4.5 ⭐️
🌶️

Holy crap, the amount of things I could say about this book 🥺
First and foremost, this isn't your average cheerleader x football player sports romance. We start off with our fmc Ella transferring from Oxford university to Whitland university outside of Nashville .. aka a far ways from home, to do a year abroad and to cheer for Whitland. Now, in the span of 24 hours, my girl here was dumped by her boyfriend of 6 years and moved to a different country AND STILL HAD THE ENERGY TO GO OUT????? I freaking wish man 🤣

Now here comes my beautiful, sensitive lil bean, Hudson mf Fox. Who doesn't love a good ONS occurring between our MMCs in the first few chapters am I right? 🙂‍↕️
On a serious note, I did not expect to relate so heavily to Hudson they way I did. Me and Hudson have similar traumas and compulsions so it truly felt bittersweet having that representation but also the fact he tries so hard for them to stop controlling him so much and learn that it's okay to not always be in control of everything.

One thing I did enjoy about this couple was the lack of miscommunication (for the most part) that happened but also the way we didn't have to deal with a third act break up, which is impressive seeing as the circumstances we saw at times.

Full review can be found on: www.whatisthatbookabout.com

It took me a few weeks to finish Game On because I wanted to savor it. I loved Ella and Hudson so much that I did not want to finish this one. They clicked for me, which solidified my enjoyment of this book. They completed each other very well, and I loved watching their relationship grow.

Game On is certainly a Ki Stephens book. It’s safe and low stakes, and unfortunately, features some story beats from her previous books. Although I did enjoy this one, I’m patiently waiting for her to take a risk.

This book is scheduled for publication on September 9, 2025. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for providing me with a eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book. To start, I loved the main characters, both Hudson and Ella, who had interesting backstories that added depth to their characters. Their relationship was to die for, their chemistry was so real, I could feel it every step of the way throughout the book, and the banter between the two characters was amazing and added to their chemistry. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel with it being a one-night stand, to friends with benefits, to lovers, but it worked out really well in the end.
I loved how this book gave details into the cheerleading aspect. I find that a lot of the books I've read with the cheerleader x football player trope often focus more on the football part. But this book was heavy on the cheerleading, showing the strength and energy it takes to be a cheerleader as well as all the technical work.
Overall, such a cute and fun sports college romance that had me swooning over Hudson and Ella throughout.
Bonus points for Hudson being from Texas and calling Ella darlin'

Cheers to my first NetGalley arc & review! I’ve been really leaning into the sports romance scene this year, and previous years, so wanted to give this a book a chance.

Overall, it was an easy read with a cute story. I think the pacing was just a little off for me, but also recognize it is hard to span a story for a college year in 300 hundred(ish) pages. There will always be time jumps, but they did feel more rushed towards the end, felt like we spent more time in semester one and then semester two was speeding along.

Love me a character who also has a passion for Greek mythology! The two main characters had an interesting dynamic, but I do wish there was more of that push and pull between them. There was definitely moments of it, but then at times the dialogue didn’t feel as connecting to me.

Most relatable line for me was about doomscrolling lol, like every day is doomy (new word I made up) in 2025. Also, am I a red flag for agreeing with the man (omg can’t believe I wrote that) about taking your time to process your future? Spoiler warning, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing to figure out / process your own feelings on your grad school future, but I do see the FMC’s point, and deff could of said something at some point.

Overall a cute read that has me interested in Levi and Claire’s history 👀

Game On is a bright, feel-good sports romance that delivers on charm, humor, and tension. It's perfect if you're in the mood for a summer read that’s both steamy and lighthearted—no heavy worldbuilding, just chemistry, banter, and sweet character arcs.

But if you're looking for deeper emotional stakes, slow-burn development, or a twist-heavy plot, this one may feel a touch familiar.

I don’t know. It was just fine. Painfully average, nothing to write home about.

Review also found on goodreads

3.75/5

I absolutely adore sports romance. I also really love cheerleading. However, I have never read a sports romance with cheer as the primary sport of focus. In this book, the MMC is a football player and the FMC is a cheerleader from abroad. I was pleasantly surprised that competitive cheerleading was actually the main focus. I really enjoyed that aspect so much.

I really liked both main characters, but I absolutely adored Hudson. Finding out about his past and the reasons for his rituals/quirks was so great. I loved seeing him grow and start to open up. He was also so good to Ella.

Ella was very hardworking and reluctant to open up. I really felt for her with everything that happened at the beginning of the book. I can definitely appreciate how and why she would be reluctant.

I also really liked all the side characters and hope we get books about them too. I have so many questions! Especially about Levi and Claire. I would definitely continue the series if there are more books in the future.

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

This book was different for me in the sense of I didn’t feel the chemistry between the MC’s from the very beginning but by the end I could see it. Ella is bold and that sucked me right in, how she spoke her mind and had no filter. How she used her breakup with her first love as a learning experience. Hudson was the southern gentleman and All-American boy. He was sarcastic and really loves how unfiltered Ella is but liked to have his own control.

I just didn’t necessarily get how they were drawn together due to the way that Ella is portrayed and her outbursts, didn’t like that. I get that people have a way with dealing with things but I don’t know, I just didn’t connect with her character. I also didn’t get Hudson’s draw to her. I did love that we got a good boy from Ella to Hudson.

A cute friends with benefits but we secretly really like each other read. I really liked the competitive cheerleading concept that this revolves around and I loved how ella was taking this time studying abroad as a way to just embrace going after what she wants and being forthcoming. Love when an fmc decides to just put herself out there.

