This is everything you want from an Anita Kelly and more - it's wholesome and queer and so full of heart. As always with Kelly's writing, the side characters bring so much to the story - I loved every single one of the bobcats, and wish we could have seen more of Ben and Lex. It was also lovely to see the continuation of London and Dahlia's story, and see how Elle and Julie fit into it.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

coach julie parker has a crush on elle cochrane, well she had since forever and had followed her career for years

but the shock she had when at her basketball practise and elle was there was enough to shock julie into coming out with all sorts of revelations that when julie thought about it later embarrassed her so much she didnt know how to make it right

it also didnt help that elle niece had joined the basketball team and this would throw elle and julie together more

an enjoyable read that covers a multitude of issues from the sporting world to fostering

How You Get The Girl is a F/F romance following Julie and Elle.

Julie Parker is the head coach of the East Nashville High girls’ basketball team and she is trying to get the Bobcats to district playoffs this year. Elle has taken in her niece Vanessa temporarily and Vanessa joins the Bobcats. Elle herself used to be a famous basketball player and hasn’t played for many years. She was Julie’s idol growing up so she is stunned when Elle walks into the gym!

They are a little awkward around eachother at first as they like each other but they get to know each other slowly and begin to open up. Julie asks Elle to be the assistant coach of the team and whilst she initially declines because of her busy life she changes her mind and accepts, getting to spend more time with her niece.
Whilst Elle is confident in her sexuality, Julie is not completely sure of her label (and as Elle explains, she doesn’t NEED one) and has never been in a relationship so Elle suggests they go on a fake date so Julie can practice being in a relationship. Elle was very conscious of Julie and her feelings ensuring that she felt ok and safe as they progressed. The two are cutely awkward around each other and I enjoyed watching their characters develop throughout the book.
Elle has a history of mental health struggles. The talks around mental health felt well handed as someone who suffers myself. Overall, I enjoyed this book and felt invested in the characters and cheering them on as I read!

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series and when I saw the covers for this I knew I had to read it too.I mean sports romance? Come on, it was screaming my name!
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Who said you’ve got everything figured out and life is over when you get 30?
Maybe it’s just the start, maybe you don’t know everything about yourself and just maybe you’re allowed to discover new things and fall in love for the first time.
Julie is coaching a highschool basketball team next to her boring desk job, when one day her teenage athlete crush is standing on her court.
Elle, disappearing from her WNBA career out of nowhere years ago, even more suddenly became the foster parent for her teenage niece and now needs to juggle her own life and Vanessa’s life.
Both woman’s lives get flipped upside down in that moment and I loved reading about their personal crisis so much! 😂
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Anita Kelly really is royalty in making me feel all the feels, turning me into a blob of mush, grinning like an idiot.
This book was the absolute softest thing ever, there was so much caring and patience, so many cute moments.
While Elle is trying to figure out how to take care of a moody teenager, facing her basketball trauma, trying to not completely lose her fixed routines, Julie is confronted with finding a label for herself and having many firsts.
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I love how Anita Kelly writes about adult people trying to figure stuff out about themselves, when everyone thinks you already know everything when you’re older. You don’t! There’s always stuff to learn, ways to grow and there is no set timeline for it, even if society often makes you feel there is.
Books with adult aspec MCs always make me so happy too and reading about Elle being the most caring and patient person ever with Julie made me shed tears of joy.
Also migraine rep in media??? And accurate one at that? I rarely see it and loves it!!! It was (sadly) so relatable.
Their characters are always so fleshed out, you feel like you know them and they could be your next door neighbours. They feel real!
I loved the cameos, the wholesomeness of it all and cannot wait to read their next book!!!

(Goodreads review): ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review. This is the first book by Anita Kelly I have read, and I doubt it will be my last. the characters established in previous books were easy to get attached to and love just as much as Julie and Elle were. I ADORED the romance in this book, with their communication, understanding and patience with each other. a charming and easy read that makes you feel all fuzzy inside.

Today, I’m so excited to share my review for How You Get The Girl by Anita Kelly 💖 Thank you so much NetGalley & Headline Eternal for my E-ARC!

This was so CUTE! I absolutely loved Love & Other Disasters (and Something Wild & Wonderful has been recently added to my tbr!) so I knew that I was going to love this!

I loved our main characters! Julie gave me such Ted Lasso vibes, she is such a wholesome character and you can really see how she cares for her players and how invested she is in the game. She had such great chemistry with Elle and I really loved the friendship that blossomed between these two as well as the relationship that followed! I know nothing about basketball but this story and these characters made me want to start watching it! 😂

I really love how Anita Kelly has a gentle, warm approach to heavy topics. They write with such care and love and it really shows through the pages! I loved how they wrote about Julie’s struggles with labels and trying to figure out their identity, it was so relatable to me and I could really see myself in her!

