3.5 ⭐️

Forever on the hunt for something that will give the same feels as RWRB? The good news is that this comes close!

Lucas and Oliver are teammates competing at the Paris Olympics and are roomed together, which is great except they hate each other. I think you can fill in the trope blanks from there.

Overall, I enjoyed it, this was better than other sport romances because of a personal attachment to the Olympics so I really loved that. However, I felt the plot jumped around a lot without really getting to the meat of what was going on, while also really telling the reader what is happening instead of showing us. Also, I read this as an ARC so there were quite a few errors I noticed, but I’m sure these would have been cleaned up for publishing.

Overall / would recommend!

While I enjoyed the romance between Lucas and Oliver, it could have been a bit longer to strengthen the storylines and the lax editing made it a bit harder to enjoy. It was a quick read and fast paced which sucked me it but it faltered with the flow and lack of detail in some areas. There was some potential for real gems in the story but then those passages were kind of left in the wind which was a big stumbling block for me. I really felt this book had more potential but it started to fall a bit flat at the end, I also would have liked for their "enemies" era to go a bit longer and be more fleshed out before they become lovers.

I received an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley for providing an honest review.

Okay so this book was so good.
I absolutely loved it and will be getting myself a physical copy when it comes out in my local bookstore.
4.5/5 stars

Thank you netgalley for providing the arc.

I've always loved the Olympic games and was excited to find a story written about athletes at the Games. This is a queer sports romance following two British gymnasts who have not gotten along and are forced to share a room in the Village. Their story is nothing short of inspirational as they navigate their growing feelings for each other and the stress of competing at such a high level. All the supporting characters are developed nicely and you will come out of this with a definite soft spot for all the Team GB guys and the coaches too. I loved this book and I hope the author makes this a series or at the very least, gives us a sequel so we can catch up with Oliver and Lucas in the future.

Many thanks to NetGalley and The Wild Rose Press for the eARC of this book. I loved it!

Thank you to Wild Rose Press INC and Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy of Olympic Enemies in exchange for an honest review.

Olympic Enemies centers around Lucas and Oliver, both members of the British men's gymnastics team, Olympic-bound for Paris in 2024. Oliver and Lucas have hated each other for the last five years even though they have been to several Worlds competitions together. In order to win gold in Paris, they may not have a choice but to set aside their differences and come together.

Lucas was a very interesting character that I personally felt connected to because he is very family-orientated and he is extremely dedicated not only to gymanastics, but to academics as well. This isn't something you find in books very often so I loved that aspect. On the flip side, you have Oliver who is a complete social butterfly and whose entire life revolves around gymnastics and his two best friends, Tom and Julius.

One of the best parts of the book for me was how I went from absolutely hating Oliver in the beginning to him easily becoming one of my favorite characters. He had such great character development and his relationships not only with Lucas but also with his friends of five years all got a lot better.

While I absolutely loved the progression of Lucas and Oliver's relationship, I felt like it almost happened too fast for how long the book was. It would have been nice to learn a little bit more about their relationship before the events of this book. I feel like it would have rounded out their relationship a bit better. Even with this factor, my heart absolutely broke for them in the third act. While it felt completely natural, the way it happened made me so sad for them because they had worked so hard to get to where they were.

However, by the end of the book, I was absolutely squealing! This book ended in the best way and I hope we get to see some more of Lucas and Oliver. I would love to know what happens to them after the end of the Paris Olympics.

Overall, I would give this book a strong 4 stars and would defiinitely read another book if the author chooses to write one. I would also recommend this book to fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue!

3.75 stars

Lucas and Oliver are both gymnasts who have been enemies throughout their careers. Now that they’re both on the team for the 2024 Paris Olympics, they will have to work together. As if that wasn’t enough proximity already, they are roommates.
And they were roommates…

This book got me out of my reading slump. It’s been a while since I’ve wanted to discard all responsibilities in life and keep on reading. Lucas and Oliver were really fun to read about. I’m always game for a sports romance and an enemies-to-lovers plot only sweetens the deal.
However, I found it to be a fast switch from hate to love and I personally would’ve liked to see some more time spent becoming softer around each other before being lovers.
Nevertheless, I had a great time.

