3.25 ⭐️ Is it a sports romance if none of them actually play the sport?
Thank you Net Galley for the eARC!*

Both MCs are working for a College Basketball team. Annie is the Social Media Manager and Ben is an Assistant Coach (ex-player for the team). This book was good, but not great in my opinion.

There's a lot of back and forth between their shared past, and it makes things feel kind of like a second-chance romance, but not really, since they were never involved romantically. The build-up in the romance felt off like it was both too slow and too fast at the same time. For the majority of the first quarter of the book, we see them both struggle with each other -with him basically hating her on sight which is odd even after we know his "reasoning".

The second half of the book sort of saved it for me, but I can't say I'd go out of my way to recommend or reread this book. The writing didn't really pull me in, and it was hard at times to read about the FMC's struggles with being SA by their ex-coach (also major TW there, it's a big part of the plot).

What a debut ! i’ve read it in two days and I just love it! The banter was perfect and the characters were well developed under both the individual and the relationship aspect. I’m huge fan of a good slow burn so I simply loved the fact the they’re relationship was built step by step and game by game !

A slow start and one that almost makes you wonder if this will ever actually be a romance. Ben is quite a hard character to route for initially and when his anger at Annie for how she left is explained it seems a little extreme but as you get more detail of his character you start to see how important loyalty is and how this is key trait that Ben wants from those close to him.
Annie is fun but messy and there are clear reasons for this, the author, Jamie Harrow, has written this subject with care, intention and integrity. It is apparent this is not far from reality in the sports world in particular but in any environment. Whilst it is a key component to a romcom story line it is never glossed over nor minimised but it also doesn’t become something that the author rams down the throat or feel like the author is on their soap box.
The banter and slow burn romance is perfect and is something to make your heart swell and your smile grow with each chapter..
There was lots of friendship building and background put into this which maybe took some of the truly romantic elements coming through, which is not a bad thing but I just wanted more of them as a couple falling in love rather than being friends or being colleagues. Much of their story was probably too basketball focused.
Mostly though, I look forward to more from this author and recommend this book!

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley and provide and honest review

First off all, thank you to Quercus for reaching out to me to offer an advanced copy of One on One in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Jamie Harrow, as well.

After a very slow start, I did end up enjoying One on One quite a bit. I wasn't that keen on Ben as a character, I thought he was too rude to Annie for the little amount of information he even had and then he switched up on himself very quickly. I really liked Annie though, maybe because the book was all from her perspective, but her decisions and the way she acted felt a lot more realistic to me.

I thought the plot line surrounding why Annie left Ardwyn was so important and handled very well by Jamie Harrow. The latter half of the book where this became more prevalent was so much better than the beginning.

I devoured this book in one evening!

Annie returns to her alma mater after disappearing without a word 8 years earlier, and the reception she receives from one person in particular is a lot frostier than she ever dreamed it would be. And so begins a battle of wills and learning each other between Annie and the gorgeous, kind and wholesome Ben. But the secrets of her past keep the barrier up between them, and with jobs and hearts on the line, can it ever end well?

Ben and Annie's relationship built slowly, brick by brick, text by text, and game by game, and was sweetly sexy, making me smile to myself at certain moments, and frown everytime Annie pulled back or doubted herself.

I loved the style of this book, and the main characters were written with great sensitivity and realism - sexual harassment is such a tricky subject to portray and this covered it so well, I cannot wait to read more from this author.

i loveeee a sports romance and this one was so good!!!
basketball related romances are not one that i get to read a lot of so this was so fun and exciting for me, these characters had great chemistry and the storyline was really enjoyable for me

I love sports romance so thank you for the ARC!

I never read anything by the author before but I enjoyed this enemies to lovers which is my favourite trope. And I love basketball! So of course I enjoyed it.


But I also liked that it sensitively dealt with difficult topics. All in all, I loved this and would definitely read more by the author in the future.

Set around the sport of basketball, this is the coming together of enemies on the pitch, that blossoms into a tale of love and romance. I liked how it dealt with and highlighted some tricky topics along the way. Definitely recommend

This was a lovely blend of a heartwarming romance and important topics regarding problems happening behind the scenes in the world of sports.

Annie and Ben's story felt incredibly organic — from working together when they were young, over rivalry after reuniting that then turned into a heartfelt friendship, to lovers. Every part of their relationship was well developed, and all of their actions made perfect sense. I truly enjoyed their banter and the growth of their friendship. Both of them were well-crafted characters that fit together like puzzle pieces. The writing style is engaging, and the author did a nice job blending important topics into the story. The pressure young athletes experience, dealing with grief, finding yourself after a traumatic experience, growing up with an absent parent, sexual harassment, and more — all of them were done respectively, making the reader connect to these characters.

It's a wonderful debut book, and I can see myself reading new books by this author in the future! I would highly recommend this to everyone who loves important topics in their romance reads! However, beware that there are mentions and descriptions of sexual harassment.

This book grew on me and I appreciated the heavy topic of sexual harassment that was written and handled pretty well. I love the rivals to lovers trope in this book. I did feel like the ending of this novel was a bit abrupt and wish there was a bit more to it.

