I actually really enjoyed this book!
It was corny and cheesy throughout a lot of it but I found myself enjoying the chemistry between the characters. The first half I swore I wasn’t going to like it but the second half was so easy to read and got invested in.
It wasn’t amazing but it pleasantly suprised me. It was a fun read!

Rating: 5 ⭐️
Release Date: August 14, 2025

This book was absolutely amazing! I felt the chemistry between these two characters instantly and loved every second of watching their relationship grow!

It follows our FMC, Ella who is a college cheerleader at Oxford University. She gets the chance to study abroad at a school in North Carolina and join their cheer squad. Something happens right before she leaves and she ends up having to come to the states by her herself knowing no one. Watching her make friends and create her own found family was incredible and I was rooting for her the entire time! I might keep forgetting her name but she is one of favorite FMCs. She was forced to learn about herself and find out what kind of future she wanted for herself.

Our MMC, Hudson is the QB of their college team! He was treated Ella so well and I loved watching him let his guard down and his protectiveness for her grow throughout their relationship. I loved watching him overcome his past trauma and learn to let people in. The way he supported his friends and Ella and put in the work to get things done (even though he would over do it sometimes) was so refreshing.

This was full of tension, pining, friendship, and growth. The way our two characters meet and how they start out to where they end and everything in between was exactly what I needed.

Thank you @netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this amazing book early!

No strings fake relationship at its finest? Definitely. Ella is trying to prove herself and Hudson needs no distractions this year. To stay focused, they agree on no strings attached fun. But of course, the strings show up anyway.

Good solid romance read! Loved the chemistry. A little slow to start, but overall a solid read by a classic romance author.

Game On had me grinning through the entire book! I love a fun sports romance and Ki did not disappoint! I am so excited to check out her other books and I'm so grateful to get an ARC of Game On!

Quick pace, cute characters, fun storyline!

Thank you to Ki Stephens and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for the eARC. I loved this book! It is a cute quick read with some spice and college football and cheer. I really liked how well done the mental health representation was. I definitely recommend this one.

ARC Review
📖: Game On
@kistephs
Release date: 09.09.25

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

After reading Ki Stephens’ Coastal Rivals series and really enjoying it, when I saw this book was available to request I jumped at the chance!

I was intrigued by the cheer storyline of this one and was excited to see where it went. Our MCs Ella and Hudson meet when Ella transfers to a college in Nashville from Oxford to be a part of an American cheer team. Her long time boyfriend who she was supposed to travel with, breaks it off the day they are supposed to leave. Hudson is the star quarterback not looking for a distraction. Hudson also has a backstory that delves into some mental health aspects and I loved to learn more about that. A one night stand on Ella’s first night in the states leads to an attraction neither of them expected. As they both navigate through their respective sports, the pressures involved and their growing attraction to each other, they find the feelings they have for each other are hard to deny.

I really enjoyed seeing the detail behind cheer aspect a sport. Having a family member who was a competitive cheerleader and is now a coach, I’ve seen first hand how these athletes work hard to compete at the top level of their sport and don’t often get the credit deserved. The author does a good job showing us some of the ins and outs of this sport and I loved that! As far as the romance goes, I really liked the FMC Ella-she was strong and smart and had her goals. MMC Hudson had dreams of more than football and I loved that he was able succeed.

This was a cute book with some good spice and a peek at a sport we don’t see portrayed often. The mental health representation was also important and well done. I have really enjoyed everything I’ve read from this author and this was no different. I enjoyed it and would recommend!

Tropes:
One night stand
Friends with benefits
College setting
Mental health rep
English exchange student
Cheerleader x quarterback


Thank you to Ki and @netgalley for the opportunity to receive an ARC.

The setup: Ella moves to Nashville to spend a year at an American college and learn all she can as a member of her school’s elite cheer squad. She doesn’t count on meeting Hudson on her first night in the States. Hudson is the school’s football quarterback. Neither Ella nor Hudson is interested in more than one night together, but after one really amazing night, they get off on the completely wrong foot. There is something that keeps drawing them together, though, and a begrudging friendship grows between them.

My thoughts: Ki Stephens characters always hit. I love that Ki peels back the layers of the characters slowly over the course of the book. We see that Ella and Hudson are a lot deeper people than they represent to each other at first (and to the reader). I’ll admit I really didn’t like either of them at first. Ella seems extremely naive and immature, and Hudson seems completely full of himself. There are so many moments that truly do feel realistic to college where people are finding themselves and figuring out who they want to be. Ella and Hudson aren’t super mature, and they have to work on themselves and their friendship. It’s not all smooth sailing, but it is high tension between the two of them the whole time. Is the plot maybe a little far-fetched? Sure, but I enjoyed every moment. I will say that there is usually a realism to Ki’s characters that wasn’t there as much in this book as usual. Her treatment of Hudson’s character and development far outweighs Ella’s growth. She does show person’s motivations and growth over the school year, Ella just didn’t mature as much as I would have hoped. All in all I would say this is a 3.5 star book rounded up to 4 stars.

