I'm rounding up to four stars on this. It was... fine, I guess. Good premise, okay execution.

I can always tell when I'm not wild about a book when I start highlighting passages to kvetch about in my review.

- The author lost me early on with a big block of "As you know, Bob" dialogue where one of the MCs is talking to his brother about their father's family. The reader could have gotten the exact same information through the MC's thoughts while having a shorter conversation with his brother, and it would have been more realistic.

- I recognize that the Norwegian prince is supposed to talk in an overly formal and stilted manner, but it felt overdone to me. Given all his language education and practice, I'd expect him to sound much more natural, with only occasional missteps.

- Having the homecoming game be (1) the first game of the year and (2) against an arch-rival doesn't fit with my understanding of homecoming games.

- One of the MCs comes from a working-class/poor family and continues to work to send money home to his family... yet he has a bottle of hundred-dollar cologne. The idea that any non-wealthy college student would wear hundred-dollar cologne makes me raise an eyebrow, but it especially doesn't fit this one. The issue could have been addressed by having him comment that it had been a gift (though I'm not sure from who) or a raffle prize or even something he'd been allowed to take from his job at Walmart because it had been opened (though I suspect Walmart isn't that generous with its workers)... but it was just there as if it weren't remarkable at all.

- In one scene, it's mentioned that the roommate of one of the MCs has to go out of town because of a death in the family. This is described as "super sad," but in the next breath, the MC is on to the "upside," which is that now he'll be alone in the room for the weekend, so he can have sex with his partner. Yes, teenagers can be callous, but ouch.

- Someone greets a friend with "I thought I heard your soft baritone." Unless the speaker and the person they're talking to are singers (they're not), this makes no sense to me.

- Defending billionaires, even ones who give portions of their wealth to charity... is not a good look.

- This is petty and probably not the author's fault, but the images of the characters on the cover are backward! The Norwegian prince is blond, and the American has dark hair.

So, yeah, the story didn't grip me enough for me not to want to poke holes in it. But it was a cute idea, and some of the interactions were fun. Three and a half stars from me.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The story follows a prince wanting to escape his royal duties and a charming player who shows him a new side of love and life. Phoenix’s writing is full of wit, great chemistry, and strong character development. The romance is steamy and heartwarming, with themes of freedom and identity at its core. Perfect for fans of opposites-attract stories, this book is a fun, emotional ride that you won’t want to put down.

A good, fun read. I flew through this book and felt the story flowed nicely. Never boring as we explored these two characters. They felt quite believable even in this unusual situation. It was a fun double bi-awakening and "hate" to love. Soccer/football played a bigger role then expected but it was well ingrained and did not feel boring or too much. I do maybe wish the book was a little longer to just have more time to explore their feelings and growing relationship.
4.25 stars
Recommend for fans of Red, White and royal blue or the show Young Royals. Just not as angsty as those two.

4.5 ✩
➺ 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺: feb 5 - feb 6

꒰ 💌 ꒱ྀི ❛ He loved me. Farron loved me. And gods, I was in love with him. ❜

to be fair when i went to sleep last night 20% through this book, now literally 10 hours later i finished it. This was amazing, loved Farron & Tore so much.

did not support Tore being a man city fan but yk we’ll pretend it never happend ;)

Thank you for allowing me to get the Arc from Netgalley, appreciate it so much.

2.5 stars (rounded up)

This was a cute read! I quite enjoyed the writing style, and the characters were well developed too.

I really liked Tore’s pompous/posh way of talking. That was funny. And as for Farron, I thought his home life was well developed, and I understood where his grievances came from. He learns that not all rich people are the same, and understands that Tore is different. So that was admirable and a good character arc.

Unfortunately there were a few things I did not enjoy.

I didn’t think their relationship was fully developed. For me it was more about lust. I don’t know, I just didn’t see the emotional connection because it was very fast paced. It would’ve been nice to see more cute/endearing moments between the two, to really show how their love was developing.

My biggest concern was the fact that their teammate forced both Tore and Farron to come out. Their teammate walked in on them making out, then immediately called the entire soccer team into the room so T&F could share the news because he “couldn’t keep a secret”. Well buddy that was not your choice to make! If anyone did that in real life, they would be shamed for it and honestly I would stop being their friend. That was totally uncool and not right, at all.

It also would’ve been nice to see more development of the boys’ journey with discovering they’re bi. It was sort of like “ok I liked kissing him, I’m bi,” But there’s usually more inner turmoil, or it usually takes a while to come to terms with your sexuality changing. It’s not an instantaneous acceptance of it, especially when they’ve gone their whole lives thinking they were straight.

Overall, this is a cute, surface level book. It was easy to read, and yeah it was cute. But I didn’t love it.

This is 3.5 stars for me. I loved the relationship between the MMC’s, the dialogue parts were stilted at times but overall a fun read.

This was a great read for fans of red, white, and royal blue. I loved seeing Farron and Tores journeys in discovery their queerness. I do wish we had seen just a bit more conversations to show the depth of their relationship. Overall this was a fun romance and I enjoyed the dual POVs.

The Prince and The Player was a cute romance novel where the prince of Norway just wants to be a regular person for a year and play soccer. Along the way he develops a rivalry with the team captain which leads to a little bit of an obsession with the team captain.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. If you like a fun quick romance it hits the mark. I enjoyed watching Tore and Farron work through their differences and would have loved to see a little more of the in between moments between them. I think if you are looking for a quick, fun, easy read this book is worth picking up! It seems like it may be the first book in a series of stand alones, I would gladly pick up the next book in the series.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

Characters: 3⭐
Plot: 2.5⭐
Writing Style: 3⭐
Enjoyment: 3.5⭐
Overall rating: 3⭐

What to expect? Prince Tore of Norway goes to an American school to experience what it's like to be incognito. While on the soccer team, he forms an unlikely bond with a player that's not too happy about him joining the team, Farron.

Things I loved?
🔸 This was cute and the ending wrapped things up nicely.
🔸 This was also one of those books that's clearly teased things out to make it seem like there will be a bunch of 'standalones' in the series type of thing. So, fingers crossed.
🔸 I liked how soccer didn't feel like a backdrop, but an integral part of the story.
🔸 The hometown visit was super cute too.

What could be improved?
🔸 The love story didn't feel believable to me. I wish we'd gotten to see more intimacy between the characters, because when they were confessing their love for each other I was like "huh". I wanted more cute scenes between characters, I wanted things to be more gradual. All we really get are a few moments of passion when emotions are running high.
🔸 The characters also felt a tiny bit one dimensional.

Books recs if you liked this one?
🔸 Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - this is the absolute classic gay royal romance. It's a must read.

Would I recommend this book? I'm 50/50. If you're a person that reads a lot of books in a year and you're looking for a good time, read it. But if you only read a handful of books a year, don't. For me, it was worth the read.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had the chance to read an ARC of The Prince and the Player through NetGalley (thank you!), and wow—I devoured this book in a day! It was completely addictive, and I couldn’t put it down.

Tore and Farron had such an amazing dynamic. The enemies-to-lovers tension? Perfection. I loved how their relationship evolved, and their bi-awakening journey felt real and well-developed. Tore’s sunshine personality clashing with Farron’s grumpiness made for some great moments, and their chemistry was off the charts.

The story itself was so well done—fun, emotional, and full of heart. If you love royal romances, sports romance, or just a really engaging romance with great characters, definitely check this one out.

I loved this book and I’ve read a lot by this author. This was a very fun and well crafted rom com with a lot of heart. I will look for the rest of the series.