I fell in love with Top of Her Game by M. Ullrich.

This is a story about two women who are players in women’s major league soccer. That fact alone would have interested me since both my partner and I love watching women’s soccer, and my partner especially follows both the Canadian and the U.S. women’s teams. Add in a lovely romance and you have us both hooked. That is exactly what happened with this book.

This is the story of Kensie Shaw and Sutton Flores. Kensie is a recent graduate from Penn State and the top rookie draft pick for her home state team, the New Jersey Hurricanes. There she meets and will be playing with her idol, Sutton Flores. Sutton is a superstar soccer player known for being a top player on the field, and unfortunately sometimes a player off the field. The two become friends first as teammates, but gradually the connection between the two grows to much more than just teammates and friends. There are hurdles that could derail the growing attraction. At least one of the hurdles could mean the end of their careers in soccer.
This is a well-written sports story and romance from an author who obviously follows soccer. She did a great job of writing these characters and showing the two grow as a couple as the story unfolded. It was easy to see the attraction from Kensie to Sutton since she already started with her earlier teenage crush. Sutton had to grow a bit in the story, but I felt the author did a good job showing that growth.

I did not have an issue with the way the sexual harassment plot line was used in the tale. In the workplace, unless the abuser is at the top of the power chain, he or she has to hide what they want to do. Successful abusers learn to be really good actors. This means that when the abuse happens, it is often a surprise to the victim and invisible to others around them. I actually believe the author was pretty realistic in the way she handled this issue. It did cause a lot of the angst in the story, and rightfully so.

Despite the sexual harassment issue, this is a beautiful sports-related romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. I will issue a trigger warning here. This story does have one scene of attempted workplace sexual harassment. If that would cause you problems, you might want to read another of Ms. Ullrich’s novels.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

I love women's soccer and really enjoyed the soccer scenes. They were well written and easy to visualize. I have to say that while the romance was sweet, it felt like this book belongs more in the young adult category. It just seemed simple until the sexual harassment portion. This book is good and recommendable, especially if you like characters right out of college. Maybe at 50 I just can't relate anymore.
I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a nice sports romance from Ullrich. I’m not a huge soccer fan since it’s not a major sport where I live, but I still enjoyed the soccer background and didn’t think there was too much emphasis on the soccer scenes.

This features MC Kenzie, a rookie about to play her first season in a women’s soccer league and Sutton, a long time player who is also Kenzie’s idol and crush. The two have instant sparks, but Sutton has a girlfriend (who plays for a different team in the league). I liked that even though it was obvious that the two had developed feelings for each other, nothing happened until Sutton broke it off (I also give kudos for how she did this).

The romance from here on is pretty standard and sweet, with plenty of nice chemistry between the two. I also liked that they didn’t just fall into bed with each other after this, another rarity in lesfic. So, up until around the 75% mark, things were going swimmingly, but then a sexual harassment storyline pops up. This involves one of the MCs and was just.... kinda unbelievable. In the current political landscape I didn’t buy for a minute that the issue would have been handled the way it was, and even if it was, all the MCs had to do was go to the press and the whole thing would have swung their way. I also didn’t buy how Sutton handled this, and thought the breakup was too contrived. I’ve knocked a star off for those two reasons.

That said, I did enjoy the romance and that there’s an epilogue that provides some closure (some idea of what happened to the harasser would have been good). It’s a solid romance, and sports fans are sure to enjoy. 4 stars.

4.5 stars - When I read the premise of this book, god knows I had high expectations. Maybe some of those expectations were unrealistic. Who knows? All I know is that I was not disappointed and there isn't a greater feeling than hyping up a book in your head and have most of your expectations met. I freaking loved this book!

Fresh out of college, rookie Kenzie Shaw is recruited by the New Jersey Hurricanes where she gets to play alongside Sutton Flores, National Team player and Kenzie’s massive celebrity crush. There’s an instant chemistry between the two players, but when they decide to give it a shot, politics and a sexual harassment case threaten to keep them apart.

So, obviously, Top of Her Game is a sports romance involving soccer and it’s everything I could’ve asked for. Ullrich does a wonderful job of balancing and blending the romance and sports elements into something that’s nearly perfect. A+ for the soccer game descriptions; it actually felt like watching a match.

I like that from the get-go, Kenzie and Sutton weren’t trying to resist their attraction to each other. The chemistry between the two leads was hot and didn’t feel forced at all. I’m thankful that even though Sutton had a player reputation, it was never a source of conflict between her and Kenzie.