The vibes:
One night stand
Friends with benefits
College setting
Open door spice
Cheerleader x quarterback
Cat dad mmc
English exchange student
Set in Nashville, TN

I received this as an ARC, and my review contains my honest thoughts and opinions.

Tropes:
Friends with Benefits
College Romance
Found Family
Sports Romance
Slow Burn
Mutual Pining (and denial)
Quarterback X Cheerleader

This was a fantastic romance! It has everything you could want! That yearning and burning… wowza! Hudson and Ella are just *chefs kiss* adorable and perfect. If you like the tropes listed this is 100% for you!

I just finished reading Game On by Ki Stephens, and I absolutely loved it! This book was such an enjoyable ride from start to finish, and I couldn’t put it down. Super grateful to have been given an ARC of this book, I've loved everything Ki has written!! I loved how vulnerable they were able to be with each other. Despite the temporariness of their situation they couldn’t help but feel so comfortable and safe in their relationship!

This was 3.5-4 stars for me!

The start was a bit rough and rushed but as the characters were introduced and the plot thickened, I really enjoyed this one.

I love the characters dynamics and the way they helped balance one another plus the banter was enjoyable. I'm not the biggest football girlie, but I enjoyed tYOGASIXhe cheerleader x football chemistry as the FMC and MMC connected.

If you enjoy a sports romance, I do recommend this one.

i am in love with how cute this book was, this was my first book of ki’s and it certainly wont be my last 🤭

i dont typically gravitate towards books with cheer in it because i grew up doing competitive cheerleading and sometimes the inaccuracies of how the sport is portrayed can get a little grating BUT im really happy i decided to give it a go with this one! i loved the excitement towards the sport and enjoyed how this book didnt come off as a typical quarterback/cheerleader would in most other forms of media.

this was a fun, quick, fluffy read that also handled some harder topics well! the pacing was great and it felt engaging enough that i could have sat through and read the whole thing start to finish but forced myself to enjoy it a bit slower lol.

if youre looking for a fun newish take on a sports romance i cannot recommend this one enough 🤭

Overall I enjoyed this book. The story took off at a quick pace right from the start and I didn’t want to put it down.

At first it seems like insta-love with their first interaction at the bar and then again at his house but things quickly turn from insta-love to enemies to lovers. I liked how the author made both characters genuinely annoyed with one another and had Hudson even slam the door in Ella’s face after kicking her out of his house. In that moment you can just feel the tension/angst brewing between the two characters and you know it’s going to be a good book. Their chemistry was definitely palpable, more so from Hudson’s character than Ella’s. Hudson’s character felt a little more realistic to me. His mannerisms and personality shined through more than Ella’s. Ella’s personality fell kind of flat. It felt like all her character really offered up were constant eye rolls and lifting her chin in defiance. Her character was giving Anastasia from Icebreaker vibes… high strung and tightly wound.

The first half of the book was fun seeing their characters interact and grow from enemies to friends. Honestly, the enemies part didn’t really last long at all. After a while though the pacing started to slow down and I began to lose interest. I think Stephens did a really good job with writing her spicier scenes although once they started back up again they were a little too frequent. It was like back to back to back smut scenes.

If you are someone who appreciates the sports side of a sports romance then I think you will enjoy this book. The author did a really good job at bringing her readers into the world of cheerleading. She used a lot of technical terms and went into detail about the moves they were performing.

I would have loved to see Stephens dive just a little deeper with her conflict scenes in the books. It felt like everything was just mild and this is what made the book start to become a little boring after a while. We would get a taste of a conflict starting to take form but then it would fizzle out and go nowhere. I feel like there were a lot of missed opportunities. It would have been interesting to see Claire pull the mean girl card a little more than her character did or have Jamie bring on the ex-boyfriend drama a lot more than he did.

All in all it was a good book and I’m glad I got the opportunity to receive an ARC for Game On by Ki Stephens.

This was such a cute sports romance! I loved the cheerleading aspect and all of the nontoxic masculinity from Hudson with his participation on the cheerleading team. It was such a nice change from the 'star quarterback' trope. He was a really healthy, well adjusted MMC. I always enjoy the 'no strings attached trope' because both always quickly develop feelings and it's so tension filled. The chemistry between Ella and Hudson was OFF THE CHARTS. It was so, so good.

