Can't say I've ever read a sports romance before, at least not one that comes to mind. This book has: chronic illness rep, a bi heroine, and the marriage of convenience and forced proximity tropes! I adored this book! I was immediately intrigued by how the heroine is the famous one and the hero is a longtime fan. Certain situations push them to decide to enter into a marriage of convenience to solve both of their problems. Never been a big fan of the marriage of convenience story, but I really did enjoy this. 3.5 stars rounded up.

I have always enjoyed this author and was shocked to realize I haven’t read one of her books in 3 years! I was so excited to get an ARC of this story. Fake marriage/relationship is a favorite trope of mine. And although I’m not an avid sports fan, sports romance is another favorite of mine. Until this past month I had never read a soccer romance that I can recall, and now I’ve read two! In fact, most of the sports romance I have read has the MMC as the athlete, and both the soccer romance books I read the athlete is the FMC and I’m loving that.

Like I said, I’m not an avid sports fan. (Other than the Olympics, I’m a huge sports fan when it’s Olympics time!) I can hold my own in discussions about the “big three” of football, baseball, and basketball. We used to watch the Detroit Red Wings all the time and my husband played hockey growing up and even as an adult in some rec leagues so hockey romance stories are my jam. But I am quite clueless when it comes to soccer. My kids didn’t play, I didn’t play, my husband didn’t play, I remember having to drive my younger siblings to practice but never paid attention while there. So, I cannot attest to any accuracy of the way the sport is portrayed. From what I know of sports and pro athletes and the pressure they are under, I can only imagine the author did her homework and a lot of it is true to form.

Erika and Nate are instantly attracted to one another. This story started off with me thinking it would go one way, but went another. The direction the author decided to take in order to get this couple into a fake marriage really amped up the sexual tension in the story. They are really sweet to one another, truly kind and generous people who had such a wonderful connection that they just wanted to help each other out. Neither thought out the fact that their physical attraction would continue to grow as their emotional attraction grew.

When it comes to the core story here, I’m all in. Nate and Erika really care for each other and want what’s best for the other, not just themselves. Erika’s rheumatoid arthritis diagnoses is an interesting part of the storyline, something that isn’t seen much in romance. I appreciate the fear, frustration, and confusion are given their due and not just mentioned in passing. I especially love the author’s descriptions of people. Too often we are only given a nationality, race, or gender if the character being talked about is not a cisgender white person. The author chose to give a description of all characters that were introduced, meaning there were descriptions of middle-aged brunette white women and young black women. I love the normalization the author is helping to put forward so we don’t always assume if a character is mentioned they are white, that’s not how the world works.

There were some issues I did have that have more to do with timelines and continuity than the heart of the story. It seemed very odd how long it took Erika’s very loving and supportive moms to meet her husband, and what happened with they found out their daughter was married wasn’t even described. There is a dog that absolutely serves no person. I even noted, when the dog is mentioned at the halfway mark, that I had forgotten about the dog. I’m not quite sure why he’s included.

For the most part, this book moved well and kept me engaged. It just needed some tightening up.

First in a new series, Scoring A Spouse was a fun marriage of convenience sports romance! Professional soccer player Erika wants to keep her rheumatoid arthritis a secret from her team and to do so she needs private medical care. Wealthy tech executive Nate wants to please his grandmother whose last dying wish is to see him settled with a wife. After a chance meeting, they enter into a business arrangement that allows them both to benefit. I’ve found that it’s difficult for a contemporary marriage of convenience to have believable stakes, but Liz Lincoln pulled it off! Nate and Erika had great chemistry and really showed up for each other. The book had loads of sexual tension, chronic illness rep, bi rep, fun side characters, and strong friendships/found family. I look forward to reading more in the series!

This book ticks a lot of boxes... but sadly fails to deliver them.. I was missing the zing.. the chemistry between the lead.. Lost interest halfway through..

Erika Parker-Ward is living her dream as a professional woman’s soccer player. However, her dream may be coming to an end sooner than she wants when she is diagnosed with a chronic illness.

Nate Simmons is a wealthy office exec that wants to make his dying Oma’s last wish come true…see him happily married.

