M. Ullrich

When it comes to life on the field and matters of the heart, losing isn't an option for pro athletes Kenzie Shaw and Sutton Flores.

Top of Her Game

Izza

Jude Silberfeld

Soccer player Kenzie Shaw is drafted by the New Jersey Hurricanes, where one of her new teammates is her all-time idol Sutton Flores. Already convinced Sutton is the best player ever, Kenzie falls under the team captain’s charm as a person too. Sutton already has a girlfriend, a player from another team, in a relationship that’s more convenient than loving. Neither Sutton nor Kenzie can deny what they feel for the other but Kenzie won’t get involved with Sutton if she’s not single.

I was worried, reading this so soon after Kate Christie’s The Road to Canada
, that I wouldn’t be able to appreciate it the way it should. I shouldn’t have been. The soccer game scenes were excellent, and there was just enough of them to build tension but not so many that the romance falls in the background. I really liked the fact that while the national team played a part, most of the story takes place while the players are with their major league team.

I loved Kenzie from the start, her awkwardness is so adorable I was laughing right from the first scene. Not because she’s ridiculous but because she’s so cute. Sutton is an interesting character too, with flaws she’s aware of and the desire to do better. The chemistry between Kenzie and Sutton is obvious, and I liked how the author makes sure pretty soon that we know it’s not only about Kenzie being a fan girl (even though she is) or Sutton having the reputation to fall for rookies (even though she does). The characters believe what’s between them is different, and I believed it with them.

One thing that keeps coming back in reviews is how the sexual harassment part was dealt with, both by the author and the team. It does feel unresolved, obviously something happened between the last chapter and the epilogue that we don’t know about, and it makes the ending feel rushed. But the way the team fails to address the problem doesn’t surprise me. I’m aware more and more women have spoken up and keep speaking up against sexual harassment, including in professional sports, but the journey to making things right isn’t a straight line and I can completely see a manager reacting the way the Hurricanes’ manager does, even in a post #MeToo world. Whether his threats would have held if the players had called his bluff doesn’t matter, all that matters is that they believe they would have. However famous or talented they are, he holds the power. It’s still very often true today.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Megan Cooper

I'm a fan of Ullrich's books  but this one just didn't hit the mark for me.  Full disclosure - I'm not a sports fan and all I know about soccer is limited to watching a few of the finals during the Olympics.  I will admit it's fascinating to watch when the stakes are so high - but it isn't something I'll consciously make time to tune in.  So the setting and premise didn't suck me in - and that allowed the left side of my brain to go to town, being picky and analytical not allowing the right side of my brain to sink into the story and enjoy.

Kenzie Shaw, a talented and skilled rookie, is drafted into the Hurricanes, New Jersey's women's professional soccer team.   Not only does she get to play for her hometown, she gets to play with her favourite player and long time crush, Sutton Flores.  Sutton,  seasoned soccer player who is also a member of the National team and an Olympic medalist, is also a seasoned player when it comes to relationships.  There's a connection between the two that builds - with Kenzie's crush developing into more as she gets to know Sutton as a person not a hero.

The game scenes were action-packed and amped up and gets your blood pumping - even as a non-sports fan, I could appreciate the thrill of the plays, the skill of the players and I was cheering the Hurricane's as they pounded down the pitch against their opponents.   There's a nice realism in the games and in the development of Kenzie as she transitions from college superstar to a professional league as well as Sutton's trying to find her place as the Captain.

I think the thing that kept me from enjoying the romance was the juxtaposition between the two characters.  Although Kenzie has graduated from college, she just seemed so very young and the transition from her girlhood crush on Sutton to an actual relationship just didn't work for me - I still got the impression that the infatuation and hero worship was still there.  I will give her props on insistence that she wouldn't entertain a relationship with Sutton until she was single and for moving the relationship forward at a pace she was comfortable with - so she wasn't a pushover. As for Sutton,  I couldn't seem to come to terms with the idea that something was different with Kenzie, not that Sutton was intentionally leading her on, but her "rookie of the year" tradition made me not so sure that Sutton really was just in love with being in love (as her friend intimated) or the thrill of the chase.    There was definitely chemistry between the two, I just wasn't a hundred percent sold that this wasn't going to end up being a fling.

I didn't read the blurb, so the harassment that occurs in the latter half of the book caught me by surprise. Things could have been set up a bit earlier in the book for what happens - especially with the management's involvement.  I applaud Ullrich for addressing it and showing how easily something like this can happen and the impacts on those affected.  The conflict and decisions (Sutton's) that spun out from it just felt a bit too contrived and overshadowed the the actual incident and we don't really get a solid resolution to it.

If you are a soccer fan, this will likely hit all the right notes for you.  Ullrich is a great writer and, even as a non-sports person, I got sucked into the energy and suspense during the game play.    This is a good read, my left brain just got in the way.

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