This reads a little bit younger than most adult romances, probably because Kenzie is so young, but I wasn’t bothered by it. There’s also that mandatory 80% dramatic scene, but in this case it sorta made sense. I’m not happy about the “conflict” that arose and how it was handled. It made me so angry, but again, Ullrich used it as a way to comment on the politics of running a sports teams and white male privileges, and I can appreciate that. Even though it’s 2019 and with the #MeToo movement, I’m sure things like that still happen quite often.

I highly recommend it. Especially if you love women's soccer. And cute romances. Just do it :)

Tw: sexual harassment/assault.

Side note - if you follow M. Ullrich on Twitter, you undoubtedly know she’s a hardcore Earper and you can bet Wynonna made an apparition in this book. Loved it!

Thanks to Bold Strokes Books for providing me with a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

Kenzie Shaw is a talented rookie soccer player playing in the US women’s major league. She’s drafted to play in New Jersey, alongside her idol and teenage-crush, Sutton Flores. Sutton is one of the top players in the game, a superstar who’s very loyal to her team players and family, but jumps from one relationship to the other. Both women feel a growing attraction to each other but when they decide to act on it, a sexual harassment case threatens to tear them apart. Will they be able to stay together and fight for what matters most?

I love a good lesbian sports romance book and if it’s soccer, even better. After all, I come from Argentina, the land of Maradona and Messi! This book has the perfect timing of being released in the aftermath of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup which had unprecedented world coverage. For us lesbians, it’s really cool not only to enjoy the game but also to see some of these fabulous sportswomen being out and proud and fighting for women’s rights. So, a book like ‘Top of her game’ is right up my alley.

M. Ullrich is one of my favourite lesfic authors, I really liked her previous book ‘Pretending in paradise‘. Unfortunately, I’m a bit on the fence with this one, somehow it didn’t work fully for me though I’m aware that it’s just my personal taste and I might be in the minority here. I think that Ms. Ullrich did a great job with some of the soccer scenes, the descriptions of the intensity of the game or the stress to perform at one’s best the whole time. However, in the romance department, I didn’t feel the connection between the mains, their chemistry was just ok for me, maybe because the author tells more than shows it.

My other criticism is that the sexual harassment subplot wasn’t totally convincing. I don’t want to go into details to avoid spoiling anything, but it didn’t feel completely believable and even more, at some parts, it felt more like a plot device than a natural development. Considering how much sexual harassment is present in all sports, I praise Ms. Ullrich for dealing with this issue, though for me, this part of the story didn’t work as well as the soccer scenes. Having said that, if you are a soccer fan, I’d recommend you give this book a go.

Overall, a good lesbian sports romance recommended for soccer fans. 3.5 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all my reviews at www.lezreviewbooks.com

This is a Netgalley ARC review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

Top of Her Game by M. Ullrich is a sweet sports rom com. Sutton and Kenzie are women I’d be friends with. Their intimate dynamic was intense. Their friendships with their teammates was fun. I especially enjoyed the banter between Taylor and Sutton. At first I thought they were frenemies. I thought the jabs at lesbian relationship stereotypes was quite funny. Chapter 20 was by far my favorite.

I feel like this book also touches on multiple important social issues in a sensitive yet approachable manner.

3.50 Stars. For me this was good but not great. Like many lesfic readers out there I love women’s soccer. I’m also slightly obsessed with Megan Rapinoe, as if you could not tell already from my profile pic. Between my love for soccer and the fact that Ullrich can be pretty brilliant at times, I had high expectations for this book. I think that’s partly my issue, they were unrealistically high. I enjoyed a good chunk of the book but there were parts that were a bit of a letdown.

First I want to say that Ullrich wrote good soccer scenes. I could have used even more but I can understand Ullrich not wanting to scare off non-sports fans. They were well written and I could picture the game easily playing out in my mind with no confusion or issues. I still have to say Kate Christie, in her Girls of Summer Series, writes the best and most realistic soccer scenes but Ullrich is coming in a close second here.

I also thought the romance was cute and enjoyable. I liked the main characters and I believed in the chemistry they had for each other. I was actually enjoying it so much that I started thinking it’s too good to be true, there is going to be something stupid that happens that pisses me off. Unfortunately, that was true. I did not like the conflict. And because of how long the conflict played out, the ending felt rushed which was disappointing.

