I knew I’d ruffle feathers, but the day I walked into Rockport High, I had no idea the cheap shots that were to follow.You see, the Ballers and I have a history. They play basketball. I play basketball. But they hate that I play basketball as good as them. And the only thing they hate more than that, is me.That’s right. I’m a girl, and I. Can. Play. Make no mistake about it. The Ballers can do …
The Ballers can do their worst, but I will earn a spot on the RHS boys’ team. This is my last resort to make a name for myself, and I can’t let them interfere—even if the so-called kings of the school have declared war against me.
Game On is a reverse harem high school bully romance novel.
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I so did not see that coming! Tessa is trying to survive her parents split and basketball is her life so she focuses on that. She has to transfer schools to have a chance to play but whoa buddy is it one uphill battle as its the boys team. The star players hold a grudge so let the bullying commence. Just when it looks like things are going to get better we get one check of surprise. Book two is going to be explosive!! I totally loved even though I can’t stand basketball so I give it 5/5 stars.
I am always looking for a fresh new take on the bully and RH perspective. I am finding a lot of the same themes in these books recently so when I stumbled across this book I had to read it after reading the blurb.
Quintessa is a high school female basketball player trying to fit into her professional basketball Dad’s shoes. She wants him to be proud of her, and she can’t seem to find what she is looking for at her old school. Tessa throws it all on the line when she transfers to the public high school with the best boys team in the state so she can compete at a top notch level.
Enter the jocks. A group of five boys who have been playing together since they were young, and competing against Tessa at her Dad’s basketball game since Middle School. They have history with Tessa but she knows in order to be the best you must play with the best.
There is great sexual chemistry between Tessa and the boys. E.M. delivers multiple twists and turns that kept me guessing at where things were going. I loved seeing the relationship develop between the boys and Tessa both as a group and individually. There is definitely ups and downs with m any struggles along the way.
This isn’t JUST another high school bully/RH romance. There are so many side stories that deal with divorce, wanting to please parents, navigating life, and growing into a person you are meant to become. READ THIS BOOK! I promise you won’t be disappointed.
I am always one to root for the “underdog.” In this case it is in the form of a girl trying to join the guy’s basketball team so that she can pursue her dream of playing professional basketball. The fact that her father (who I really don’t like at the current moment) is a professional basketball player on helps to feed her desires to play. She changes schools, deals with outrageous bullying and still fights for what she wants. The Ballers are a crazy group and though I have hopes that a few of them can be redeemed, there is a special level in Hell for Lake. If he is redeemable, at this point, I will be shocked. These characters stay with you after you finish reading the book and make you feel like they are real people jumping off the pages and into your lives. EM Moore did a phenomenal job with this book and I cannot wait to see what happens in book two! If you like bully romances, then this one is a definite read.
I seriously enjoyed this book. Like I have that butterfly energy in my stomach and my toes are curling after I have finished the book feeling.
The characters were amazing. The depth of the characters was thought out well, the personalities of the guys was intriguing and different and the FMC was a serious bad ass execpt she needs to roar, however she does learn this later on in the book.
It’s definitely a bully romance RH but on the tamer side than what I have read lately.
The ending was just awesome and I can’t wait to read Foul Line and see those guys get their asses handing to them.
I hope she doesn’t go easy on them and in fact Hayes is now my favourite because of his actions in the ending – can’t wait for more!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This was my first audiobook from EM Moore and I couldn’t help but get sucked into the world of the Ballers! I devoured this series over the past weekend, I couldn’t stop listening and was happy I didnt get cut off for the month before book 3 haha. I highly recommend this series and am kicking myself for waiting so long to start it. I hope more of EM’s books come on audio, I will listen and review in a heartbeat
In terms of the story, we get to see how Tessa (a strong, up and coming basketball star) handle trying out for the boy’s team and dealing with a ton of bullying from the guys she has always competed against and maaaay have had a crush on. I wouldnt say this is the worst bullying I have read/listened to but there were definitely some tough moments in book 1 that made me uncomfortable. I did appreciate a lot of the bullying was from a particular individual for the majority of it. Don’t get me wrong, all the guys either bully Tessa or allow things to happen to her, so they are all in the wrong in my boat. I was already rooting for this harem in the very beginning as Alec came around. I was worried he was doing it on a bet or something, but happy the plot didnt go there. I think he and Sloan were an interesting combo out of the 4 to allow things to happen first. I did love the napping/taking care of Sloan, that was very adorable and endearing. The ending was really tough to listen to, I was so pissed on Tessa’s behalf, but thank goodness book 2 was available so I could right into it. I did appreciate Tessa showing her insecurities and not being so hard all the time. The stuff with her parents was very relatable, I appreciated that aspect. I am a huge basketball fan so I appreciated throughout this series the actual sports romance (not just a book saying a guy played football or something and its “sports romance”). More to come on that in the next book’s review haha. I think the side characters in this trilogy sometimes stole the show and I was here for it! Loved every second, gonna have to get these in paperback they were so good!
