Love Game by Maggie Wells is a great fit for readers who enjoy stories about coaches and sports set in the world of American college sports, as it follows the relationship between a successful women's basketball coach and a football coach trying to rebuild his career.

It's hard to pinpoint exactly why this book wasn't working for me, but it just ... wasn't. With the more mature (at least in age) characters, sports puns and steam, I thought it would be right up my alley. I listened to nearly 50% before finally deciding to tap out.

Sometimes it is hard to know where to begin with a review when you love a book as much as I did Love Game by Maggie Wells. A hero with something to prove, a heroine who just wants the respect and paycheck she deserves for what she’s produced, a reporter with a grudge, a morality clause, and friends who go the extra mile all made Love Game an excellent story.

For years Coach Kate Snyder has proven herself as an athlete, an Olympic champion, and as coach to three Division I title championships. She loves coaching at her alma mater Wolcott University and would love to stay there provided they are willing to show her the money in her contract negotiations.

Following a scandal that rocked his coaching career, Danny McMillan is thankful to be back coaching at a Division I school even if it’s for a football team that hasn’t won a game in forever. He knows he has a lot to prove, he knows it is going to be difficult, he just didn’t realize that part of the job would be finally realizing that winning isn’t everything; it’s the love of the game especially when that game is love.

OMG people, this book!! First off Kate, damn we need more heroines like Kate both in fiction and real life. This woman is formidable in so many ways; she loves her job, one she takes very seriously including mentoring young athletes, she loves the game and remembers the joy of playing it, she respects other athletes (well her dislike of baseball was troubling to my baseball soul, but I let it go), she refuses to let others devalue her accomplishments just because she is a woman, she demands respect, but can take the heat as well as dish it out, and most of all she is loyal to those she cares about. I may have a wee bit of a woman crush on Kate!

It would have been easy to see Danny as a player and someone who was use to breaking the rules and getting away with it, but Ms. Wells crafted his character so well it was easy to sympathize with him and the events that got him in trouble. I’m not saying he was completely innocent, but I am saying the blame didn’t lie solely at his feet but being a head coach he took it. What I loved most about Danny was he wasn’t put off by Kate’s commanding personality (in reality I think it turned him on) and he supported her fully. That’s not to say they didn’t have some differences of opinion on things, but that lively sparring kept things oh so interesting and fun.

I loved the layers to this story, the way Danny’s past made their relationship difficult, the way he accepted it and the way Kate fought so they could have everything they wanted. Danny was happy to have Kate, but Kate…damn, she wanted it all and she aimed to get it.

If you want to read a feel good story, one that shows a woman can be tough and even a bit of a ball buster without being shrew and bitchy, then you do not want to miss Love Game. I know it is early in 2018, but I can already tell you Love Game will be one of my favorite reads this year, it is that good!

Talk about heat on the sidelines - Kate and Danny have it! I enjoyed the smooth writing and the intermix of sports in the story, especially being a former athlete. This book brings to light the unequal situations that face women, including pay differences. Kate is a strong character that you find yourself cheering for throughout the book. A feel-good read for your next weekend getaway!

I enjoyed this book for the most part. I typically do not gravitate toward sports romances, but the synopsis intrigued me. Unfortunately, I just found it so so.

This is a hard book to review. I liked the concept of the book, I liked the blurb and I loved the overall feel for it but when I started reading it....I just couldn't quite get into it and believe me I tried. I kept putting it down and then picking it up again and nothing seemed to work. I DNF'd at about 23 percent and I hate doing that but it was out of necessity.

This has all the elements that would normally work very well for me, older main characters, heroine who is incredibly competent at her job, slightly rude hero, but by 13% it just wasn’t holding my attention. It took me days to get that far. This isn’t a complete DNF, but rather a DNF for now. I may try to pick it back up at a later date and hope that it works better for me.

I like the concept of basketball, football and sports coaches falling in love with each other.

Kate is a very independent and strong Women's Basketball Coach. She is a tough shell to crack but by just giving her a pair of shoes, you totally scored a three-point shot straight to her heart.

Don't mess with the huge and determined to come back Danny MacMillan because he is not going to back down. Yet, he got weak with the amber colored eyes of his Amazon warrior.

I enjoyed the twists and turns of the story but not much of a fan of the ending though.

3.5 Stars

Love Game, is the first title in the Love Games series, and was my first time reading anything written by Maggie Wells. This title is an enemies to lovers romance featuring Kate and Danny.

Kate is a college basketball coach, she's determined to get her due, and advocates for equal pay and inequality in the work place. She's a determined, strong, independent, competitive and successful heroine.

