Overall a this was a fun, fiery sapphic sports romance with plenty of tension and full of humour and heart that made it a perfect read.

There is enemies to lovers with character growth and there is bullying with no growth or remorse. I was not a fan of this book. My main dislike came from the “romance”. Jade is MEAN. The things she says and thinks about Franny are cruel. The expectation to cheer for these two as a couple was never going to happen with me. A lot of times that goes unaddressed. The main storyline didn’t do much to keep my interest and the pacing was extremely slow. Another thing I was disappointed with was the u-haul trope. Having them move in with each other in such a short period of time when the majority of the sapphic community has been screaming about educating the dangers of this. Especially when one of the partners is okay saying so many hurtful things to and about the other partner. Overall, I didn’t like this book and I don’t think I’ll be returning to this author. Best of luck.

Thank you so much to Jodie Slaughter and St. Martin’s Griffin for this E-ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own! 🥰

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oh I am sooooo here for this!!!! From the cover alone I was so excited to read!
I love Rivals to Lovers and this one was amazing. Definitely recommend!

Find more on my IG @kayreads_romance

⚠️ !! Please be sure to check any TWs before diving in !! ⚠️

What to expect:
* Sapphic romance
* Small town
* Rivals to lovers
* Interracial relationship
* Found family
* Forced proximity
* Workplace Romance

Ready to Score is a slow burn lesbian romance novel focused on Jade, an assistant football coach with a dream, and Francesca, another teacher at the school who is allegedly looking to take her title. Overall I rate this book a 2.75 out of 5 stars. There are elements that give this story life like the poker nights or Jade and Francesca's connection with the kids on the football team. But there are also areas where this story falls flat. The enemies to lover bit feels abrupt and sometimes the characters feel one dimensional because we don't get to see much of who they are and why they are the way they are. We aren't given much background on the main characters themselves or their support teams. This book could have benefited from focusing on some of the details we end up glossing over and removing some of the details that aren't so important to the storybuilding. That being said, there are a moments where you think "Wow, that's interesting" and the spice is decent.

I was so excited for a sapphic romance from Jodie Slaughter but the lack of maturity on the part of the two FMCs was something I was just never able to move past.

This book had a slow start. Maybe from working in schools it just didn't grab my attention the way I wanted. Overall it was a cute, lesbian, enemies to lovers type romance. The spice was good but just nothing to keep me in the story.

Jade has dedicate years of time and effort coaching her high school football team and she may finally get her chance at the head coach role after this year and is able to start smoozing at the monthly poker game. When she gets their she spots her nemesis, Francesca, who's apparently also interested in being a coach for the team.

Both Jade and Francesca are grappling with pasts that have made them work hard and be wary of romantic connections. But when they soon realize they can't pretend their isn't an attraction between them, how can they balance each other and the team their both fighting to lead?

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for providing me access to an ebook copy of this upcoming book!

I have really enjoyed this series and this was a great addition to the small town friend group's love stories.

First off I think that the football aspect was done very well, this author knows her stuff and showcased it well. I think the romance and the sports of it melded well together and I enjoyed that we got to see and learn more about each main character through their love of the sport.

I think that there was alot of growth from Jade's end but I felt like I wanted more from Franny's side of everything. I do think that their tension was palpable and that it was explored well however, it felt more sexual than romantic. When they did get together, though ,I thought they were so sweet as a couple! Jade's grumpy exterior was so soft and smooshy lol. I am a sucker for the angel nickname lol.

The friend group is so fun and the cameos we had of Miri & Leo and Aja & Walker were so fun!

This was a fun and sweet sapphic romance about two women in a South Carolina town, who have a bit of a rivals to lovers relationship. Overall I enjoyed this aspect, even though Jade was a bit hard to relate to. I connected more with Francesca.

What wasn’t really for me, and this is not a critique on the book but a personal preference, was the football aspect. I don’t care much for football, and there was a lot of football. I know I should pay more attention to the books I request and accept, but I’m pretty sure I thought this was about playing soccer and not coaching football. And that’s on me for not reading the synopsis.

So, this is a cute romance book where two women of color are vying for a football coaching position, a field dominated by men. If you like football, this is a good one to read!

3.5 stars

I really enjoyed “Ready to Score” by Jodie Slaughter. This was like a queer “Friday Night Lights” and I was here for it! I haven't read Slaughter's previous books in this world she created, but I the side characters were the main characters in the first two books. This didn't interfere with my enjoyment of this one, but I am sure if you read them before this book, it'd be more fun. The enemies to lovers trope was so well executed and I really loved every second of it. At first it just seems like Jade and Franny really just don't get along for a variety of reasons but as the story and their relationship progresses, it all makes sense. The chemistry between Jade and Francesca is undeniable, with a perfect mix of slow-burn tension and spicy, high-stakes moments. It is told in a dual POV which is my favorite way to read romance stories. I appreciated how they showed both MCs bonding with student athletes and focused on their love of coaching. This book doesn’t just include representation, it embraces it. There are LGBTQIA+ characters, BIPOC characters, and women in sports. Thanks to Jodie Slaughter, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for my thoughts. I look forward to reading Jodie’s next book.

This was a not for me book. It was well written. There's nothing wrong with the pacing. No errors. But I found one of the FMCs, Jade, to be a rather unlikable character. Therefore, I had a hard time with this. You might read all the things I didn't like and think "that's for me!" In fact, I hope you do!

At its heart, it's a small town sapphic romance with two BIPOC FMCs. Those are amazing things. I appreciated that Jodie didn't shy away from what it feels like to be a queer person of color in small town southern USA. It's not easy. Not fun. Add in the passion these two women have for coaching football, and it's a ripe field for overcoming systemic obstacles. I wanted them to succeed.

Jade is the more experienced coach. She's being working at the high school, and on the team, for years. She's queer. She's black. She's worked her butt off to earn the respect of her peers and the kids. She's gunning for the head coaching position at the school. She's got a one track mind and won't let anything get in her way. Not even a crush.

Franny is the newcomer. She moved to town for a now ex and is finding her feet. She's ready to get back into coaching, and starts to make overtures to the coach for a spot on the staff. Too bad Jade starts giving her attitude.

Jade treats Franny like a threat from the moment this story starts. While she can acknowledge that Franny is hot, she feels threatened by her feelings, by how likable Franny is, and by her own insecurities. Franny shows up around the football team and she turns into a territorial bitch. She's petty. She's rude. She makes stupid decisions. Honestly, I know some people love this kind of messy MC, but I am not one of them.

I got into this at the 70% mark. Once Jade gets over herself. But I struggled until then. There's plenty of things to like about this book. There's great found family. There's small town charm. There's personal growth. Someone will love this book. That someone just wasn't me.

Though...once the spice starts spicing...it gives good spice.

A fun read about two women competing for the job of head football coach at a small town high school. Oh and they fall for each other. Jade thought the job would be hers but she didn't count on Francesca, the new art teacher who, as it turns out has coaching experience as well. This weaves the sport story and the competition nicely through the developing relationship. It's got good banter and atmospherics but most of all, relatable engaging characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

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.