Clare Lydon

Are you ready for fiery passion, on and off the pitch? Sloane Patterson is the ultimate hotshot: a US soccer sensation whose arrival in the UK causes quite the stir. She's got the game, the fame, the looks, the fiancée. But looks can be deceiving. When Sloane's life starts to unravel, Salchester Rovers' new hire, Ella Carmichael, helps her pick up the pieces. But as the lines between their professional and personal lives blur, tensions surface. Now, Sloane's goal of helping the team win the league and FA Cup has a significant addition: win Ella's heart. If you love women's football, you'll adore this blistering summer blockbuster oozing with goals, desire, and scorching first kisses. An irresistible romance about the beautiful game!

Hotshot

thank you to the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

now this was definitely a fun one if you’re a fan of football (soccer). the author clearly has a lot of passion for the game that made even 

miss the days when i played before a sport-ending injury. so, in a sense, i definitely connect with the characters in that. a lot of the book is does spend it’s time talking about the game, being in training, in game-mode. and if you’re a fan of soccer, i think you’ll definitely also enjoy this story.

the romance is a bit slow to start, but feels almost perfectly british, you know? it wasn’t closed door, so that moves away from that british style. but i never mind reading smut, personally. and i do think sloane and ella are a lovely fit for each other, they complement each other well. and once they worked past their insecurities and baggage, they made a wonderful couple. however, was the pacing odd in terms of the conflict? a bit. they were “broken up" for maybe nearly 20% of the book, which felt like quite a while, given that they went the full traditional lesbian route, (essentially) moving in after the first date.

but, okay now lets talk writing. particularly british english versus american english. so i know the author prefaced that they did their best to make sloane sound american and that was edited in response to arc readers' feedback. but apart from a few of the “common” debates you’ll hear between british english versus american english (soccer vs football, driving on the right vs left, fries vs chips), sloane still sounded SO british. now, i know the author’s going to write with british spellings. that’s not what i mean. i’m talking grammar. it’s 

she speaks. and i’m saying this as someone who grew up in the states but who also lived in england and then later scotland for about 1 1/2 years. not a ton of time, but long enough to have exposure through academia and from common conversations.

for example, sloane would say things like “i reckon that…” which no american would say. it’s way too formal in conversation to us. instead, we’d literally just say “i think that”. or, just a common grammar practice in british english is a passive action like “i’ve got an idea” which she also used instead of saying “i have an idea”. now, anyways. i’ve adopted a lot of british vernacular in my time, so i wouldn’t be surprised if sloane DID that too as the books events progressed (creating a bit of a frakenstein english, and trust me, it looks messy). but it was just a bit funny to see that style of speaking from the get-go. definitely something i personally had to adjust to and something other american english speakers will definitely pick up on.

ash (smokedshelves)

thank you to the author for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

now this was definitely a fun one if you’re a fan of football (soccer). the author clearly has a lot of passion for the game that made even me miss the days when i played before a sport-ending injury. so, in a sense, i definitely connect with the characters in that. a lot of the book is does spend it’s time talking about the game, being in training, in game-mode. and if you’re a fan of soccer, i think you’ll definitely also enjoy this story.

the romance is a bit slow to start, but feels almost perfectly british, you know? it wasn’t closed door, so that moves away from that british style. but i never mind reading smut, personally. and i do think sloane and ella are a lovely fit for each other, they complement each other well. and once they worked past their insecurities and baggage, they made a wonderful couple. however, was the pacing odd in terms of the conflict? a bit. they were “broken up" for maybe nearly 20% of the book, which felt like quite a while, given that they went the full traditional lesbian route, (essentially) moving in after the first date.

but, okay now lets talk writing. particularly british english versus american english. so i know the author prefaced that they did their best to make sloane sound american and that was edited in response to arc readers' feedback. but apart from a few of the “common” debates you’ll hear between british english versus american english (soccer vs football, driving on the right vs left, fries vs chips), sloane still sounded SO british. now, i know the author’s going to write with british spellings. that’s not what i mean. i’m talking grammar. it’s how she speaks. and i’m saying this as someone who grew up in the states but who also lived in england and then later scotland for about 1 1/2 years. not a ton of time, but long enough to have exposure through academia and from common conversations.

for example, sloane would say things like “i reckon that…” which no american would say. it’s way too formal in conversation to us. instead, we’d literally just say “i think that”. or, just a common grammar practice in british english is a passive action like “i’ve got an idea” which she also used instead of saying “i have an idea”. now, anyways. i’ve adopted a lot of british vernacular in my time, so i wouldn’t be surprised if sloane DID that too as the books events progressed (creating a bit of a frakenstein english, and trust me, it looks messy). but it was just a bit funny to see that style of speaking from the get-go. definitely something i personally had to adjust to and something other american english speakers will definitely pick up on.

Hotshot

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