When the two happened to meet at a hotel bar, they discover that they may just be what each other needs.
I liked this book. I thought the chronic illness representation was really good. Erika and Nate have great friendships with found family.

I didn’t quite get for a marriage of convenience; a lot of people know that the marriage is a “scam”. For me, it made the book loose a little bit of the secrecy, fun part of a marriage of convenience book.

Overall, I thought it was a quick, easy read with some really good moments.

I flew through Scoring A Spouse and really enjoyed it. I loved how it focused on a female athlete especially one with a chronic illness. I really loved the characters, especially Nate and his Oma’s relationship. I enjoyed the marriage of convenience in this a lot. I liked the chemistry between the two main characters. My biggest complaint is I wish we would have gotten a little more at the end between the two main characters. Overall, this was a 4.5 for me.

Erika is a successful pro soccer player. But her diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis threatens her career. She agrees to a marriage of convenience with tech billionaire Nate to get on his health insurance plan. They're attracted to each other, but don't want the complication of a physical relationship. Can they resist temptation?

This couple was really cute—as was the writing. The portrayal of RA was well done. If you like steamy rom com, this book is for you.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Scoring a Spouse was a fun, trope-y story with what felt like fantastic disability and LGBT rep to me. The premise was great - marriage of convenience, fake relationship, forced proximity, sports romance, found and chosen family. I loved that Erika was the famous one while Nate was a big fan. And I thought it was fantastic that in spite of the fake origins of the relationship, both MCs were supportive of one another as they dealt with big challenges and life events throughout the book.
In the end, the book missed the mark for me a little. I understood Erika's motivation for wanting a marriage of convenience (stigmas around health needs remain unfair), but Nate's motivations seemed much flimsier. And the lack of communication in this book felt tired, especially as it was used as the major source of conflict for the characters. There were several Chevkov's guns and dropped plot points throughout the book, especially with regards to Erika's career and her moms, and especially in the third act, these issues made the pacing feel a bit off.
NB: I read an ARC copy of this book, and there were formatting and copyediting issues throughout that I assume will be resolved in the final version.

CWs:
-chronic illness
-grief
-on page death of family member from age-related illness

I received an ARC of the book for review, views are entirely my own

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for giving me this eArc to review.

By no means is this a bad book but I could not, for the life of me, keep reading. I usually adore fake dating/marriage of convenience but this one just wasn't for me. I couldn't fi d myself caring about the two main characters.

I will say, I love the lgbt+ and illness rep within this book.

It pains me to do this to an ARC, but I DNF’d this book at chapter 7. On the outset, this story has the makings of things I love in romance: marriage of convenience with a female athlete? IN! However, the author just did not deliver on the romance for me.

Scoring A Spouse is the story of Erika and Nate, who serendipitously meet at a hotel bar right when Erika needs her health insurance covered and Nate needs a partner to introduce to his sick grandmother who wants nothing more for him than an HEA.

There’s a lot to like about this story, like its bisexual-rep & chronic illness-rep. BUT a lot of it felt like, things were just happening, while I felt nothing for the characters. I can’t bring myself to continue reading a book when I don’t care about the characters or how they end up together.

Erika and Nate decide to get married the night they meet and boom, next page they’re actually married! There’s just a lot of telling not showing in this book. I only read 17% into the story and DNF’d after their first kiss. I read romance for the tension between the characters and Erika and Nate gave me nothing. There was a lot of internal monologuing over how attractive they found the other person, but no conflict, no will they won’t they, no push and pull from the characters!

ARCs deserve honest reviews so this is my honest reading experience.

(3.25)
Scoring A Spouse is a marriage of convenience romance written by Liz Lincoln that follows professional soccer player Erika Parker-Ward and executive worker Nate.

I'm at a loss for words in my review because I adored this book and don't know where to begin. I loved everything about it, from the writing to the tropes and characters to the fact that the Heroine is the one who participates in sports, and so on.

The book did feel a little long at times, but that was simply because I was in a reading slump and couldn't enjoy it as much.

Overall, if you're looking for a book with great representations and some of the best tropes, this should be your next read!