Many thanks to NetGalley and author/publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

(Review will be posted on Goodreads and The Storygraph on the 20th of January. Links are added.)

📚Book Review

Olympic Enemies by Rebecca J Caffery

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶🌶🌶🌶/5

This book was SO MUCH FUN to read! I really love Gymnastics and I found both Oliver and Lucas(and their whole team) to be so loveable. This book struck the perfect balance of handling serious topics, providing comedic relief, and adding in just the right amount of spice and I really love LGBTQ+ romances and the representation they provide. This book is currently in the running for my favorite book from January so far and I think this story really has a little something for everyone!

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The book definitely needed a lot more editing, plotwise, grammar-wise and story-wise. Multiple grammar mistakes aside, the plot between enemies and lovers was much too fast. The lack of transition really threw off most of the relationship. Also, temporally much of the story seemed a little strange, and the pacing was very fast. I find it weird that the athletes were so flexible about their schedule right before the Olympics...it just didn't seem to make much sense. My confusion about it definitely lessened the emotional impact of many scenes. I do think the romance was fun and cute in many places, but the characters were often out of character, and I really wish it had gotten proper editing before publishing.

3,8/5
I have a lot to say about this book.
I find very important the message that transmits, and I appreciate that it gives visibility to LGTBIQ+ athletes. More authors should do. It seems that when coming out of the closet, his achievements disappear and become “that gay athlete” and not “that athlete who got a gold medal”. Media focus only on “what it’s like to be gay in the world of sports” not on the effort that goes into getting high. You’re just gay. That’s the criticism that this book makes, and that is why I find it so special and so necessary.
Oliver and Lucas are endearing and watching their evolution has been a roller coaster of emotions. Watch them go from, for my very short taste, enemies to lovers to lovers, seeing how the relationship begins little by little, how they meet and help each other improve and discover new facets of live. Spice scenes also gave their point to the story. They were well described but I wish they were more described 😈.
The supporting characters are also a 100/10, while reading I felt that I knew them, that they were my friends. Provided very good moments of humor and helped develop our partner.
I could have enjoyed more if I had more vocabulary about gymnastics because there were parts where I didn’t understand at all what they said. But I did like it a lot, and would have liked it better if I had more pages to continue enjoying this story.
I highly recommend it!

This was a solid romance novel. The enemies to lovers romance was totally believable and the characters had great chemistry. The side characters were dimensional and contributed to the plot and banter of the story in great ways. I think that it displays the struggles of coming out as an athlete well. There are some parts of the sports elements of the story that don't feel quite accurate. I'm not a professional gymnast or Olympian but even I know some of these things wouldn't happen and that's not the order the competitions are run in. Still, was an enjoyable read!

This was one of my most anticipated reads in 2023. Sports romances are one of my favorite romances to reads especially when they're rivals to lovers. It's truly a top tier trope.

This was a total let down.

Lucas and Oliver are rivals for ... absolutely no reason? They have the stupidest fights through this entire novel. Immature, petty bickering that made them seem 17-18 instead of mid-20's. They were down right MEAN to each other. Almost cruel. This is not rivals to lovers, more of a bully romance. Lucas, the typical cliche gay nerd that prefers to watch Brooklyn 911 and study for his masters thesis. Oliver, absolutely no interests beyond gymnastics, so he's the typical jock with surprise a TRAGIC back story!

At 18% they had full on anal sex (it was fade to black). I was so confused by this development because ... neither of them were really into it??? So why was it happening. Then for the majority of the rest of the novel there is miscommunication on top of miscommunication on top of drama on top of drama. And they both stayed assholes the entire time yet both of them are already thinking about how they're in love with each other??? I just didn't buy the development. I struggled to take this book seriously at all. Which again is a disappointment because I was really looking forward to this book and I think the author is a really nice person.

There are a lot of 4 star reviews so maybe I just missed something here. It's possible. I think the pacing was very off and this could've spent a decent amount of time going through some more revisions. It felt rushed despite it being complete for many months. Also the ending was very abrupt. No epilogue. We don't even know where these guys end up?

