What started out as a joke— seduce Coach Wilder—soon became a goal she had to score. With Olympic tryouts on the horizon, the last thing nineteen-year-old Kinsley Bryant needs to add to her plate is Liam Wilder. He’s a professional soccer player, America’s favorite bad-boy, and has all the qualities of a skilled panty-dropper.• A face that makes girls weep – check. • Abs that can shred Parmesan … that can shred Parmesan cheese (the expensive kind) – check.
• Enough confidence to shift the earth’s gravitational pull – double check.
Not to mention Liam is strictly off limits . Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear. (i.e. “Score with Coach Wilder anywhere other than the field and you’ll be cut from the team faster than you can count his tattoos.”) But that just makes him all the more enticing…Besides, Kinsley’s already counted the visible ones, and she is not one to leave a project unfinished.
Kinsley tries to play the game her way as they navigate through forbidden territory, but Liam is determined to teach her a whole new definition for the term “team bonding.”
A fun & sexy New Adult Romance (age 17+)
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I enjoyed the story for the most part. The main character is funny, witty, and likeable. I love that the plot surrounded soccer and that Kinsley was so athletic. I haven’t read many books with such a character so that was different for me.
From start to finish she held my interest, and I was either laughing or swooning along with her. I liked how focused she was on her goals and how hard she worked to accomplish them. It sucks that she was screwed over by her past boyfriends but I’m glad it didn’t impact her in such a way that she wallowed in self-pity and put her life on hold. It did affect her ability to trust though, so I could understand her being afraid of her intense feelings for Liam and constantly questioning his motives for her. Thankfully, it didn’t throw a monkey wrench in their relationship and any doubts were quickly dealt with.
Her friends were interesting people as well, Becca in particular. She had a youthful nature and was really fun. Emily was more laidback and quiet (like me), but I wish she was part of the story more and not always described as being caught up with her long distance relationship. It almost seemed like she was left out and that kinda made me feel sad for her. I also didn’t connect as much with Liam as I’d like to, and maybe it’s because the story is told only from Kinsley’s POV. Had it been dual narration, I probably would have loved Liam more.
Another thing is that after a certain part the story went on for too long. I feel like it could have wrapped up sooner than it did and some things that happened towards the end seemed like filler and were too dramatic. I actually rolled my eyes at them, but fortunately I’d enjoyed the story up till that point so it didn’t throw me off completely.
Overall, the writing was good–lucid and entertaining. The main character was also well developed. This is my first experience with R.S. and I must say that I’m impressed, motivated enough to want to read her other works. If you’re looking for New Adult that’s funny and sweaty be sure to pick this one up.
This is going to be a gushing review because I loved everything about this book. The characters were compelling yet fun, the plot is different and interesting, there’s action and not a lot of angsty drama, I could go on and on. Kinsley Bryant and Liam Wilder are a new favorite couple. She’s hilarious and real and very relatable. He’s sweet and sexy and wonderfully down-to-earth despite his fame. There was an element of forbidden love but that’s not their story, which was a nice surprise because I was expecting that to be a big part of the plot.
Kinsley is an Olympic-hopeful soccer star about to start college. She chose this school for their soccer program and excellent coach so she’s keen to make a good impression but the first thing she wants to do is break the rules. Liam Wilder is a professional soccer player and he’s volunteering as a coach for the ULA women’s team this summer. The first directive from the head coach is no fraternization with coach Wilder but Kinsley’s immediately smitten. That wouldn’t be a big deal except that Liam is every bit as interested in her and doesn’t do a very good job of hiding it.
What begins as a lusty fling soon morphs into feelings and that’s a lot for anyone to handle but their unique situation makes things even trickier. Besides breaking the cardinal rule of her brand-new soccer program, Kinsley is already dealing with upperclassman hazing, largely motivated by her talent. She’s only nineteen and not used to the limelight so the growing media attention around her college career is unwanted and uncomfortable. The insecure bully of a team captain already had it out for Kinsley, but Liam’s interest in her kicks Tara’s jealous rage into overdrive. The media frenzy surrounding Liam and Kinsley’s skeevy loser of an ex being Liam’s teammate also complicate her life, but she handles it like a champ. Her internal monologue is hilarious and her interactions with friends are even better, especially her BFF Becca, who is the BFF we all need.
