I enjoy sports romances so I was really looking forward to reading this book! But I have to admit I really struggled with this one. I didn’t like the way Lim burst into the coaching scene all cheeky with Jade, and I also didn't like the way Jade treated Lim. I get rivals to lovers and it was part of Jade’s character arc, but the way she spoke to Lim after the accident with the head coach? I couldn’t root for them.

Ready to Score is a rivals-to-lovers sapphic romance about two women vying for the same high school football coaching job and it’s absolutely packed with heart. This book felt like a warm hug from start to finish. It’s one of those rare stories where you end up loving every single character, no matter how small their role.

Reading it felt like curling up on the couch with a cozy, feel-good rom-com. Jade and Franny were such a great pair. I loved how their personalities complemented each other so naturally. Honestly, this is the perfect beach read: charming, uplifting, and just so full of joy.

I didn't have reading a book about high school football coaches falling in love on my bingo card this year, but here we are. For a story so sweet, their were shockingly spicy scenes.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for an e-ARC of Jodie Slaughter's Ready to Score in exchange for an honest review! I was super excited to receive this ARC, because I adored Slaughter's Bet On It. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that not only does Bet On It take place in the same universe, but so does Play to Win. Therein lies my first critique; I truly believe that all three books should be labeled as a series. There should be a series name ("The Greenbelt Series" is catchy!) and the covers of the three books should match stylistically. However, the mild spoilers I got for Play to Win (and, if you haven't read it, Bet On It) are a minor price to pay for this fantastic novel!

Ready to Score follows Jade and Franny, two queer BIPOC teachers both vying for the same football coaching position at Greenbelt High. Now, some might say that a BIPOC interracial sapphic small-town, enemies to lovers, contemporary sports romance is far too ambitious, but Slaughter is able to hit each of these tropes seamlessly.

In all honesty, I did find the whole enemies/rivals storyline to be childish at times (and this is coming from someone who famously does not like the enemies-to-lovers trope, so take this with a grain of salt!). However, the diversity of the book's characters and the character growth of the two FMCs made up for this. Jade and Franny are both so fiercely passionate and quick-witted, it was so easy to root for them. And I would absolutely lay my life down for Jade, she deserves the world and more.

Jodie Slaughter's Ready to Score is a ridiculously romantic, super sexy, and completely captivating novel. If you like yearning and smart banter, this book is definitely for you!

I love enemies to lovers, forced proximity, sports romance. This has all of that AND its sapphic? I ran to sign up for it. Unfortunately, this was not what I expected at all.

These women were mean to each other, not even in an enemies to lovers way, just liek enemies who will never love each other? Also yet ANOTHER interconnected romance book that doesnt say it is part of a series ANYWHERE. Even if it "can" be read alone, doesn't mean it should be. I wish publishers would start having people read these books and review them as new readers to the series to confirm if it makes sense to call it a standalone.

This was so cute! I'm not the biggest enemies to lovers in the workplace fan but this worked for me. I felt the connection between Jade and Franny from the beginning and even when they weren't getting along I could feel the tension building.

I felt like they did a good job of showing up for one another and taking accountability for things they did in the past. I liked that in the end it came down to them just being each others biggest fans and loving each other so much. It was real cute (and real hot).

The only thing I struggled with was that it was a little too unnecessarily long and a lot of that had to do with how much they talked about football. I know they're coaches!!!

This is my second time reading Jodie Slaughter and I can't wait to read more from her.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. Ready to Score is a sapphic romance about two teachers who want to coach high school football in the South. Jade has been coaching the team for years and Franny has only been in town for a few years. Jade had never liked Franny, but now that they want the same thing, she hates her and spends a lot of time trying to make her look bad to the head coach. Franny doesn't help the situation by egging her on but is then upset that Jade won't trust her. Overall, they spend a lot of time being mean to each other and causing their own issues. There were some inconsistencies that were annoying but didn't ruin the story. There was a fair amount of spice, but that doesn't start until a ways in. I probably won't re-read, but I will recommend and read other books by Jodie Slaughter.

