Cillian and Rory were so much fun to read about.

Cillian was very much the dark and broody on the outside, but a squishy teddy bear on the inside. I loved how much Cillian put his sister first and always made sure that she was happy and healthy. He is very misunderstood, and it was fun watching Rory learn that.

Rory was determined to get the guys on the team to accept Cillian, and she ended up falling for him in the process. Rory was a little self conscious and wanted to been seen as more than one of the guys. Cillian and Rory started helping one another with their “problems” and became obsessed with one another while doing so.

I loved how effortless it was for Cillian and Rory to be together, and it was nice to see a couple that had flaws that they had to work through. They truly brought out the best in each other, and were always supportive of the other. I loved how easy this book was to read, but it was also emotional and touch on very important topics and situations.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves sports romance and hot rugby men.

Thank you to NetGally for the ARC!

Red Card by Maren Moore blends humor, heart, and sizzling chemistry. Moore's writing shines with witty banter, well-developed characters, and a plot that keeps readers engaged from start to finish. The dynamic between Kill and Rory is electric, and their journey from adversaries to lovers is both heartfelt and steamy. For fans of sports romances with strong character development and a touch of humor.

3.5 ⭐

I have to confess...... I thought I would love this book more than I did! I mean, yeah, I did like -somehow- the relationship between Rory & Cillian, but not really that much; the thing I love most is the relationship between Cillian and his teammates, even though it's a lot fewer scenes than I would love it to be. Yeah, there are some really good quotes in the book I will not be sharing them tho 🫣 it's up to you if you want to find them out ☺️

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖔𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

SKIP CHAPTER: 21, 23, 24, 25, 27

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

I got this ARC from Netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and I'm so thankful since I loved Maren Moore's books before 🔥

This book was so cute!!! 🥰 I loved how the duel POV was used. It was a perfect mixture. I liked how Cillian was written to shown vulnerability, too many books have to have a strong macho man. Will definitely stay with this author.

I absolutely am in love with Cillian and Rory. What do you do when you are the equipment manager of the boys rugby team and no guys take you seriously? What do you do when you're a hotshot player from London whom can't get the respect of his new teammates? Oh, not to mention the equipment manager is the coach's daughter. Haha damn. They team up together to help one another out.. little do they realize the chemistry brewing between them.

A rugby bad boy who needs to get in good with his new team ends up trading flirting lessons with his coach's daughter in exchange for help with the team. What could go wrong?

Cillian, our grumpy rubgy-playing MMC, is pissed to have left his home in London and find himself at Prescott University in America after some bad choices on his part back home. He doesn't want to be here and is intending to simply bide his time for 2 years until he can return to London and his dreams of playing rugby professionally. However, his new teammates' dislike for him and the actions of his past coming back to haunt him aren't making this an easy start for him. When he realizes that Rory St James, the coach's daughter, has the team wrapped around her finger and she needs help with flirting lessons, the two form a mildly unlikely alliance and it ends up leading to so much more.

I really enjoyed the relationship between Cillian and Rory. The way that he didn't make Rory feel like she had to change herself to get the male attention she was hoping for, but instead helped her to feel more comfortable and build her confidence. The way that she supported Cillian in finding a place with the team and helping him really begin to process the loss of his mom. I loved the way they were together and can't deny the spicy scenes were spicing!!!

If you're a fan of college/New Adult sports romances, are looking for something a little more unique than hockey or baseball and enjoy a dislike-to-friends-to-lovers vibe, I think you'll enjoy Red Card!

Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was a funny comfort read for me! First book by this authors and and it did not disappoint , cant wait to read more of her books

Wait. This was so cute!

I also could not get the thirst trap rugby team videos out of my head thinking about this team of men- Cillian, in particular 👀

I love that Rory is the girl who is friends with all of the guys, friend zoned and doesn’t know how to flirt, except for talking sports. She is me. And I love her. And I love watching her having a She’s All That moment with Cillian. So perfect.

Dare I say, I hope we get to see more of the boys (Fitz, Wren) and more of Aisling! I just love them!

