Cameron Caldani is definitely on the top of the list of best book boyfriends, like, literally at the top! The author's previous books were good and the author has kicked it out of the park with this one. I absolutely loved it and finished it in two sittings. The banter between Cam and Adalyn was super fun and Can definitely has a saucy mouth. It is perfect for fans of tropes - forced proximity, small town/city girl and enemies to lovers. Adalyn is forcibly sent by her father to a small town to manage a kids team after a PR disaster and meets Cam, who is coaching those kids and is also an extremely popular professional soccer player. They both have sparkling chemistry which cannot be missed by the readers at all.

On the side ,there are cute kids and how can I forget to mention the cute goats also involved! With all the sassy banter, both characters are also battling their own insecurities and trauma in their lives and help each other in overcoming their fears. I didn't like Adalyn that much but Cam was too good to believe! Now I am definitely waiting to read Josie and her story!

This. Was. Amazing. I can’t get over how much I love Cam and Adalyn. Watching their relationship grow the whole book was amazing. Even the third act “breakup” was not unbelievable, when you knew the whole time that they both couldn’t stop thinking of the other. I loved the girls on the soccer team, and all the other funny moments—goats, cats, butting neighbors, all of Cam’s nicknames. It was such a joy to read, AND I hope there’ll be a book 2 based on the ending!

this book hit in all the right spots😩 the author never disappoints, and i cannot wait to see the cover in person!!

also pretty sure i have an obsession with cameron. (choose me over adalyn pls💔💔)

Adalyn Reyes is a disgraced soccer executive who is banished by her father to help a girl's soccer team turn itself around. She recruits the help of former soccer star Cameron Caldani, who is reluctant to help her and seems to want her gone. But she won't let him or anything else stand in the way of her helping the team, as this is her path to redemption.
I loved this story so much. I loved how Adalyn first met Cameron by hitting him with her car, it was hilarious. I also loved how she slowly won him over and how supportive and sweet he became towards her. She doesn't have a lot of people who are willing to stand up for her and treat her nicely and he definitely stepped up. If I could give this more than 5 stars I definitely would. I've read all of Elena Armas's other books and fell in love with them, and this one is definitely a winner too. I'm so glad to have received an ARC of it, because I've been dying to read it and hated waiting. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

A sports romance between two couldn't be more different characters in a small town setting? Do tell me more.

Described as similar to Ted Lasso, as well as charming, a meet awkward, enemies to lovers, lots of cute animals, cute kids. I'm interested.

Unfortunately, the story itself fell flat for me.

Cameron is a retired professional British MLS player taking a breather in a small North Carolina town and is coaching the town's elementary school age girls soccer team. Adalyn is the type A executive of the MLS team her father owns and runs. After a poor decision gets recorded, released and quickly goes viral the decision to ship Adalyn to another area for a charitable assignment away from the team is made, and the two have a seriously awkward and uncomfortable meet.

I didn’t love either of the MC’s (I found Adalyn very immature and Cam was just … too much for my tastes), but the two learn, over time and much of the book, to work together for the good of the team. The wait for romance was long but this allows the reader to see the slow path to love. A lot of slow burn and some steam (much of which I personally found awkward - okay, it’s a lot of Can’s flowery try hard “sexy” talk that’s cringe).

While this one didn’t work out for me, I still appreciated Cam’s encouragement and support of Adalyn and can understand all the love that many reviews have for this title.

I love Elena Armas. I've read all three of her published works now and they continue to enchant me. The way that she writes makes it extremely easy for my to fall in love with her characters and the world that she builds. The spice is always right with Armas. There were multiple times while reading this book that my jaw was on the floor and I was gasping for breath. Can't wait to read the next book by her!

Thank you for allowing me to read this title early. Unfortunately, this story was not for me.

I thought the beginning was strong with the enemies to lovers. The slow burn element was nice but there were not enough tense moments to warrant the slow burn. I thought the 3rd act breakup was a bit dramatic and more of a miscommunication, if that.

After not so good read by Elena Armas, This book is surprisingly good. Adalyn Reyes is strong spirited woman who wanted to show her father she is capable of handling the Miami Flames FC after him, but one unfortunate incident made her father move Ada to small town where she needs to handle football team.

Cameron Caldani, former goalkeeper and present coach for the team had to work along with Ada. Now we know grumpysunshine always hits but grumpygrumpy ??!! is a BLAST !!! CamAda banter and their Interactions are literally the best, Josie is one the surprising character which I loved after the MC's. Since beginning to end CamAda as hooked me up.

Can't wait for MatthewJosie book *Fingers Cross*

Hm...I mean, I had a decent time reading this, but I've never felt so detached from characters?? They fell totally flat for me and the whole grumpy thing didn't work at all because he was calling her darling on basically page 2.

Liked the soccer vibes, and was fully picturing Roy Kent from Ted Lasso, but this felt incredibly amateur.

