Buy: Amazon
Review
3 stars
The first book in Ana Huang’s Gods of the Game series, this is a brother’s rival, forbidden-ish, soccer/football romance that is steamy and emotional. It’s a solid read, though a little long and draggy – but it did enjoy watching these two fall so hard for each other.
Asher Donovan is one of England’s hottest soccer/football stars. He’s controversially moved to a new club and is having trouble gelling with his new team, and when his infighting with his captain leads to the club losing a championship, they are both put into off-season strength and agility training with a ballet dancer to teach them how to work together.
Scarlett is a former prima ballerina who lost her chance at a dancing career due to a devastating accident. She is mostly recovered, though lives with chronic pain, and she has thrown herself into teaching the dancing that she loves so much.
Asher is immediately smitten with Scarlett, but not only is she his trainer, she’s also the younger sister of his captain and biggest rival, Vincent. Things are awkward, until Vincent has to leave town and Asher and Scarlett are left to train alone for the summer, and all of that time together has them falling hard and fast.
It’s a good set-up, and I enjoyed the build-up, watching Asher win Scarlett’s trust and seeing their feelings for each other grow. The relationship develops well, and it’s sexy, sweet and emotional. But it’s just such a slow read!
At almost 600 pages, this is an unnecessarily long book. It’s slow moving with a lot of detail, and it drags a lot. I listened to it as an audiobook, and had trouble staying invested. I usually devour Ana’s books, this one just didn’t have the same pull. I liked the characters, and wanted them to get their happy ending, I just wish it had happened earlier.
I liked Asher and Scarlett as characters. They both some depth, issues from their past that they’re still dealing with, and there is some good character development. I liked how they open they are with each other and how they realistically worked to make their relationship work. I enjoyed meeting the girl crew and the guys on the team, who are all lots of fun, and who will feature in future books.
There is inevitable and predictable drama that works well to bring conflict to the story, and I was happy with how it ended. It just didn’t need to be as long as it was.
3 stars.
I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Shane East and Stella Hunter, and they do a great job bringing these characters to life. At almost 16 hours, it’s a long one to listen to, but probably easier to get through rather than reading.
Gods of the Game
The Striker (#1) (Asher & Scarlett)
Review
Buy: Amazon
The Defender (#2) (Vincent & Brooklyn)
Buy: Amazon
The Keeper (#3)
To be released 27 October
Pre-order: Amazon