This book needs some heavy editing. There were times I needed to reread for clarity and the plot felt underwhelming at best. I love sport romances any other time.

The characters were alright but I struggled to relate and they personally lacked depth. I felt their chemistry didn’t quite make its way out of the pages and fell short. Overall, it was still entertaining.

I received this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As a huge fan of sports romance, I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The storyline felt underwhelming, and I struggled to connect with the characters. While I appreciate the effort, it just didn’t deliver the excitement and chemistry I look for in a great sports romance.

This sounded spectacular, but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. Mainly I struggled with the writing style. There was a multiple times that I needed to go back and re-read to fully understand what the author was trying to say. This really took away from the reading experience.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was a refreshing and captivating experience, and I found the writing to be both engaging and accessible. The story flowed smoothly, making it easy to stay connected to the plot and characters without feeling lost or overwhelmed. The author struck a perfect balance, keeping things interesting while still making the content feel approachable. Overall, it was a wonderful read, and I would definitely recommend it to others who are looking for an enjoyable and easy-to-digest book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. Lily and Tate haven’t spoken in eight years since their devastating break-up in college. Lily, now working at a security firm, is assigned to the protection detail of none other than the now famous pro football player Tate, who has been receiving worrisome threats. Spending all their time together, and posing as fiancés causes old feelings to resurface and leaves Tate and Lily wondering if they actually hate each other like they claim.

There were several things I enjoyed about this book. First of all I enjoyed the unique twist on the classic bodyguard romance where the female main character is the bodyguard to the male main character. I also liked the flashbacks we got into Tate and Lily’s relationship for college. I thought the book was well paced and the last third of the book was action packed and I could not put it down.

However, there were two main critiques I had of the book. My main problem with the book was that it was very lusty and while I believed the characters sexual chemistry, I never really saw or felt their emotional chemistry and connection. Personally, I romance books with some smut that can show characters building trust and furthering their relationship and but in this book it felt like smut for the sake of smut, which is personally not what I’m looking for in my romance books. The language used when talking about sex and attraction is very crude, throughout the whole book not just sex scenes, and made me think the smut was more about lust than love. My other critique is Tate and Lily supposedly hate each other for the way their relationship ended but I felt they started to get along and let each other in almost immediately.

Overall this was a solid romance book that I would recommend to certain readers. Fans of hate to love, second chance romance, and the reverse bodyguard trope who don't mind lots of spice should check this book out!

Thank you to the publisher One More Chapter, NetGalley and author Cassie Connor for this eARC

So maybe I wasn't in the right headspace when I read this as I wasn't feeling particularly romantic, but here goes my review anyways...

I liked the idea and set up of the novel -the gender swapped bodyguard and the second chance romance. Unfortunately it fell a little flat for me.
While I liked Lily as a character she didn't feel very believable as a seasoned/knowledgeable bodyguard as she misses and overlooks a lot of very basic and obvious security holes/flaws.
Our MMC Tate was kinda basic and kinda added nothing to the relationship, which kinda tracks
(told u I might not have been in the best mood for a romance).
And don’t get me started on the ending with the whole b**b situation…
I liked the book and enjoyed Connors writing but I would have preferred an ending where Lily realised she IS the endgame, left her mediocre ex behind and went back to her life as a badass.
3.0 stars

An overall good story about a cheerleader and a jock and their relationship together. I wouldn't necessarily say the situations surrounding the characters was entirely believable, but it was still a story I was engaged with nonetheless. Clear warning though - the spice is spicing for sure!

Nice read that got me all the chills
Mystery x romance

Read this if you like
🏈 second chance
🏈bodyguard x football star
🏈fake engagement

The Big Game - Cassie Connor 🏈

This is a light room-com, with enemies to lovers/second chance romance.

Although this seems to be a sports book, honestly there wasn’t all that much about football, this was very much a B plot of the story.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a huge hit for me, I found the characters kind of one dimensional and didn’t really give me any reason to really believe their chemistry. The ending felt really rushed too.

If you’re looking for a lighthearted book,loosely centred around football with some spice, you might enjoy this.

For a sports romance, this one doesn't involve much sport at all and who knew I'd miss that element? It would have been great to see more of Tate in an athletic environment as it's such a big part of his life, but we see so much of him outside that - his gym sessions, professional events, etc - and I was disappointed! That being said, I liked the concept of this book and was intrigued to see these ex-lovers, now enemies, interact and experience the forced proximity required for Lily to protect Tate. All in all though, I wasn't wowed by this book. While I know this is fiction, there were still too many gaps for me, as though the plot had been fit into a box with no thought for how it might stand up in the real world. I also didn't like Tate - he really doesn't think about how his words or actions affect Lily, in the past or present. It made it too difficult to really root for them both as a couple. This does sound really negative, but overall it was fine for an easy read and it wasn't so much that I didn't enjoy it, there were just a few key things that knocked the rating for me.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁: This book really surprised me, in a good way. I thought I was signing up to read a football romance but it was so much more. It was basically an action packed romcom. There was always danger lurking around the corner, it made for a very fast read. I just had a few open questions at the end a few to many plot holes. Definitely would recommend as the vibes on this one is there, it was such a fun take on this genre.

