This tight end is at the top of his game. He’s good with his hands, even better with his sexy mouth, and the best at making me forget my own name. His—ahem—stats are perfect.But I can’t fall for him. He might be everything I want, all rolled into a glorious package of gridiron god, but there’s one teeny-tiny problem. The vile, loathsome team I’ve spent my entire life hating—my beloved school’s … hating—my beloved school’s arch-rival?
This guy is their star player.
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5 RIVALED stars! McCarthy and Eighty-Eight are and explosive couple. This book gives a new meaning to Enemies to Lovers Romance.
Once again I confirm that some authors’ minds are a treasure that should be taken care of. Authors like Nikki Sloane deserve many good things in life because they shared their talent with us, simple mortals.
This month my reads were plagued with some good sport romances. Hockey players, soccer players and now a sinful football player. I was blessed by the goddess of hot sexy alpha males. I know you love me (laughs devilishly). If you haven’t fall for a boy who practices any sport, you haven’t lived fully. It could sound like cliché but it isn’t, is it?
Rivalry is everything and more. Mrs. Sloane delivers a panty-melting book. Her darkish heart allowed her to write a steamy, funny and too intense story. She put the ROMANCE to enemies to lovers romances. I really love this side of her. Life is not only about Dark Romance (don’t tell anyone I said that). It is healthy to try new genres (pinky promise).
There are many adjectives to describe how I felt when I was reading this book but I am afraid the are not enough. I loved, hated and enjoyed every freaking page. I laugh, cried and shouted out.
There is no one as stubborn as Kayla is. Her insecurities were high as the Eiffel Tower. At some point of the story I was about to slap her. She will learn (hopefully) that when it is about love, there is no rivalry. She was born to be a Ohio State Buckeye (literally). As a cheerleader captain she should be loyal to her Alma mater but meeting Jay will change her priorities.
“He had the body of a warrior, and I couldn’t wait for him to conquer me.”
Jay Harris (aka Eighty-Eight) is a perfection wrapped in a sinful body. He is sin on skin, a great football player, a god between mortals, a legend in Michigan university. But he has a weakness: a pretty buckeye.
“I didn’t mind doing a little chasing. On campus, I was the one getting pursued by girls, and on the field, I was chased by my opponents. So, this role reversal was enjoyable.”
I enjoyed the push and pull game between Kayla and Jay. It was hilarious how they play to be enemies and later they play to be lovers. The attraction and chemistry was like a BOMB ready to explode. Desire and lust consumed their souls. One thing they have in common is their passion for their teams. Loyalty will get a new meaning for them.
A well developed story like this should be rewarded with billions of stars (sorry but five aren’t enough, just saying). The characters were complex and so perfect (talking about Jay).
This is a MUST READ you SHOULDN’T miss. Every page worth the time.
(ARC courtesy of the author in exchange for an honest review)
Nikki Sloane has cemented herself as a truly talented author with this book. Most authors stick to one genre and don’t even try to vary from their formula. Nikki has proven that beyond her smart, sexy (H-O-T) Blindfold series, she has now written an incredible romance full of fun banter, instant attraction and college football!!!!!
Kayla was born a Buckeye, literally. Her mother went into labor with her during an Ohio State football game that her dad was coaching. It was in her blood.
Jay was the new hotshot tight-end for The University of Michigan. He was Big Blue through and through.
When they first met the attraction was like fireworks. When Kayla figured out they were rivals, it was more like an explosion (and not the good kind). To Kayla there was nothing worse than being a Wolverine. Could she overlook that Jay was the enemy? Could she ignore the obvious feelings she had for him? Could Jay convince her that this rivalry was silly and that they could be enemies on the field on those fall Saturdays, but lovers in the bedroom all the other days of the week?
You will love this fun, romantic Rivalry!
My favorite book this year. I’m a huge Buckeye fan, and it rang true. Gave me all the feels.