How You Get The Girl is a sweet and relatable read that I really enjoyed!

Obviously being the Taylor Swift fan that I am, the second I saw this book was called ‘How You Get the Girl’ I obviously added it to my tbr.

Firstly, I can’t believe I didn’t realise sooner that this book linked to ‘Love and Other Disasters’ but alas, I got there in the end.

The true stand out moments in this book come from Julie and her POV. Her journey through her asexuality and identity felt so real, raw, and heartfelt. It truly added so much to this book and was just spectacular to see how Julie grew and developed.

I think that potentially the ‘dating’ arrangement could have been brought in sooner but then at the same time I think it worked well where it was; but there’s potential there.

The relationship in this book follows a fantastic journey of growth, re-discovering yourself, and self-love and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and I look forward to seeing where the author goes next!

Wow, this was such an incredible novel! I fell in love with its characters and their story within just a couple of chapters. With their excellent writing, Anita Kelly managed to capture the whirlwind of feelings of an unexpected developing relationship, fuzzy and more difficult ones! I laughed and teared up and then laughed some more!

Julie is a high school basketball coach and Elle is an ex basketball star. Incidentally, also Julie's childhood hero (only 4 years of age difference, though). So it is not surprising that their unexpected first meeting at one of Julie's training sessions is quite eventful! As the foster parent as one of Julie's new players (Vanessa), Elle finds herself in the training hall quite frequently... at first for Vanessa, but also more and more to spend time with Julie. That is, until she is convinced to become Julie's assistant coach and they start getting closer to each other.

This book felt so real and relatable at so many points and kept me glued to the pages, wanting to know every new development of Julie and Elle's relationship with each other, as well as with the other important people in their lives. Through their own experiences and that of people near them, the novel explored themes of figuring out one's identity (or not quite definitely, and being eventually okay with it 🙌) and career paths, as well as mental health. All written so beautifully, with feelings and thoughts coming across so raw and strong. Honestly - just... wow!

What will you find in How You Get the Girl?
• Queer romances (multiple!)
• Sport(-adjacent) and workplace romance
• Exploring own identities
• Sweet and healthy communication
• Fake/practice dating
• Close family & found-family
• Foster parenting
• Some 🌶

I totally recommend this and can't wait to buy a physical copy to add to my shelves. Now I need to get hold of Anita Kelly's previous books!

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for giving me the chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first read from Anita Kelly and it did not disappoint. I am disappointed that it has taken me so long to read one of Anita’s books and that I started with the final book of this series, I definitely need to go back and read the other two.

Julie, a high school basketball coach, is astonished when her ideal and favourite basketball player (Elle Cochrane) turns up to one of her practices. With a vacant spot on the coaching team, Elle seems like the perfect candidate to fill the spot. Yet, Elle’s mission is to forget the sport she once loved and focus on looking after Vanessa the teenage who has been placed in her care.

I adored the plot, but the characters were definitely my favourite part. They were so honest, relatable and wonderfully queer. I adored reading and experiencing such diverse characters with so many representations. I particular enjoyed Julie discovering who she is and her struggling with defining herself with a label. Julie and Elle were so wholesome and I adored how they wholly supported one another.

𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑨 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑳𝒖𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

🏀 Fake Dating
🏀 Dual POV
🏀 Mental Health Rep
🏀 Chronic Pain Rep

Thank you NetGalley, Headline and Anita Kelly for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a spectacular book from the offset, had me hooked from the very first chapter I love love love this book so much. Amazing amazing job from ther 🩷🩷

I adored this. Full of some gorgeous and raw relatable moments that had me wondering if Anita had hacked into my brain. There are some great tender moments and also some really hot scenes – and some that are a perfect blend of the 2. I loved the showing of Julies inexperience but with that encouragement from Elle making it realistic and beautiful. I loved Julie’s journey and the portrayal of it being ongoing and not immediately solved by her gaining a girlfriend. All the representation in this – depression, migraines, and the queer rep were handled with care and were beautifully written. I loved getting more Ben and Alexei (I still need to read Love and Other Disasters but we get plenty London and Dahlia too)
A wonderful read that I would absolutely recommend.
4.5*

I picked this book up because I really like Anita Kelly's writing style. I find her books very easy to read and enjoyable at the same time. This book was no exception.

We have a story full.og diverse and interesting characters. We also have imdught into living with chronic migraine which I found both insightful and informative, and mental health issues were also touched upon with empathy and much though.