I loved how hudson would go out of his way to check in on Ella when she was having a bad day. He always made sure to not dismiss her feelings about whatever was bothering her and instead to just be there for her in whatever way she needed in that moment. And seeing him be a cat dad was like cat nip for me lol. I love seeing a soft side to a masculine man caring for his pet and his cat sourdough was the cutest!
This releases sept 9th 2025!

This e-ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley!

This was unfortunately not for me. The plot wasn’t there, the chemistry didn’t feel natural & the FMC was insufferable, immature & whiny and I couldn’t fathom that she was a college student. Our MC certainly deserved so much better than her.

this was so much fun!!

i have read (and enjoyed) every single book ki has written and this being her first trad pub book makes me soooo proud

this book had such fun tropes such as a no feelings pact and i had a BLAST !! found family > i adored every character also SOURDOUGH!!!

i love sports romances football player x cheerleader??? southern boy x english girl?? sign me up!!

the communication was excellent thank you ki

Rating: 3.5/5
Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for the E-ARC.

Ki is one of my go-to authors—I always enjoy reading her books. Her writing style is simple yet beautiful. This was my first time diving into a cheerleader-football romance, and I liked it. The chemistry between Ella and Hudson is intense and sparks right from the beginning. As the story unfolds, you can really see how both characters grow and how deeply they support one another. I especially loved how Hudson cared for Ella and how she understood his nighttime routine. There were so many sweet and heartfelt moments throughout.

Special shoutout to Levi, Gabi, and Sourdough (yes, I might need a cat after this—he’s the cutest!). The banter between Hudson and Levi was top-notch—I genuinely laughed out loud several times.

If you're in the mood for a story about a girl who moves from England to Nashville for cheerleading, has a one-night stand, meets a charming football player who’s also a proud cat dad, and is surrounded by a fun, supportive friend group, then this book is for you!

I don't typically pick up sports romances, but I read this in basically one sitting. It was a quick read and the romance between the two main characters moved just as fast. I didn't love the instant love aspect because it doesn't seem authentic to me.

4.75⭐

okay this was a good college romance🤭 I'm not crazy about them but since i read the blurb for this one i just needed to have it!!!! Quarterback/Cheerleader, friends with benefits? DELICIOUS!!! i'm always skeptical about them being too young and annoying but in this one they were good😂🙌🏻 some push and pull at the beginning but loved it🤭 ugh!! Hudson and Ella were the cutest and i want more of them!!! 💖

I am super excited for more people to read this book especially during the fall when it releases!

I loved the OCD representation and how the MMC and FMC were both black cat personalities and super competitive and intelligent. I loved how true this is to a college romance and how much these two characters grew throughout the book!

Thank you to Ki Stephens and NetGalley for this ARC!:

This book was a quick easy read and satisfied my craving for full on sports romance. But with that being said, I’m not sure Ki’s writing style completely clicks with me. The characters lacked chemistry and I never got heavy romance/yearning vibes. It made it hard to connect with them or care about their relationship in a meaningful way.

The third-act break-up/conflict also didn’t help the story either. Miscommunication plots aren’t my favorite, especially when I’m already struggling to find chemistry and passion between the two main characters.

Overall, I think readers who are looking for a light-hearted, quick sports romance might enjoy this one but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

3.75 ⭐️ I have read a few of Ki Stephens other books and I have to say that they consistently hit as great cutesy romance books with a deeper layer of emotional nature to them. I like how she tends to make it the male character that has deeper issues as it is not typically the prevalent issue talked about when it comes to MMC. This lost some points with me because I don’t like the fwb trope because we know where it will eventually go and I prefer the slow burn to having a bunch of random smut.

Ugh. I really didn’t enjoy this. There was no depth and honestly, a lot of it didn’t even make sense. Like the fmc’s original avoidance and “dislike” for the mmc after their one night stand made absolutely no sense to me. Honestly, a lot of the fmc’s thought process made no sense to me and that ruined a lot of the plot. And then the third act break up (not really) also made no sense because there was just a lot of jumping to conclusions. Also both of these characters had issues that could have been very important to the plot if they were properly fleshed out but they were touched on in a very surface level way and so it’s like, do I even care?!? Yeah this just wasn’t for me. Maybe I’m done with college romance as well.

⭐ Rating: 2.5/5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader copy. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Game On follows Ella, a cheerleader from England during her study abroad year in Nashville, and Hudson, the star quarterback on campus. Each are dedicated to their sport and aren't looking for a relationship, but after a one night stand they realize avoiding each other is nearly impossible, and that one night wasn't enough.

This was a fun, cute and easy romance read. I thought the chemistry between Ella and Hudson was flirty and fresh, but that their attraction/relationship was a bit too insta-love for my taste. I also found the pacing in the book to be too fast for me. I liked Ella and Hudson, so I wanted more of them! While reading, I found that a chapter would end and I thought the next would pick up in that scene, or a few days later, only to find that often the next chapter would be starting months later. The time skips made the relationship feel underdeveloped to me, and I wish we could have seen that time with the characters instead of the plot happening off-page. I also wish we could have explored Ella and Hudson's past more, instead of getting rushed glimpses here and there. But despite this, I did enjoy the book, mainly due to the chemistry between Ella and Hudson, and the college sports setting. This would be a good read for fans of sports romance, and those looking for a quick and easy read.

Thank you Ki for this ARC. I really enjoy a good sports romance and this hit the spot. Sometimes you just need that insta lust and like. The romance part moves quick and everything just happens, but I’m honestly just a get to the point kinda gal and I feel like this did just that, you have the MMC who is on a one road path to his goals and the man you have the fmc who is quirky. I really enjoyed this one and thank you again Ki, Netgally and St martins press for this ARC.