I read another book by author Elena Armas! Anyone who has read her other books knows how enjoyable her writing is, even with the cliché plots. As a good fan of romances involving sports, I couldn't pass up a book in which the couple is a famous recently retired English goalkeeper and the daughter of the owner of a Miami soccer team.

It all starts when Adalyn ends up hitting the mascot of her father's team in an act of rage, and as punishment she is forced to go manage a team in a small country town. In fact, her father is full of these "little" penalties whenever she displeases him. The author addresses this difficult father/daughter relationship, and how it has turned Adalyn into a controlling woman who never allows herself to make mistakes.

Cam is the coach of this modest team, made up of no less than little girls. Of course, Adalyn has no idea that it is a children's team. The relationship that she and Cam develop with the children is so cute, as they are the most honest and charismatic little people who will help the couple recognize their interest in each other! I liked the relationship they developed, but it wasn't my favorite couple created by the author.

Another interesting point is the problem with things that go viral on social media and could destroy someone's life. The situation that Adalyn gets herself into becomes a snowball after it ends up in the media, showing that even a serious woman can be completely depressed with the use of her image in a vulnerable moment being used as a joke.

--> What you'll find in the book: goats (yoga with goats, that's all I'm saying), cute cats, funny children, slow-burn romance and lots of affectionate terms spoken by a sexy Englishman.

3.5 stars. This was my first Elena Armas, and I enjoyed it overall. I loved Cam and all the soccer/Ted Lasso vibes. I loved the relationship between Adalyn and Cam. A lot of the plot points, however, fell short for me. I felt like the book tried to do too much. I could have done without the secret sister/angel investor plot line. I wanted more development from the main plot line of the book - the video of the blowup. It felt very repetitive at times because the book withheld the reason/backstory until the end. The ending confrontation between Adalyn and her father was not very satisfying to me, and the miscommunication between Adalyn and Cam came out of no where at the end and was so rushed to resolve itself.

Elena Armas has this amazing way of painting characters through the use of setting, imagery, culture and the character's thoughts'. Some of the chapters were a bit too long, and felt run-on, but overall I really enjoyed reading this book and these new characters, and look forward to a sequel.

3.5/5 stars

>> t r o p e s <<
Ex-Soccer Player
Small Town
Forced Proximity
Good Girl
Grumps Galore
Slooooow Burn
Cat Daddy with a Thigh Tatty

>> r e v i e w <<
I wanted SO BADLY to love this book as I really liked The Spanish Love Deception from Armas, but unfortunately this one ended up not being a win for me. The book was fine and I think other people will enjoy it, but for me it missed the mark.

Some things I liked about it:
The book started out well enough, in setting up the story and getting us into the plot. It has a great small town setting. The people in the town are great - from the quirky town mayor to the kids on the team and their families, I loved all the side characters! We also had goats and who doesn’t love goats? (Cam. Cam doesn’t love goats). The characters as individuals were interesting to me and I found I wanted to get to know them more, but didn’t feel super connected to them (more on this below). There wasn’t a lot of spice, but what we got was mostly good.

What didn’t work for me:
This book was soooo slow. The development between the two main characters starts out with them not really liking each other but being forced to work together, and then it just drags for a while and nothing physically happens until 76%, and at that point, I was already starting to get bored. I also felt like we went from dislike to obsessed and wanting to bang each other on a switch. I was confused when and where it changed? I struggled to connect to their relationship as it felt immature at times and then was all the sudden hot and heavy and I missed the development of that (even though it took three-quarters of the book to get there!). I felt like it was more like them in the same place vs super interacting and becoming attracted. So while as individuals I was interested in their back stories, them as a couple didn’t really stick with me.

I also struggled with why she would be sent to a children’s soccer team to “clean up her image” and then have absolutely nothing come out of that. Like there was no one there with her? No social media campaign happening. It was mentioned a few times that how the team did in the end would be the story, yet you would think they would have been building up to that with some kind of PR campaign. The concept of the idea was there, but it wasn’t really executed well so the actual point of the plot was lost. Some of the ‘twists’ in the end were out of left field as well and just felt like they were thrown in there and could have been developed more earlier as well.