Book Review
The Long Game by Elena Armas

This book in 3 words: Dreamy. Fun. Tense. 

A hottie hot hot slow burn with characters who can't stand each other, right from the start. It's tense, a bit bonkers, and delicious from start to finish. I love how it starts off with a social media scandal -- truly funny. 

Cameron Caldini might be one of my favorite MMCs of 2023. He is addicted to coffee, calls people "love", has a saucy mouth, and has an obsession with thermal shirts. I mean, HONESTLY.  Adalyn, our FMC, is a bright light, proud to a fault, and getting herself into all kinds of trouble. Her growth throughout the story is top-notch and I loved seeing her fight and claw for what she wanted.

Elena takes the readers through an unconventional twisty ending for a contemporary romance AND I LOVE IT. It hits the right spot and makes this book stand out from others. I definitely recommend this beauty.

I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of this title! And I ate it right up. I loved the slow burn, the forced proximity, the caretaking, the girls, the goats, he’s a cat daddy… I could go on and on. This was the best long weekend read

The amount of love I have for this book is not able to be expressed in words…

Adalyn and Cameron absolutely stole my heart, from the very first chapter I was hooked.

After Adylan goes through something very embarrassing…and is practically forced (and exiled) to this small town…she takes on the roll of general manager for a soccer team or smaller girls (it’s genuinely adorable you guys) the couch of that team just so happens to be her neighbor…and the man who annoys her to no end. They have a hate at first sight vibe with their first encounter (which I will not spoil because I LOVED finding it out myself and I’m sure you will too!)

They have a forced proximity with having to not only work together, but also live next door…I truly don’t want to say much about this book because finding it out all yourself is just so much fun…so I’ll be annoyingly talking about how I feel about this masterpiece.


The slow burn was ✨perfect✨ and when they finally kissed? The scream I let out and the way I ran around my room in excitement wasn’t even funny.

There friendship…Gosh I’m obsessed, the TENSION? So hot. The grumpiness he had just had me grinning every chapter, I could not believe how deeply I love this book.

It’s now one of my favorites this year…no joke. I adore it and need like 5 paperbacks of it now.

The forced proximity of when she moves to this small town for a bit, and ends up living next to a hot grump…was AMAZING!

It was so good, and I adored the way he tried so hard to act like he didn’t care, and her was always making sure she was okay, and calling her darling and love😏

The banter between the two was so fun, I adored Adalyn, she was so easy to love, and immediately take her side, the tiny plot twist in the end definitely had my jaw on the floor! Did not see that coming.

I’m not sure how Elena has done it…managed to write her another breathtaking romance, I was swooning and squealing, wanting to read it as slow as humanly possible to savor this…and her couldn’t rip my kindle out of my hands.

The SECRET YEARNING…you guys! I almost broke out into sobs at how perfect it was. I truly can’t even form words to make an acceptable review, because I’m so sad that I finished it and I already miss these two so much.

Get ready guys…because you’re going to be able to meet your new husband, Cameron soon, and you will not be disappointed with how perfect the man it😭 I quite literally was distraught multiple times at how perfect he was.

Tropes:

- enemies - to lovers

- small town

- she’s the boss😏🫨

- soccer (hate sports but eat it UP when it’s in a romance)

- dual pov

- secret pinning

—
HEA: yes yes yes!!!🥹

OWD/OMD: no 😛

Cheating: thank goodness not!

Dual pov?: yes!


Truly the biggest thank you to netgally and atria you guys made me absolute month with providing me an arc in exchange of an honest review!

THE LONG GAME is fabulous & Elena Armas can do no wrong. *full review to come*

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

Anything from Elena Armas is a must-read for me and “The Long Game” did not disappoint. Adalyn’s father sends her to small-town North Carolina after a blunder with Miami Flames’ soccer team mascot goes viral. To Adalyn’s surprise, she is tasked with transforming a struggling girl’s soccer team – with the help of soccer legend Cameron Caldani. Their meet-cute is more of a meet-diaster and the pair are forced to work together. Of course, they fall in love along the way.
Adalyn and Cam’s relationship is fantastic. Armas is a master at effortlessly building the tension and naturally developing the bond between our pairing in a way that never feels forced. My one complaint is the fourth-act conflict did feel a little extraneous.
“The Long Game” is reminiscent of Armas’ previous works, as well as small-town romances like “It Happened Our Summer,” This one is well worth the read!
Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fun book to read!

I loved how the author showed Adalyn as such a strong character in such a tough situation and allowing her to be vulnerable even when she didn't want to.

I loved that this book involved soccer but so much more. If you are looking for a cute rom-com book, with a bit of predictability, this is your next read.

Thank you Atria books for the ARC! I'm hoping for a book 2!