TLDR: This book was frustrating to me both with the characters and the storyline. I'm not able to recommend it for all of the above reasons.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was such a cute and very easy read. It does feel a bit flat and the buildup is nonexistent. The characters are a bit plain but likeable. However it fits the rom-com vibes and it wasn't a major issue. I really loved Lucas! I recommend the book to those who like romance books and sports. It does feel a bit technical at times with the vocabulary used but it's readable. A must read for those looking for lgbtq+ representation.

I picked up this book because I adore both rivals to lovers and also the Olympics, especially the gymnastics. It focuses more on the relationship between the two main characters, Oliver and Lucas, than the Olympics or gymnastics itself though, which can feel more like a setting and sometimes plot device rather than a central part of the story. The romance itself was fairly cute though and I enjoyed it for the most part although sometimes I had to remind myself that I was reading about men and not boys, as they seemed a tad immature and somewhat separated from the more senior adults in the novel.

There is a great base story here but I do think it could do with some more editing and perhaps a new cover. The balance between the athletes personal lives and their training at an Olympic level seemed somewhat skewed although I’m guessing their amount of training was probably not written about as much in favour of how they spent their free time in the Olympic village and Paris, despite the fact that the two men would have been sharing a training room almost all day every day. Sometimes I also got the POV’s between Lucas and Oliver mixed up if I happened to put the book down in the middle of a chapter, they can come off as fairly similar at times despite the story trying to tell us how different they are from each other.

It’s a quick and easy read though and if you enjoy the things mentioned in the synopsis, being mostly romance, gymnastics and the Olympics, then I’d recommend giving it a try.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review and opinion!

This was adorable. I am a sucker for sports romances, and especially international competition based ones. Everyone living together for a couple weeks? Sign me up!
Off the bat I did notice there were some grammar mistakes, but as this is an ARC, I’m hoping that’ll be cleaned up.
I fell in love with Ollie and Lucas and their journey together! I do think it was a bit instant, but not in a bad way. Just in a way that when you look back, you can see that Ollie had probably felt this way for awhile.
I also loved the side characters and I am a bit put out that they weren’t explored any more, at all. Would have loved Tom to have gotten a bit of a plot, and to have seen Julius tell Ollie about the pregnancy. I think an epilogue of sorts would have made sense in this book.

Overall, it was a cute read and I’m glad I read it!

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and my reviews are completely my own*

Thank you Netgalley for the free book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book as the premise was fun for me. Queer teammates at the Olympics forced to share a dorm? Sign me up!

However, right off the bat the book did not deliver for me. The first chapter felt clunky and the way we were told about Lucas's personality was a ver "he is this trope. All work no play," where it would have perhaps been nicer for it to be shown to us. That set the tone for my reading for the rest of the book.

There were some cute moments and I am sure most people looking for a queer sports romance will be happy, but the writing, the pacing, and the dialogue really got to me.

Some of the moments that turned me off might be edited out since this is an ARC, and I hope readers of the finished copy all the best.

I throughly enjoyed reading this! Short chapters, interesting characters, enemies to lovers, gay and bi-sexual rep, gymnastics and more!

I think the author described the Olympics quite well, from Opening Ceremonies to medal ceremonies. And didn’t dwell too much on them. This is a new adult fiction novel, not non-fiction on the Olympics.

The dual POV threw me off a bit at first because I had the characters figured out but I easily caught on and then loved seeing both sides.

If you liked Boyfriend Material and Red, White and Royal Blue, you’ll love this!

