As someone who loves enemies-to-lovers but hates rivals-to-lovers, I’m not always sure which a book is going to be. This is more rivals-to-lovers, with Jade disliking Francesca only because she feels threatened by her. Still, I probably would have finished the book except that Jade forced a student to make a speech even though he was begging her not to. She said she was pushing him out of his comfort zone and would have stopped if he were having a panic attack—but how would she know? As someone with panic disorder, I promise you, other people can’t always tell. An authority figure should never force a child to do something when they’re terrified unless their safety is at risk. DNF ~18%

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

This is the third book of the series and this can be read as a standalone. We have Jade, a high school teacher in a small town and is looking to get the head coach position for the football team. There is Franny, who is her rival at school who everyone loves. As it turns out, Franny loves football all too and wants the job.

I enjoyed the book but the rival to lovers part was not my favorite. I thought that Jade was really mean and acted way too immature. The way they treated each other really turned me off and it did impact my liking of the story.

You don't need to love football to read this but there is a lot about it. I did enjoy seeing Jade's friends making an appearance in the story.

Thank you @youhadmeathea for a copy of the book.

Ready to Score by Jodie Slaughter is an enemies to lovers lesbian romance that takes place in the world of high school football.

Jade Dunn fought hard to become a high school football coach. When her dream is within her reach, she goes all out to make sure Francesca “Franny” Lim does not snatch the opportunity away from her. More than the South Carolina summer heats up as Jade pulls out all the stops to make sure Franny does not best her on the playing field.

Jade knows how hard difficult it is for women to become football coaches, and she guards her position with zeal. Her resentment toward Franny is already in place before they are (in her mind) vying for the same thing. Jade has a great family and a wonderful group of friends and it is nice to see a bit of her softer side.

Franny is a wonderful person whose life was turned upside down when she moved to South Carolina for a girlfriend who quickly dumped her. She gave up a coaching position she loved and she is excited for the chance to get back on the sidelines. Franny’s patience with Jade is pretty impressive considering some of her shenanigans.

Ready to Score has an interesting premise that ultimately falls flat. The cast of characters is diverse and the setting is well-developed. Jade is great with her friends and family, but she is downright mean to Franny. Francesa is well-drawn with seemingly limitless patience. The sex scenes are graphic and surprisingly plentiful considering Jade’s animosity for Franny. Jodie Slaughter wraps up their romance on a positive note.

Jade and Franny are two coworkers who are both trying to become the next head coach of a South Carolina high school football team. It was rivals to lovers in a small southern town. I was excited by the premise of following two women as coaches in a very male-dominated sport, but the book was not for me. I thought the way the author executed the rival’s part was more mean-spirited than fun rivals especially when these women should’ve been banded together against the male football coaches. I also didn’t like that the whole rivalry was based mainly on a miscommunication by Franny leaving out her true intentions. The pacing of their relationship also moved very fast and left the plot to be lacking. Thank you to the publisher and author for my advanced copy!

I enjoyed the characters and story, but I have to admit I don't know enough about football to have really engaged with that part of the book, and it was a big part

these ladies were hornyyyy which is always fun tho i do wish we got to see more of their romantic relationship… cause at times it definitely felt a little lackluster especially compared to their sexual one but still a really fun time and also great to see queer woc in books yippeee!!!

thank you NetGalley for the arc!!

If you like enemies to lovers this sapphic read is for you! I got through this one pretty quick. I wasn't really a fam of Jade as a character. Treating people however you want then discarding as trash because of your own internalized homophobia. I did like the hea but was still stuck on how crappy of a person she was towards Francesca for most of the book. The spice was spicy but wasn't overdone; I like a plot with my smut. I'm in a sports romance era right now so I love finding sapphic options for this.

DNF at 14%

I'm so mad that I felt like I needed to DNF this one. The premise sounded fantastic - two women battling it out for a football coaching spot and falling for each other along the way is exactly the kind of Sapphic romance we need more of.

Unfortunately, I didn't like that Jade was so hell bent on cutting Franny out. Jade could have easily gotten what she wanted while helping Franny instead of fighting her so hard. I didn't even reach 15% and Jade was so scathing about Franny that I couldn't even picture them eventually working it out.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Jade Dunn and Francesca Lim teach at the same school, and their rivalry deepens when the head football coach announces he’s retiring at the end of the next season, and both women compete for a new spot as a Coach for the Greenbelt High School Football team.

Jodi did something with this one! WLW, Rivals to lovers, sports romance… Sign me up! I’ve never been much of a sports girl, and I don’t know much about football at all, but it was so fun to read. There were references about positions and plays and all that. I had no idea what any of that meant, but if you’re a sports doll, you’ll probably really enjoy it.

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about some of the characters after their first introductions in the book, but they grew on me. I’m not competitive at all, so Jade and Francesca’s behavior was a little extra, but after getting into the “why” it all made sense. I love how both of them had great relationships with their families and strong support from their community. Jade’s family structure was non-traditional, and I haven’t come across it in a book before so that was cool too.

Also, the whole “Lesbians go on one date and never stop” bit… Jodi ate that up in here. Once they were on… it was ON and the girls were inseparable. I loved It!

I enjoyed the female rep in the football space. Quick. Easy read. Jade and Franny both shined as coaches. Jade was a bit cringe at times making it hard to really connect.

There was a lot about this book I really liked! The representation of women, queer women of color, in football in the south, was refreshing.

There’s a cute side cast of characters, but I do wish we got to see more of them or better understand the different relationship dynamics. It felt like there were so many popping up, that it was hard to remember who was who and all the different pieces.

I struggled to connect with on of the FMCs. She spent most of the book sabotaging the other woman who was trying to coach, because she didn’t feel there was room for both of them, despite what the people in charge said. While this may be what happens sometimes in the real world, it’s not a character I can really root for.

