Thank you to netgalley and Harlequin - Romance | Afterglow Books by Harlequin for allowing me access to this book. I enjoyed this book so much it was hard to put down.

THE 7-10 SPLIT is a sapphic friends to rivals to lovers story about ava and grace, two estranged high school friends. after ten years of not seeing each other, they end up teaching at the same school and coaching the bowling team together, and along the way, some old feelings start to resurface. i absolutely loved their dynamic and i felt like the build up of their relationship was very well done, which can sometimes be tricky with rivals/enemies to lovers. along with that, i really enjoyed the cast of side characters and was very excited to find out vini's story is coming out next!! if you enjoy sapphic romances, rivals to lovers, and/or bowling, you should definitely read this book. thanks to netgalley and harlequin for the advanced copy! THE 7-10 SPLIT comes out may 21st!

This was fun and lighthearted! It’s not very deep, but it’s cute for what it is - you get bowling, second chance, teachers, and a bit of even enemies to lovers. The plot isn’t super deep, and you don’t get way into some of the back story, but I think that’s to be expected by a book this size.

4.25 ⭐️
🌶🌶
I love a good Sapphic second chance romance, and this did not disappoint.

Ava has been trying to revive the school bowling team for as long as she's been working there. In waltzes Grace, Ava's former best friend, as the new teacher who stumbles into getting the team brought back. Now Ava and Grace have to sort out their past if they're going to coach together and explore some leftover feelings.

Just when I was wanting more bowling, it came up. This is kind of a slow burn, but I enjoyed the pacing. The writing style focuses a lot on "had" which gets hard to stay immersed in, but I really enjoyed how Grace and Ava's relationship rebuilt. This was a first by this author for me but will definitely not be the last.

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

A sweet and sporty second chance romance about ex-childhood best friends who end up teaching at the same hometown high school and are forced to coach a bowling team together. The stakes are enjoyably low, and bowling is my kind of sport (indoors with A/C). There's family and work drama as well.

Listen 😂 I tried out for the bowling team back in junior high, trust me it’s not that easy 😩! Eva really was holding on to a ten year old grudge 🤔 Like girl grow up 😂 Grace done moved on and came out the closet . The beef between the two was unnecessary 🫠 they could have spent more time catching up or making up 😈! This was a cute second chance story ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I really like the bowling 🎳 aspect !

Loved the unique setting for a sports romance (bowling) as well as the enemies-to-lovers romance between rivaling high school coaches.

Sapphic romance with bowling?! Yes please!

This was a cute romance with second chance romance, rivals to lovers, small town, teachers/coaches and bowling!

Ava is trying to start a bowling league at the high school she teaches at and when she gets it approved it comes with a co-coach! Her childhood rival Grace is back in town and teaching too. Will they be able to coach together and leave all the childhood drama behind them?

This was cute. I like a second chance romance. I feel like where I struggled was the pacing-felt a tad slow at the beginning with a lot crammed in at the end but I would absolutely continue with this series!

Thanks to netgalley and harlequin for an eARC.

fun very slow burn rivals to lovers sapphic romance with some extra workplace plot thrown in. I liked Grace a lot but had trouble warming up to Ava because it took so long to figure out why, exactly, she seemed to hate Grace and it felt very overboard. I felt like the development of their romance made sense and was enjoyable.

However, the pacing on this felt a little off, with so much information kept secret until the last 5% of the book or so. Though to be honest, I’m still not 100% sure what caused their initial falling out in high school—it’s implied that Grace’s mother did something but that conversation happens off page. It mostly felt like Ava was just jealous of Grace and taking it out on her for no particular reason until the book was nearly over. There was also this big dramatic confrontation with the principal where Ava storms off and then we don’t get to actually see anything that Grace says to him? So many little details are like that, mentioned offhand but not actually included, which took away from my enjoyment. What happened to Grace’s father, for example? If the author didn’t want to go into that, why bring it up as part of a big dramatic fight with her mother and then never again with no explanation??

Still, I might think about picking up the second book in this series. maybe between this one and the next I’ll be able to piece together more answers.