Have you ever wondered what the lovechild of Red, white and Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material would look like?
Olympic Enemies follows Lucas and Oliver, two British Gymnasts who have been rival gymnasts for the past five years but are currently on the same team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. As a consequence, they are aware that they will see each other everyday. Little do they know they will also have to share a room in the Olympic Village, which will lead them to the inevitable: face everything unspoken between them.
Even though the promise of the story is both entertaining and exciting and I overall enjoyed the book, Olympic Enemies was badly executed. I am going to set forth my views in Olympic Enemies and how it should have been improved.
Firstly, the narrative pacing. From the beginning, the reader can feel that the author was determined to rush the story through so Lucas and Oliver would kiss. However, the fast pace of the narrative remained a part of the book, especially the last couple of chapters in which I felt overwhelmed with the amount of events that occurred and I had to process. To my mind, the author could have prevented this by adding scenes in which the reader could dive more into the developing of Lucas and Olivers' relationship. Furthermore, I believe the last chapters should have been longer since the reader needed a moment to take a breath within that part of the novel.
Secondly, the book's abrupt ending. Although I liked the way the novel has ended, it strikes me that the author could have added one more chapter or an epilogue where she offered an insight of Lucas and Oliver's life together after the Olympics.
Thirdly, the main characters' narrative voices. Throughout the reading process of the book, I found it difficult to distinguish which of the two characters were speaking. Sometimes I had to double check if I was following the story by the correct character's POV. Were I the author, I would improve the characters' narrative voices by giving each characters some expressions that will make them distinguishable for the reader or exploiting the characters' personalities to the full.
Last but not least, the lack of editing of the book since grammatical mistakes can be spotted easily while reading it.
Despite all this, I believe the promise of the story is both entertaining and easy to read. Moreover, there were some sweet moments between Lucas and Oliver that made my heart soar. Therefore, I would recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a sweet and interesting book.

Thank you to Netgalley, Rebecca J Caffery, and The Wild Rose Press, Inc. for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this LGBTQ Romance! I didn't know if I would enjoy it a ton because I know zero about gymnastics, but I had no problem getting into this book and enjoying the characters as well as I could tackle a general understanding of the sport from what the author wrote. Would recommend! The enemies to lovers was also very well written!

4.5⭐️!
This book was so cute. I truly enjoyed Ollie and Lucas’s story of becoming enemies to lovers. I have family who do gymnastics, so I was very impressed by the terminology used. I will definitely be recommending to my followers!

As someone who adores the olympics, gay romcoms, and sports romances, I am absolutely in love with the premise of this book, and the vibes that it creates surrounding what it’s like to be in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime, life-changing event. The tension with having two people that “hate” each other being paired up as roommates during said event, is even better. The characters are clearly defined and differentiated from each other, (which can be difficult with sports romances, since a lot of athletes not only have similar personality types, but tend to adopt each other’s mannerisms after lengthy time on teams together), so I enjoyed seeing the dynamic of the four (sometimes five!) boys.

The book was a quick read, with short chapters, but I would’ve liked to see more. I would have enjoyed the story further if the characterization set up for each was played out to the end, or even brought back more than once. While Oliver talks about his grief of Amber, he never again references his child. We don’t see Jules tell his best friend about his expected child, nor do we see or hear updates of his engagement plans. Tom has no followable arc, beyond competing, though he mentions wanting to ask out Alicia, there’s no action. Lucas, while begins to understand the many what he did and said wrong, only seems to because of what he lost out of it. He doesn’t seem concerned over the horrible things he said to Oliver, while he was currently experiencing one of the worst days of his life, and only seemed concerned that their relationship was mid break-up. Given more time, perhaps a few more chapters beyond the medal ceremony, I would’ve liked to see all of their stories tied up, rather than potentially implied.

I have a personal interest in the Olympics, have researched it in depth, and follow it closely even in off-years. That being said, I was willing to overlook smaller inaccuracies about the Olympics / Olympic Village itself, for the sake of the story. However, I had a hard time suspending my disbelief over athletes being intently followed by the press/paparazzi as if they were A-List celebrities (already rare), before they’ve even made their Olympic debut (certainly never). This however, is the underlying conflict throughout the entire storyline. Oliver kept his last relationship a secret because of it, Lucas is private because of it, they keep their fling hidden because of it. With this conflict seeming so implausible, it’s hard to take their motives seriously.

There were also grammar issues that made reading it a little harder, though I doubt I would’ve noticed if I was listening to it, which is how I usually read.

Overall, I liked the story, but I would’ve liked to see more time put into it’s editing and ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wild Rose Press for providing me with an ARC of this title, in exchange for an honest review.