Lastly, there was some phrasing and things she said that just irked me (and this is just a personal problem, not anything bad with the writing). She said things like “He turned swiftly. But slowly” and things were “both hard and soft” frequently and that drove me nuts. Also. The MMC describes the FMC coming as her “shining” and I just icked right out there.

So overall, I think this book could be a win for other people, and I’ve seen a lot of others like it more than I did. I just found the plot to be too slow and jumpy. While I liked the characters, I felt like we needed more development of their relationship. However, the secondary cast was done wonderfully. Even though it wasn’t a win for me, I think others can and will enjoy this one!

As always with a critical review, these are my personal opinions. This is not a negative reflection of the author or other readers who liked it. This book was just not for me, but I hope others are able to read and enjoy!

I received a copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is good for what it is. If you want an easy read with a decent romance and plot, then this is a good book for that. It is well-written and has a good plot for a romcom. The pacing is good and the pay off is worth it. It does not have a lot of depth, and what is attempted is not succeeded. There are subplots that are inconsistently followed throughout the story. The main characters are well-developed, but the side characters fall flat. It’s good for the “beach read” romance genre, but I personally would not have picked this one up had I not received it as an ARC.

This book was so good! Adalyn and Cam are a super couple. This is a slow burn but such a beautiful love story. And the soccer girls, they were so funny! Maria helped to make this book, she had me laughing out loud. I will be recommending this book!

This book was definitely cute and had a lot of elements that I really liked. I loved the small town setting with the Ted Lasso vibes. There were many scenes I was giggling or even full on laughing in. But with all of the good elements, this book wasn’t my favorite. I still didn’t understand why the main catalyst of the book was such a big deal and why it was handled in this way. I can usually suspend belief for the sake of the story, but I honestly was confused. I am also usually a sucker for a slow burn romance, but there was something… off about it. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it just didn’t work for me. I’m sure that I am in the minority here about my issues with the book and the story so I will be absolutely recommending this book to others, but it won’t go on any of my favorites list.

This was such an anticipated read for me and I really wanted to love this book but it just fell a little flat for me. I love a good slow burn but this just felt slow with very little burn. I liked the disastrous meet-cute but it just felt like there was no spark between Adalyn and Cam and that made it really hard for me to root for them to get together. Despite that, I loved both characters individually Even if I wasn’t totally in love with the book, I was definitely in love with Cameron! There’s just something about grumpy football players that I can’t get enough of.

I think my biggest complaint is that we saw the slow shift in Adalyn’s perspective as she warmed up to Cameron but we never really got that from him and I think that led to a bit of a disconnect for me.
…Also, the overuse of Darling started to grate on me after about the first fifteen times. It just felt a bit forced; like, I get it. He’s british and fond of her but another pet name would have been a nice little switch up!

However, I really loved the banter between Adalyn and Cameron at the beginning of the enemies arc and the interactions at goat yoga and at the pottery thin further on! I also loved the small town setting. I think that was a big saving grace for me while I was reading. I loved the sense of community and side characters and the Green Warriors! The scenes of Cam interacting with the team reminded me of Roy Kent in season two of Ted Lasso when he’s coaching his niece’s team and I adored it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book well enough but I just wish there’d been something a little more compelling that made me want to keep turning the page.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Atria books for The Long Game by Elena Armas. This is going to be a win for the growing fans of sports centered romances with a focus on soccer. And yes this is a fun swoony kind of romance, just right for fans of this author and fans of romcoms and sports romances. But what I really liked was that it talked about women, women's anger, and women's right to have those feelings, to display them, and how we don't give the right space and acknowledgement to those feelings... that was such a welcome theme and made me appreciate the book a lot more.

This book was slow for me to get through. I just didn't feel invested in the characters. I usually like a slow burn, but this one just kept dragging on and on. I really didn't care for the main female character and I could not get to a point where I believed that the main characters were good for each other.
Thank you to NetGally and the publisher for an opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

The Long Game" by Elena Armas is a captivating slow-burn romance set in a small town in North Carolina. Adalyn Reyes, after a PR disaster with her father's soccer team, is sent to this unlikely place to redeem herself by helping a struggling local team, the Green Warriors. There, she meets Cameron, a soccer legend who is incognito and helping out behind the scenes. Their initial clash turns into a simmering tension as they are forced to work together, managing a girls' soccer team.

