Like many people I discovered rugby through social media and players like Ilona Maher. When I saw this author promoting a rugby romance I jumped at the chance to join the ARC team. When it comes to sports romances I tend to stick with hockey and baseball romances, so I couldn’t wait to learn some new sports terms and get a sneak peak at what life as a player or coach might be like. 

If you’re newer to the sport of rugby like I am, I don’t want you to feel overwhelmed by the plethora of rugby terminology. There’s a very helpful glossary in the beginning of the novel, and honestly in context a lot of the new terms made sense regardless. 

This romance is adorable, quirky, sweet, spicy, silly, and at times pulls at your heartstrings. I spent most of my time reading this novel with a huge smile on my face, even laughing out loud at a few different scenes due to our characters’ silly banter and antics on and off the field. Robyn is a women’s rugby player who is rising to celebrity status due to her social media presence. Isaiah was a professional men’s rugby player who met Robyn while they were both in college, and is about to become her newest coach after he sustains a career ending injury. Dell is their personal trainer who may or may not be in love with both of them, despite his steadfast rule to never date his clients.

Through different chapter POV’s, and even some flashbacks, we get to go back in time and watch Isaiah and Robyn meet through their college teams. We also get to see a flashback of how Dell and Robyn met before he became her personal trainer. I loved these additional layers to their stories that truly laid the foundation beautifully for the epic love story that eventually culminates in the present. 

While all three characters are out and comfortable with their sexuality, none of them had ever entered into a polyamorous relationship before. They each had to consider how their love life would affect each of their careers as well as their personal lives, before deciding to go public. There was great lgbtqia+ representation in this book, including another throuple (mentioned but never physically introduced), a handful of additional lesbian characters, and of course bi representation via our two main male characters Dell and Isaiah. 

In addition to great queer diversity Isaiah also speaks to our characters in Spanish a few times, with full sentences being translated to both Spanish and English throughout the novel. We met the families of all three of our main characters which again added a lot of depth and dimension to who they were and informed how they interacted with others.

Robyn is known for her body positivity online, with her strong physical features and her willingness to express her femininity through clothes and makeup. Unfortunately her parents continuously tear her down in what they believe are misguided attempts to build her up. Dell’s family are extremely welcoming, with a few major secrets of their own, while Isaiah’s family was torn apart by his mother’s death when he was a child. 

While a majority of this novel is light and entertaining, there are understandable undercurrents of grief as Isaiah deals with his mother’s death. There are also discussions regarding revenge porn, and verbal abuse from parents as we get to know these characters on a deeper level. Aside from the major inciting incident and resulting conflict in the third act, I had a ton of fun with this book and these three characters. This was a sweet (but please don’t forget…spicy) story that I could see a ton of readers enjoying. Whether they’re fans of rugby, or simply fans of polyamorous romances, this book has a little something for everyone.