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lambsbooks 's review for:
The Long Game
by Elena Armas
“I want you to let go and show me how fucking bright you burn."
Excuse me while I swoon.
I was surrounded by…nature…There were birds chirping.
Leaves rustling.
Wind gusting.
Silence.
I hated it.
When the sharply dressed, city girl Adalyn is forced to move to a small town in North Carolina after embarrassing the soccer team her father owns, she meets Cameron, the grumpy, retired soccer star who’s hiding out. And by meets, I mean she runs him over with her car. We love a meet-cute. 😂Also, there may have been an elusive rooster involved.
"That all of this was my fault in the first place so I didn’t think I had the right to complain."
This was such a fun, and funny, read! Adalyn was such a well-developed character that you could *feel* her insecurities, anxiety, and panic that stemmed from her dirtbag dad and ex. I love a book where you feel the mental health issues instead of one where you’re *told* about the mental health issues. I can connect with the character more that way. She was always trying to please everyone, even at the sake of her own happiness. Every time her ex and her dad were on the page, I wanted to reach in and punch them in their little, sexist faces. The funny moments throughout the book were top-tier, I am not a fan of most romances if there is no funny.
“I could take you.” Her voice turned into a whisper. “I think.”
“You think? That’s not very threatening,” I muttered.
Cameron was the absolute perfect grumpy, gruff, tattooed, sport-man. ATHLETE. That’s the word I was looking for! God. Anyway, you don’t find out until near the end why Cameron is hiding out in the middle of nowhere, and while it was a little disappointing, it didn’t ruin the fact that he was so great. His love for his two cats and his fear, or distrust, of small goats (or, I guess he also didn’t like normal-sized goats) was endearing. Did I mention he is covered in tattoos? Maybe I should mention it again?
“I was not looking at you.” I whispered, cheeks flaming.
“You were, and my ego fucking loved it.” He braced his hands on the island and leaned forward. “Other parts of me, too”
Brandy, the blind, anxious goat, was my favourite character. She was perfect.
“Do you always have to be so unpleasant?” I retorted.
The girls oooh-ed.
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Do you plan on bringing anything but trouble into town?”
The girls aaah-ed.
The girl's soccer team was adorable and a fun little thing for the main characters to, eventually, bond over. The fact that half of the stuff that came out of their mouths made Adalyn and Cameron just blankly stare at them was gold.
“Try to ignore it. Close your eyes. Look away. Maybe go away.”
Overall, an absolutely adorable book with funny moments, sad moments, spicy moments, and everything moments.
“You were looking at me the way you are now. Just like that. I didn’t want it to end.”
“Like what?”
“Like I’m something precious. Worth looking at.”
His face fell. “Why would you think otherwise?”
“Because no one ever looks at me that way.”
Thank you so so much to the author and Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me my first physical ARC!! Ahh!