So I think the main reason I never listened to this series was because the narrator at 1.0 speed was killing me. I couldn’t sit there and digest it, it was very slow and the way Elizabeth Russell did it irked me/bored me to tears. Since I have been listening to audiobooks for awhile now, I have upped the listening speed based on the narrators and once I changed this to 1.5 times (rate), I loved the narration. I give this as a PSA because I would have never picked this series up otherwise, that the adjustable speed is your friend! I felt the heartache and frustration/anger from the performance especially with the bullying and the messed-up situation at the end. I thought she did a good job with the guy voices too, giving them enough of a difference so you knew who was talking most of the time.
5/5 stars, definitely recommend, one of my favorite series I have listened to in 2021
Holy Basketball!!
I absolutely fell in love with Tessa. I love a good addicting sports romance. I am feeling like this series is gonna be epic.
Tessa lives and breathes basketball, she wants to play in the WNBL and she will do whatever it takes to do that even if it means she gets pushed around by the guys.
She has this mental strength that will bring her through all the crap and have her winning, and I can’t wait to see her really shine and best all these guys.
The Ballers had their moments but damn did I want to strangle them a lot of the time, they were being such douchebags.
I began to love Alec and Sloan, I just loved that they wanted to be around Tessa and just showing affection. BUT then the end they completely let her down.
Hayes has me feeling neutral and I can’t wait to see him come more open.
Ryan just had me feeling so conflicted and I can’t wait for more.
I am freaking excited to see Tessa bring the guys down in Foul Line
I’m so made at the Ballets right now it’s not funny but I’m even more pissed at Lake. I need to know what his deal is but I have a feeling I will still hate him once I know it. I’m diving into Foul Line now. I hope things change especially for Tessa. Poor girl doesn’t need the extra crap at all.
This is the first in the ballers series and I was hooked! This book made me happy, cry and get angry. It´s about Tessa Dale and the Ballers. I learned alot about basket and I´m not a sport person but this book was amazing!
I absolutely love the girl power in this book! Definitely a read I love to go back to from time to time.
“Holy shit,” she says. After a moment of staring at me, she continues with, “I’m so glad I asked you to sit with me at lunch today. My life just got so much more interesting.”
I had to get through the first third of the book to finally feel it. After that I was all in, captivated wholly. But there’s this thing – I hated all the boys. 10 year old boys take care of their girls better then these fellas did.
I did love Tessa. She’s a fighter, a cracker, a superstar! The real hero in this book.
Great high school bully RH with athletes and a spunky herione I adore!
This is my first EM Moore book and I LOVED it!
Tessa is very determined when it comes to basketball. I love the fact that she wants to join the boys team even though she has so many people doubting her and trying to make her go away.
If you like RH bully romance definitely check this one out. It’s one of the best I’ve read.
This book took some time before I started to enjoy it. From the first page to about 40% I was ready to rate this at two stars. It just didn’t take off like I needed it too, dragged a bit and was slow going. Between 40% and 70% it gained another star from me. The relationships started to come into focus, the burn got a bit stronger and I started seeing completely different personalities in each of the characters. From 70%to the end… well it got the other two stars from me.
I will say, this is a predictable story. Nothing is really a suprise, but it makes a compelling read nun the less. I will be reading book two because, well I have questions. I’m already a bit agitated if I’m honest about book two because I can already see some things happening that are going to grate on me, but I am excited to see what happens.
Loved this book! Have read game on (book one) and foul line (book two) this series just keeps getting better and better! I could not put either of them down!
5 stars for Game On by E. M. Moore. This is book 1 in The Ballers of Rockport High Series. This is a Reverse Harem Bully Romance.