Thank you to Netgalley, Victory Editin, and to the author, Liz Lincoln, for providing me with these e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Could a marriage of convenience become real?

Professional soccer player Erika Parker-Ward wants to make the team for the next women’s world cup but she’s been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and is going broke paying for the expensive medicines herself so the team doesn’t find out.

Businessman Nate Simmons would do anything to make his Oma happy after she raised him and getting married has been her biggest wish before she dies. So maybe they can help each other out because Erika needs a way to pay for her expensive medicines and Nate needs a wife in a marriage-of-convenience without falling love. Famous last words!

I liked Nate and Erika because there aren’t many romances with a professional female soccer player showing the difference between the professional and national teams.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an ARC of "Scoring a Spouse" by Liz Lincoln, slated to release on August 16th, 2022!

This novel tells the story of Erika, a 30+ year old who is struggling with a fairly recent rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. She is a pro soccer player and competes in championships and World Cups for two different teams, so this is a huge deal because the chronic illness is in danger of ending her playing career. What's worse is that Erika doesn't want it to get out that she has this illness, because she is afraid that her coach won't allow her to play at an upcoming tournament because of it.

Nate Simmons is the head of a video game creating company and has more money than he knows what to do with. His dying grandmother's final wish is that he marry and settle down with a nice girl. The two of them meet and establish an immediate friendship connection - which eventually and inevitably ends up leading to marriage.

I loved that there was LGBT+ representation in this novel (a lesbian friend, lesbian moms, and the MC and another one of her friends identified as bisexual. I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the premise of this novel because I'm not typically one for insta-love (fake or otherwise) but the author managed to make it work well. I liked that there was an autoimmune disorder represented as a part of the plotline as well. This was one marriage of convenience that I truly enjoyed reading about! There was also one scene in the book that made me cry (if you know, you know) and I love books that make me sob hysterically (I don't know what's wrong with me)

Overall, I rated this novel a 4/5 stars!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I’ve seen Liz Lincoln on my Twitter feed interacting with some authors I follow, and have long wanted to give her a try. Scoring a Spouse also appealed to me, because while I don’t read many sports romances, I love chronic illness and disability rep.
Erika is a compelling heroine, and I love her desire to continue to persevere in soccer while she can. Age is very much an issue in sports on its own, and her rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis could threaten her career even more. And there’s also the relatable issue of seeking discreet, affordable medical care, and it’s quite interesting to read about someone in a pretty prominent position still having to grapple with issues that impact normal people, albeit with added stakes.
Nate is an interesting hero. He has some financial success, but he owes it all to his grandmother, and it’s quite refreshing to have a narrative where the hero is upfront about the aid he’s received in getting where he is (no “self-made” billionaire here!) It puts him in an intriguing situation to be a perfect match for Erika, yet still leave room for conflicts along the way. She’s very much the star in the relationship (on paper, anyway), and he openly professes his longtime admiration of her upon their first meeting.
That does present an interesting dilemma from Erika’s perspective as the marriage progresses: does he really value her for her? Ultimately, he does, and I love how he goes out of his way to show how much he cares.
I also love the queer rep…I wasn’t expecting it at first, but once I read it, I couldn’t help but smile. Erika is bisexual and her past experiences with women and men are mentioned. She also has two moms, who are incredibly supportive of her.
This is such a sweet book, and one I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys contemporary romances featuring sports or chronic illness rep.

Scoring a Spouse follows the story of Erika, a professional soccer player, and Nate who would do anything for those he loves.

The story is a sports romance and early on establishes the marriage of convenience trope, which I always love and this was no exception! What I thought was especially important to highlight was the representation in this book. There are few romance authors, Chloe Liese comes to mind, who includes representation in their books without making it the characters only trait. Liz Lincoln most definitely accomplishes this as well!

Overall, the romance was full of chemistry and steam. Erika was such a strong character and Nate was so sweet!

Erika and Nate meet one night in a bar. Both of them need something from the other, so fake dating seems like the solution. What will happen when they start to fall for each other for real.
A great read, and nice to see a book where it is the heroine that is the sports star.