I also didn’t really understand the epilogue - I’m not sure if it was a call back to a previous book or something else, but it felt a little random and out of place to me.

For those of you looking for a steamy rivals-to-lovers workplace sports romance, this one is for you!

In this small-town, Jade has worked her way up to be a respected high school football coach, and she’s up for head coach soon. Her only issue? Francesca, the art teacher she can’t stand, has also taken an interest in coaching. Is there room for two women on this Southern small town’s coaching staff? Jade doesn’t think so.

Francesca just wants to coach the sport she loves, and finds herself in a rivalry she never asked for.

The club scene is 🔥, and I loved Jade’s growth throughout the novel.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows Jade as she tries to become a small town football coach, while her coworker/love interest vies for the same spot.

This book was a good beach read, mostly because I didn’t have to pay much attention. I admittedly do not care at all about football. I sped through those portions. Jade and Francesca were an interesting couple. I feel like their development was a bit rushed. It went very quickly from hate to ‘now we’re in love’. Mostly I feel like Francesca got over some of the honestly really mean stuff Jade did way too fast. It’s one of those couples that had some interesting moments, but that I don’t see lasting beyond this book.

This book is good for sports fans and short reads.

3.5 but only for the spice.
This was a lot more sports than romance in my opinion. I enjoy the back and forth between Jade and Fran when they were at odds, but that tend to drag on too long. Then the switch from enemies to lovers seemed abrupt. It was just an ok story. Not something I would read again.

DNFed (and I rarely don't finish a book). The prose was lackluster, but it's really the dialogue that deterred me. It came off unnatural, even cringey, as a way of elaborating the rivalry that just seems so out of place. For these two grown women, who are in role model positions to high schoolers, to (badly) bad talk each other not far from the earshot of students was too much. I've read so many sports romances before, but this one starts off stressing the sport too much, while neglecting any establishing characteristics about the characters or why they really love the game (why they're vying so hard for this coaching position). A disappointment, in short.

“I can’t f****** believe I’m about to lose my dream because I decided to play Harriet the Spy for a day.”

A cute, sapphic, rivals to lovers, with a healthy dose of high school football.

What I liked:

I liked Franny & Jade as characters, and they had such great tension in the beginning.

The author puts a lot of the actual football coaching in the plot, which I loved.

What didn’t work for me:

I wanted more relationship development between Franny & Jade. I feel like we went from rivals and barely speaking, to a couple of hookups, to lovers without much conversation.

Sweet new adult sapphic romance. Gives the reader a lot to cheer for; both on and off the field! Our readers will especially enjoy the diverse character representation.

(2.75/5)

Unfortunately this book just did not hit and there's no one more disappointed than me, a Blasian lesbian!!

Ready to Score had all the potential of a rivals to lovers sports romance. We follow Jade Dunn, math teacher and aspiring head coach to her southern high school football team, and Franny Lim, art teacher who just wants a seat at the coaching table.

The plot falls apart because it's a one sided rivalry that is ultimately pointless. Jade acts in a way that I cannot imagine any 32 year-old woman ever acting for absolutely no reason (it's made very clear to her by multiple people that no one is threatening her chances of accomplishing her goals). I do not understand why Franny would give her the time of day.

The sports aspect of the book fell flat as well. I did not feel connected to the team or their success. The epilogue felt especially dull in this regard and did not add anything to the romance (isn't this a romance book?).

I think the one saving grace of this story was Franny Lim who deserves everything good in the world.

rep: bi Black fmc | lesbian Korean fmc

DNF at 17%. I really liked Jodie Slaughter’s prior book, but I found this one very hard to get into. All the football talk was not for me, and I didn’t care for either of the protagonists.

📖 Title: Ready to Score-can be read as a standalone

✍🏾 Author: Jodie Slaughter-I've read Bet on It - 5*, and Play to Win - 4*

📅Publication date: 6/3/25| Read 5/14/25

📃 Format: e-book 320 pgs.

Genre:
*LGBTQIA+
*Multicultural Interests
*Women's Fic/Adult Fic
*Contemporary Romance
*Sports Romance

Tropes:
*small town
*enemies to lovers
*sapphic romance
*interracial relationship
*found family
*forced proximity
*rivals
*workplace romance

👆🏾POV: dual

⚠️TW: racism, misogyny

🌎 Setting: Greenbelt, SC

Summary: When Jade learns the head football coach is retiring, she wants the job. Franny is an art teacher who came to Greenbelt for love and stayed after it ended. She loves football too and was an asst. coach in Texas. Both vie for the head coaching job, but they can't help their attraction in this enemies-to-lovers drama.


👩🏾 Heroine: Jade Dunn-32, AA, bisexual, asst. football coach @ Greenbelt High School

👩🏻 Heroine: Francesca "Franny" Lim-30, Asian, Greenbelt high school art teacher, was an O-line coach in Texas

🎭 Other Characters:

* Coach Landry-current coach, retiring after this season, and Jade's mentor
*Miriam, Aja, and Olivia -Jade's BFFs
*Gene + Joyce Dunn-Jade's parents
*Will + Yao +Amelia-Franny's brother, sister-in-law- and niece, live near her in Columbia SC
*Caroline Bailey-Franny's ex-girlfriend

🤔 My Thoughts: I loved that two women into football were the heroines. Even though Jade treated Franny badly, I understood her drive to make her dreams come true. Franny knew Jade liked her, but she had some work to do to break down her walls. I loved the interactions Jade and Franny had with the players, showing their compassion.

Rating: 5/5 ✨
Spice level 5/5 🌶️

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin, and Jodie Slaughter for this ARC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.