A few other reviewers have mentioned this and I have to say I didn’t like how the sexual harassment was handled. Maybe if this book was written three years ago… okay sure. But not now, not with #MeToo. It felt too unrealistic and it was unresolved, what the heck happened? Again that feels due to the ending being rushed. The epilogue was cute and cheesy, but it only answered one of my multiple questions.

In conclusion there is plenty to like, I thought this would be a solid 4 or 4+ stars for most of the book, but some bumps at the end brought it down to being 3.50 good but not great level instead. Even with my few complaints, I would still recommend this one to romance fans.

Kenzie Shaw is the newest Soccer Rookie drafted to The Hurricanes. She is excited and nervous to start because her idol, hero, crush Sutton Flores plays for The Hurricanes. Kenzie has watched Sutton play for years and loves her. Sutton on the other hand has been playing Major League soccer for a while and has her share of accolades. She knows of Kenzie and has watched her play. Sutton has is also known to be someone of a lady's woman. She does tend to commit, but seems not to commit for long.

Okay, so here are my thoughts. I enjoyed reading Top of Her Game. I am a sports person and enjoy reading sports romances. I can safely say this checked most of the boxes for me. I liked the attraction between Kenzie and Sutton. I also like that she is able to start dating her idol. I always think that is cute. Even though I liked Sutton, I just felt her character was not the type to commit. The story line builds up her dating issues and i just didn't trust her. Sure maybe that is the look Ullrich was going for, but for me it slightly took away from the romance. As I was reading it, I kept saying "Kenzie girl, don't trust her". There was also one of thing I didn't care for. The ending just felt rushed. Okay, now that I got that out, I otherwise thought it was a well written romance.

I give this one 3.75 stars but will round it to 4 because it was close.

World Cup Worthy
This book is WONDERFUL! I loved every minute of it!! Kenzie is the best rookie in the league. She’s drafted to play in New Jersey alongside her all time idol and biggest crush, Sutton.
Sutton is a player on and off the field. She is dedicated, loyal and gives her all to her friends, family and team. She will do whatever she has to do to keep her loved ones safe and sound, even above what she wants and needs. Kenzie quickly gets to know Sutton and sees her for the woman she is and not just the athlete she had a crush on. Sutton is drawn to the quiet woman and likes how she feels when Kenzie is near. The chemistry between these two superstars is so sweet. They both refuse to acknowledge it but its there from the start.

This book hooked me in right away and I was immediately invested. I loved all the sports stuff, and normally Im not a very sporty person but this was so good! The way the players interacted with each other, the calls up to Nationals, the romance, the bad times and the good, the laughs and the tears, all of it enveloped me and I lost track of everything in the outside world. I was shocked when I was done reading and couldn’t believe how much time had passed, it felt so fast… but the warm fuzzies I got from this delightful tale stayed with me probably as long as I was reading if not longer. I think I MUST check out more of Ms Ulrich’s work!!!

This book is going to be one of those classics, one of those books that's the first book someone reads when they're introduced to the world of lesfic. It makes you feel seen and championed in the best way. This book is perfect, because really what's more dreamy than your celebrity crush falling in love with you!

Kenzie is a first pick to be drafted to the New Jersey women's major soccer league team, and she's playing on the same team as Sutton Flores. Sutton happens to be both her favourite player and her celebrity crush. Sutton has never been on to settle down with one woman for long, but Kenzie's draw seems impossible to resist. Have the two women finally met their forever, or will history rewrite itself?

This book is so so sweet and so so sexy. Sutton and Kenzie complement each other perfectly and my god their chemistry is off the charts, both on and off the field. Kenzie was a really interesting and surprising character and Sutton was downright swoon worthy. All the teammates and friendships forged throughout this book created this beautiful sense of community as you read, this warmth and energy exactly like you feel when you're at a women's soccer game (Go Pride!). I love a good side romance too! This book also touched on some of the darker sides of women's soccer like the unjust pay, and sexual harassment.

This book made me smile and cry and get angry and laugh. It was all around amazing. I will definitely be buying this in paperback to read again.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Top of Her Game follows Kenzie Shaw, a rookie soccer player and Sutton Flores, a star player of the team she’s just been drafted onto. With a refreshing romance, the chemistry between the two main characters is undeniable and the soccer matches are action packed! Highly recommended for those of us like me who wishes that Bend It Like Beckham would've ended differently!

A special thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Celebrity crush-to-lovers is slightly tricky to handle because making the fangirl and celebrity equals is not easy. Ullrich does that convincingly and with aplomb.