The story is narrated from dual perspectives, giving depth to the characters and their evolving relationship. The side characters add heart and charm to the narrative, making it a delightful read. Cameron's character is especially endearing with his yoga practice and adorable kittens. However, the slow-burn romance lives up to its name, and while it's a tension-filled wait, the eventual spark between Adalyn and Cameron is electric.

One minor drawback is the somewhat awkward pacing in the first half and a classic romance trope where a third-act fight feels a bit contrived. Despite this, fans of Elena Armas will undoubtedly enjoy this book, and the promise of future stories with other characters from this world is something to look forward to. If you're a fan of enemies-to-lovers, small-town settings, comeback stories, sports romance, and slow burns, "The Long Game" is a must-read. Frankie Corzo's narration in the audiobook version adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the story. Elena Armas continues to deliver engaging standalone romances with depth and emotional resonance.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved The Spanish Love Deception, and have been eager to read more from Elena Armas. I am very happy to say that this was very cute! I loved this and it was a perfect light and romantic read. It was also hilarious! I did not expect to laugh as much as I did. These characters were a delight, and it gave me major Ted Lasso vibes. I can see this being a really big hit.

I'm excited to see what Elena does next.

I loved the soccer vibes and the parts about the girls team. Overall, it was a good story and I was interested in their slow burn relationship. But I also didn't find myself fully connecting with the characters.

AHHH!! The Long Game was one of my most anticipated release of 2023 and boy did she deliver!!

Elena Armas continues to get better and better and I don’t know how she does it! I have been a huge fan of her work since The Spanish Love Deception (before she got published) and absolutely adored The American Roommate Experiment, so it shouldn’t be a shock that I loved The Long Game. Elena has such a way of captivating her audience - I was sucked in from the START. Adalyn and Cam had such great chemistry too! I was literally begging for them to get together.

read if you like:
- slow burn
- grumpy x grumpy
- “dislike” to lovers
- small town
- forced proximity (they’re neighbors)
- he falls first and HARD!

Thank you so much Atria and Elena Armas for the arc! <3

⚽️ Book Review ⚽️
𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤: The Long Game
𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: Elena Armas
⚽️
𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: Thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc!

The Longest Game follows Adalyn Reyes who goes viral when a video of her taking down her team’s mascot comes out. After the PR disaster, the team’s owner (who also happens to be her father), sends her off to a small town in North Carolina. There, she must turn around their struggling local team called the Green Warriors as a way to redeem herself. But when she arrives, she discovers that the Green Warriors are nine years olds. On top of everything, their coach is none other than famous goalkeeper Cameron Caldoni who is hiding away. Adalyn teams up with Cameron to lead the team to success and in order to do that she must play “the long game”.

I’m very picky with my romance reads. I need it to have all the slow burn, high tension and bursting chemistry between the characters PLUS a good plot. This book almost ticked all of the boxes but there were things that fell flat for me. I found Cameron’s infatuation for Adalyn a little unrealistic. Like one day he is all grumpy about her presence and the next he is like OBSESSED with her and it didn’t seem real to me. There were no high stakes in this book, not really anyway, but Adalyn did have over exaggerated reactions to a lot of things. A lot of things were left unexplained or the author jumped from scene to scene. The chapter would end with one scene and the next page would be the next day. I would expect that we would see the final game but we don’t. The ending was a tad bit dramatic for me but I did like the reveal of the some of the secrets. The epilogue was different from her other books and I’m intrigued to see where it’s headed.
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
⚽️

This book was like the title, long. I had to force myself to finish this book and keep going almost giving up.

I wasnt crazy about the main characters and the set up for the second book felt very forced.

I've been wanting to read more sports romances so when I saw Elena Armas had a soccer romance coming out, I had to get it.

The story follows Adalyn, who is an executive for her father's MLS team. Adalyn hopes to take over the team someday, but her career path takes a downward turn when a video of her getting into an altercation with the team's mascot goes viral, creating a media nightmare for her dad.

