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beckyyreadss's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I wanted to read this because I love football and the idea that I could finally read a sports romance about a sport where it was called football instead of soccer and had British humour and romance, it was supposed to be my cup of tea. But this is the biggest let down of 2024 for me. I'm not going to lie, this is about to be a rant rather than a formal review because I have a lot to say about this.
This book has two points of view. The first is Asher Donovan, we have met him in the Twisted series and the King of Sin series, and he is a living legend, the star of the Premier League and the greatest football in the world. But his reckless antics and recent team transfer has caused a lot of controversy, and when his feud with his rival-turned-teammate costs them a championship, they’re forced to bond during the off-season cross-training. Surviving the summer shouldn’t be too hard, until Asher meets their new trainer. She is beautiful, talented and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t take his mind off her, but he is his rival’s sister and completely off limits. The second point of view is Scarlett DuBois, and she is a former prima ballerina whose career was cut short after a car accident that left her with chronic pain. She is now a teacher at a prestigious dance academy, but still haunted by the ghosts of her past, the last thing she wants to do is spend the summer cross-training Asher Donovan. She swore she would never date a footballer again, but when her brother leaves town to look after their dad, she finds herself thrown into dangerously proximity with the charming striker. The training, she can deal with. But falling in love is out of the question especially when he’s the only person with the power to break her heart.
I liked the side characters, Carina and Brooklyn saved this book from being the 2nd book I was going to give a 1 star ever. They were the only ones with their heads on straight and the only one who was cutting through all the bullshit that happened in this book. Adil as well was a golden retriever and gave bright moments throughout this book and the fact that he was wanting the team to have some sort of brotherhood outside of the field by trying to arrange a book club was so sweet. Also, Christian Harper didn’t show up to save the day like he has done for the past 7 books.
This book did not need to be 500+ pages, everything happened within the last 100. I wanted it to have plot and to show the season in full and not just the last game of the season last year and the last game of the season this year, which is how it starts and ends. There are a total of 3 matches in 500+ book over the year. This fake team was supposedly the best team in the premier league, do you know how many games they would have played in a year not including international dates such as friendlies and the euros or the world cup? If they were in all competitions and got to the final of every competition, that’s 73 games. We saw 3 and 1 of them was a charity match. We heard about 2 more games and that’s only because Asher was sidelines so it was things like “the team won against Tottenham” even if you are injured, most players go to the games to support their team, the only time players don’t go to away games or home games if it they physically can’t due to injury. I would have been happy reading a 500+ book if it shows more of the games and the brotherhood and the training and the traveling to away games. Even for Scarlett, I have no interest in ballet, but besides her doing the training which was literally “we trained today” or “I had class today” there was no intense ballet sagas. Like with other sports romance (Flawless, The Deal, Icebreaker), you end up wanting to root for the team and then wanting to buy their merch for a fake football team in a fictional book, but I don’t know how they did besides be told that they won.
Scarlett and Asher had no chemistry. We got more chemistry from Vincent and Asher after they punched Scarlett’s ex-boyfriend and sorted out their difference at the hospital. I think I would have actually preferred for this to have been a gay romance, it would have been more interesting that what we got. It was very bland and rushed again it could have been a slow-burn with the tension building if Vincent stayed around but the second he goes, they end up hooking up like five chapters later, and then spend the next thirty having sex and hiding from paparazzi and lying to everyone and then five chapters having the third-act conflict and getting back together. The smut we did get got boring after a while because it was all they were doing, I get the first time they kiss and do all the other stuff they have to go into details usually because we’ve been waiting for it to happen, but this book it happened so quickly that we got a lot of smut with no plot that was skimming it towards the end because I was getting sick of it and it was boring me. As always with Ana’s books, the third act conflict just wasn’t needed, but we knew Asher was going to break his promise and then he wondered why she ended. Like he was so boring and stupid. Scarlett then had a revelation that she was pissed and broke up with Asher for being reckless, but she was doing the same thing and then poof Asher shows up to show that he’s not going to be reckless anymore and happy ever after, and the brother approves. Not that the brother’s approval should stop them.
This book could have been soooooo much more. With Scarlett’s chronic pain and Asher’s trauma from losing his best friend which again gets resolved within the last ten chapters. It felt like Ana had watched one premier league, thought it would be good to write a book about it, listened to English Love Affair and Ghost of You and try to mix Ted Lasso with the Game Plan and it just didn’t work. I’m low key pissed as well because I was rooting for this so much again, should have been my cup of tea – romance books, premier league romance, British humour and none of it was there. I need an author to re-do this concept and for me to not actually hate it because I can’t believe this is the book that we’ve got to represent to EPL and if you think this is going to get girlies to watch the footie like Lauren Asher’s dirty air series did with Formula 1, it isn’t going to happen.
