I loved the set up of this book! A sapphic sports romance, with that sport being bowling, I thought that was super interesting. I ended up enjoying the sports aspect more than the romance. I still liked this book and had a good time reading, but I didn’t really find myself rooting and swooning for the couple. Maybe I could not get invested in thr writing style and that is what did it for me? Either way I thought it was okay at the end of the day and I would still recommend it if you are wanting to try it out! It was not a waste of my time by any means!

CW: death of a parent (recounted), panic attacks (mentioned), cancer, classism, car accident, misogyny, grief

Closed Door Mod: Chapter 24 (some parts), Chapter 28 (some parts)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin - Romance for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Ava Williams doesn’t mind being a teacher, though it’s not quite her dream career. However, when her former best friend shows up to their small town as the new science teacher, she can’t imagine things could get any worst… Until she finds out that in order for her to start her long-awaited bowling team at the school, she has to co-coach the team with said friend…

I was looking forward to reading The 7-10 Split as the bowling concept for a sports romance was interesting (which did worked well for the book), but I thought the book was just okay. Don’t get me wrong, the conflict between Ava and Grace was what really shines in the book. Their constant banter adds both the fun and tension in the first book of Lee’s Peach Blossom series. I also liked Lee’s select use of side characters to help support the MCs while maintaining their own personalities.

However, I had two major issues with the book. One, Lee had a tendency of simply telling things that happened off-page instead of showing readers these things happening. Especially when it comes to these off-page events impact the story on-page and you’re sitting there trying to recall where Lee had brought it up earlier. I think this could have been remedy by having more scenes or flashbacks illustrating these moments instead of just laying it out there and hope for readers to put the pieces back together. Secondly, I felt that the conflict and plot development for the last 15-20% of the book was all over the place. I’m not going to go in full detail due to spoilers, but it just seemed a bit unorganized and that Lee had several ideas as to what to do with the ending but couldn’t make up their mind over which ending to choose.

Nevertheless, I would pick up on this series again. For the most part, I did found the book enjoyable and I feel that readers who are fans of M.A. Wardell’s Teachers in Love series would get something out of The 7-10 Split. I just think there’s some areas that Lee needs to work on while writing the rest of the books in the Peach Blossom series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, this book really was not for me. I was excited about a sapphic sports related romance but ultimately this really didn’t have many positives for me. The characters felt flat and one dimensional. The writing was jumpy and moved from one topic to another so quickly it was hard to keep up. And for a sports romance there was so little about bowling. It felt like the author knew very little about bowling and chose to write it anyway. Nothing was given room to breathe and plot points came out of nowhere. This was just not for me.

This one was super cute. The rivals to lovers trope is always a good one, but this one left me wanting a bit more. There wasn't really anything else going on in the background, so I got bored and kind of had to force myself to finish. Again, I liked this one, but I just wished for a little bit more.

✨ Queer/Sapphic
✨ Rivals to lovers
✨ Black author
✨ Teachers
✨ Slow burn

Karmen Lee is hands down an aut0-buy author for me at this point! I absolutely love her writing and stories. This was so cute and funny -- a true romcom!! I felt like the story built up and ended well while also leaving room to hear more from the couple in the next book in this series/Peach Blossom.

Ugh, this was so good. I really had never seen a bowling romance before. Seriously who would have thought to do that? Yeah I guess Karmen Lee did, but still that was super fun to read.

While the sports aspect wasn't the main point here it was just enough to make you invested in how their season went and how the relationship between Grace and Ava went. I think that the backdrop of Peach Blossom was interesting because it was a small town, but we really got to see that they aren't always that bad.

While there feels like there's a potential miscommunication trope, I don't really feel like there is because it was when they were teens and teens miscommunicate about everything because you assume everyone hears everything at that time. The healthy way of working through problems and trying to actually talk things through was fun and the students/team made it feel cute watching Ava and Grace fall in love. I am already so excited for book 2! 4.5/5 rounded to 5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC! I loved this rivals-to-lovers, second-chance lesbian romance focused around a school bowling team.

