3.5 stars, rounded up.

This book was quick, cute, fun, and just what I needed to get out of a reading slump. I enjoyed both characters and how different they were. I felt like the romance wasn’t as fleshed out as I would have liked it to be, but other than that this checked all my boxes. I’m hoping the author was hinting at a couple more books in this series with the side characters, so I’ll be eagerly awaiting that!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book for what it was. It's a relatively light hearted, enemies to lovers, MM romance that reminded me of 90s and 00s movies. It didn't go into much detail about the characters and the story could be fleshed out more but it was still an enjoyable story.

I enjoyed this enemies to lovers college sports romance quite a bit. I liked so much of this book that I will recommend it but with a caveat that one of the characters is so short sighted that it defies reasoning. That said, the inner life of the other protagonist is nicely shown and has real depth which made me want to finish the book. Enjoy!

This was a tough one for me. I went into this with the comparison to Red, White and Royal Blue and the writing of Alexis Hall in my head but that's not really what happened.

While I loved MC Tore, I really struggled with Farron. He was judgmental and he was quite unpleasant to Tore once they were together. Their relationship shifted gears from "might be interested" to "oh my god I love you!" in a matter of a few pages and I actually stopped to see if my kindle has skipped forward a few pages. This kind of speed for a relationship might work for some folks - could be a me problem.

Tore was lovely - although I found his speech patterns to be odd. I suppose it is explained away as him learning English at an early age...and let me be clear, I don't know much about Norway.

If you like this type of book - it will probably work for you. I like much more character development and authenticity.

A MM romance between a soccer captain and the new transfer student. The spice scenes are perfectly placed and well written. The plot seems believeable until the very end, but if I wanted realism, I'd read non-fiction. Overall, a cute book to read if you just want a easy romance.

What a sweet romance novel.

I really loved Tore and Farron. They are sweet and kind (even though Farron is so grumpy!)

Tore's English is (mainly) British (because he is friends with the British prince and spent his childhood with other European princes) and I liked that we felt the difference in language level with Farron and the other American students and how it evolves over the course of the novel.

I can't say that it really bothered me (because the story is really cute and the characters are very endearing) but the fact that these two big guys (a prince and a soccer player) fall for each other and that neither one seems to be disturbed by that (apparently, they've always be strait before)... it lacks realism.
At least one of them should have had to experience a moment of uncertainty to make the story plausible.

I don't know which one :
- Tore has almost no chance/no risk of accessing the throne but he is of royal blood - his personal life will be common knowledge, in the press...
- Farron comes from a working class background, where homosexuality is potentially not very well accepted, and what's more, he wants to become a soccer player (soccer is not known to be very open either about homosexuality).
And besides: how is it that the rest of the team takes it so naturally and without batting an eyelid?

I give it 4 stars because I really loved the characters and the story... but it's too perfect to be true.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for providing an eARC in echange for an honest review.

So tropey. So predictable. But sometimes that's just what you're looking for in a cozy low-angst romance. I love the grumpy/sunshine characters- it's as if Roy Kent saw Danny Rojas as the new, flashy foreigner who is impossible to dislike except for the boiling jealousy for his youth and talent... And then they fall in love. Oh, and then Danny ends up being a Prince. I would binge watch that show, tbh. Anyway, nothing new here for MM romance readers, and there is a gaping plot hole that Farron nor his Coach never Googled Tore to see how famous he was for football in Norway. But my star ratings are always for the vibes. Did I want to see Farron lose his grumpy exterior and get love bombed? Of course. Was I smiling more often than I was rolling my eyes at the cringy bits? Well, maybe 50/50 on that one. 3.5 stars rounded up. CW: open door

Not sure how to feel about this one! Went in expecting RWRB vibes, but didn't get the same amount of charm from the characters. Found some character attitudes to be frustrating.

This one was really cute, as far as for a gay romance comes it's pretty good. the story line makes sense and it does work it self around some interesting topics. the endings cute but it does need some work.

So, The Prince and the Player is this MM romance by Nora Phoenix about Tore, a prince who’s just trying to live a normal life and not be known as royalty, and Farron, his soccer teammate. They start off as enemies, but of course, we all know how that trope ends — enemies to lovers, right?
I have to say, I really enjoyed the whole enemies-to-lovers vibe. The tension between them was fun to watch! But, honestly, the book felt a little too long for me. I think it could’ve been a bit tighter. And, while I liked their chemistry, I felt like the relationship leaned more toward the physical side rather than the emotional side. It was like, "Hey, we’re hot for each other!" and I was just hoping for more emotional moments to balance things out.
Also, Nora Phoenix’s writing style? It didn’t really click with me. It’s definitely a style that works for some, but it wasn’t quite my thing.
All in all, it wasn’t my absolute favorite book, but I did enjoy the premise and the enemies-to-lovers storyline. If you’re into a lot of heat and a bit less emotional depth, this might be your thing. For me, though, I was hoping for just a little more heart in their relationship.