Kenzie Shaw a sought-after rookie is drafted by New Jersey Hurricanes which has Sutton Flores, a player she’s been crushing on since forever. Sutton is in a relationship with Rhea, who plays for another team, but is attracted to shy, quiet Kenzie from the start. Despite her own attraction to Sutton, Kenzie asks her to talk to Rhea before they start something. This is a nice kind of equality. Sutton is not particularly known for long-term relationships and her BFF in the team warns her that starting something with Kenzie could be detrimental to the team when things go south. But the attraction between Kenzie and Sutton cannot quite be contained. Kenzie unfortunately becomes subject of sexually predatory behaviour from one of the male support members of the team and things unravel professionally and personally.

The attraction and chemistry between the two MCs is fantastic. Their relationship is sweet. Kenzie – sweet, sweet Kenzie is just so lovely. Sutton starts of an ass, with her negligent behaviour with Rhea and the fact she’d led Rhea on for ever so long, but kind of starts redeeming herself in her relationship with Kenzie. But just when we thought Sutton is not a write-off, she pulls an awful one – she is cruel to Kenzie purportedly to protect the person she loves. We cannot quite understand the cruelty and unilateral decision-making in a relationship. It is lack of communication and smacks of a certain arrogance of knowing better. However, the author manages to write a lovely relationship between the two MCs with plenty of heat making us totally invested in them.

The whole conflict in this book is driven by the tragic and frightening reality of men running women’s sports and the way men shield other mem’s wrongdoings at the cost of the players, no matter how talented the players are. It is a sad fact that #MeToo still has a long way to go – and women need to take control of their spaces more.

This is a thoroughly engaging read with a moony-eye-worthy MC in Kenzie.

Kenzie Shaw is a rookie for the Hurricanes and her captain just happens to be her hero and long-time crush Sutton Flores.

Sparks fly, but a few obstacles stand in their way. Sutton has a reputation as not really a player, but as a serial monogamist whose relationships don’t usually last a single soccer season, and she is currently in one of them when she meets Kenzie. Their attraction is fast and real, but Kenzie puts the brakes on for that last reason.

Our two leads get together fairly early on in the book, so you can expect a lot of drama, and Ullrich delivers it in spades! The story is fresh and exciting and not all roses for our MCs, but they still manage to come out on top.

One thing I really like about Kenzie and Sutton is how they communicate with each other. They get into small disagreements but they are never petty or play mind-games with each other. Both of them have flaws and ask for concessions in certain areas, which is handled in a mature and natural way. Even though this appears to be a butch/femme relationship from the start, the roles aren’t cut and dried and it’s refreshing to see the flexibility of both MCs.

The intimate scenes aren’t the hottest I’ve ever read, but they are respectful with a lot of communication and trust.

Be prepared for heartwarming scenes, just enough sports action to keep things moving, some angst, injustice,and finally a rousing finish with a few unexpected twists along the way.

Rating: four stars




TW: onscreen MF sexual misconduct featuring a MC.

ARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

Soccer itself is an exciting game, but combined with M. Ullrich’s storyline, it became a win win situation for the reader.

Kenzie Shaw was the first draft pick for the NJ Hurricanes, and Sutton Flores was the team captain and one of the best players around. She also happened to be Kenzie’s number one crush. But Kenzie knew Sutton had a girlfriend and did not want to cross any boundaries. This situation was handled extremely well by the author.

The soccer scenes throughout the story felt real, like you were actually watching the game, along with those tense moments waiting for someone to score. It was sufficiently explained that even a novice would not have trouble following along.

Kenzie and Sutton were very likable characters and tried to do the right thing for their team and their relationship, sometimes at a risk to their own personal happiness. Throughout the story, the author allowed these characters to shine as individuals and as a couple. An example of this was the way Kenzie and Sutton confronted the general manager, head coach, and athletic trainer about a serious sexual harassment situation. These emotional scenes were well written and executed. However, I actually wished the author had expanded on this part of the storyline regarding the final outcome. I think it would have not only added depth to this serious issue, but empowered her characters even more.
Aside from my one complaint, I found this story to be extremely well written with a good mix of romance, bantering, and drama… with justifiable angst.
Highly recommended!
4.5 stars

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I was very excited to read this book as any sports romance is always amazing to read. This book did not disappoint and was a fantastic read. The only issue that I found with this book, which is why it is not getting five stars is the lack of clarity with the sexual assault piece. They said an official report was being done and he was fired but I wanted to know if the men who covered this up were apart of this report and what happened to the team as a whole afterward. I did really love the epilogue and am so glad the author included it as well as showing us their future.