I love the setup of this book, but unfortunately the two women felt like sisters rather than love interests to me, which made things weird. There were also a few instances of important plot or biographical information that didn't happen on page. Instead, we find out about it later through a passing conversation or thought.

As expected, this book was everything I needed. All I saw was this super colorful cover, that there was a bowling ball on the cover, and that it was a Queer book and I knew I was going to enjoy it. An even tho there were some issues, it was still very much something that I enjoyed.

Ok so the number one thing I loved about this book was of course the sports. I’m a HUGE sports girlie (I’m talking I go to freakin football games for my birthday in the fall) HOWEVER, I’m not the biggest fan of bowling in real life, (I can’t stop thinking of people who don’t wash their hands with their fingers in those holes lol) but apparently if I’m reading it it’s fine lol And although they don’t exactly talk about the rules and the scoring, I definitely went to my sister, Google to find out more lol But that was another one of my issues. They weren’t actually playing, they were coaches and they played only once together. Idk, I was expecting more since Grace was so well known in the sport.

The romance was cute, but I think I spent a lot of the time frustrated at Ava. It definitely made me understand why I don’t like enemies to lovers if they’re enemies over a miscommunication. I was like girl, get a grip. If you’re going to be mad, at least hear her out so you know what you’re mad at. She was just mad at the assumptions she made and I didn’t understand it. At the very least wouldn’t you want to know? Aren’t you a little bit curious? It was so weird to me. And I think I was just sad for Grace. She was so freaking sweet and she was so smart! I can’t lie, I wanted her to be like girl, bye at one point lol She just waited out Ava’s moodiness and I didn’t understand why. Even when they got together Ava was just mean to her sometimes and Grace just took it. And all over a miscommunication. But when they got together, they were cute. I just wanted more of it. I think if the miscommunication and arguing was cut down a bit and the ending was longer, it would have been a 5 star book for me.

There’s a lot of things I didn’t care for in this book, but I DID like the way the author was able to mix a second chance romance and a small town romance. I was expecting tension and I definitely got it. Do I wish it was more balanced and less just like “sit down and talk?” Absolutely. But I liked the way they were “surprised” by running into each other and how they “didn’t seem to think” they’d have the same friends. That was very cute and done very well.

This book was very cute, but I do feel like this was a very basic romance. It was just ok to me, but it was still enjoyable. I don’t think I’d rush to read it again, but I would still definitely recommend it to those that don’t care about miscommunication or assumptions.

Thank you to @netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of The 7-10 Split!

What I really enjoyed:

🎳 I've never read a bowling romance before! I thought it was cool to feature a sport I spent a lot of time playing casually as a kid, but knew very little about it competitively.
🎳 We LOVE the rep of two highly intelligent, Black women as our romantic leads here.
🎳 Grace's pining throughout this story is very sweet. I found myself rooting for her happiness the entire romance.
🎳 As you know, I am a sucker for a good side character, and I really think Brad is an excellent addition to this story and friend group. I would love to read about how he and Tom met.
🎳 The accuracy of high school kids shipping their teachers is so spot on. Honestly I feel like half the time the kids were spurring on this romance more than anyone else.

What I struggled with:

🎳 I think this romance had so much potential in "stolen moments" through the medium of bowling, but we really don't see these two women spend a lot of time together. The few moments they have alone I feel like are a bit sped through. If they were a bit more fleshed out, I would have believed them more. I think this is part of why the "enemies to lovers" didn't quite land for me.
🎳 The "miscommunication" and weirdly aggressive twist (not the MCs) at the end felt very abrupt and I didn't think it made too much sense to the plot.
🎳 There is a moment early on (no spoilers) where the two get "close" and then they never go back to really show what happened that night which felt like a missed opportunity.
🎳 This teacher world is definitely a fantasy, as there are a lot of elements of their work experiences that are just so far from reality. However, this is a work of fiction, so in reality it's fine, this teacher just took a few pauses while reading.

♡ Small Town
♡ Rivals to Lovers
♡ Workplace Romance

Such a cozy entertaining read. The rivals to lovers was done nicely and the workplace romance did not disappoint.

Ava being turned down after suggesting they start a bowling team at the school then things get worse when she meets the new AP Science Teacher. Grace moving back to the small town and learning the history between them was just as awkward as expected.