This modern marriage of convenience was a rollercoaster ride.

Erika Parker-Ward is a very successful soccer player who is also dealing with rheumatoid arthritis. She decides to keep her diagnosis a secret by paying for medical care out-of-pocket. This, however, isn't helping her financially since she is also helping her moms make their way through their business debt. She then meets tech CCO Nate Simmons who is in search of a wife to please his grandmother in the tail end of her days. The two agree on a marriage of convenience for Erika to ride on Nate's medical insurance and to fulfill Nate's grandmother's dying wish to see him settled. Things get complicated when feelings enter the equation and both of them show resistance to their budding romance.

First and foremost, I appreciate the fact that this book has quite a number of representations. Erika identifies as bisexual, is the daughter to two lesbians, and is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I also appreciate the fact that Erika's chronic illness was written in such raw way and that she was surrounded by such supportive people who were willing to hold her hand through her struggles.

As for the romance, it was unfortunately not my favorite. I honestly was fully prepared to love this couple until they ended failing to reach my expectations. Things moved too fast in the beginning, then slowed down, then slowed down a lot more, then picked up again, and then just when I thought things were going in the direction I'd love for it to go...it didn't. I generally thought the pacing was off and anticlimactic. I'd have to say though, it has steamy scenes that were the perfect balance of spice and intimacy that I greatly enjoyed. However, those scenes weren't enough to redeem the overall romance for me.

Still, I am grateful that I got to read an ARC of this book. I think it was good, but not a book I'll scream to the high heavens about.

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tw: chronic illness, death of a loved one, grief

Erika Parker - Ward is a member of the US women's soccer team. As well as trying to make the Olympic team, she also has rheumatoid arthritis. For someone who is supporting her moms two failing businesses, it serves as quite a problem.
Nate Simmons is an introverted tech executive. His grandmother, Oma, the one person he loves and admires wants him to settle down and get married before she dies.

When Nate and Erika meet by chance in a bar, they come up with the perfect solution to both their problems - a marriage of convenience. Not only will Nate be making his grandmother happy but Erika will have enough money to pay for her medication without alerting her coach of her diagnosis.
As Nate and Erika settle into their agreement, their marriage of convenience begins to feel a bit too real, something neither of them are ready to deal with.

As any good marriage of convenience, this book was a delight to read. Not only did it exceed my expectations with regards to tropes, but it was also accompanied by a heart warming story of dealing with medial diagnosis'.

As much as I love a good romance, I also enjoy when a book deals with more realistic issues. And this book definitely dealt with that. I love how the author used so many sports references and language. It showed a great deal of understanding of the sports aspect and allowed me to truly get lost in the book.

While I enjoyed this book, I felt the conflict in the book was unnecessary. Although it was predictable from the beginning what the conflict would be, given it is a marriage of convenience, I think it could have been avoided very easily.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book.

I love marriage of convenience books! I loved meeting Erika and Nate so much, they are two such captivating characters. All their interactions together gave me butterflies in my stomach and made my heart warm.
I loved the women's football theme, the family interactions are diverse, it has a found family feel too.

When Erika Parker-Ward, a professional and World Cup caliber soccer player is diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, she will do anything to keep it a secret from the world. However the cost of her medical care as well as supporting her family's business is threatening to overwhelm her. After a game, she meets Nate Simmons in a bar. Nate is a wealthy tech executive who is looking for a wife to fulfill his dying grandma's last wish. Soon they find themselves entering a modern day marriage-of-convenience that they agree to keep platonic despite their attraction to each other.

I'm not sure why, but I did not have high expectations at all for this book. However, I actually really enjoyed it! Certainly it's a bit unrealistic but it was honestly really fun! I loved the representation of chronic illness, LGBTQIA, and grief (including anticipatory grief!). As a Wisconsinite, I did really enjoy the Milwaukee setting too.

I will say that the ending perhaps felt a little bit rushed and some of the stuff regarding insurance/medical care etc weren't particularly accurate (I work in healthcare) but it did not detract from the story for me at all.

Overall a solid 4 stars! Thank you to Goodreads for the eARC in exchange for a review.