systems” until they finally realized they had fallen for each other.

Going into the book, I thought that Tore and Farron were already out, so I was surprised when early in the book they separately mentioned they were straight. However, I quite liked how the author handled the whole process of the two of them realizing they were in fact not straight, which was surprising. They had their realization, got together, and just went about their lives, not making it in a huge deal or major plot point, especially as this is a new adult book.

Honestly, my only complaint with this book is that it felt like a lot was just left out, especially on the part of Tore and his development as a character. I felt like we got a lot of info about who Farron was and saw his interactions with people outside Tore (especially his family) but that didn’t happen very much at all except at the one wedding scene at the beginning.

Overall, this was a great quick read, and I’d highly recommend it.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.