The steaminess level is high because they have fantastic chemistry but it’s not all hormones, they’re great together. I’m not sure if this story has more dialogue than usual or if it just seems that way because I adored it but regardless, it’s fantastic. I loved the banter Kinsley had with her friends but especially between her and Liam. They’re LOL funny together but really sweet at the same time because they know when to stop kidding and talk real.
I just really loved everything about this book. The characters were well-written and entertaining, the plot was interesting without overshadowing the romance and the romance itself was ideal. The story is told completely from Kinsley’s POV and I would have liked some of Liam’s POV in there but I enjoyed this story so much and can’t criticize a single thing about it. This is a new favorite and I’ll definitely read it again.
Favorite quotes:
“Cue dream sequence of Liam running slowly on a beach carrying me in his arms. I love how he’s strong enough to carry me with one arm while using the other arm to feed the seagulls. He’s such an animal lover like that.”
“Kinsley, I’ve never liked any girl more than I like M&Ms.”
“Am I getting close?” I joked.
“I’d say I like you more than regular M&Ms, but you’re going to have to really step it up if you want to beat out peanut M&Ms.”
“You look beautiful, have my babies.”
I’m REALLY into forbidden romances these days.
This was such a fun, sexy, easy read – Forbidden, intense, and yes, romantic.
Kinsley Bryant is on her way to Olympic try outs and the only thing standing in her way is the gorgeous Coach Wilder. Liam Wilder is a professional soccer player, America’s favourite bad boy – and, Kinsley’s new coach. He is recruited to help train the girls soccer team, and in-turn change his “play-boy” reputation around.
Kinsley was warned off Liam, as was the whole soccer team – It would result in being cut and having their chance at the Olympics go up in flames. It should have given her more reason to stay focused and train harder – but everyone knows when you tell someone they shouldn’t, the need to do so is that much stronger. Plus, the pull and tension between them from the beginning was undeniable.
“He was the northern star. I had no choice but to become enveloped in his brightness and let it coax me toward him. Wanting him was an unconscious impulse, like taking my next breath. “
Kinsley and Liam found themselves sneaking around, and going through hurdles to be together. And even after it’s found out that they are in fact together, they still have so much to overcome – jealous ex team mates included!
When I started this book, I didn’t expect to end it in tears with the most perfect ending – and the added epilogue and extended epilogue was an extra treat!
“Adios, heart. Nice knowing you.”
4.5
Spanish & English Opinion
ESP ::
¡Quiero un Liam Wilder ya! Me encantó este libro. Es para un público arriba de 18 sin duda, pero tiene todos los elementos necesarios: deportes, romance, héroe alfa y divino, heroína súper divertida e independiente y mucho sentido del humor.
Liam es sin duda de mis novios de libro. Es alfa pero súper considerado, sexy y lindo.
Kinsley me recuerda a Viola Hastings de “She’s the man”. En versión adulta, claro. Es divertida, valiente, leal y con una seguridad increíble.
Podría leer este libro muchas veces. ¡Me encantó!
ENG ::
I need a Liam Wilder ASAP! I loved this book. Definitely, for an 18+ audience. And it has all the amazing elements that makes it really good: sports, romance, Alpha hero, amazing heroine and lots of sense of humor.
Liam is a book boyfriend for me without a doubt. He’s alpha boyfriend but not a jerk. He’s considerate and great!
Kinsley is funny, with an amazing confidence. Loyal, great friend and knows what she wants. She reminds me a little bit of Viola Hastings from “She’s the man” (the adult version, of course). I loved her.
This book could be read by me over and over. Simply great!
This was one of my first reads from Rachel back in 2018 and after that I got really curious about her books.
Kinsley is so funny and I loved to see her and Liam’s story. This is without a doubt one of my favorite books from this author.
