I loved the aspect of Chase’s story that we don’t normally see in a sports romance. Very interesting to see the male POV and have a bit of role reversal. The heroine stole my heart, as did the hero, which is typically rare for me. On most occasions, I typically love one character more than the other, but in this case, I absolutely love both of them. I loved Ty, adored Dallas, basically fell in love with Shiv and how good of a friend she is (as well as Noelle and Zara, absolute babes), strongly disliked Derek, absolutely despised Luke and Bailey’s old roommates (can’t be bothered to remember their names), wanted to rip Kristen’s hair off of her scalp, and I think that I’ve covered important.

They get together early, so early that I was truly concerned with where she would go with this because it was a big book. She could have taken out so much of them in their happy phase (especially since the break up is late and doesn’t last long) and focused more on developing the conflict.Chase was the star of the book for me. He’s funny, filthy, protective and honestly hot af. Everything else just felt very drawn out yet not quite fully flushed out. I still enjoyed it because I really do like character driven novels focused on the couple, and I’m down to try the next book in the series when it comes out. And binge-read this book is what I did. Chase and Bailey were... there was so much to them between the kind-of enemies-to-lovers; fake dating-ish; he falls first (God how I love that!); he's a tough guy but protective over- and sweet to her; she's so smart and beautiful... but Avery made them also so unexpected. While reading and simultaneously recommending this book, I described the writing as "crisp" because it felt so refreshing! Beyond that, the twists and turns, the chemistry of the characters, the depth of story and lives, the unexpected as well as the expected... I am straight-up fumbling with my words right now because I can't properly articulate what this book did for me. for Offside, which has the subtitle Rules of the Game #1. * 2021 Watty Award winner: Romance category. Offside (Wattpad Version) by Avery Keelan – eBook Details Following a string of scandals and substandard grades, Chase is on thin ice with his teammates and tyrannical coach. The last thing he needs is to have his focus and loyalty called into question by fraternizing with his team’s #1 competition, but a beautiful stranger who throws herself at him one night is too tempting to pass up… Until she throws up on his shoes. Following a string of scandals and substandard grades, Chase is on thin ice with his teammates and tyrannical coach. The last thing he needs is to have his focus and loyalty called into question by fraternizing with his team’s #1 competition, but a beautiful stranger who throws herself at him one night is too tempting to pass up...until she throws up on his shoes.

I also didn’t like how there were so many loose ends with Luke. Like wtf did he even want? He dumped her? Why was he stalking her, what was his motivation to split them up? More insight on that situation would have been good. Another thing was that I really wanted to see Christmas at the James family house, considering how that was a plot device 2/3’s into the book, but again I haven’t read the bonus chapters yet so it’ll probably be in there (fingers crossed).

After being dumped on her 21st birthday, Bailey James rebounds right into the arms of her ex’s biggest competition…