First, thank you so much for an early copy to read!

This book was such an easy read, this is something that personally I really appreciate not everything has to be oversaturated with difficult language.

It was fun, it was refreshing to read a sports romance that focus’ mainly on a different sport. I’ve personally never read a book about cheer/tumbling etc before and I liked that, it was new!

I liked both of the MCs (which doesn’t always happen) but I LOVED that Hudson was a cat dad, sour was too cute. I think there was a pretty good representation of mental health and support between the main characters as well which was nice to see.

Overall I’d definitely recommend this book to others and would read other works by this author!

I struggled with this book, it never really gripped me. The characters felt fairly flat and one dimensional and the dialogue felt very forced and cliche. There was also a lot of technical talk around cheerleading which went over my head and I found myself skimming quite a bit of it, but maybe to an American reader, or someone familiar with cheering, it would be more interesting. The plot overall was ok, and Hudson becoming her cheer partner was a nice touch.

I’m sure there are folk who would enjoy this book, I’m unfortunately just not one of them.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

this was just a good book
very well written
my first book by the author
cant wait for my next rread by this author

Ella & Hudson ❤️
This is a new author to me and I really enjoyed this book. Will be looking into more of her books for definite!
I'm used to sports romance books not going into much depth in regard to the actual sports themselves, this was not the case with this book.
I have never read a book where the FMC was a cheerleader. I enjoyed that this book didn't only focus on the MMC playing sports and you got a look in to see how cheer leading works. I loved the relationship between Hudson & Ella and I really liked the side characters too. I love when the main character has a pet, especially when they are cheeky! More plot was needed and some more background into Ella's parents. A longer epilogue would top this book off as I would've loved to have seen what happened next. There was some spice and it was good but more in detail and frequently would've been good. Sourdough the cat was super cute and I love a funny troublesome pet!!

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Enjoyable, easy to read and refreshing!
Thank you Random House UK and Cornerstone for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I enjoyed this book at lot. I had trepidations to begin with as it started out feeling a little unbeliebale- I was worried the FMC would not be a believable Brit as she was studying at Oxford. It felt too picture perfect to begin with but I can honestly say that Ella is a very believable, likeable FMC that you root for from the very start.
Ella meets Hudson whilst studying abroad in America, looking to pursue her cheerleading hopes and dreams. After a not so great ex-boyfriend, Hudson feels like a breath of fresh air for Ella. It follows a lot of typical tropes and the story, in places, flows how you’d expect. This is a college sports romance. Ella is a talented cheerleader and Hudson a talented football star. Circumstances keeps bringing the pair together even if, at first, they are reluctant for anything to develop. Working through challenges and obstacles together allows their friendship and relationship to grow and flourish beautifully.
For a sports romance it doesn’t revolve around that too heavily and instead shows this pair as very honest young 20 year olds. They seem mature and wise for their age but still optimistic and dreaming of the future. They’re realistic and this is part of their charm. This book made me laugh and really hope they get a happy ending.
It’s a very easy read, telling some familiar tropes in its own unique way. I think Ki Stephens handled a popular genre with style and wrote something that feels new. Highly enjoyable book!

I really enjoyed this book at the start and I thought it was going to become my new favourite book of Ki’s but I got a little bored as it went on. There was a lot of story telling and repetition, and I found it frustrating that we’d be in the middle of a scene and then next paragraph would jump to a few days or weeks ahead! We didn’t get a whole lot of character development of either MC and I wish their back stories were explored deeper than they were. This one had so much potential but I think it missed the mark a bit on the execution.

Words cannot describe how brilliant this book was. It was such an easy read - the pages just flew by. I will be getting a physical copy when it comes out.

When I first heard about it on TikTok I was worried about how well the British FMC was going to be written because I am still scarred from reading a book where a character who was London through and through had a Scouse accent. I am pleased to say that Ella is Northern English (S.Yorks specifically) uni student approved.

I ADORED how the conflict didn’t include a third act break up and they had a proper conversation about it afterwards. Yay communication! Hudson had the most amount of realistic and relatable depth to him of any romance MMC I’ve read in a while. His trauma responses felt so realistic. He was so caring to everyone around him. He’s definitely a favourite book boyfriend now. Watching Ella rediscover who she was without her ex was beautiful.

The one thing I will say is that it could’ve done with having a trigger warning. It might just have been because I had an ARC and the author is currently working on adding one. The two main characters do sex acts in a public place (yes they weren’t seen, but that’s not the point) and any time there’s a character who is so obviously affected by trauma there needs to be a TW. Neither of these are personal triggers so not knowing about them didn’t affect my reading experience, but it may do of others.

Ella & Hudson ❤️
This is a new author to me and I will definitely read more of her books.
I really enjoyed the concept of the story, sometimes when reading a sports romance they don't really go into alot of description about the sports but I feel like this one did.
I enjoyed the cheerleading aspect as I've never read a book where the FMC was a cheerleader.
I loved the relationship between Hudson & Ella and I really liked the side characters too. Can't forget to mention Sourdough 😺 I love when the main character has a pet!
There was some spice and it was good but I would've preferred more in my personal opinion.
I do wish there was more of a backstory, especially with Ella's parents and also more of an epilogue as I would've loved to have seen what happened next.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and will definitely be reading more from this author!
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC.

Thanks to penguin( evermore) on netgallery for giving me the arc!! thank you for approving me - this is an honest review ( I still can’t believe I was given the opportunity to read this book early !!

I devoured this in one day !! ( it was so easy to read and so fun too. I love the mix of cheerleading and American football. I love how it’s not your usual cheerleader x quarterback . IN FACT ITS SO DIFFERENT!! In many ways .

