4.25⭐️/ 3-4🌶️

Ana Huang introduced me to some of the most unique and memorable characters from her past books, but with her writing a sports romance book, I was so excited to read her take on it. If you happened to have read, “Twisted Hate”, you might remember a little cameo from a certain soccer player who was introduced by the name of, Asher Donovan. Asher was a well renowned soccer player (*in British terms a, footballer) and beloved by all, except for his now teammate who he has had a bigger rivalry with for many years. For Scarlett Dubois, she was an instructor at a prestigious ballet academy, the one where she once performed and was well on her way to becoming the next prima ballerina. Scarlett and Asher were from different worlds, but when the rivalry between Asher and his teammate reaches an all time high that results in them losing the World Cup, their coach puts them in rigorous training…in ballet and Scarlett would be their instructor. As if things weren’t going Asher’s way, he then finds himself attracted to Scarlett, but oops! SCARLETT WAS ASHER’S TEAMMATE’S SISTER! This sports romance had, forced proximity, brother’s teammate/rival’s sister, tension, a protective MMC, a strong FMC, great chemistry, banter, and the occasional little Easter eggs from Ana’s previous books!

I don’t know what others had big issues with this book, but I actually enjoyed it. Maybe it was because I hadn’t read a book by, Ana Huang in quite some time, but I found this story to be enjoyable and entertaining. I will say, it did seem a bit lengthy for a romance since it bordered on 500 pages. Even with the book being long, it wasn’t too big of an issue for me while reading since I found myself really interested in Scarlett and Asher’s story. 

I love a sports romance book, and to read Ana’s take on it was one I was throughly looking forward to. Asher was obviously a highly talented and famous soccer player, but with his transfer to a new team some people *ahem people from his town, his fans, and even his dad weren’t happy with the change. Being on a new team can take some getting use to, and for Asher it seemed like he took it in stride, but his now teammate, Vincent, wanted nothing to do with him. Despite the animosity between Asher and Vincent, if it wasn’t for them having to be forced to train together, then Asher wouldn’t have had the chance to spend with Scarlett. I liked seeing how Asher started to fall for Scarlett going from attraction to something deeper. Scarlett wasn’t a woman who immediately fell for Asher’s charms and I think that partly played into the initial interest Asher had towards Scarlett. Asher was used to having things or people falling over him, but Scarlett wasn’t an easy person, she made him work for it, and rightly so! 

Scarlett was a strong FMC and one who dealt with inner insecurities, and a past experience that changed the trajectory of her ballet career. I have always admired ballet and the attention to discipline a ballerina must have when executing the choreography and training. Scarlett had grown up in the ballet world from a young age, but after a terrible accident left her injured, her chronic pain and fear of dancing again held her back from trying again. Until, one day she found herself tasked with not only training her brother, but also his rival turned teammate, Asher! When Asher came into the picture, Scarlett had this idea of him being a player and a total flirt without any regard for others, but that wasn’t true. Sure, Asher had his fair share of hookups and the occasional tabloid about him, but the more Scarlett spent time with him, she got to see the real side of him. The thing I also liked about Scarlett was how she was able to differentiate between Asher being this famous soccer player to being his normal self. As much as Asher was famous and well known, at his core he just wanted to be acknowledged as himself without the glitz and glamour of his career. Scarlett was someone who saw passed all that and often times put Asher to work (which was good haha). For all that Scarlett experienced when it came to her career in ballet, she felt a renewed sense to try again after a much needed talk with Asher that inspired her to take another chance on ballet. Scarlett had her own hurdles to overcome along the way, but she became better from it. 

Like I previously stated, it had been a while since I read a book by Ana Huang, and it was nice to jump into a new story written by her. I found Scarlett and Asher’s story enjoyable and it kept me interested along the way. My favorite part of this book was, obviously the romance between Scarlett and Asher, but also how they supported one another in different ways. From Asher being mindful of Scarlett’s chronic pain and finding ways to help her with it in the most subtle ways was really sweet to Scarlett treating Asher like a regular person as opposed to the famous soccer player that he was. Another thing I loved was seeing cameos of other beloved characters from Ana’s other books like, Isabella, Kai, Jules, Josh, and even getting hints at the new character that’ll appear in Ana’s other current series! Needless to say, Ana had some goodies stored in this book. As much as this story kept my attention and I liked reading it, I do think it was a tad too long especially when taking into consideration the plot line. I feel like if the story had been cut down, it would have saved time and been better for the sake of the book. Aside from that, I didn’t see any other issues with this book as opposed to other readers who may not have liked it. I do think Ana’s take on a sports romance was fun and I’m interested to keep reading this series to see what else she’ll come up with especially with the next book centering on, Scarlett’s brother who’s also Asher’s teammate. If you’re looking for a sports romance, lovable, diverse characters, a fun loving friend group, rival’s sister/ brother’s teammate, then you should consider reading this book.