This story starts with Prince Tore, who is 4th in line to the Norwegian thrown. He and his royalty buddies get the bright idea to all "live as commoners" for a year. Tore accomplishes this by enrolling in an American college to play soccer (he's REALLY good btw, but his dad wouldn't let him play professionally).

It's at this college he meets Farron, the soccer team captain with the world's biggest chip on his shoulder. Farron has lived through some hard times with his single mother and siblings and has an instant dislike of the rich Tore. He's also irritated at how Tore appears to be effortlessly very talented at the sport.

This story had a great concept that fell apart a bit as the story progressed. The enemies to lovers was pretty one-sided, with Farron not giving Tore much of a chance. Their relationship started off as just sex, no strings attached. That is until they both caught feelings. It was easy to see how Farron could fall for Tore, but Farron remained pretty unlikeable throughout the whole story. He did get better around the end and was much kinder to Tore and loving.

I did enjoy that they were both newly discovering their bisexuality. I, however, did not like that a teammate decided to out them to their whole team.

Overall the story was sweet and cute and had a good premise. I would recommend the author not have Farron "growl" or "grunt" so much, it was used so frequently it took me a bit out of the story. I did enjoy the ending and the story was a quick read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tore, a prince from Norway, has convinced the king to allow him to attend college in the USA. Tore has always been a standout soccer player (Tore calls it football), but due to his position within the royalty, he is unable to make a career out of it as his heart desires. Maybe college in the USA will provide him with a chance to continue with the sport he loves.

Farron is the captain of the soccer team at the college Tore ends up at. Farron has a chip on his shoulder about wealthy people due to past experiences. Tore’s addition to the team is not something he’s happy about.

Tore wants to be friends, Farron most certainly does not. What follows is the kind of story you’d expect with these tropes.

There are quite a few spicy scenes within this book, but they aren’t overly graphic. They are well written and satisfying.

I enjoyed this one quite a bit, and I don’t think it will let down readers that enjoy the prince/commoner theme within MM books.

If I could change one thing about this one, it’s that the ending seemed a bit rushed. Everything wrapped itself up a bit too perfectly.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this copy of the book.

This was a fun and breezy read. Tore is an absolute sweetheart. He's a very likable character and, dare I say it, the heart of the book. Initially, it was difficult to read the chapters in Farron's POV, since he seemed almost needlessly unkind. His harshness was particularly pronounced when contrasted against Tore's brightness. However, once Farron matured, I started to like him more as a character, and they became a cute couple you could root for. It was a nice change of pace to read a book where accepting one's queerness wasn't the primary source of tension or conflict (though those stories are just as necessary). Instead, the story focused more on developing the love story between the characters and had them take their bisexuality in stride. While I found the dialogue slightly awkward or stilted in parts, I enjoyed the book overall. I would give this 3.5 stars.

This was a nice, short, sweet and spicy book. I enjoyed that the soccer element was actually present in the book; I've read some sports books where the sport is more of an after thought, but this book made it clear that soccer was important to the plot and then showcased that with its multiple scenes of practice and soccer games, so I really appreciated that. I think my only hangups about the book are the fact that their bicuriosity was very.. lackluster, and their coming out to their team scene came too easily. It's not that I think women shouldn't be allowed to write MM books, but oftentimes a lot of things don't get written as well because a woman will never be able to understand what it's like for two men to explore liking men together, and what it's like for them to come out. As a bisexual man myself, I think it's important to celebrate ownvoices as much as possible, and when writing something as a non ownvoices author, to do the best research possible for a book. Its important to have sensitivity readers for things you don't have experience with and to make sure you're painting as accurate picture as possible with minority groups.

This was an enemies-to-lovers trope and grumpy/sunshine exploration that was quite well done. Prince Tore of Norway comes to a small college in Ohio, US, to anonymously study and play football/soccer for a year, and immediately runs headlong into a rivalry with Farron, a senior and the team captain. Farron hates all rich people, and he hates Tore on sight. Tore doesn't understand the animosity and does his best to remain unaffected. Things develop slowly, and the author does a nice job exploring Farron's homelife and his reasons for why he is so aggravated with Tore. I also liked how the author portrayed Tore, especially his formal/posh way of phrasing things. There was snark and sarcasm, and I definitely enjoyed that.

Their dynamic is explosive, before and after they both realize they're attracted to each other, and I quite enjoyed the tension between them. Of course, Farron has no idea that Tore is a prince, and this is obviously the part that eventually causes... well, you read this for yourself.

Overall, this story delivered on what it promised, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The only thing I didn't like so much was their teammate outing them after catching them in a compromising position to the football/soccer team - that wasn't cool, even if Tore and Farron didn't make a fuss.

This was my first novel-length book I've read from this author, but it certainly won't be the last.