Scoring Wilder was my first R.S. Grey and I really enjoyed it! I’ll definitely be reading more, especially if all the male leads are like Liam! u2063
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This one is an age gap, forbidden romance. Liam and Kinsley had chemistry dripping from them the minute they met and it only continued, even though he ends up at one of her coaches. u2063
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My favorite part of this book? I was waiting for the obligatory miscommunication/drama but it never came! I love when an author has the couple actually be open with their communication and take all of their issues head-on! u2063
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This is a quick, steamy read and I highly recommend you meet Liam if you haven’t already! u2063
DNF’d at page 200. Tried but it is too cliched for me. I did like Kingsley and Liam’s relationship. That is honestly what kept me reading this book for as long as I did, but after awhile it didn’t really make up for all the cliches of cat fighting, her being named sexiest athlete and being way more focused on Liam than soccer.
It just wasn’t that realistic to me. Plus, if I’m being honest, Kingsley was so perfect she was almost annoying. This isn’t a spoiler because you find this out within the first page of reading. Her past two boyfriend’s cheated on her, but she was able to blame them instead of herself. I don’t think that is really realistic. Maybe Kingsley is just stronger than me, but that would completely shred my self-esteem (not that I have great self-esteem to begin with).
I’m sure R.S. Grey is a good author and honestly her writing is amazing. I just couldn’t deal with all the cliches. I will still try her other books. 🙂
I was immediately drawn into this college sports romance.
Kinsley is a freshman who was top of the college soccer roster in the country.
So what is more perfect than the top women’s soccer player falling for the top men’s soccer player? One little issue… he is her coach.
Liam is (sigh) just perfect. Yes he has his own flaws but he is so sweet and caring for Kinsley. He is my newest book boyfriend.
These two melt my heart, I can’t seem to get enough of them!
Not a typical RomCom that has the cookie cutter pattern of attraction, fighting attraction, issue that causes a break up at the very end then HEA. This was not predictable at all. There also wasn’t a lot of immature drama like many college settings have. They are mature and work through their issues without tearing each other down.
This was refreshingly different.
I loved every minute of it!
It was good. It had its moments. Liam Wilder is swoon worthy but I didn’t connect much with Kinsley. I didn’t feel her emotions. So I didn’t much care about her HEA. Which sucks!!! I really wanted to love this one as it came highly recommended.
It is what it is.
4.25 stars for story. Narration 4 stars. Enjoyed the whole thing as usual with this author. Fun steamy read with lots of good banter. Athletes training for the Olympic Games soccer. Great main characters and good side characters as well. Suitably horrible villain. Fantastic listen. I wasn’t sure about the narrator at first, but she grew on me. Highly recommended to adult contemporary romance readers.
What an absolutely awesome book this is!! Ahhhh Kinsley and Liam I loved loved them!! Their skyrocketing chemistry, witty banter it had everything in this book. Not only these two but it also include another soccer couple Becca and Penn!!
This book is so well written, just couldn’t put it down, had to stay up and finish it.
I could give million stars for this I love it so much!!!
I really have no excuse as to why I haven’t read this book earlier than now, it seemed to have slipped through the crack of my tbr. So when I saw it while searching some Kindle Unlimited books, I knew I had to rectify this error. And I’m happy I did.
Kinsley was a fun and determined young woman. She had just arrived to ULA to join the soccer team. She went there to train under a certain coach who is involved with the Olympic team, as this was her ultimate goal. Little did she know, that they had an extra coach joining the team, who was a soccer star in his own right. Liam Wilder not only broke records but hearts as well. But it was time to redeem his reputation and keep his head in the game of soccer. When he meets Kins, it game over for him and his wild days.
This book starts out very light and funny. It’s a true rom-com that had me giggling along. It does veer into the Uni dramatics and enough sex scenes to keep them both fit and energetic. It’s a bit of a forbidden romance and has a sport theme, but it’s a classic rom-com that me smiling the whole way through. From this book, you can go on to read the Summer Games two books, and I can recommend those as well.
Characters:
Kinsley: Looveeee this girl. Can she be my bestie please?
Liam: Can I have Liam under the Christmas tree this year please Santa?!
Becca: Becca was soo funny. I loved seeing her come out of her shell and experience different things.
Quotes:
“She believed she could, so she did.”