I had mixed opinions on the hero Danny's character at times, this former pro-athlete came across as quite egotistical, but he did grow on me as the story progressed. He's very competitive, and despite a scandalous past, he's trying to escape, he refuses to bow down to others wishes.

Although this title begins as a slow burn, it heats up rather rapidly. At times I felt this pair spent more time in the bedroom than there was development of the story.

I enjoyed the side characters and think they will be good additions to the series. I don't expect that I will read the following titles as I found myself picking up and putting down this title several times over the course of a few days.

The connection Danny and Kate share is intense but they come together very quickly and Kate seems to drop quite a few of her long standing values in order for Danny's success. The banter is witty, full of flirtation and bickering, at times they are quite argumentative.

This story opens with Kate Snyder and her women’s basketball team winning their third NCAA Championship while she is the head coach. She is a legend already at Wolcott University and has now just added to her legacy. The problem for her is that her contract is up and now when they should be talking about her team and championship instead the press conference is for the hire of a new head football coach. Not to be out done she makes an appearance at Danny McMillan announcement as the new head football coach. Kate reminds everyone that the team has not won any games in the past four years, and that it would be nice to see a men’s trophy in the case since it has all of her championship trophies as a coach, one as a player, her Olympic Gold medal, Jerseys and other items all associated with the women’s program. He realizes he is in trouble a few days later when she shows up for one of his practices and as she is walking away someone yells heads up and she catches the football ease and throws it back. Now he is doubly attracted to her. The problem is he has a morality clause in his contract that forbids him from dating students or staff. There bantering lands them on T.V. but will it land them anywhere else? A story that shows the inequality and bigotry against women and women athletics, but also how two people are drawn to each other and what they must do if they want to be together. A very good book.

This was a pretty good sports romance.Kate is a championship basketball coach and Danny is the new college football coach these two clash right from the start especially when it comes to light that he is getting paid so much more than her, but both they are both also attracted to each other.This was a good read that held my interest all the way through it was really well written and had super characters that you cannot help but like.

I struggled with this one almost from the beginning. I just couldn't engage with the characters or the story. I was bored and my mind kept wandering. I can't put my finger on the exact problem - if it was writing style, storytelling, or just the story itself that I wasn't connecting with, but in the end I chose not to finish as it just wasn't holding my attention.

This one was a DNF for me. I didn't like the characters.

I really did enjoyed the book. The chemistry between Kate and Danny is amazing

Those few scenes are just HOT!!!!

I loved Danny he's just wowzers.

First book I've read from this author. Definitely wont be the last xx

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
I enjoyed this well-written and gender-equality challenging read. I thought that the injustices in recognition and pay between the super successful Kate Snyder, and the scandal-bound Danny were played out very cleverly. We are set up to hate on Danny from the beginning and yet, if you have faith in the author, she does not let you down, and in fact, his behaviour is far more forgivable.

The chemistry between the two leads is undeniable, and it is highly entertaining watching them give in to the desires they cannot fight. It works particularly well because term is out, and they are not busy with their usual routines. Touches like that are important to me, as they make the plot work so much better.

Although most of the focus is on the couple, there are some good side characters too – which maybe will feature in future books in the series. Kate's friends are fun, and instrumental in the resolution of all the issues keeping these two people apart. Mike is rather hampered by his position, but in the end, he is a good friend to both Danny and Kate.

I found this a super easy book to read and enjoyed how it played out. Thank you, Ms. Wells.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
Wow! I have a huge girl crush on Kate Snyder! I love strong women in romance writing and the Olympic basketball star turned award winning coach has to be one of my all-time favourite characters. She’s smart, she’s quick, and she’s also very funny.

Kate’s love interest, Danny, is also a retired sports star – but his life post retirement has been a little bit messy. I love the chemistry between these two. I love that Danny is attracted to Kate’s strength and to her successes. And while Danny and Kate both might take their sports a little bit too seriously, their relationship is fun and the banter between them is brilliant.

I really appreciated some of the feminist themes that run through this book. Kate wrestles hard with the salary difference between herself – a coach with four national championship titles – and Danny – an unproven coach with a murky past. Sadly, equal pay for women’s sports seems to be a long way off for players and staff alike but I really like the way Kate fights for her contract without compromising herself or making any compromises to appease Danny.

I loved the courtship moments as Danny attempts to win Kate’s attention. The chemistry between these two is crazy hot and there are some scorching scenes in this story. But while the courtship phase is long and very satisfying, the race from bed to happily ever after felt like a breathless race. The end comes a little too quickly for me. I wanted to see these two settle into a relationship but instead I’ll have to trust that they’ll sort themselves out.