This was actually my first book by Nora Phoenix, though I’ve seen her works recommended time and time again. It was a quick and enjoyable read for me with two fantastic main characters. I thought this was a pretty realistic progression from animosity to love (especially compared to some wild books I’ve read) and I really got caught up in Farron and Tore’s story. There wasn’t much spice, which kind of surprised me, but sometimes it’s just not needed. It’s pretty obvious that Tore’s buddies will get their own books and I’m on board!

Really 2.5 stars rounded up.

I really wanted to like this book. It was a cute premise, a la The Prince and Me, but the execution just didn't work for me. Primarily due to the writing, which felt awkward and clunky to me, with no real rhythm or cadence. Every turn of phrase and expression felt forced to me. It was also really repetitive and every reaction felt super off and unrealistic to me, with some serious pacing issues. I don't want to harp on all the things that just didn't work for me, so I'll refrain from adding more, but almost all of them were style or character choices in the writing.

A couple things I will add is the forced coming out scene was super gross (and if that's a trigger for you, just be warned), at once point the main character is called Fallon (a typo that I hope gets corrected but also made me giggle), there aren't healthy boundaries between the two mains, and the "epiphany" scene really got under my skin (but I don't want to have to spoiler this so that's all I'll say...but it really bugged me).

But look, for what it was, it was a relatively easy read. And I'll probably read the other standalones attached to this, since that's clearly what's happening here and I'm a sucker for a m/m royalty romance. It was readable, but if you're looking for a really good book, maybe skip this one.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

This was cute and fun. A nice palette cleanser between fantasy novels. It reminded me so much of The Prince and Me (movie) and Red, White and Royal Blue which I loooved!

I liked the relationship development between the characters, I just wish their conversations and spicy scenes weren't so repetitive. I enjoyed that they were both figuring out their sexualities and exploring their connection together. I'm such a sucker for the hidden royal trope where nobody knows the guys a Prince until the ending, it hits so good every time. As much as this is focused on the romance, I loved the football aspect and the little tour of Norway.

Heat Factor: Plenty is mentioned off page, but the on-page moments are the emotionally charged ones
Character Chemistry: One-sided, irrational antipathy vs. “why is that the only guy who refuses to like me?”
Plot: The Prince and Me x Everything for You
Overall: It’s cute, but it’s not deep, so I’d not recommend trying to read it that way

This is one of those stories that relies on the reader’s suspension of disbelief. Like, imagine the world and all its operators are mostly good. That’s what I mean by “it’s not deep.” There’s plenty to examine here—hello, it’s a prince and a commoner, but not just any commoner, a commoner whose family is struggling so much that he, a child of the household, is relied on to provide for basic household necessities—and this is simply not the book for examining all the sociopolitical and economics stuff that goes into how these guys exist. So, if you are not here for a good time, I am here to say this might not be the book for you.

Tore (the e is pronounced like a little ‘eh’) is fourth in line for the Norwegian throne. The crown prince(‘s wife) is still popping out heirs, though, so he’s not going to inherit, but he’s still constrained by family expectations. His dad already put the kibosh on a professional soccer career, so his last possible hurrah is to convince his family to sign on for him spending one year as a normal guy in an American college. After all, Americans might know the British royal family, but nobody knows the Norwegian one. He’ll be able to fly under the radar.

When Tore arrives in the locker room (in a Balenciaga shirt? What is he thinking?), Farron, the captain, has an immediate, irrational antipathy for the interloper in their midst. To make it worse, Farron has a vision of going pro (from a random college? Like, buddy, for real?), but Tore is better than him. Farron really just has a huge chip on his shoulder, in no small part due to his family’s trauma, and he’s just gotta get that figured out.

The story’s structure is much as you might expect. Tore tries to make overtures, Farron hates his guts. They’re obsessed with each other and everybody else can tell, but they can’t. They’re like, this whole hate thing we have gone on makes me feel kinda…weird. Then, at juuuuust about 40% there’s an explosive moment. The trouble these guys have is… Well, it’s actually numerous troubles, but we’ll set aside the temporary nature of Tore’s plans and college in general and boil it down to 1) this is a double bi-awakening, and these guys handle that differently, and 2) Farron is desperately holding onto his emotional space.

Here’s another nugget for the prospective reader: Farron is a pill. This is a complicated situation in that they’re both going through some self-discovery, and Farron is just not handling it. So, if you really need some well-behaved characters, I’m sorry. Farron is not. Also, just in general, college kids are not particularly known for their great behavior either.

I really think my The Prince and Me x Everything for You plot note above is remarkably accurate. No further notes. If you’re in for a light, happy romance, give it a try. It’s fun! But if any of the above seems like a “nope” for you, we’ll keep looking for a better fit.

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.

It took me a little while to get into this one. It's a good read and once I warmed to the characters I really enjoyed it.
I do enjoy enemies to lovers, my only slight thing with this one is that there was far more emphasis put onto the enemies side of things, rather than the lovers. Once they'd decided they'd liked each other, things just seemed to fall into place. In an ideal world, I think I would have liked a bit more about them as a couple as they started to work things out.
Overall, a fun and enjoyable read.