I'm sad to say this story didn't work for me, and I was looking forward to Jade's story after her appearance in Play to Win. I knew she was prickly, but she really stayed in her own way! I loved Franny's character though, and am glad she finally stood up for herself before she and Jade had another intimate moment. I'm from Houston, and am very familiar with the "good ol boy" mentality that runs Texas sports. I could see why Jade had her guard up, and being in a small town, being bisexual and a Black woman, she has the odds against her in the pursuit of being head coach. I wanted her to realize Franny could be an ally earlier vs. taking so long to get out of her own head so close to the end of the story. I also loved Franny's bowling league! I wouldn't mind reading about all of their exploits because they definitely had STORIES!
Overall, I will continue to read Jodie Slaughter's work because I do enjoy her writing and characters. She captures the essence of being in a small Southern town, and I look forward to what she writes next!

Thank you SMP for the eARC in exchange for a review.

This was cute and enjoyable! If you’re looking for a sapphic, rivals to lovers romance I think you would enjoy this one. Theres a lot of banter and chemistry between Jade and Franny. They both showed some growth throughout the story which was nice. I absolutely adored the bowling league characters. It took me a little while to get into but overall the narrator made this one a good quick read! Thank you to the publisher for the ALC and ARC copy to read and review!

Thanks to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for this advance copy.

This was a cute and sexy story of two women who have been circling each other at work but who come together as they spend the summer vying for a high school football coaching position. This is sort of enemies to lovers, but what I really liked about this was how the competition for the job was used as a set up but not a huge driver for the characters being together. They are competitive but that doesn't overwhelm the romance or them getting to know each other.

I love a good sports romance and this was fun.

If you’re not a sports girly, do you know what can make football (🏈) so much better? LESBIANS. This was giving Friday Night Lights vibes, but make it sapphic, and I LOVED IT. There’s also bipoc rep, which was so cool to see in a sports romance. It was also spicy as hell! The bathroom scene at the club is going to live rent free in my mind. 🥵

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for the gifted arc.

4.75⭐️ (but for the sake of goodreads, I’m going to round up and give this “all the fingers” 🤛)

I had a bit of a roller-coaster experience reading this book. At the beginning, something held me back from completely connecting with both of the main characters, and I was actually really put-off by the rudeness of one of the supposed love interests towards the other. Then getting into the middle of the book, I found myself most enjoying seeing these characters in their element as football coach and have to say the coaching scenes were my favorites. By the end, I was a little more on board with the relationship, but because of my issues at the beginning not sure I'd 100% recommend to other readers. I'm not sure there are too many romance novels featuring female football coaches, so if that's something specific you're looking for then I do think it's great that this book exists. But I'm not sure I'll pick up another book by this author unless I hear other positive reviews first :)

60/100 or 3.0 stars

I think the best part about the story is the sexual content, so if you like your spice, this is a good choice! The story outside of the romance was a little lackluster and not that interesting. Overall, it is a solid sports romance, as there is some good dialogue and narration on the sport of football, so if you like football, this is a good romance pick!

The characters felt a little generic and not memorable in terms of a romance, but I did like this story, I just didn't love it. I would recommend!

ready to score puts a fun spin on the sports romance genre by focusing on coaches instead of athletes, and i honestly loved that twist. it's such a popular subgenre, but this felt fresh and different.

one thing i especially appreciated was how the book explored the challenges faced by visible minorities in a space typically dominated by white men. this is a super important topic, and i'm glad it was integrated into a romance novel!

the writing overall worked for me, but i have to say: the phrase “the other woman” was used so many times! like, it wasn’t a huge issue at first, but once i noticed it... i really noticed it. that said, it led to this one perfect moment where they stopped using that phrase and started calling each other by name or saying “my girl” instead ... huge slay!!

jade did start off a little insufferable, not gonna lie. she had this whole “there’s only room for one of us” energy that grated on me at first, but watching her grow out of that mindset was really satisfying. and francesca?? perfect. no notes. i would read a whole spin-off about her just vibing and being amazing.

overall, this was an enjoyable read for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of Ready to Score in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I was unable to read the book before the archive date. I look forward to finding it in my local bookstore or library.

2.5 stars. This had a really good base. Two people with the same passion going after the same job. I was hoping to see them go deeper into their personal life and the issues they’ve had to overcome. I wish getting to the final goal wasn’t so predictable. Yes they had their obstacles getting to where they wanted to be in their lives, and yes there was tension between them but I knew exactly what would happen! I really wanted something different from this-something that I can’t get from books I’ve read before. Loved the WAY it was written and the audiobook was enjoyable too. I absolutely needed something different or more material to fully engage. Thank you to Jodie Slaughter and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, full transparency? I almost gave up early on this one because of football. Listen, I am not a sports girlie. So when the story opened with a locker room vibe and American pigskin drama, I was like, “Oh no, not this.” BUT I stuck with it (& thank goddess I did!) because once we got past the sportsball setup? Whew. The sapphic tension was SO good it should be illegal. Jodie Slaughter did not come to play when it came to the heat, the pining, the smoldering? Top. Notch. Queer. Romance.

The chemistry between these two felt super earned: complex, vulnerable, and sexy as hell. There were real emotional stakes, solid character development, and honestly? I caught myself smiling like a total dork more than once. It gave me everything I didn’t know I needed from a sapphic sports romance.

Also, please write more stories where women take up space, own their power, and still get a lil soft with each other in private. Yes, please!

This had a lot of really fun elements and sexy scenes! I didn't find the enemies to lovers arc particularly compelling (mostly because the enemies side seemed forced) but really enjoyed it once they got together!

Maybe I need to be more selective with the romance I request, or maybe I needed to give this book more of a chance, but i DNFed at 15% (and I'm not a DNFer, typically).

I've noticed there's a trend in romance where either the MC (if first person) or narrator (if third person) essentially monologues about the character and their feelings, past, and motivations. It's ALL tell, no show, and drives me kinda crazy, to the point I have to put the book down. And it's not just this one--I've encountered it in other ARC reads as well. If I like the characters enough, sometimes I can push through, but nothing in this book grabbed me.

So, this one is a no from me. I did listen to the audio arc and the narrator was... fine. Not my fave, but that may also have been due to the source material.

Seriously, though, we need more queer romances and it kills me to not finish/enjoy one!

I absolutely love romance books!! Especially sports romances set in small towns! This books was so good and sweet! This is one I’ll definitely buy for my shelf!!

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.