Thank you, the publisher for this advanced reader copy. My mood isn't allowing me to give this Jodie Slaugher title my full attention. I love her as an author and I will try this book again later.

Honestly I didn’t realize how much I don’t care about high school football coaching. I liked how it was women going after a coaching job but I just thought it was boring how much conflict it was bringing to the story. I thought Jade was mean and Franny suddenly wanted the head coach job out of nowhere when she wasn’t even an assistant coach. I was just not a fan of this book or the romance. I was rooting for them since they are an interracial couple but like I just didn’t like them together.

I haven't read a pair of more immature main characters in a good long while, and that included children's books. I just can't imagine being so deeply invested in high school sports (especially football) that being their coach is your life's ambition and you get mean and nasty over anyone else challenging your spot. So I guess this is not the book for me. Maybe you have to be American to read this, who even knows.

I didn’t realize I needed a sapphic rivals-to-lovers story about two women competing for the same head coaching job until I read Ready to Score. Jodie Slaughter totally delivers on the slow-burn tension and sharp banter, but what really won me over was how the story shifts when Jade and Francesca stop treating each other like competition and start actually working together. Their chemistry is great, but the book also takes time to explore who they are off the field—with glimpses into their families, personal histories, and what’s really at stake for each of them. It’s funny, spicy, and full of heart. I had a great time with this one.

3/5 stars
2/5 spice

Tropes:
Rivals to lovers
Grumpy/sunshine
High school teachers
High school football
Workplace romance
Tension and banter
LGBTQIA rep
Slow burn
Dual POV

I was having a hard time getting into this story because I just didn't feel that Jade and Franny had a believable romance. I've enjoyed this author's writing before so I didn't have an issue there, but I was cringing at the unnecessary rivalry. I wanted to love this book but felt like something was missing or maybe it dragged because I wanted to see them get over themselves sooner...I don't know. It wasn't a terrible experience but I wasn't too invested in the HEA for Jade and Franny. I did love their ambition and drive to get what they wanted. They both had something to prove and it was great to see that they were willing to give it their all. However, I think this could've been less of a rivalry and maybe more focused on their mutual struggles to move up in a cis het male-dominated space. Just my two cents.

Overall, this was an OK story for me. Someone who really likes football might enjoy it more. I was reading for the romance and it just fell short for me. I would still recommend it for the diversity and to the sports romance fans.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and offered voluntarily.

This was SO CUTE! I truly enjoyed it. I absolutely adored Franny, and Jade’s growth was so nice to watch. This is my first Jodie Slaughter book but definitely not my last.

We are of the age where many romances gay or straight become so mainstream that it’s hard in the romance genre to not be generic. Two competitive teachers appear to be fighting for better opportunities, but in actuality they’re too stubborn to tell each other that they have romantic feelings for each other. Nothing was inherently wrong off the bat but I struggled to connect to the characters and root for them.

Two years ago, I enjoyed Jodie Slaughter’s romance, Play to Win, so I was excited to read more from her. Her newest book is Ready to Score, a rivals-to-lovers romance between two women aiming for the same head coach position at the high school where they work. Though both books (and Bet on It) are set in the same world, Ready to Score works as a standalone.

What I Liked:
- Representation in a male-dominated field. American football, including the high school variety, is very much a men’s club. I liked seeing two queer women of color working in high school football and aiming to become head coach. Both have to navigate misogyny, but they’re passionate enough about the sport to persevere.
- The characters feel real. Both Jade and Francesca are complex characters who jump off the page. Jade, in particular, has a lot of growing to do, and I appreciated her arc and learning from her mistakes.
- The story is engaging. Despite its shortcomings (detailed below), I did find the world and characters easy to immerse myself in. It helps that I read the previous book in the series (though not the first one yet).

