Kings of Football Book 1
This is a slow-burn story with an unconventional plot. River and Anastasia fall in love while she’s dating someone else. Not much happens at the beginning. Most of the story is told through flashbacks to give us the history between River and Anastasia. Because of this, the story takes a long time to get going, Ana is with the other guy for at least half of it, and there’s lots of yearning and self-denial from both Ana and River.
The only reason they didn’t get together when they first met was that River’s fraternity brother saw her first and due to house loyalty that means Ana’s off limits to anyone else in the fraternity for all time. Yeah, a bit hard to swallow, but it looks like the reader has to go with it.
However, the characters have some nice depth to them. River’s a college football star, fraternity president, and a genuinely nice guy. His frat house looks to him for advice etc. He’s also got learning difficulties with ADHD, dyslexia, and dyscalculia. His father died when he was a teen and his mum is battling cancer, but his football shot is looking less likely due to a poor season. Everything he’s got going on, as well as trying to hide his love for his friend’s girlfriend, adds to the angst and feels.
Ana longed for a stable home after being raised by bohemian parents who travelled a lot and left her with “friends”. I tried to pinpoint something else about her, but it was difficult. Ana is portrayed as almost perfect, everyone likes her, she loves everyone and tries to help them, and she’s got quirky fashion sense.
We’re told that River and Ana see each other for who they really are, but it’s difficult to agree because they’re only together (once she’s broken up with the other guy) for a couple of weeks. After such a long and drawn-out start, things seem to rush towards the end.
There’s a lot of angst in this due to River’s backstory, but the heat levels are low. It’s the smart girl who tutors the football star trope, except they’ve been in love with each other (despite being in denial) for ages before they get to the tutoring part.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heat: ⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