The only thing I felt lacking was the reveal as to why they didn’t work out in college. It fell a bit flat for me. I did really enjoy this book though, this really played into the slow burn trope, and the ending was great.

Thanks for sharing this book with me. There are aspects of it I enjoyed, but it felt a little underbaked. I really love the protagonists and the idea of a bowling romance, but I feel like I didn't actually learn anything about bowling or why the protagonists love it, or why they split up before the start of the book.

BRACE YOURSELVES! Sapphic sports romances are having a moment & it’s now!

What to expect…
- small southern town (classic small town drama too)
- friends to rivals to lovers
- a very loving cast of characters
- all the cozy vibes
- sports game tension

Thank you to the author, the publisher, & to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review!

I LOVED this one! It was so cute and funny. Also, a bowling team?! Felt 90s in the best way. As a teacher, I always love to see how authors portray teaching and this one was spot on with the ridiculous principal.

I have been crossing my fingers for more bowling in media since the beloved Disney Channel Original Movie Alley Cats Strike and was so excited for The 7-10 Split! While I loved the cover and all of the bowling vibes, the romance felt very young to me making it hard to connect to the storyline.

🎳 Bowling
✏️ Teachers
🏆 Competition
🥈 Second Chances
💖 Romance

All in all I loved the bowling and was “meh” on the romance (especially the conflicts). Still a fun read and will definitely be checking out books by Karmen Lee in the future!

Thank you Afterglow Books by Harlequin for the advanced copy!

I really enjoyed this book, it took me a while to finish since I was in the midst of finals, but once I got into it I couldn’t put it down. As a future teacher who also grew up queer, reading this book I felt I could understand both Ava and Grace and the apprehension behind starting a relationship. The tension with not quite understanding the line between friendship and attraction, and seeing it blend was so satisfying. It felt very reminiscent to the experience most queer people have growing up with this lack of understanding their own attraction/sexuality. I felt very seen throughout this book, and while normally I hate being perceived, it added to the experience. I really enjoyed them finding their way back to each other and rekindling their friendship before taking anything further. I felt like that added to the authenticity of their relationship. Overall, a very cute read that I would definitely recommend to people looking for a cute and diverse sapphic romance! Thank you @harlequinbooks @authorkarmenlee and @netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

The 7-10 Split is a thoughtfully sweet sapphic romance. Ava Williams is a teacher who was unpleasantly surprised when her ex-best friend from high school Grace Jones showed up to teach at her school. With the announcement of a new bowling team by the irritating principal, Ava, and Grace have to find a way to work together to balance their growing feelings with the competitive bowling circuit.

I really enjoyed this Black sapphic romance. Karmen created a perfect mixture of humor and warmth with a nontraditional sports romance. I would recommend this to everyone, especially if you like a slow-burn workplace relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Afterglow Books by Harlequin for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this, and it had the perfect character set up for me to like it.

The characters I was rooting for 100% individually but I can't say that I ever ended up rooting for their relationship. The pacing of the story was issue, and since most of the story happened in the last 25% of the story, it made it really hard to root for their relationship. I would have really enjoyed if we had explored more of them being in a relationship before rushing towards the ending like a train out of control.

I think the crux of my disappointment is that I wanted more.

Thank you to Harelquin and to Netgalley for an e-copy.

LOVES:
- As a teacher and former high school bowler, I was really excited about this book!
- There were some realistic struggles of teaching shown
- There are times when the main characters get the their heads out of their butts and communicate
- There are some decent side characters

CRITIQUES:
- The secrets felt frustrating and pointless
- Their principal, good lord 🤦🏼‍♀️😡
- The weird assumptions that are made and contributed to their friendship blowing up are so confusing
- They dance around issues for way too long
- The pacing felt slooowww

I so badly wanted to like this, but it was tough to finish. I appreciated certain things about it, but this book was not for me.

Thanks to @netgalley for the eARC.

I love a good enemies to lovers book. Especially over a niche hobby like bowling. And this book was good but not great. While this story was shorter than most it worked. A second chance romance hits hard