I never expected to give a low rating to an installment of this series cause so far I had thoroughly enjoyed it. I was glad to be back in Greenbelt, South Carolina, it was nice seeing old friends even if I wished for some more action for Miriam and Aja. I still like the small town feel and the secondary characters, I enjoyed the heroines’ families, they were unique and funny. However the relationship didn’t work for me and I’ll try to break down why without spoilers.

First of all, Jade is a complex female character so if you don’t like those this book is not for you. I didn’t actively dislike her but I struggled to understand her actions and their motivations at time. As for Frannie she was cute but I thought it weird she let Jade treat her like that. I understood she had a crush, but things gor too far for me even if she stood up for herself at the end. It was too early in the story when they kissed for the first time, things were not mature. Personally I needed them to move from “rivalry” to friendship before sex and romantic notions. I liked some of their character development like when Francesca told Jade “Don’t accept your fears as truth”.
The football parts were long but I could also see the MCs’ character development so I didn’t hate them. There’s a strap-on scene which is a plus but at that point I was disconnected from the story.

In the end this didn’t come together for me. I didn’t find this relationship romantic. Things that has been huge impediments until the 70% was then just solved without any further pushback. I appreciated Jade’s growth but it didn’t feel real.

I listened to the ALC and the audiobook helped me finish the book. The narrator was okay but I didn’t like all of the voices they did.

I received an Advance Listening copies from NetGalley and Dreamscape media.

The premise of this book (two queer women vying for the head coaching job of a southern high school's football team) sounded really promising to me but unfortunately fell flat. My biggest issue was that the main character, Jade, was mean and cruel to her potential love interest, Frannie, in a way that I couldn't get past in order to get on board with their romance.

I thought the narrator of the audiobook did a great job.

🧡🏈👟💖🎨

Yeah so this was nottttt my favorite 😬 I liked the diversity and the concept of women coaching high school football. I didn’t like the main characters tearing each other down and only seeing the other as competition for a majority of the book, it felt yucky. Maybe all the hatred towards each other was part of their kink, or maybe they were just toxic lesbians who needed to grow up. And why did it take them to the end to realize BOTH of them could coach?? Clearly they were both successful women who shared a passion for the same game, I wish they would have teamed up from the very beginning. In my opinion, it would have been far more interesting if the plot focused more on the two of them breaking down barriers as minority women working in a male-dominated field in a small town, but that’s just my take.

While this wasn’t a score for me, I did learn more about football, so I’ll take that small win!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!!!

Unfortunately I did not finish reading this book. I wanted to like it because it has an interracial Black/Asian couple at it's core and I don't see much of that, but this book was not for me. The biggest problem I had was the lack of chemistry between the leads. They hate each other at the beginning and maybe about 20% in they're fantasizing about each other and entering into a sexual relationship. There wasn't enough build up for me to enjoy them getting together because it seemed like it was happening to fast. I did enjoy the culture we see in this book and the writing was okay, but the characters and plot could have been more engaging.

This book is a perfect read for pride month! It was such a fun story. I appreciated that the book highlighted how challenging it can be for women to find careers in sports, especially in the southern part of the United States. I loved the diverse voices in this book and I highly recommend it!

Enemies to lovers fans, sports romance fans, and spicy sapphic romance fans, this book is your next favorite read!

Thank you to NetGalley, DreamScape Media, St. Martin's Press & Jodie Slaughter for the chance to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

If sapphic sports romance is your jam- this is for you! Female identifying coaches making their place on the field and the community. This novel takes us back to Greenbelt, South Carolina- where both Bet on It (Aja) and Play To Win (Miriam) took place. In this book we get to the third bestie's love story, Jade. You can absolutely read these as standalone but it is fun to be back in Greenbelt and all that is familiar there! Like the previous stories, you can expect some bingo and a lot of Minnie's cobbler.

Narration added to the reading experience. I would definitely seek this narrator out again!

A super fun, sapphic, sports romance with a TON of spice. Jodie brings the spice, but also hits some heavy topics!

This was a fun Sapphic small town dual POV enemies to lovers romance between two queer BIPOC teachers both vying for the same football coaching position. Jade and Franny both love football and want to prove that women have what it takes to do the job. This was full of steamy sex, lots of diverse characters and emotional depth. I enjoyed it a lot especially on audio and would recommend for fans of books like Love and sportsball by Meka James. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital, audio and finished copy in exchange for my honest review!