This is the kind of romance that I want to see more of. We need more ‘warrior’ women in romance. We need to be able to read about women that we can look up to and be inspired by. We also need more relationships between equals in romance. I loved this story and I will be looking for more by this author.


Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It’s not about people just starting out, it’s about people who have lived their dreams and what happens after the dream has ended – whether by injury or retirement. About how your life is not only impacted by your dreams but what happens after the dream fades away. How you conduct yourself and make new dreams.

Riding the wave of glory then defeat often tells the true story of a person's character. The aftermath of destruction of those dreams comes with a hard price and oftentimes, the price is paid with scars to a person's soul. Protecting the truly guilty is a price paid for those protectors and only those carrying the burden know the true cost.

Learning to live and love again isn't easy, but for these two, it’s a dream worth fighting for.

I am so the target audience for the this book, I feel like I need to issue a disclaimer upfront. Love Game, the first book in Maggie Well’s Love Games series takes on love, women’s sports, and broadcasting. I was a journalism major, played not one, but two sports in the NCAA at a D-1 school, and coached professionally for over fifteen years. As far as I’m concerned, Wells wrote this one for me. That being said, any woman who loves a smart, driven, dedicated, take-no-prisoners heroine, will love Kate Snyder. She puts the “hero” in heroine as she fights for her job, her players, women’s sports, and the love of her life.

Kate, openly inspired by Pat Summitt, is a four time NCAA national women’s basketball champion coach. She’s a former Olympian in her own right, but there’s that caveat that rankles all female athletes the world over, “women’s” fill-in-the-sport. Billie Jean King may have proved our point when she beat Bobby Riggs, but ultimately that didn’t have much effect on funding, did it? Even in 2017, the big bucks still go to men’s sports. I can’t tell you how many times I heard about how the men’s sports, especially football, fund the women’s sport programs. But I digress… Even women who aren’t in the athletic industry will appreciate and relate to the fight women have in male dominated work places.

Kate’s love story with Danny McMillan was hot and steamy, but almost secondary. Wells could have left out the explicit scenes and still had a solid story. What they add is a demonstration of the intensity of these two characters, consistent in all parts of their lives. In that way it makes them more authentic.

As indicated in the description, Love Game has alternating points of view. It is my preferred format in the contemporary romance genre as we get let into the what each character thinks about the other and when. Maggie Wells is a new author for me and her writing style is tight. She has intentionally inserted a fun sportscaster-like lingo and zingers into her characters’ dialog. Their banter is as competitive as their personalities and it creates heat. Blessedly, they know when enough is enough. It’s not about always having the last word or the harshest barb. Wells never crosses the line over into mean. By the end I was as in love with these characters as they were with each other.

My Rating: A, Loved It

The book starts off with Kate Snyder's basketball team winning the cup for Wolcott. Kate had been the coach for the women's basketball team, and she has several wins up her belt. When the new football coach, Danny joins. Sparks flow between Danny and Kate

Are they falling in love?

Read to find out.

I enjoyed the book. The chemistry between Kate and Danny is sizzling. There are few hot and steamy scenes. Sometimes the talk about basketball and football was too technical that it went over my head. Favorite character Millie. I love how the title relates to both protoganists. 

Recommend for romance readers

Kate is a WNBA champ, went to the Olympics and now coaches at a college that she loves.
Danny is a new coach that gets paid more than Kate even though she has championships under her belt for this college.
Kate is going to stay strong against Danny but she caves very quickly.
The book was so boring and smutty until about 80% of the book was done, then it got good because you cared about both of the characters and their backgrounds and it wasn't just political about gender equality and then sex.
There is one small cliffhanger but it doesn't really affect the book.
The cover of the book has absolutely nothing to do with the book which to me is irritating.

In their hay-day, Danny and Kate were both pro athletes at the top of their game. Kate has continued her success as a basketball coach at her alma mater. Danny was a successful football coach who got caught up in a scandal with an extra side of taboo. This has left Danny working his way back to coaching at a Division 1 school. Finally, with an offer from Wolcott University he's made his way back to D1, but nowhere near the top. What he soon realizes is that Wolcott is Kate's school, where women's basketball reigns supreme and she is its queen. Not surprisingly, his obscene salary and ability to steal the spotlight, coupled with his past and a PR stunt, has put Kate on edge. Their chemistry is evident from the beginning, so it’s only a matter of time before things heat up. What follows is a romance that begins with a slow burn and turns pretty hot, pretty fast.

This is an enjoyable read that offers a HEA, but also leaves some dangling unanswered questions. I assume that means this is the beginning of a series that will offer more answers and happily ever afters. I look forward to reading the next offering.

I received an ARC of this book, from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.