Bitter sports rivalries and swoon-worthy romance intertwine, in Karole Cozzo’s classic enemies to lovers story where two former nemeses blur the lines between love and hate. Eve is used to being the odd woman out. As the only girl on her school’s baseball team, she knows exactly how to put sweaty, macho baseball players in their place, and she’s learned to focus on one thing and one thing … and one thing only–being the best pitcher she can be.
But when a freak accident forces her school to be absorbed by the neighboring town, Eve has to contend with a new group of guys who aren’t used to having a woman on their team. And the new team’s star pitcher, Jamie, has no interest in being ousted from his throne. He can’t afford to give up his starting slot to a new pitcher–especially to a girl.
As the competition between Jamie and Eve starts to heat up, so does their attraction to each other. Can they keep their heads in the game, or will they end up getting played?
Chosen by readers like you for Macmillan’s young adult imprint Swoon Reads, The Game Can’t Love You Back follows Eve as she is forced to join a new baseball team and contend with the insufferable (and cute) rival pitcher.
Praise for Karole Cozzo:
How to Keep Rolling After a Fall:
“This is how a Young Adult novel is done. ” –Teamskelley, Goodreads Reviewer
How to Say I Love You Out Loud:
“A budding romance with family drama and a feel-good ending.” —School Library Journal
The Truth About Happily Ever After:
“A great, fun read that you’ll find hard to put down.” —Kourtni Reads
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My favorite Karole Cozzo book to date, and the title, THE GAME CAN’T LOVE YOU BACK, might be the most perfect title ever — it perfectly sums up the themes of the story. When Eve’s high school suffers a freak accident, she and the rest of her Bulldogs are forced across town to attend school with the rival Pirates. And the school rivalry is only the beginning of her issues. As the only girl in a family of boys, Eve’s mom told her if she wanted to play sports, she’d play with her brothers, because she didn’t have time to start carting a child off to girls’ sports as well. So Eve plays baseball, not softball. Problem is, the boys’ baseball team at her new school doesn’t want her anymore than she wants to be there, particularly rival pitcher, Jamie. Jamie is all smooth lines and cocky smiles, everything Eve despises. Eve glares far more than she smiles and has an attitude to match, everything Jamie despises. So of course these two enemies are fated to become something more.
Plot
The story is about Eve and Jamie on and off the mound. Their romance is the main focus, but with both of them vying for the Cy Young award at the end of the season, there’s no way things in the primary plot are going to go smoothly. With Eve’s stubborn need to prove she’s one of the boys and Jamie quiet determination to prove she’s more than that means there’s plenty of conflict. There’s also Jamie’s history as a player, Eve’s inexperience in that area, jealous girls who see Eve as a rival, and an unwillingness to allow their relationship to come under the scrutiny of their teammates, meaning their tender relationship is clandestine at best. Cozzo executes all of this with moments of laugh-out-loud humor and even a few that made me tear up.
The Characters
I absolutely adore Eve. She’s a refreshing departure from many female protagonists I’ve read lately. She’s complex and relateable, tough, determined, but with a vulnerable streak she wishes she didn’t have. I love her naivete with a solid streak of street smarts that makes her anything but typical. Jamie has a lot more baggage that drives him, but his walls crumble around Eve, making him vulnerable in his own ways. Eve is ultimately torn between what she wants on and off the field, and her growth comes when she figures out what matters most in life. The other characters are mostly minor players, a supporting cast that basically exist to prop up the main characters. They do their job without coming across as too flat.
Top Five Things I Loved About THE GAME CAN’T LOVE YOU BACK
1. First kisses. One of the all-time best first kisses in the history of young adult fiction.
2. Eve. I loved her stubborn streak, her need to win, the way she doesn’t care about dresses or makeup. She was so easy to relate to.
3. Baseball. I’m a big fan of the game and the way it was woven into the story got me even more fired up to watch my sad Padres this season.
4. Witty banter. Eve and Jamie had some of the best lines in the book when they were baiting each other. The dialogue was one of my favorite parts of the book.
5. Jamie. He was perfectly flawed in all the best ways to make him a natural fit for Eve.
Bottom Line
A fantastic young adult sports romance with fabulous characters and sizzling dialogue.
The reason I got this book was because I also am a girl who plays baseball, so I saw a connection their, and I just love reading a good wholesome sappy book. I give the author credit for making this story, it seemed very real-to-life. Their is an average amount of language for a YA book, and their are some indecent parts in the book, but overall it is an ok book.
4.5 – Heartwarming, Cute, and Incredibly Inspiring
I think I’m slowly warming up to sports themed books and might just be my newest obsession. I didn’t really care for them that much before since I’m not into sports, but the books I’ve read in the past few months were pretty darn good. The Game Can’t Love You Back by Karole Cozzo was no exception and I enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. I even had tears in the end and couldn’t stop smiling and swooning.
Enemies to lovers stories are just the absolute the best. I love the angst, the tension, the bantering, the build-up, and of course the romance. Karole Cozzo did fantastically and managed to create a genuine, realistic, and believable story about two rivals who end up falling for each other. Eve and Jamie totally had me going crazy with all the FEELS and I loved it! From their not so nice insults to their adorably cute bantering, they made me gush and root for them. I thought their story was beautifully written and devloped with plenty of sweet moments and swoony kisses.
Eve and Jamie were so frustrtingly cute together and their chemistry was amazing. They were both incredibly competitive and did not give up too easily. Eve was fiesty and ridiculously stubborn, but also incredibly hard-working, dedicated and smart. Jamie had a reputation of being a player and was sometimes a jerk, so it took a while to win me over. However, by the end of the book, I can honetly say that he’s more than earned his place in my heart. Underneath all his bravado, Jamie actually had such a big heart and was really a sweet guy. Together they were kind of a mess, but also pretty darn perfect.
The Game Can’t Love You Back was a heartwarming and delightful story about acceptance and taking chances. It’s funny and cute, but also genuine and wonderfully inspiring. I loved the writing, the characters and the crazy bantering that went from horribly sour to sugary sweet. This was definitely a home run for me and I cannot wait to read more books by Cozzo.
I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for participating in a Blog Tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.