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Even knowing that they play the same position and Phoebe could replace Grace, that's never an actual serious contender of a situation for it to qualify as a rival situation. i wanted to love this one because i have been dying to find a sapphic romance to gush over but this was a total miss for me.

I've really been into queer sports romances recently and I think this is an exquisite example of the genre and all the wonderful tropes and niches and dynamics that can be explored within it. Because of the writing, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and struggled to immerse myself in their relationship. Some of Meryl's favorite things include: all four seasons, button down shirts, the way giraffes run, and their wife. bc, i also haaaaaaaated mistakes were made, and a LOT of my hatred re: that book rested on cassie's shoulders. I know that there's a couple with the baby, there's the asshole ex-girlfriend, and there's a non-binary goalie but that's it.bc unlike cassie (who was straight up an asshole, a terrible friend, an imature partner, and a cocky dick) phoebe WAS actually a kind person. We also use them to help detect unauthorized access or activity that violate our terms of service, as well as to analyze site traffic and performance for our own site improvement efforts.

The fact that this was talked about with a secondary character and they were like yeah sure go ahead they're just going to know how much you care about them. I loved how this was represented, for them as individuals learning more about how they tick and for the two as a couple figuring out how to love each other well. Even after they start their friends-with-benefits relationship, they both just really like one another and wish for more (if only they would’ve actually talked sooner. Don't get me wrong, I like a character-centric story as much as the next gal, but not when the author dictates it to me through direct character thoughts. Like actually upset that Phoebe wasn't flirting with her anymore and was showing someone else attention.The writing was OK and the characters were OK (though neither carried weapons or had martial arts training) and……then at some point I realized this was a super sweet story and I was enjoying it and wanted to see what would happen. There are so incredibly many instances of "Grace does this", "Phoebe likes that", "She's always been great at this". Phoebe is everything Grace isn't - a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace has lost somewhere along the way. I was pleasantly surprised by the two women and their specific personalities as they kept their professional lives separate from their personal issues. Making a doctor's appointment for someone that you are not in some sort of serious relationship with seems like such a boundary crossing thing to me.

Initially Grace definitely had a “You kids get off my grass” type of vibe but Phoebe never gave up and as Grace changed so did I the reader.But when she’s side-lined with an injury at just 26, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot. This novel makes use of the miscommunication trope in a way that’s frustrating and delightful; when the two finally get on the same page by the end of the novel, I was smiling and satisfied. The point of this little paragraph is that I was confused a few times, and I wish that the soccer stuff were either explained more, or glossed over more.

While the friends with benefits is pretty fast, the actual relationship development is pretty slow burn. there is no actual rivalry whatsoever unless you count grace just having impenetrable walls of trust issues as rivalry? I get that these sort of thought patterns could be due to their conditions, but for my part, the author took it too far. The misunderstandings were a not altogether annoying plot device as they were caused by their respective neurodivergencies, so no complaints there.Wilsner's writing immediately draws you in and makes you feel every single emotion the characters experience. By the end though, the characters had won me over and I was fully behind their new-found open communication and expression of tenderness. Grace despite only being 26 has been playing professionally for 10 years and Phoebe has a massive crush on her.