It was a the big college championship game. Tate was the star player about to be drafted to the NFL and Lily was a cheerleader, they were in love. But things are never that simple. Lily received a call after the game her father had a heart attack and she had to get back to England ASAP. She went to go find Tate, and she overheard him talking to his dad. Tate’s dad reminded him he needed to end things with her, he could only have one focus: football. So Lily did the only thing her heart could handle she left and never looked back.

10 years later and Lily just walked back into Tate’s life. She has been working for MI6 and is now working the private sector as bodyguard. She was brought into guard a player for the Austin Armadillos as they are receiving death threats against him unless they pull him from the upcoming Super Bowl. Lily had no idea the player was her Ex Tate and that she would be prosing as his fake fiancée- this job got a lot more challenging.

To make it worse Tate isn’t taking the threats seriously and doesn’t want his security to interfere with his ability to train and prepare for the biggest game of his life. Plus he’s pissed at Lily for ghosting him and breaking his heart all those years ago. But things escalate faster and faster and soon there is a lot more at stake than Tate’s life and playing the game.

𝑭𝒂𝒗 𝑸𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆: “ Lily, football is football, but you... If I don't have you in my life, none of it is worth anything! “ - Tate

𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒅:

* Bodyguard FMC (She Worked for MI6)
* NFL Superstar MMC
* Second Chance
* Fake Engagement
* Then and Now
* Forced Proximity
* Death Threats Against MMC
* Suspense & Action
* Dual POV
* Lot of Spice

🏈🔥🔫💍 🏈🔥🔫💍 🏈🔥🔫💍 🏈🔥🔫💍🏈

Another winner!

Cassie Connor is now one of my favourite authors to look out for, her books have a great storyline with really developed characters which become totally encapsulating, not forgetting more spice than vindaloo!

A great comfort read that had fantastic witty charm and banter between the characters. It was well written with great flow and dialogue. I am happy to have found a new author and look forward to read more from them in the future.

I enjoy reading about Lilly and tate. This was a quick read for me, but it was an adorable book. It was definitely sassy and spicy! I enjoy reading Elle Kennedy and Meghan Quinn , and now I can add Cassie Connor to that list! There was times that I was laughing so much that I felt like I was crying. I defintely reccomend this book!

3.5 stars.

Lily and Tate dated in college, but a few mishaps occur and they don't see each other for eight years. The next time they meet is when Lily takes on the role of Tate's bodyguard / fake fiancée after a series of threats he's received.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The characters’ banter and dialogue was easy to read, with a few exceptions.

What made me ultimately deduct a star was that was no epilogue and that there were a few scenes, especially at the beginning, involving one of the characters Pammie that felt confusing and hard to place. Also, I found not all plot points to be wrapped up by the end of the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A good book you cant help but not love, Yes another sports romance but sports is in so make do. I am thankful I got to the opportunity to read this

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A fun second chance sports romance!

It’s been years since Tate shattered Lily’s heart. Now he’s a high profile NFL player and Lily’s latest security assignment. Sparks fly when these two reconnect.

I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining and filled with action packed scenes. Definitely a little different than other sports romances I’ve read, but I really liked it!


📘: The Big Game by Cassie Connor
🗓️: January 16, 2025

Thank you to NetGalley, Cassie Connor, and Harper Collins UK for this ARC!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

*Reviewed on NetGalley, Amazon, and Goodreads.

I was really excited for the premise of this book but sadly it fell short for me. I found it overall to have a bit too much of a juvenile feel. The characters were meant to be adults who met in college but it had a real high school feel to it I couldn’t get past. The plot was a fun idea but again I think the execution felt a bit too far fetched and nothing ran deep enough. I’ve loved some of her past books but this one just wasn’t for me sadly.

I had high hopes for this one because I thought it would be a really cool reverse gender The Bodyguard second chance romance, but I ended up DNF at around 35% then skipped to the last few chapters.

Too many plot holes. He's a Texan NFL player but a lot of action in New York. Theyre both 28 and she's been retired from MI5 (!!!) for a few years? The ending was ludicrous and disappointing given we're supposed to have a heroine who was in MI5 and highly trained.

Also, why can’t British writers write about characters in their own country without pandering to the worst of the American market? The male POV was just full of his dick twitching. The author admits not knowing NFL, but didn't even really demonstrate any research into a NFL team.

The writer has promise but this needed more work.

Thanks to One More Chapter/Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for the ARC.

⭐️ 3/5 🌶 2/5

‘Only good girls get what they want.’ He pushes me back against the tiles and changes his hold on my arms, forcing them higher above my head. ‘Are you going to be a good girl?’

Um... ok, sir 🥵

Lily & Tate were high school sweethearts, until they were separated and heartbroken. Their reunion is an odd one now that he is a professional NFL player and she is a bodyguard of all things (hear me out, I thought this was going ti be weird but I liked the roll flip).

This was a fun, enjoyable, and quick read with a good balance of yearning, lust, romance, humour and tension to keep you burning through pages.

Were there some pacing and general storyline flaws? Yes. But it didn't make it bad. It's comparable to a Netflix RomCom. I had a good time and enjoyed it.

♡ Enemies to Lovers
♡ Second Chance
♡ NFL Sport Romance
♡ Protective and Possessive MCs
♡ Banter & Whit
♡ Spice
♡ Push & Pull