I’m actually half tempted to cancel my pre-order of The Defender, because I don’t know how it could get better or worse than this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Car accident
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Death, Mental illness, and Medical content
kitcat_reads's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Car accident
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Self harm
hanreadssbooks's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
“i looked at her, this beautiful, incredible woman whom i never would've expected would turn my world upside down, and marveled that she was mine. the universe knew what it was doing after all.”
asher and scarlett, what can i say? the brother’s rival trope will never not be sexy, especially when said trope is written by ana huang. this was such a sweet (and spicy!) read, so much so that i’m going to add it to my 2025 rereads. i’m not a sports fan, but who knew british footballers were such smooth talkers in the bedroom? i couldn’t stop smiling at the pages and rereading scenes…scarlett is so lucky. another 5 star read to add to the collection!
asher and scarlett, what can i say? the brother’s rival trope will never not be sexy, especially when said trope is written by ana huang. this was such a sweet (and spicy!) read, so much so that i’m going to add it to my 2025 rereads. i’m not a sports fan, but who knew british footballers were such smooth talkers in the bedroom? i couldn’t stop smiling at the pages and rereading scenes…scarlett is so lucky. another 5 star read to add to the collection!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Violence, Medical content, and Car accident
Moderate: Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
backitupmoony's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death
kimberlyyyreads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Thank you to Ana and her team for sending me the e-arc to review! I feel so incredibly thankful to have received a copy.
Asher Donovan is THE football player.
From the moment, we met him in the Twisted Series, I knew this man had game but SEEING the game was so FIRE. You guys will understand soon enough.
Looking at Ana's other romances, this book reminded me of the Twisted series. It's vibe feeling more natural alongside the characters.
Asher is such a flirt but he's also very VERY charming. This man will have you giggling & swooning all within the same time. His personal journey throughout the book was one I appreciated seeing, mental health is so important and I am glad that he had a support system that helped him see that. Also the way he was so attentive to Scarlett's chronic pain specifically as to what helps soothe her flare ups filled my heart!
As for Scarlett, I am in awe of her and everything she does. Her confidence within her ballet performance grew throughout the book. And I was so happy to see that! Given how much love she has for it. Scarlett struggles with chronic pain, and the way that she is SURE to remind those to around her that her chronic pain is a part of her life but it doesn't define her ability is so admirable.
Scarlett and Asher both go through their own individual journeys as characters, but they also grow within one another. Strengthening not only themselves but their relationship too. I love books that showcase this kinda growth because it truly shows natural relationships should be.
I'm sure you guys would LOVE to hear me yap about the "Brothers Rival" trope. And I am here to serve the people!
Yes, it gave exactly what we needed. Tension filled moments, angsty forbidden vibes, and a good ol' "Fuck it" moment !!!!
I will say that in this book you meet a couple of new characters, and meanwhile, I was very happy to meet them, it was hard keeping track of them. Which others might find a problem but to me it wasn't the end of the world.
before I wrap it up, my friends, I would love to share that we get MANY cameos. And you guys are gonna be eating them up. Just like I did. (I gasped for one of them, real ones will predict which one it was).
The Striker is such a great intro book to this upcoming series! I truly am so thrilled for you all to read this and experience Asher & Scarlett for yourselves!!!!
Going crazy just by waiting for The Defender now! You guys will be feral for it too.
Asher Donovan is THE football player.
From the moment, we met him in the Twisted Series, I knew this man had game but SEEING the game was so FIRE. You guys will understand soon enough.
Looking at Ana's other romances, this book reminded me of the Twisted series. It's vibe feeling more natural alongside the characters.
Asher is such a flirt but he's also very VERY charming. This man will have you giggling & swooning all within the same time. His personal journey throughout the book was one I appreciated seeing, mental health is so important and I am glad that he had a support system that helped him see that. Also the way he was so attentive to Scarlett's chronic pain specifically as to what helps soothe her flare ups filled my heart!
As for Scarlett, I am in awe of her and everything she does. Her confidence within her ballet performance grew throughout the book. And I was so happy to see that! Given how much love she has for it. Scarlett struggles with chronic pain, and the way that she is SURE to remind those to around her that her chronic pain is a part of her life but it doesn't define her ability is so admirable.
Scarlett and Asher both go through their own individual journeys as characters, but they also grow within one another. Strengthening not only themselves but their relationship too. I love books that showcase this kinda growth because it truly shows natural relationships should be.
I'm sure you guys would LOVE to hear me yap about the "Brothers Rival" trope. And I am here to serve the people!
Yes, it gave exactly what we needed. Tension filled moments, angsty forbidden vibes, and a good ol' "Fuck it" moment !!!!
I will say that in this book you meet a couple of new characters, and meanwhile, I was very happy to meet them, it was hard keeping track of them. Which others might find a problem but to me it wasn't the end of the world.
before I wrap it up, my friends, I would love to share that we get MANY cameos. And you guys are gonna be eating them up. Just like I did. (I gasped for one of them, real ones will predict which one it was).
The Striker is such a great intro book to this upcoming series! I truly am so thrilled for you all to read this and experience Asher & Scarlett for yourselves!!!!
Going crazy just by waiting for The Defender now! You guys will be feral for it too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death