Adalyn is banished to work on a project in a small town in NC. Her path to redeeming herself lies in turning a struggling local girls soccer team into winners. Adalyn thinks she's up to the challenge until she realizes she's dealing with a bunch of 9 year olds who would rather wear tutus & play with goats than practice soccer. Even worse, their coach turns out to be Cam, the guy Adalyn almost ran over with her car on her way into town.

It took me a little while to warm up to Adalyn, mainly because although I loved her sense of independence, her stubbornness could be annoying at times. Like why would she keep insisting on wearing suits and stilettos to the soccer field rather than more appropriate clothing? I did grow to love her as well though.

I loved Cam from the moment we meet him. He's a swoony cat dad and he's also a famous soccer player who has abruptly retired and moved to NC. No one really knows who he is or why he's there, but the few people who do know help to shield his identity.

I loved watching Cam work with the girls, but it was his chemistry with Adalyn that made this book such a great read. I love an enemies to lovers story and Armas has definitely written a good one. The sizzling chemistry and the snarky banter had me flying through the pages waiting for the moment when I knew all of that tension would eventually boil over.

I don't want to spoil anything so I'm stopping here but The Long Game is perfect for fans of:

⚽️Small Town Romance
⚽️Sports Romance
⚽️Enemies to Lovers
⚽️Forced Proximity
⚽️Slow Burn

ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Atria Books and Elena Armas!

Content & Rating:
- 380 pages
- Dual POV
- Rating: 5 / 5⭐️
- Spice: 1.5 / 5 🌶

Tropes:
- Grumpy-Grumpy
- Small Town
- Forced Proximity
- He falls first and harder
- Slow Burn
- Sports
- Anxiety (TW panic attacks)

Convincing you to read this Quotes:

“You want a man that won’t run away scared? A man that’ll leave his bloody skin in the game? I’ll be your man then.”

“-You’ve just give me a reason. -A reason for what? -To play the longest game I ever have.”


After a PR scandal where Adelyn is banished to a small town to help manage a youth girls soccer team, she runs into (literally) Cameron, a retired goalkeeper who is attempting to build a low key life after retiring the year prior. They get off on the wrong foot as neighbors only to find out they will also be working together coaching and managing the youth team. What follows is a mix of anxiety ridden goats, hilarious 9-year olds, and incredibly well-done banter.

Cameron complements Adelyn in ways that she didn’t even know she needed. She quickly makes her way into being Cameron’s first priority and he slowly shows her how to heal from self esteem issues buried.

What I loved most about this book was that while he fell first and harder (in my opinion), he didn’t pine after her. Cameron was intuitive in knowing what she wanted and needed, and provided her with a safety net and confidant. I wish we got more of the duo in an extended epilogue but the epilogue as is, is set up to where it could potentially lead into another book following other characters. Holding out hope that this is not the last time we may see Cameron and Adelyn!

Release Date: September 5th, 2023

Elena Armas has done it again, this book is absolute perfection! This swoon worthy book follows Adalyn as she tries to turn around the fate of a struggling local soccer team in North Carolina after an altercation went viral, and goalkeeper prodigy Cameron who is wants her out of town.

This book has easily become one of my favorite reads of the year! Not only does it have dislike to lovers, but it is double the grumpy and a slow burn. Not only does Adalyn and Cameron’s story involve small town vibes and them being neighbors, but it also is in dual POV (which I certainly appreciate) and it handles mental health representation with grace. Oh, and did I mention there were goats and cats?!

All that being said, I think it is safe to say that if Elena Armas writes it, I’m going to read it!

Thank you to Elena Armas, Netgalley, and Arria Books for the copy of the digital ARC!

💗 happy pub day 💗

ELENA ARMAS DOES IT AGAIN. say hello to her latest sweet & spicy, swoon-worthy, fun, & bingeable romance!! ✨️

good things checklist:

💖 our MMC is European & a soccer player & knows how to make a reader sweaty in the best way 🔥

💖 both MCs are dealing with their own trauma related to their jobs & escape to a small town

💖 honestly grumpy × grumpy vibes sometimes which I ADORE (not to mention the enemies to lovers tension 🤌)

💖 slow burn with the best chemistry

💖 the best side characters including cats (they're his 🥺), & a very scared goat, a very cute and quirky team of soccer players

thanks to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the E-ARC! this one is out TODAY so run your cute lil booty to the bookstore & read it babes!!!