The ex drama and the Oxford drama increased the stakes and was just enough conflict and tension to provide a satisfying ending.

Thank you SMP Romance for the advanced review copy!

Game On by Ki Stephens is a fun, fast-paced romance that blends witty banter with sizzling chemistry. The characters’ dynamic is engaging, making it a lighthearted and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Ki Stephens and St. Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book early. Girl from England does a study abroad in Nashville? Um yes it’s an in immediate intrigue. Ella and Hudson are our MCs in this book and it felt like a typical college romance in all of the best ways. I
We have our cheerleading FMC, and our football star MMC who one night meet, have a one night stand only to continue as an FWB relationship moving forward. This book definitely leaned into some of the classic college sports romance tropes, and it was still enjoyable. Ella, our FMC was headstrong and confident, especially as she moved from England for an entire year for a study abroad program. She is a student of Oxford which comes up later on in this book. Girl knew what she wanted, and eventually she got it. Hudson our MMC, was definitely the more sensitive one in their dynamic. He has dreams of taking on a master’s program. Which is part of the major conflict in this book of “where am i going?” after this school year. As Oxford is one of Hudson’s options, and drama ensues from there.

This book was fun, enjoyable and there was some decent spice in it as well.

The spice level for me would be: 2 🌶️

If you are a fan of sports romances set in a college setting, you will enjoy this one. This book comes out September 9th and would be a perfect read for that “back to school” feeling. I will definitely read more from Ki Stephen’s in the future.

⭑.ᐟ Thank you Ki, Netgalley & St. Martin Press for the opportunity to receive an arc

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

ׂׂૢ I really enjoyed seeing a new sport into these books, I haven’t seen many that include cheerleading & it was fun to be part of this experience & learning so much about it!

ׂׂૢ I love Ella, she was so badass & super cool. She knew what she wanted & she pursued her goals!! I’m so happy she got a fresh start at Nashville & was able to make a friend super fast! I loved seeing her friendship with Gabi blossom. Gabi was definitely a friend Ella needed.

ׂׂૢ I loved Hudson, he had his sweet moments & his stupid moments, like any male lolsss. I felt bad for him at the beginning because his reputation did him dirty but then again, who can we blame (we blame him!) I love sourdough, he’s my baby. Hudson’s family history is sad, heartbreaking to read & it’s so amazing how much he’s worked on himself to be better. Seeing his reasons why he wants what he wants makes sense & it makes the heart hurt.

ׂׂૢ Ella & Hudson slowing getting to know each other was so cute to see. Hudson was so nice to her, very gentleman like !! Ella was so cute. I loved how they were able to banter with each other quite easily but still have their buttons pushed muahahaha. Also I LOOOOOVE THE WAY THEY BOTH LOVE CHEER!!! KI YOU ARE A GENIUS FOR THIS. I loved how Hudson opened up to Ella little by little & he never pressured Ella to do the same. Bare minimum but an admirable quality!

ׂׂૢ let’s be real, sourdough was the real star. As a cat owner, I found sour so entertaining! I love him so much now & I hope ki doesn’t have any evil plans for him in the future.

Thank you to Ki Stephens, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

This was such a fun read! Ella is going on a student exchange program from Oxford to Whitland University in Nashville to explore her love of cheer and to spend time with her boyfriend. However, the day she is set to leave, her boyfriend wants to “take a break to discover herself” and she decides to move on. The night she gets to Nashville she goes out with her new roommate, she meets Hudson, who happens to be the star quarterback at Whitland, and they start to get to know each other.

Ella was a breath in fresh air. She gave herself a journey, so we were able to see her grow in herself and confidence, through her cheer journey.

Hudson was such a multi faced athlete, that knew he didn’t want to go pro, which is something I don’t always see in college based sports romances.

Their relationship is also one that builds, which makes it so believable.

Overall, I found this book great, and think this is one where the main sport is actually cheer, and breath of fresh air.

Thanks to Martin St. Griffin and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

honestly this was a really cute college romance!

i cheered in high school so i really enjoyed the cheer aspect of it. all the terms and competitions and excitement was captured SO well! ella & hudson were super cute & i liked watching their relationship grow. i personally struggled some with a few moments bc it just felt so juvenile & i was rolling my eyessssss but ya know sometimes those college romances just don't hit like they used to. i would recommend this book if you're looking for a fun cheer romance that's full of longing and all the college feels!!!

thank you smp romance & netgalley for the arc! this is my honest review.