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.