This is my first ki Stephen’s book - before this her other latest book ( currently published ofc as of their review ) high hopes - also has me intrigued . THIS BOOK WAS THE PERFECT BOOK TO REad as my first book by this author .

I RARELY READ AMERICAN FOOTBALL ROMANCE im obviously more of a hockey romance girlie but ofc when I saw the beautiful cover of this book & saw it was available to request in NetGalley ( I had to request) I had to put in my interest anyway .

I want to start off by saying how pretty and beautiful the cover is ( it is so beautiful) like especially the uk cover I love that we have the purple colour on the font instead of the yellow one the us has !!

A us ( southern) quarterback x British cheerleader ( who is currently in the us for one year ). An mmc who … may or may not have in the past done cheer himself ( you need to read to find out . As a brit I love seeing British fmcs in books and it’s rare to see ).

One thing about this book is ( THAT the CHEerleaders and American football players aren’t meant to even fuck
Let alone date !! So this has some “forbidden aspect to some degree” . Not really but kinda

This book is fwb like DEEP END WAS ( however it has the emotional interactions and intimacy that that book missed . no hate to deep end ) I love Ali so much !! I really love ELLA AND HUDSON ALOT !!

I love the friendships in this book I love how Ella and ash are friends the same way Ella and gabi and Sammy are friends . I just love the friendships in books . I love Levi and Hudson’s friendship .

I have a prediction because idk if ki Stephens is planning on writing a second book but maybe it will be a book between Levi and Claire ??? Maybe . Kinda idk though .

This has a 3rd act breakup but tbh it didn’t piss me off . And the way it’s reconciled made sense and worked and didn’t feel like ott.

This was a lovely sports romance about Ella and Hudson.
Ella is fullfilling a dream of cheerleading in an American University whilst exploring a new part of the world with her boyfriend Jamie. Not all works out with Jamie but Ella decides this won't stop her so she lives her dream anyway. Ella is stubborn, witty and a force to be reckoned with in a good way. She has a loving passion for everything she does but she has learnt to not open her heart to anyone for risk of being hurt.
Along comes Hudson who has his own demons to deal with but he is a strong willed, loving and passionate soul who hasn't had the best time with his deadbeat father but his mother and brother are his light in his heart.
As these two learn to trust eachother feelings are developing and walls are being broken down.
It was lovely to join Ella and Hudson on their journey of trust and love for each other and become the missing link that the other needed to complete them.

This book has you wanting to read on and on and is written very descriptively and scenes are set well because of the amount of description used. This is the first book of Ki Stephens I have read and I cannot wait to read more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The way I was obsessed with this book and couldn't put it down was wild and I absolutely adored this story. Solid 4.5 stars for me, devoured in 1 day.

I didn't expect to fall in love with Ella and Hudson but here we are. Their relationship dynamic was so fun to see how it changed and developed and I was so happy with the friendship that emerged as it adds so much to their relationship. It was so nice to see the focus around trust and understanding within a relationship and seeing both characters begin to open up about their personal struggles was great to see done in such a natural way.

I was hesitant picking this up as I'm not always the biggest fan of college sports romances and the repetitive circumstances in them but this book was such a nice and refresh relief. It definitely is a sports romance at its core but didn't focus as much on the football aspect as many do and the drive for the mmc to make it to the NFL.

Overall this book is definitely a winner for me and highly recommend. I will be immediately finding more books written by Ki Stephens!

Oh how I loved Hudson and Ella!
These two were so special together. Whilst this is a college romance, they’re both 20/21 and mature for their ages.
Were there a few plot lines that I’d have liked a little more depth on? Absolutely, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this story at all.

Cheerleader Ella moves to the States for a year from Oxford to study abroad and is suddenly single. She meets Hudson on her first night there and their chemistry is off the charts from that first meeting. I loved seeing how their relationship progressed and how they worked through their challenges. I was smiling throughout and thoroughly enjoyed this book. My first by Ki Stephens and it certainly won’t be my last!

Huge thanks to the author and NetGalley for this ARC.

It took me a little while to get into this book but once I did I literally couldn’t put it down. I love Ella and Hudson together. I do feel like I would have liked to known more about their backstories and also life after the epilogue too. But I loved their relationship and honestly the side characters were amazing too! I wish I could keep on reading their story!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC!

This was a pretty fun, easy read and a great palette cleanser between more dense books!

Ella is on a study abroad year to Whitland University in Nashville, with her normal university being in Oxford. She's on the cheer team in her home university, and she'll be joining the prestigious Whistland cheer team whilst abroad to experience American cheerleading in all its glory. Her aim? Daytona and hopefully winning with her temporary adopted team.

She ends up in a situationship with Whitland's star quarterback player, Hudson Fox. You might expect Hudson to be the usual braggadocious American football player that we usually read about - the college ones, in particular, have a huge ego. But Hudson is very much NOT that. He has a cat (which makes him amazing anyway), and he's very loyal to his friends and kind to others. He also has plenty of baggage that he's still working through, and football isn't the only thing he cares about.

Ella and Hudson keep coming together, despite their attempts not to, and their lives begin to intertwine more in things outside the bedroom.

I found both Ella and Hudson to be realistically written early 20s characters - they've got hints of childishness still, but they've also got their eye on the future. They're also very aware of money and social standings, with both of them having to work hard to achieve what they have. I love Hudson's cat, Sourdough, and his friends were equally great. None of them were toxic - Levi was lovely, and I'd interested to read a story focusing on him as well.

Ella's friends weren't really as visible - Gabi popped up occasionally, and Luke and Ash played prominent roles but I still knew more about Levi than I did them. Not that I minded!

Overall, a great book with plenty of romance and some spice to top it all off!