“He bent down so I could hear him over the music. “What are you doing here?” he asked with a hard tone.
Okay. Not the best first line. Something like, you look beautiful, have my babies would have been a little bit better.”
“I know what it means to value the person you’re with.”
“When I was with him, there were no consequences”
Overall:
I’m obsessed!!!! You guys, this book was AMAZING!! This is the first book I’ve read by R.S Grey but I GUARANTEE you it will not be my last. GAHH! I have so many feels after finishing this!! I cannot even form a coherent sentence. I literally feel like I could start over on page 1 right this second. The relationships, the friendships, the team work, the romance, etc. was just perfect. Everything flowed so smoothly that I didn’t want to put it down (stupid eyes making me take breaks!!!). Liam is such book boyfriend goals! He just shot to the top of the list folks. He’s caring, passionate, hardworking, and just such a sweetheart. You would think being top athletes would go to their heads but it truly didn’t. Liam and Kinsley are so down to earth. I feel like I could be besties with either one of them. Kinsley was my absolute favorite. Trust me that isn’t easy to say because this book is STACKED with awesome characters. I haven’t laughed this hard from a book in a very long time. I found myself grinning like a fool and laughing OUT LOUD more often than not. Kinsley’s kooky thoughts were along the lines of what I would think if I were in that position. She was such a delight to read. The friendships in this book were great as well. I always fear in romances that the friendships fizzle out as soon as a love interest pops up but that wasn’t the case here. Becca and Kinsley remained super close as well as Liam and Penn. Kinsley wasn’t about to put off her friendship just because she entered a relationship. I also loved how Liam cared for Becca too. He genuinely cared about her feelings and even went as far as to check up on her when a situation happened. I enjoy books where the boyfriend and the best friend get along. I truly cannot say enough about this book. I enjoyed every minute of it. I hope you all run out and pick up this book to see for yourself how amazing it was.
Kinsley and Liam’s secret love affair is so sexy it hurts. Two sexy soccer players with professionally athletic bodies are going to join together in more ways than one?? yes please!!! R.S. Grey provides such a witty, swoon worthy love story. One minute you are salivating, next your swooning, then you want to slap a bitch and after all that you’re laughing your ass off. This book hits all the high notes. Quick easy read with HEA. Great supporting characters as well.
This book was really good! I enjoy it when the guy does quite a bit of the chasing. I’m giving it 5 stars because it made me laugh…and also because Liam is super freaking adorable.
The book was pretty good pacing wise. I didn’t feel like anything was slow, or unnecessary. Kinsley did a little too much overthinking though. I don’t remember the last time I laughed this much while reading a book, so major props for that aspect. Yes, some of it was over the top ridiculous, but it was still hilarious. I also really liked how just because there were relationships going on, friendships didn’t suffer. They were still a priority.
Kinsley was a pretty good main character. There were a couple instances she annoyed me, but I tried to put myself in her shoes in those situations to understand her a little better. Becca was hilarious, and a great friend. I really enjoyed Emily’s character; I felt like she’d be the person I’d probably befriend out of all these characters. She’s more shy and mellow than the others.
Now for the boys. Penn was adorable…for the most part. I think he’d be a great book boyfriend, but the main focus of the book is Liam, and I can see why. I want to marry Mr. Wilder right now haha. He was so thoughtful, sexy, and when he decided he wanted something, he went all in. I could keep listing like a million reasons why I love Liam, but you have to read to find out more about him. Honestly, he’s one of the really good guys. For so many freaking reasons.
One thing that made the book a little less enjoyable was the fact that the editing service that was used missed things here and there. Typos, misuse of apostrophes, indenting complete paragraphs instead of the first line, inconsistencies, etc. Most people might not notice these things, but they made me pause, and pulled me out of the story when I came across them. But I still loved the book, so I highly recommend people read it. I know this author has written quite a few books, so I can’t wait to see if any of the other male love interests live up to Liam Wilder…
One of my first book of R.S. Grey and I absolutely adored it. It had everything I love. Kinsey and Liam were perfection.
It was a fun and enjoyable read. I look forward to reading more work by this author.