I LOVE soccer and i LOVE romance! couple those together and you get me in a second! But this one got me even more than any other sport romances!
I have to applaud the author here for writing the best description of a soccer game in a book! apart from sthg very minor which is replacing "goal" with "point", everything else was PERFECTLY done from a game standpoint. It actually felt like i was watching a soccer game not reading a book about it..
Now moving in to the romance part, i thought it was amazing as well! The connection between both MCs was very believable, there was a bit of angst which i really liked, the sex scenes were very HOT, and the epilogue was done very nicely! Yes it was a bit cheesy, but a cheesy that got you :) I had a big smile on my face reading the epilogue!
The storyline was not out of the norm, there werent a lot of surprises there, but yet i couldnt put the book down! So again i applaud the author here! i dont know how she managed to make me enjoy the book so much when the storyline was slightly predictable!
I thought the sexual harassment part couldve been done a bit better with more depth, but it still didnt bother me at all!
I recommend this book for anyone who loves Sports, wants to be entertained, feels a bit down and wants a bit of cheering up reading a book that makes you smile from your heart :)
My rating is a 4,5 rounded uop to 5!
p.s: i kept trying to relate the supporting characters and MCs to the current soccer players all the time. For a while imagined the MCs as Tobin Heath & Christen Press then i moved on to Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, then i started mixing up! by the time i was done i had Ali Krieger and Tobin Heath as my main MCs :)
"i received an ARC for an honest review."

I always enjoy sport romances and this one set in the world of women's soccer has been quite a good thing.

The two protagonists are Kenzie Shaw, a newly graduated newbie who arrives at a professional team in which plays Sutton Flores. Kenzie has had a massive crush on Sutton since always and now, playing in the same team seems unbelievable to her. Sutton is not single but when she meets Kenzie her world tilts a little. Kenzie also confirms that her crush was not only platonic, since the attraction she feels when interacting with her in person is overwhelming. But Sutton is not single

The story exposed parts of professional sport quite interesting, it also shows parts that are not very pleasant and which unfortunately are very common and known, I will not reveal them. I will only say that the dramatic point that almost always has to be present in all the romances, besides not being of my liking, I did not like how it was solved. There are also other details that I have not found well resolved, such as I have not made an estimate of the physical appearance of the characters or their age. And another thing that I did not understand is how it can be said that "points" are scored in a soccer match. I think that neither the US, where it is not a very popular sport, is said to score "points", it must be said "goals". There are several mistakes like this. If this is not the case, please let me know.

It has a good pace and rhythm, several matches are explained, with plays that are quite accurate described, the thrill of the game can be felt, too. And the romance is really sweet and beautiful. If you're really into a good sports romance this book will not disappoint you.

Top of Her Game fits that sub genre of friends to lovers perfectly and serendipitously at that following the very real and exciting World Cup win by the US Women’s National Soccer team this summer. The pace is fun and flirty while Kenzie falls truly in love beyond her wildest dreams with her soccer idol crush and now teammate. However, nothing is ever easy for women in professional sports and they come to their own conflict of interest that challenges the both of them in their priorities and ultimately, their honor. An enjoyable and fun read while we still bask in the glory of our Women’s pro soccer FIFA World Cup championship.

I'm always excited to read an M. Ullrich book, because I'm a fan of her writing regardless of storyline. This one I immediately wanted to read, because who doesn't love women's professional soccer?!

Kenzie and Sutton were a very cute couple, and the story felt complete. Loved that there was even an epilogue.

I also really enjoyed the side characters (their teammates) and would have liked more time with them in the story.

The reason I took one star off was the storyline involving the sexual assault charges. I would have liked to see more of a build up and foreshadowing, because it really just gets started and then it's a major plot point. I would have felt more tension and drama to have a few more things* play out...not that I really would have enjoyed reading about it more, but I think you get the idea.

Other than that, great book to read!

This was actually a fun read. It had its good sides and some less good sides. I really enjoyed reading the descriptions of game, it was very detailed and fun - I almost had a feeling of watching a soccer game playing in front of my eyes, and both Ken or and Sutton were likable characters. That being said, I felt the book being a bit on a predictable, "seen before" side, about their relationship development and Sutton's decision at the crucial point.