What Didn’t Work for Me:
- Jade is too mean. For most of the book, Jade isn’t just acting like Francesca’s professional rival; she’s acting like she truly hates her. Even before they were aiming for the same coaching position, Jade was always dismissive of or cruel to Franny. I don’t understand why?? And for some reason Franny has a crush on Jade the whole time anyway? Girl, find someone nicer.
- Their romance doesn’t really work. Because the enemies aspect goes too far here, I found it impossible to root for Jade and Francesca as a couple. They just shouldn’t have been together. If the novel had taken them on a different journey, maybe to teaming up or at least just becoming friends, it would have helped. But as it is, they just don’t have chemistry.

Final Thoughts
Though I wanted to like Ready to Score, and although I enjoyed the previous book in the series, this one fell a bit flat for me. It’s well-written and engaging, but I just couldn’t see the two main characters ever having a good relationship. They needed something more to connect the dots between mean rivals and women in love.

While I didn’t like this one so much, I do still want to go back and read the first book in this series, Bet on It, and I’ll try out more books from Jodie Slaughter.

Jade is an assistant coach for a high school football team. She has one focus and it’s to buck the patriarchy and make her place as the next head coach. When the current head coach announces his retirement she’s seeing her goals come to fruition until the art teacher, another female coach, is eyeing the position instead. Can they fight the chemistry or the rivalry to come out on top together?

Ok honestly I kinda hated Jade through the whole book. Franny was pretty adorable after the first little bit and Jade never really grew on me. Regardless, they’re cute. The chemistry is real and the push and pull of the slow burn is delightful. Great spice, I have a hard time finding lesbian spicy books that resonate and this one was up there. Definitely worth a read but if you’re not a sports fan you might get a little lost in the weeds, the pacing is a bit slow for the drama plotline.

This had the potential to be a great book because the storyline was current and interesting, but it had lots of graphic and detailed spiciness that I felt detracted from the story. It was all I could do to get through it and finish it.

Jade was just informed that the Head Coach of the high school football team is retiring. The only thing standing between her and her dream job is the small-town politics. She quickly learned that the art teacher, Francesca, was also interested in the coaching position.

I was fortunate to obtain the book in various formats. This allowed me to have an immersive reading experience. Overall, I enjoyed the story, and I thought it was a great concept; however, I felt that t something was missing in the execution. I did not feel connected to either of the MCs, which made it challenging to finish the story. I wanted more bantering and maybe some bickering. The ending was cute. It wrapped up the story in a cute bow.

The animosity between two rival teachers heats up when they both set their eyes on the same goal: becoming head coach of the football team. As they each try to carve out their place on the team and prove they deserve their spot, they start to wonder if maybe there's a reason besides hatred that they can't seem to stay away from each other.

This book puts a lovely, unique spin on classic set-ups: rivals to lovers, coworkers, sports romance. Its strengths lie in the moments when Jade and Francesca see all the ways they're alike: both women of color trying to be taken seriously in a male-dominated field, who are fighting to take on more responsibility and visibility and all the extra heat that comes with it. Slaughter does an incredible job of balancing the very real risks and drawbacks that Jade and Francesca face, while creating two women who learn to work together and support each other in spite of these challenges.

Cleat Cute meets Friday Night Lights, I'm sat. Ready to Score is fun, hot, and full of high school football charm. Jade has spent her whole career trying to become head coach of the local high school football team; she's got a lot of slack from some parents for being a Black woman coach in an industry that is dominated by cis white men. Still, she fights and fights and fights until the current head coach announces that he's retiring and will name his replacement at the end of the season. She's really the only assistant coach in the running until Franny, the art teacher she's destests, joins the running.

The book heavily focuses on this "competition" between Jade and Franny. Their rivalry is mostly one sided because we know almost immediatley that Franny is attracted to Jade and not even apart of the team like Jade is. Jade makes some risky calls and goes through a lot of growth in the second half of the book. As a character driven reader I ended up liking this more than the romance.

Jade and Franny's romance takes a quick turn from one sided rivalry to essentially living together, but I still enjoyed it. There's this super obvious tension between them that Jade is scared of leaning into because it might ruin her chance to become the head football coach. Franny is really down bad from the start, but Jade takes some time. I, personally, would have liked a bit more time with them exploring their feelings, but I was plenty happy with what was there.