A queer romcom with hidden depths

A solid 4 star read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

How You Get The Girl is a beautiful and heartwarming story. While the romance was cute, I just really enjoyed the character development both characters were going through and how much they learned about themselves. Immediately added Anita Kelly’s previous books to my TBR after finishing this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was an absolute delight! It's one feeling, picking up a book because the summary promises things you like, and then finding out that the premise is executed masterfully. The dynamics between the leads felt so fresh and authentic, the romance hot, and I appreciated how the setting came to life as well. Julie and Elle's relationship was so believable in how it developed, both characters were fleshed out and made it so easy to root for their happiness. The book touched quite sensitively on the matters concerning parenting, mental health, sexuality and gender identity -- which added the texture of maturity to it, which I appreciated. It wasn't soapboxy, it just felt authentic.

Honestly can't wait to dig into the backlog of this author! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book.

This was an absolute delight! I requested it on a whim because I love sapphic sport romances but this was so wonderful!

The romance between Julie and Elle builds so nicely and I just adored the way different struggles were represented i.e. Julie's sexuality, Elle's mental health - particularly the way it briefly touched on the mental health of athletes (though there could have been a little more of this), fostering children, gender identity. It just felt like such a well-rounded book that touched on so many important issues while still being a fairly light-hearted romance. I definitely need to check out some of Anita's other books.

Thank you to Netgally and Headline Eternal for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a wonderful queer romance with adoring characters and a lovely premise. I had a lot of fun with this one and enjoyed the important and difficult topics discussed throughout!

Anita Kelly continuously creates such wonderful queer stories with incredibly three dimensional and relatable characters. I love how so many important and varying topics are explored in her novels and how in this one in particular it doesn’t shy away from some very real and hard topics whilst still bringing us a lovely sapphic story to enjoy.

This was spectacular! I loved it so so much! Sapphic romance, a high school basketball coach (Julie) ends
up with her high school crush and idol as her co-coach (Elle), who is an ex-WNBA player. We get practice dating, we get lots of queer joy, excellent character development! I've never related to a character more than I have to Julie. I love when that happens!! Highly recommend this one!

I absolutely loved Anita Kelly’s last book - Something Wild and Wonderful - so I have been eagerly waiting for this one and it was so worth the wait. There’s something about Anita’s books that’s so honest, comforting, and deeply personal, like they were written for just you; they feel like a warm hug and this one was no exception. I loved it so much!

Julie.. what can I say about Julie. I love her so much and felt so much of her pain and uncertainty. I just wanted to give her a hug! It was so lovely to see her fall in love with Elle. At the beginning of the book, she was clearly bothered by the fact that she didn’t know how to label her sexuality. She thought she might be on the ace spectrum but wasn’t sure. By the end of the book, she still doesn’t know but there is one thing she is sure of: she loves Elle and that’s what matters. I think what Julie was feeling is fairly common, not just when it comes to sexuality in general, but specifically about the ace spectrum, which can be overwhelming, and I really liked the message that while labels can be very helpful and comforting, they are not 100% necessary and you’re not less queer for not being able to label yourself. The fact that Julie’s sexuality was never explicitly confirmed really highlights this and I really appreciated that detail.

And Elle - I really liked her journey. At the beginning of the book, she was struggling with being a foster parent and unsure of how to deal with Vanessa. She also had a lot of things from her past that she had never truly dealt with and it was Julie coming into her life and her subsequently joining the basketball that ultimately allowed her to deal with these ghosts, helped her form a stronger bond with Vanessa and, of course, find her happy ending with her person.

I loved how much they loved and cared for each other (even when they were just “practicing”). Julie and Elle were so good together - I honestly lost count of how many times I found myself smiling at my Kindle. More than their chemistry, it really was their emotional connection and the way they just wanted each other to be happy that really did it for me.

I also loved the way the author explored themes of friendship. With everyone around her in happy relationships after finding their people, Julie often felt left out and realised that while her friends and family still loved her, she might not be the first one they call when something happens and while she was obviously happy for them, that still hurt. Similarly, there were some nice conversations about family and it was lovely to see how both Elle and Julie had so much support from their loved ones.

If you’re looking for a beautiful sapphic that will give you butterflies, definitely check this one out!

4.5/5 Stars

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

*eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

this was one of the most beautiful books i've read and i'll be thinking about it for a long time!!!! like with kelly's last book, it felt like a hug - i'd have to sum it up with the word 'kind' and i was especially moved at how kind it was to teenagers, which was so healing to read. the novel's celebration of the small things of life, and of local life and community was really wonderful. i adore Snoozles so much and am very glad she was such an important part of the story.
honestly i have never felt as represented by a character as Julie - i thought my relationship to sexuality was idiosyncratic and odd, but reading Julie's description of it felt like someone listed my feelings on the page. the mental health representation was brilliantly handled as well, particularly in depicting the ups and downs that occur within a depressive episode. the ending felt really satisfying for both characters whilst giving them space to develop more off-page, making the story feel very true to life.
also the return of previous characters was so delightful, i'm glad we saw closure for London and Dahlia, and Julie and Ben's interactions were so lovely. i'm going to reread this whole series now and i absolutely can't wait.