Thank you to Forever Publishing for this early copy!

Tropes Include;
❤️ Coach’s daughter
❤️ British MMC
❤️ Great banter
❤️ Grumpy/ Sunshine
❤️ College romance

If Maren writes it, I will read it. Yes, her books share similarities with some of the millennial generation's favorite movies and this one is no different but different in the sense that she makes it her own and dresses it up in the most delicious ways. This book follows Rory, the coach's daughter and Cillian, the British rugby player that takes her under his wing and helps her move out of the "friend zone" that she always finds herself in. Overall, such a feel good, fun read that we've come to know and love by Maren.

Thank you Netgalley, Maren and the publisher for allowing me to read this book for my honest review.

Red Card is a cute book and should be a fairly quick read. I did like it overall and I'm glad I read it, but I didn't get sucked in as quickly as I would have liked to. I enjoyed the plot and characters, but I think it just didn't live up to the book I read prior, so I had a book hangover and couldn't fully enjoy this one. That being said, I did enjoy it, just not as much as I hoped. I will say in all honesty I do not like the cover and feel like it may turn some readers off.

I am a huge fan of Maren Moore’s so it is no surprise that I liked this book. I actually think it might be my favorite one of hers!

I genuinely cannot say enough good things about this book. I loved the relationship between Rory and Cillian. It felt like it flowed very naturally from helping each other out to sex to dating. Their relationship and chemistry was top tier, amazing. The smut was good and Cillian was so caring and hot. I need a Cillian in my life.

I would absolutely love to see more stories set in this world.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley to read. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.25 stars

This was my first rugby romance, and I really enjoyed it! Rugby isn’t a sport that I know a ton about, but it was enjoyable to read about the little bits that were in the story. The focus was more on the romance than the sport here, but I didn’t mind that at all.

Cillian was a great character. The tattooed British bad boy had me hooked from the beginning, and I loved seeing his sweet side come out with both his sister and Rory. I loved seeing him open up to Rory as their relationship progressed, and I also loved how he began to try with his teammates. His past had him feeling so much guilt and grief, and seeing him become happy with Rory was amazing.

Rory was such a good character. She was funny and relatable, and I loved her. She and Cillian were so good together. I loved that she was trying to build her confidence, and I’m such a sucker for the “teach me” trope. I loved how she and Cillian became friends first and then their feelings got involved.

The pacing was good, and the writing style was easy to follow. The dual first person POVs were distinct, and I liked the voices of the characters. I didn’t want to put the book down. The chemistry between the characters was fantastic, and there was a good bit of spice that didn’t overwhelm the plot. I would definitely recommend this book!

5 stars – Red Card by Maren Moore was a fabulous read! A light college sports romance that has excellent pacing, flow, wonderful main and side characters and some spice. I couldn’t put it down! We meet Cillian “Kill” Cairney, a college rugby player from London that has been kicked off his last team and school. He transfers into Prescott University in New Hampshire as a junior and his sister enrolls as a freshman. Cillian is a grumpy bad boy that is in desperate need of friends, and a girlfriend, basically a fresh start when he meets his new coach’s daughter, Rory St. James. Rory is the girl next door, friend zoned by every rugby team member and rugby equipment manager that has no idea how to flirt. So, Kill and Rory make a deal – she helps him become an integral and valuable rugby team member while he teaches her how to flirt and pick up guys. As they spend more time together, Rory and Kill fall in love.

Tropes: grumpy/bad boy/sunshine, friends to lovers, sports romance, new adult, forced proximity

A big “Thank You” to NetGalley and Forever Books, Grand Central Publishing for allowing me to receive a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
#NetGalley, #MarenMoore, #Forever, #RugbyRomance

This book was a lot of fun. I love rugby so reading about it makes me happy. The whole fake dating real friends to lovers trope also makes me happy. Loved the way Cillian’s character truly changed before our eyes from angry broken boy to a stand up loving man. The relationship between Rory and the guys helps Cillian and the team get everything they want but they have to fight for it and break through some barriers to get there. There are a few side story spin offs I would love to see in the future with these guys.