Quintessa/Tessa Dale has a dream of playing in the WNBA and after her school stops their girls’ basketball program, she decides to transfer schools and play for Rockport Ballers boys’ team. This has never been done but nothing says it can’t be. She is has trained for this and she believes she is good enough. The only issue is the current ballers who she knows from camp. Ryan, Lake, Alec, Hayes, and Sloan are the current ballers and don’t want to let Tessa on the team. Most of them change their mind but Lake knows if she makes the team she will take his position. This is a bully romance at its core so know that the things that are done to Tessa are horrible and could cause triggers for some.
This book kept me on my toes and just when I thought everything was going ok bam something turns everything upside down. I don’t want to ruin anything but damn this book was a rough one and one hell of a cliffhanger. I will say that Tessa is a badass and can take a lot. I hope she puts everyone in their place in the next book. I can not wait for the next book . Great job E.M. Moore
I really enjoyed this new story. The story is very original. I like the switch on the sport story. Tessa’s character is great. She’s been hurt by the ballers before, will she let them hurt her again? Everything in her life is changing right now. Her home and her school life are completely different. She has so many challenges facing her but never gives up. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book.
This is such a great book! It is a fresh idea on bully romance. Tessa is an amazing character with a heart of a true champion. What I really loved is a girl that is just as good as the boys are at playing basketball and no matter what they throw at her, she keeps right on playing. The guys are a different story. I find some of them to be cowards and one to be evil incarnate. Lucky for them I am betting Tessa is way more forgiving then I am. I can’t wait to get my hands on book 2.
**Here’s my warning for my review. Yes my review needs a warning. There will be many foul words ahead. If you can’t handle it, don’t read my review. Check out the one I leave on Amazon where I swap the words out for non foul words**
Now you may ask yourself why I felt the need to include a warning instead of just edit my review. Here’s why. This book…this book deserves all the FUCKS. And all the stars. Five is nowhere near enough for this one. Like holy fuck. These boys. The Ballers are a group of fuckers. I love them, I hate them. Ok really I don’t hate them all. I’m just really mad at them right now. Except Lake. I hate that fucker with a passion. So here’s the rundown.
Tessa is a rich girl. Her dad is famous. She is in no way spoiled though. She has worked for everything she has and she has worked her ass off. Basketball is her life. She has trained and sacrificed for her dream. When her school drops the girls’ basketball team she comes up with a plan. She’s going to swap to the public school and play on the boys’ team. She’s good enough to do it too. She just has to get past The Ballers.
Ryan, Sloan, Alec, Hayes and *disgusted face* Lake. These are The Ballers. The kings of Rockport High. Basketball gods. Hot as sin. The problem. She knows them. She’s gone to camp with them for years and things aren’t very friendly with them. So when they find out she’s at their school, well they aren’t happy at all. They make it as hard as they can for poor Tessa to not only make it through the day, but to make it on the team. What they don’t seem to understand is, Tessa isn’t going to back down.
Tessa is a BEAST. She is fierce, hard working, determined. She’s my freaking hero. With everything she is going through, she will not back down. She knows what she wants and she is going to get it. Fuck everyone else. I Love Her!
Hayes, he’s the strong silent type. I have to say that right now he is my favorite and you will all see why.
Ryan is a douche. I say that with love though. He seems to be the leader of the pack. Sometimes he needs to step up though. Dig his head out of his ass.
Sloan and Alec, I go back and forth with them. They can be so great and then they can sink so low.
Lake doesn’t even deserve my words. That fucktard needs to jump off a cliff. He can start with the one that E.M. left us dangling on!!!!
Ok we aren’t really dangling off a cliff. We are just set up for the next book. Which I need like NOW. I don’t know the last time I was this wrapped up in a book and its characters. I was shaking when I finished. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I don’t usually post on spoiler threads and the like but I couldn’t help myself with this one. I needed to vent all my frustrations out. I was so invested in this story, in these characters. I HAD to tell everyone about it.
There seems to be a flurry of bully romance out right now. I’ve read a few. This one though, this is my absolute favorite. It’s different than any I’ve read. I think b/c Tessa is such a fierce and unexpected character. I don’t know exactly what it was that set this book apart from all the others out there for me. All I know, I fucking loved it. Don’t think for one minute I’m not going to be harassing the hell out of E.M. to finish the second book.
I highly, very strongly, like really listen to me here, suggest that YOU READ THIS FUCKING BOOK!