I liked the setup of this one: buttoned up repressed corporate woman meets grumpy former professional athlete. Adalyn was definitely a hot mess for a big chunk of the book, but I was cheering for her to get the HEA she clearly deserved after bending over backwards to impress her jerky father. I appreciated the eye candy description of Cam and his POV chapters were endearing. A few things I didn't like: the forest scene was icky, a 9 year old kid was made to sound like a licensed therapist, and the soccer team and championship got pushed aside by halfway mark. Still a good romance with some fun will they or won't they moments.

I unfortunately really wanted to love this but I ultimately could not get into it. I tried several times and it just did not capture my interest the way I hoped it would.

However, I will say that I really enjoyed the he falls first trope and the slow burn aspect of the book! It just wasn’t my favorite and that is okay!

3.5> - I liked the dual perspective of this story, I'm not sure I would have liked it otherwise. For much of the book, maybe roughly 70%, I felt like I wasn't really reading much of anything. I didn't think what she did sounded that bad and I couldn't really get a feel for what either of them wanted in any aspect of their lives. The romance was such a slow burn (I guess the title should have told me that) and a lot of it was our FMC asking herself what Cam means by something he said or an action and, for a long time, not asking him (not that he was forthcoming at all). I understood her and why it was so confusing to her to be treated a certain way for the first time but it became repetitive so I started to skip some of her perspective. There's a point where Adalyn says she hasn't been this sexually frustrated in a while but she seemed like someone who had never enjoyed sex before so I'd think she was always sexually frustrated unless she'd just never been horny before?

His pov didn't add much and there was a lot about him I liked but much of what frustrated her about him also frustrated me. A man of action but not one of words which would be fine if he would spell out how he felt in his own POV at least to me, the reader, if he isn't going to verbalize it. He started saying he was playing the long game but honestly, it seemed unnecessary to play any game at all with her. If he would have asked her to dinner 35% in, I think she would have gone lol. At about 60% in I was just wishing they'd communicate about what they were feeling! I found it odd that he kept calling her darling any my ears were reading American Southern, not English. I wish I would have seen them both dealing with their own conflict better.

I'm not sure I cared much about the other people in town but was curious about Josie. If there's a book about her finding a lasting love, I'd want to read that. I like to imagine she'd be more upfront and open with her suitor and honestly, I was very interested in her mayoral duties.

Honestly. This was really cringy.

This was the first book I’ve read by Elena Armas & I’m not sure how I feel about it. Like it had cute moments, but honestly it was really hard to connect with the FMC and MMC. Like it’s a sweet story, but I just don’t think this was for me. The secrets and lack of communication annoyed me. Get. Over. It. Insert *there are people dying kim* sound.

Overall, bad PR stemmed a new career for the daughter of the CEO and of course along the way she found a love interest.

I didn’t really know what to expect coming into this book because of the mixed reviews that I’ve heard, but I really enjoyed it! I really enjoyed Adalyn and Cam’s relationship, especially once it began because this book was definitely a slow burn that I wish would have burned a little faster.

Overall, this was cute and I’m excited to start the next book soon!

overall, I thought the book was okay. I really liked the dynamics between the characters however at some point I found at Adalyna really frustrating. I really really really liked Cameron, however unfortunately I sometimes struggled with believing that he was actually British, as his speech did not feel that way.

One of the other things are really strong in God the pacing was really slow, but to try to compensate for that a lot of cuts were made to the plot but actually just made the whole story feel disjointed and like I was missing a lot of it. The jump between chapters when scenes weren’t resolved in any capacity was frustrating at times.

I really think Armas has a lot going for her, and I really enjoyed the Spanish Love Deception, so I’m hopeful that some of her other books in the future will give me that same enjoyment.

I think The Spanish Love Deception was a fluke for me because I have not cared for any of her books since.

I am an incredibly huge fan of Elena Armas and this one does not disappoint! Absolutely loved the story and the romance was exactly what was needed. Took me a while to get through this one compared to their debut novel but nonetheless it was very enjoyable!

Imagine nickelodeon making a hallmark movie.

This was painful. The writing and pacing were so annoying. The characters were irritating and were incapable of communication. The author chose to not tell the reader what was going on as a way of creating tension which was just lazy. This was genuinely bad.

Another excellent read from Elena Armas! As a lifelong futbol supporter, I was thrilled to read a footie romance! Thanks for the eARC, @atriabooks though I obvi went out and purchased a physical copy myself 🤗

Hated the way Adalyn was treated and forced out of the ⚽️ club but loved that we got to see her experience out in “nature” 😂 I enjoyed the way we slowly got to unravel Cameron but loved all the things we learned about him. Obviously the stars of this book were the sweet little girls on the team, so many chuckles! Really enjoyed this one and can’t wait to dive into Elena’s next book 🙌🏻💕

Writing style was not for me, I tried to get into it several times and I simply did not enjoy it. It's a standard ex-sports guy romance which I typically enjoy but this one just fell short.

DNF. Unfortunately, I'm just not connecting with this author's writing style. But, I know there are so many people who will enjoy this story!

Elena Armas has written yet another cute small town slowburn romance that captures the hearts of readers within this genre! the characters were super likeable and the moments were extra cute!

3.5 stars. I enjoy a good sports underdog story but this one was a little underwritten. Plotlines came and went without resolution. The inciting incident with Adalyn and the mascot didn’t ring true to her character in the rest of the book. Cam was kind of controlling and not just in a fun way. The kids on the team were unrealistically precocious. For a book supposedly about soccer, we see shockingly little soccer played or coached or even discussed.

The cats, Willow and Pierogi, were by far my favorite part. The small town setting was charming, too.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

This sweet rom-com was a perfect summer afternoon read. I've been missing Ted Lasso, and Armas's story filled that hole in my heart. I immediately followed this up with The Fiance Dilemma, and reading them together was a sweet, relaxing summer break.

Did Not Finish.
I didn't like either of the characters, but especially Adalyn. Neither felt redeemable and I wasn't willing to continue reading to figure out how their relationship evolves from intense dislike to instalust.

3 stars!

This was fine, but SOOO long. I think it came in under 400 pages, but I was literally so bored. Also some of the "spicy" scenes left me feeling a little weird and not in a great way. Also I kept fixating on some of the language that was very repetitive and once I saw it I really couldn't unsee it. However, did I have fun while reading? Like yes.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really cute prom, I hadn’t read this author before and was new to me. I am hoping that others will enjoy this one as well that that are friends lovers are enemies lovers fans.

I think that Elena Armas has written some very magical love stories, especially when it comes to The Spanish Love Deception and The American Roommate Experiment. I was so excited to dive into The Long Game, as her first two novels really sealed her fate for me always wanting to seek out whatever it is that she writes next.

However.

My goodness, this story dragged.

DRAGGED.

I know that Elena is known for her slow-burn, but this hardly even felt like a burn at times. It just. Kept. Dragging. On.

With slow burns, there still need to be those moments of tension where you feel like everything is going to be leading up to something AMAZING. Sadly, that did not happen with this book. I found myself walking away from it for days at a time due to a lack of interest, and then reading it almost out of obligation rather than excitement.

I really hope that she catches lightning in a bottle again sometime soon, but unfortunately this novel was not it for me.

Thank you for the opportunity to review - Ms Armas doesn't disappoint with character creation, though we'd like more scenic development.