Red Card by @authormarenmoore

6⭐️
2.5🌶️

After being banned from his university’s rugby team in London, Cillian finds himself transferring midseason to a school and team in New Hampshire, and it’s clear that his teammates don’t want him there and because of it, they’re struggling to mesh as a team.

Rory is the daughter of the rugby coach. And she loves rugby and the team. She finds herself struggling to be seen as anything other than one of the guys. Can she help Kill find his place on the team while he helps find her a date?

—

This is my first rugby book and I’m obsessed. I’m into these thighs 😂 Cillian is the perfect book boyfriend. The way he helps Rory see herself melted me. And the way he protects his sister? Stick a fork in me. I’m done.

I’m so happy for Maren and all that she has coming up! Go read this book and support her in all of the ways you can! Rookie Mistake is being released on audio Tuesday, The Bad Boy Rule is out Thursday, and Red Card is out August 12th!

Rugby players are so freaking hot, even better to read about. Maren definitely did something good with this one!!

Cillian can’t get into anymore trouble. He needs to keep his head down and just play some rugby. But as you would have it, all the other team mates didn’t take it too well that he was able to just walk onto the team due to the people he knows. Doesn’t help with the rumors flying around about his old team. However, with his mom gone everything he does is for his sister and getting in trouble will put them right back to where they started and that’s not an option. Cillian sees that Rory has a sway with all the teammates. So, when she comes to him with a proposition of him helping her get a date with the guy she has a crush on, then she will make it her mission to get all the guys on the team to give him a chance. Probably not a smart thing to do since Cillian knows he’s attracted to Rory, also might not be great since her father is the coach of his rugby team, so there’s a chance he might not only kick him off the team, but possibly make him disappear. However, Cillian has no other choice but put his trust in Rory. But getting to flirt with her and show her how to bag a guy doesn’t hurt either, they both just need to stick to the rules and everything will fall into place. If only Cillian didn’t find himself kinda sorta falling for the coaches daughter.

Rory only knows a life of rugby due to her father always being the coach, which also means that all the guys on the team think she’s just one of them and she’s fine with that because she’s not attracted to anyone on the team. However it makes it hard for any other guy to think of her in a romantic way due to her always being around the rugby team and always talking about rugby. So when the mysterious new guy Cillian shows up having all the swag in the world even when being iced out by the team, Rory know she needs to take the opportunity to ask for his advice to get her help in return. As her and Killian actually start to become friends and Rory starts getting the confidence she needs to talk to the guys around her. She starts to realize she doesn’t actually want to do that because the person she wants to be with might actually be the guy she definitely should not be falling for.

The banter for this book was so good. We love a good girl x bad boy trope. It helps that Maren is so good at writing this kind of banter. I’m always sucked in from the first page.

Wow I am OBSESSED with this whole new world from Maren. I loved Cillian and Rory so much. The whole showing her how to properly flirt, because Rory wasn't good at flirting had me laughing so much and giddy. They became fast friends, and their chemistry was off the charts. I loved this group of character's so much and hopefully we get more from her in this series!!

Red Card completely drew me in from the start! I loved that the story was told from both perspectives—it made the emotional connection so much deeper and gave me a real sense of both characters’ struggles and growth.

One of my favorite parts was how Maren Moore wove in Cillian’s backstory gradually throughout the book. It never felt forced; instead, it unfolded in a way that added depth and made his character even more compelling.

The chemistry, the tension, the heart—it all hit just right. This was such a satisfying read, and I’ll definitely be picking up more from Maren Moore!

This was such a cute story! I have never read a rugby romance before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Rory and Cillian were so cute together and I absolutely loved reading their story. Would highly recommend this read.

As someone whose fiancé used to play rugby and still watches it all the time, I was super excited to finally see a rugby sports romance!! This book did not disappoint in the slightest and was so much fun to read!

Read if you like
- Sports Romances
- Grumpy x Sunshine
- “Lessons”
- Secret Romance