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.

Thank you Netgalley and author for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I enjoyed the rivals to lovers betweenJade and Francesca but Jade was pretty cruel at times , which made it hard to root for their relationship but she did show growth as the story progressed. The love confession felt rushed but Franny was the standout character that helped bring the story together! The sapphic spice scenes were well done & intimate. I would read other stories by this author.

If you enjoy the following check this out :
Workplace romance
Close proximity
Enemies to lovers
Sports romance

Heat Factor: When you just can’t stop yourself from getting down in the bathroom of a club

Character Chemistry: We are enemies! But maybe actually not! Maybe I pretend I don’t like you because you are intimidating! What are feelings!

Plot: Jade and Francesca are competing but not actually for coaching position

Overall: Is football your love language?

Let me say it straight out: there is a lot of football in this romance. These ladies are both passionate about the sport and about their local high school team. I am not a football person. I’ve watched my share of inspirational football movies, but that’s about it. So when these characters got in the weeds about, uh, football stuff, I did a lot of spacing out and nodding along.

In terms of the story, this was an interesting take on the enemies to lovers trope. Now, I’m on record (repeatedly) about enemies to lovers being weak sauce in contemporary romance because the stakes are so low (swords or GTFO). Here, however, it’s clear that the emotions behind the enmity are irrational, overblown, and one-sided—but that doesn’t change that Jade does some terribly mean things to Franny.

The situation: Jade has a chip on her shoulder about Franny because Franny is better at social stuff than Jade is, and therefore must have it easy. Note: they are both queer women of color in a small town in the American South. Jade also has this idea that Franny is gunning for Jade’s job, even though she’s not. Yes, Franny is trying to get an assistant coaching position with the high school football team; but Jade is already an established assistant coach who is now angling for the head coach position when the current head coach retires at the end of the season. I can kind of see Jade’s position about there not being space for two “diversity hires” on the coaching team; the flip side of this is that as an assistant coach, Franny could have Jade’s back in a way that the good ole boys wouldn’t. It made for an interesting conflict, because Jade and Franny are approaching their relationship with really differing points of view. To use self-help speak, Jade has a scarcity mindset about football (there’s only so much access to football to go around) and Franny has an abundance mindset (we can lift each other up and create more).

Given this dynamic, it’s not surprising that Jade is awful to Franny (setting her up for public humiliation multiple times, sexing her up and then avoiding her). And I guess if Franny really believes that they have something and could be more together, it’s not that surprising that she takes it for so long. But neither aspect is particularly fun or swoon-worthy to read about.

Here’s the takeaway. Slaughter did some interesting stuff with the trope. The characters and their conflict were compelling. Despite the unkind behavior, I did believe the HEA (if nothing else, we know they have common interests). But the gut emotions it elicited were primarily discomfort.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a short and sweet read, I gave 3.5 stars because while I enjoyed it, it didn’t leave me thinking the way I wish it would. I will say, the tension between the MCs Francesca and Jade was done nicely, and the intimate bits were steamy.

Definitely cute if you need something quick and bingeable but not the most memorable of books I read. I didn’t find myself with too much to say afterwards.

Thank you St. Martin's Press & NetGalley for the eARC copy of Ready to Score!

I thought that this book had such a fun premise. A queer romance with a Southern football culture backdrop? Sign me up! As a queer woman and a sports fan, these are the stories that I love to see unfolding in both real and fictional worlds. I thought that the writing was great, and I enjoyed the female characters breaking into and dominating the male dominated space of Texas high school football.

That being said, this book unfortunately fell flat for me in a couple of areas. Primarily, I don't think that Jade and Franny were right for each other. I love an enemies to lovers storyline, but I did not like the way these two treated each other at all. I had trouble connecting with them as individuals, and I really had trouble connecting with them as a couple. I don't think they came together naturally, and that they were forced together by the nature of the story.

I think this story was very promising, and I see glimmers of this book that will really resonate with people. I believe this book will be a hit for the right people, and unfortunately I think it wasn't quite perfect for me.

Francesca and Jade are rivals from the jump. They are both high school teachers who care deeply about football. Jade and Franny clash as they both compete to be a part of a high school football coaching team. As they get to know each other, they realize that they have a lot in common. Can Franny and Jade’s relationship survive when the coaching roster hangs in the balance between them?

Jodie Slaughter writes sizzling hot sapphic romance, with a solid background plot of breaking into football coaching. Franny and Jade have excellent chemistry and their interactions (especially in the beginning) are hilarious. I enjoyed the side characters and love that both Franny and Jade have solid family/friendship ties. Jodie Slaughter writes excellent character growth and romance.

Thank you to Jodie Slaughter, St. Martin’s Griffin, and NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc.

Rounded up to 3.5 I loved the description for this book as I adored Cleat Cute and enjoyed watching Friday Night lights. I personally love the rise of the sports romance genre in the queer vein. Jade Dunn has been climbing the chain for high school football, the other thing standing between her and the coach spot is someone who she does not feel deserves the slot. I felt there were a lot of things about high school football I ended up learning from the read, I did find the FMC to be a grating at times and it took me away from the overall plot.

This was very cute in some moments, but others it just lost me. Like I did think it was cute and I loved the basketball aspects and a lot of the dynamics.