I am an Elena Armas stan! She is incapable of writing a bad book. I am obsessed with dual POV and she nailed it! Both characters had so much depth. I loved how we got to see why Adalyn made the choices she made. I absolutely loved how Cam took care of her in a way that didn’t take away her independence but just reminded her that she wasn’t fighting the metaphorical battles alone. Nobody compares to Aaron Blackford but Cameron Caldani is not far behind.

The premise of The Long Game is very charming and I can see how many romance readers will enjoy the story. I thought the plot was cute but found the characters lacking depth and realness and the dialogue to be a bit strange. The scene is not always clearly set in terms of what is happening and what characters are doing. There are also some abrupt time shifts.

After going viral in a video where Adalyn appears to attack a mascot, she is "banished" to a small town by her father where she is asked to manage a soccer team comprised of nine-year-old girls (honestly, I wasn't quite sure what Adalyn's new job entailed beyond ordering uniforms?).

Fortunately (and also inexplicably), a very handsome and successful former professional soccer player/goalie named Cameron is also in this small town and he happens to be reluctantly coaching the team of nine-year-olds. Adalyn and Cameron do not have a meet cute and antagonize one another until one day they don't. Since we get both Adalyn's and Cameron's points of view in this story, it would have been great to get a better sense of why Cameron begins to fall for Adalyn (besides that he thinks she looks hot in overalls). And same goes for Adalyn. Cameron is not very nice to her and insists on calling her "darling" every chance he gets despite Adalyn asking him not to numerous times.

I think this will likely appeal to fans of the author's previous novels and anyone looking for a light and silly rom-com. 2.5 stars.

I appreciate the opportunity to read a copy - thank you Atria and NetGalley.

After a PR disaster with the Miami Flames soccer team, Adalyn’s father sends her to middle of nowhere North Carolina where she is tasked with turning around a small, local team. What she didn’t expect was for soccer legend Cameron Caldani to be helping out as well, especially because no one knows he’s there. While the two start off with a true meet disaster and a bit of rivalry, the back and forth turns into something so much more.

What I loved:
-All the soccer talk! Total Ted Lasso vibes
-How both Adalyn and Cam had their own insecurities and past traumas that they worked through
-The wonderful Green Oak Warriors teammates. If the book has kids under 10 in it, I’m always a fan
-Cam! He was grumpy and guarded at first but ah did he totally win me over
-The surprises revealed at the end and an epic epilogue

What didn’t work:
-Adalyn’s clumsiness and over the top reactions bothered me at times
-While the story was a slow burn, I didn’t feel invested in the build up. A spark was missing between the two, and I found the steamy scenes to come out of nowhere

Thank you Atria for the ARC! This is out 9/6

Thank you to the publisher for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Y'all I was screaming when I got the notification that I got approved for an ARC. I have read Armas's first two novels and loved them. After reading 'The Long Game,' I can confidently say it blows TSLD and TARE out of the water.

The first thing I noticed was how much Armas's writing has improved. Her style is still consistent with TSLD, but it is more mature and uses more stylistic approaches. From the first page it is clear she has spent time on improving her work. I am amazed at the transformation.

The second thing I noticed was the cast of characters. TSLD and TARE have relatively small groups of characters and the few secondary characters are not given much page time. In TLG, there is a broader group of characters with more page time. TLG takes place in a small town with a kids soccer team, so it is no surprise that the number of characters has grown. I appreciate the additionally time with the secondary characters as it added so much to the plot. We see Adalyn adapt to small town life with people actually interested in her work and her as a person.

I can't review TLG without discussing the leads. We have Adalyn as our main female character. She is down on her luck and banished to the middle of nowhere to improve her image. Her character arc was phenomenal. At first, she is solely focused on work. She has one friend (her assistant) and even her ex-boyfriend was a colleague. Then she ends up in North Carolina and creates a network of people that she cares about and care about her. She learns to let her guard down and have a life outside of work.

Cam is easily my favorite of Armas's love interests. He blows Aaron Blackford out of the water. I am absolutely obsessed with him. He's a grumpy retired goalkeeper that spends his days coaching little girls for their soccer team. He's less than thrilled when Adalyn ends up living next door to him, but slowly comes around. He's actually a super softie with a fear of goats and talent for melting my heart. He is the blueprint.

Thank you again to the publisher. I recommend this to everyone that loves Armas, and even those that don't. I fully believe TLG is her best work yet.

Adalyn Reyes needs a hug, not that she'll ever admit it. Exiled to tiny Green Oak, North Carolina, after a very public breakdown embarrasses her father (and boss,) she's forced to examine if the life she's been living is really what she wants - and of course, fall in love along the way. It's a familiar structure and popular for a reason. Armas hits all the right notes and the emotional beats are so good. Thankfully, Armas does skip one common romance trope - you'll find no miscommunication here and there's no third act breakup either. The slow burn is long, but the pining is delicious.
Pick this one up if you like:
Small-town romance
Adorable kids playing soccer
Goat yoga
Love interests who actually talk to each other
Competent men
Female leads who can handle their stuff