I really liked Karmen Lee's novella that I had read previously, so I was very much looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me. It struggled with pacing and needed significantly more plot to fill it out.

This was a slow burn, enemies to lovers sapphic bowling romance, which is definitely unique!
There was a lot I enjoyed, but I do wish the pacing was a little quicker. The characters were both really great, and I personally really loved the bowling elements. Ive read other sports romance, but never one that features bowling!

"The 7-10 Split" by Karmen Lee is a heartwarming tale of love, family, and second chances. Lee's engaging storytelling draws readers into the lives of relatable characters facing life's challenges with humor and resilience. With its charming blend of romance and self-discovery, this book is a delightful read for anyone looking for a feel-good story.

This was the former lovers rivals to lovers that I didn’t know that I needed. I’m always saying that we need more Black sapphic romances and I definitely felt that this one was what I’ve been looking for. The bowling element was great. I enjoyed the banter and I just loved the to FMCs together so much!

This is a great sapphic teacher romance, with realistic teachers and some solid spice. I'll never be the biggest fan of the enemies-to-lovers premise, particularly when its persistence is due to misunderstandings/other people's shenanigans, but Karmen Lee made even that fairly fun to read. I did prefer the later half, once the 2 main characters started to thaw to each other again, but the whole ride was still pretty great.

Rivals to lovers bowling romance????? SAY NO MORE! This was so much fun! This is the first book I've read by Karmen Lee, and I am excited to read more. I would love to see this in a made-for-steaming-service movie - produce more romcoms like this Hollywood!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I had never read a sports romance before involving bowling, definitely an interesting premise with soft and lovely sapphic and second chance elements

Overall, it was a really cute book and I enjoyed it. There were plot twists that I didn't anticipate in a rivals to lovers bowling romance, so that was exciting, and the slow burn between the two women was really nice to read. Also, as a former teacher, having a teacher story is always nice to read - it felt very relatable in certain parts. There is a lot of chemistry between the two women and a lot of character growth for both of them. My main critique was the pacing. The time between the action points and the slower moments felt off, and a lot of storylines don't get wrapped up very neatly. There were times where I felt like there was information that the reader had but just got deleted out of the story. Also, i wish there was a more substantial reason for them to be rivals, but on the other hand it was a satisfying "get together" scene when they finally worked through everything. Although it was a very, very slow burn.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for the ARC.

This slow-burn romance was full of awkward yet sexy angst that had nothing to do with outside forces which I really liked. Both characters were relatable with their fears of deciding to step across the line and possibly ruin a budding friendship. Some of the characters’ dialogue seemed to be repetitive. I would’ve loved to see more angst between Ava, Grace Millie. Other than that, great love story

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, but sadly, I’m disappointed. I stopped reading at 54%.

First, let’s start with what I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the characters! Both Ava and Grace are characters that I care about and want the best for! The rivals to lovers trope can be hit or miss for me, but I enjoyed it in this novel!

But, I feel like this novel just isn’t for me. It has such a slow pace. Nothing is happening in the story. All the characters do is trade longing glances and think about each other from afar. I’m a person who needs action in my romance. I need a central plot & subplots. I need cute dates and adorable moments. I need them to have interesting conversations. And none of that was given in this novel. I also feel like the characters didn’t have chemistry. They’re having thoughts like they like each other, but I can’t FEEL it. Chemistry between characters in a romance novel is something that I take for granted until it’s not there, and it wasn’t there. And the last problem I had was a character saying that they “didn’t have the spoons for this”. That term is specifically used for the disabled community when pain/illness/fatigue keeps us from being able to do activities we need to do. This term isn’t synonymous with the word “tired”.

I think this book will be better for someone who enjoys slow burn romances with more pining than action. It just wasn’t for me.

TW: cancer, drunk driving, death of a parent

Okay so this book is cute and I really enjoyed the premise a lot more than I thought I would, but I was hoping to get more scenes of our main characters bowling with each other since that was a big part of their connection. There were a few plot lines that were never fully explored which would’ve been nice to have and it would’ve made the book a lot more interesting. Overall I still enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone looking for another sapphic romance