5⭐️/ 2-3🌶️

*Atria knows the way to my heart and it’s by sending me an ARC copy of, “The Long Game” By: Elena Armas! I LOVE YOU, ATRIA! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Imagine your life fell into shambles, and I don’t mean in that in a dramatic way… well kind of, but in a way that resulted you in an… “altercation” with the soccer team’s mascot that you work for. To make matters worse, the whole thing was filmed and went viral everywhere! For Adalyn Reyes, that’s exactly what happened, and it was only the beginning. With the fall out from the whole mascot incident, Adalyn was faced with repercussions especially since her dad was the CEO and owner of the soccer team she worked for. With Adalyn’s father sending her to North Carolina on an assignment, it was filled with mixed feelings for Adalyn. Upon arriving in the small town in North Carolina, Adalyn met a grumpy man who she may or may not have accidentally hit with her car by the name of, Cameron Caldani. Elena once again brought the slow burn romance, the humor, lighthearted vibe, and with some new things like it being set in a small town, and centered around soccer, it was fantastic! The beginning alone will have you laughing and wanting more with each page. 

The great thing about this book was that it introduced some new and familiar tropes. Elena is known for her slow burn romances, and once again I was throughly excited to patiently wait for the moment when things got romantic between Adalyn and Cameron. A new trope for me that I discovered was that both Adalyn and Cameron were grumpy! I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where both the main characters were grumps haha. Both Adalyn and Cameron had their reasons for why they were grumpy, but also had their moments of being soft and tender which was a great contrast throughout the story. I also loved the fact that the story was set in a small town, I LOVE SMALL TOWN ROMANCES! THAT IS MY JAM! The ambience of a small town screams cozy, cute, and close to me and it makes me feel safe and happy. 

For Adalyn being in the small town of Green Oak, she was thrusted into a new type of lifestyle she wasn’t accustomed to. For starters, after the fall out of the mascot incident, being “banished” / sent out on assignment, Adalyn felt like this was her one chance to redeem herself and get her job back, but she wasn’t expecting a kids soccer team and a grumpy former legendary goalie coach to be part of that assignment. Adalyn was put to the ultimate test not only trying to turn the teams luck around and overall making them a better success in her father’s eyes, but also working on herself throughout the story. Adalyn was strong, determined, sassy, intelligent, and a woman with perhaps…some anger issues. Nonetheless, Adalyn felt the need to prove herself, get her job back, and make the most out of the situation she found herself in. Plus, despite her grumpy neighbor putting her on edge, slowly but surely things changed between them.

Keep in mind, with this book being a slow burn, it took some time for things to progress between Adalyn and Cameron. In the beginning, Adalyn and Cameron were always at odds with one another, butting heads, occasionally arguing, and basically not being a fan of each other. With the constant back and forth banter and snarky eventually Adalyn and Cameron found a common ground. From coaching and managing the Green Warriors soccer team, Adalyn and Cameron found themselves in charge of the precocious little girls, but also finding themselves a bit closer than before. I answered adored whenever Cameron called Adalyn “darling” (sigh) new nickname unlocked for me, I will forever want Cameron Caldani to call me that *ahem sorry not sorry Adalyn. With the occasional little the longer stares at each other, the brush of their hands, or even…seeing a glimpse of a bicep or in Adalyn’s case unconsciously playing with the button on her blouse drove Cameron to imagining things underneath! Yeah the slow burn was giving and I was along for the ride! 

Omg this book was hilarious! From the beginning with Adalyn basically hitting Cameron with her car to a blind flat with high anxiety that ends with diarrhea everywhere, it was a chaotic and funny! As I started to get more into the story, I was taken aback at just how hilarious Elena created the scenes in this book! Among all the hilarious moments that I enjoyed by far, HANDS DOWN the funniest yet also a loving nod to a favorite of mine…ELENA HAD A ROOSTER NAMED SEBASTIAN STAN IN THE BOOK! OMG! LMAO! Can’t forget about including a little Sebastian Stan in Elena’s book, duh. (Sigh) just another reason why I love and adore Elena so much from her humor, creative mind, the characters she creates, and her obvious love for Sebastian Stan!

THE ROMANCE GAVE WHAT IT GAVE YA’LL! (Sigh) I was swooning and smiling especially once Cameron and Adalyn found a peaceful pace between themselves. Yes, there was still the occasional back and forth snark that Adalyn and Cameron had in the beginning, but it was more playful and lighter. I especially loved seeing how Cameron was secretly a softie at heart. From his deep love for his beloved two cats, to admitting seeing Adalyn safe and warm made him… let’s just say REALLY HAPPY! Haha Cameron slowly but surely came to realize he had a lot more feelings towards Adalyn than he expected. The woman who drove into his life and basically hit him with her car, Cameron wanted more with Adalyn and seeing her rare, special smiles made him feel warm and willing to do anything to see it more often. As the story progressed, I saw a new side to Cameron that wasn’t just him being grumpy, it was him being thoughtful, protective, caring, supportive, and showing Adalyn that she deserved to be treated like she mattered! 

Overall, this was a fun read! With Elena including a little nod to her love of Sebastian Stan (SAME), to animals ranging from mischievous cats, an anxiety ridden blind goat, to a group of rambunctious, funny, outspoken little girls, a cozy knit small town, and more, this was a perfectly lighthearted story. Adalyn was a strong, independent woman who was use to doing things on her own, but throughout the story learned that she could lean or ask for help. Plus, Adalyn went through a sort of self discovery journey along the way, and by the time the story ended she was in a really great place in her life. Cameron was a grumpy grump, and I loved him! Cameron was so use to remaining by himself, and trying to maintain his semblance of peace while in Green Oak, but with Adalyn, she always drove him crazy haha. The slow burn as always was perfect! The perfect amount of time to show Adalyn and Cameron at odds, and then slowly seeing them fall in love (sigh). There were a couple of scenes that made me laugh, and I feel like readers will also find the things that Elena included to be hilarious as well. The romance was swoon worthy, gave protective grumpy man, and also grumpy man secretly thinking the cutest and sweetest things! All in all, this was another lovely book by Elena Armas, and Adalyn and Cameron were the perfect leads for this story. Featuring some sports (soccer), hilarious moments, swoon worthy scenes too, little bit of spice to get things hotter, and just an overall cozy, warm, happy vibe while reading. Officially adding Cameron to the grumpy book boyfriend list, and Adalyn being the ultimate boss queen getting things done!