One on One absolutely suckered me in and I had to read it in one sitting! I cannot believe this is their first novel - the characters were complex, detailed and layered and the world built so nicely. At no point did I anticipate the next chapter and I felt like that kept it incredibly realistic. Sports romances can so often lose the balance between sports and romance, let alone when tackling heavier topics like assault; One on One balanced this perfectly to the point where even as a non-basketball interested person, I was invested in the game and the team.

This is a must buy for me and I will want to read every single book ever published by Jamie Harrow.

As much as I don't tend to learn towards sports romance, I am glad I gave One on One a chance. I find this one to be a solid debut novel and I would recommend it for someone who is looking for a good romance, with characters that complement and balance each other out. Although I thought this book was heading in a different direction at first, I was glad it was not the case. I found Ben and Annie's relationship to be refreshing and it was nice to see them giving each other space to deal with their emotions and what was happening. And contrary to what happens in the majority of books, the main characters were as good as the side kicks, giving the idea that everything was thought out to bring the best story to life.

This book talks about harassment in the workplace, so keep that in mind when you pick it up!

There is something about sports romances that calls to me. It was the same with this beautiful story. I was so invested that I read it on sitting.

It was so heartwarming and let me tell you, to keep me sat and reading is a real testimony to the story.

First of all, Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC of "One on One" by Jamie Harrow.

What can I saw, this cute little debut novel was the perfect enemies to loves, sports romance.
Although this book does deal with some very raw topics, I believe it was dealt with in a very tasteful way. This was the perfect blend of romance and spice, where neither outdo the other.

Such a good read and will definitely recommend

4 out of 5 stars!

This was such a fantastic, heart-warming and heartfelt debut novel.

I saw the category being a basketball romance and I knew I would enjoy it -I rarely read basketball romances-, but what made it better for me is that the two main characters were ''kind of'' a former basketball players but have now to work together again after not seeing each other since their last year of college.

I'm a sucker of romances that are about second chances or right person wrong time, those tropes make me feel so giddy and I love every single moment reading about them.

There has never been a moment while I read this book that I thought I should take a break from it, I was glued to it from the very start.

The elements and the vibes of this book has also reminded me of 'Head Over Heels' by Hannah Orenstein, which I read years ago and remembering enjoying it very much.

I can definitely see myself reading this book again in the future!

OMG, 𝑂𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑂𝑛𝑒 by Jamie Harrow is EVERYTHING! 😍 I couldn’t put it down! From the start, Ben was SO annoying, like seriously, I wanted to scream at him! 😤 But also… he’s 𝑠𝑜 hot, so how could I stay mad?? 🥵 It was impossible not to fall for him, even when he was being difficult. By the end, I was totally in love with him, like full-on heart eyes! 😍💘

This book had me feeling 𝑎𝑙𝑙 the butterflies! 🦋 There were so many moments that made me giggle out loud, and I was literally kicking my feet while reading! 😂 I was just smiling so hard the whole time. The way Ben redeemed himself and started to grow throughout the book? Ugh, SO GOOD. 💖 And the chemistry between the characters was 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔—I was screaming! 🙈

Honestly, Jamie Harrow just gets it. The writing is so fun and relatable, and the characters feel like real people. Their relationships are so real and sweet, and I was completely obsessed! 💕 If you want a book that makes you smile, laugh, and feel all warm inside, THIS IS IT! 📚✨

Huge thank you to Jamie Harrow for letting me read the ARC—I’m so thankful and absolutely loved every second! 🥰🙌

It was an ok read. Got a bit lost at times and not really into sport! Don’t think it was my kind of book, felt a bit ypung for me

Thank you to the publisher for the free copy form NetGalley.

One on one is a contemporary sports romance.

When I asked for it I didn´t think it will be all about basketball which is not one of my favourite sports but I still read it.

Annie is not happy to be back at her alma mater in her old job with the Ardwyn Tigers’ basketball team. Worse, her coworker from back in college, Ben Callahan, is still on the Tigers staff, and he’s annoyingly wholesome, hot, and clinging to a grudge against Annie for abandoning him and the team their senior year.

While they tell us all about the Ardwyn Tigers games, the office work and how Annie and Ben hate each other you can see some hot tension growing up between them. But it didn´t build it up for me.

For me the pace was quite slow. I had to skip reading some paragraphs when they talk about the past. Also the basketball games. A bit to long chapters for my likes. There were also quite a lot of characters in the book that I couldn´t connect with very vague details.

Although I didn´t feel it, the book covers some serious topics like sexual harassment and family lose so be aware.

This wasn’t bad for a debut book! There was a lot of miscommunication at the start of the book, and parts of the story were written in what was supposed to be a mysterious way, but actually just ended up being really confusing. The characters were a bit frustrating at time but overall, there was some good character development in the end. The story ended very abruptly. A proper epilogue would have been much better to have.

This is a chunky romance, by that I mean one with guys that are on the table from the very beginning. There is something in the air that filters I to the pages. The animosity, the jibes and somehow the crackling tension that you know is going the flame into life sooner rather than later, Ben and Annie aren’t quite will they, won’t they, but there is something there. They both knew so little about each other 7 years ago and now have the work together with all the misunderstandings of the past being fling into the bright light of day. A great read that kept me going till late in the night.