Y’all, I love this book so much. It has the perfect mix of relationship, steam, and sports content. I am constantly looking for sports romances with such a balance and normally they fall short somewhere, but The Rivalry is exactly what I wanted.
I come from a family of die-hard OSU fans and I myself am partial to the team, but our heroine Kayla is next level! The girl was literally born after the Michigan/OSU game! I loved that her love for OSU never faltered even as she fell for Jay. She was a bit hard-headed in learning to love the player, not the team, but she came through when it mattered.
Even though Jay played for Michigan, Kayla couldn’t help but fall for the sweet, hunky tight end. And I fell for him hard too! He is determined to show Kayla that he’s more than just a Michigan player. His persistence won me over and I couldn’t wait to see how the story between these two worked out.
I randomly saw this book recommended on Tiktok of all places and I had to see what it was about. When I finally started it I couldn’t put it down. I finished the whole book in less than 24 hours and will now be on a sports romance kick because of it. Nikki completely won me over with Kayla and Jay and the OSU/Michigan rivalry.
I really enjoyed this book. The chemistry between the main characters was intense even after finding out they were from rivals universities. The dynamic of building a relationship when the h has been brought up to loathe the rival university due to their football teams was so good. I loved when Kayla walked in to Biffs for the first time. She was a strong ass petite blonde who certainly didn’t hold any punches. There were real laugh out loud moments. Particularly at the wedding at the beginning. I loved Jays character, and I totally understood where he was coming from when he was trying to deal with Kayla and her disdain for everything Michigan.
This had steamy parts but was in no way anywhere near as steamy as some of the other books I have read by Nikki.
The only reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars was because as a Brit I had no clue when the story was talking about American football! There was a lot of football talk and explaining the game in action but it honestly meant nothing to me. I guess if you understand all the terms you’re fine but as I said, I’m totally clueless about it. It did not however ruin my enjoyment.
Great book
Fantastic romantic sports rom-com that even has a moral dilemma I wasn’t expecting!
If you relate to football rivalries, this is it.
I absolutely loved The Rivalry! It’s not just a sports romance. It’s an awesome story that will make you laugh, cry,and swoon. I couldn’t read it fast enough, but I wanted to slow down and savor the book!
The Rivalry is a standalone book by Nikki Sloane.
“It was cruel for the universe to show me this beautiful man, and then make him play for Michigan.”
This was my first book from Nikki Sloane. I saw this as a recommended book on Amazon because I have been reading about sport romances lately. I thought why not try this one. The cover was definitely eye capturing and so so so hot. The Rivalry was an easy-going, fun, and sexy roller coaster ride that had my heart beating out my chest.
“This girl was electricity. It sparked across my skin, crackling and demanding more.”
Two rivaling schools but with one heck of a connection. Kayla is an extreme football fan. Football is her life and love. Her father is a coach and her mother is a football fan to the core. Football is literally in her blood. She is unapologetically confident and she is opinionated. She is feisty and smart. She is the captain cheerleader for Ohio State University; a Buckeye.
“It was like I’d drawn up a playbook and every route was executed flawless by Jay.”
She meets Jay Harris at her best friends wedding and instantly the attraction is sizzling. Kayla promised her best friend that no matter what there will be no talk of football at her wedding. The chemistry between them was so hot it was hard to breathe.
“Kissing her was a full contact sport, and I wasn’t sure which play to call next.”
Jay is a star player at Michigan College which is the biggest rival to Kayla’s team. When Kayla realizes that Jay is actually the enemy…she tried…tried hard to stay away but Jay is too sexy, too fun, too interesting. Jay is not giving up though. With the mindset of a star player, he knows how to go after Kayla and win.
“The situation was becoming dire. Like, down by seven points, fourth-and-long and no timeouts, dire.”
These two was absolutely phenomenal. They were absolutely so epic together. This was charming and so enjoyable that I always read this book whenever I don’t have anything else to read. It was enjoyable and I hoped there was more like this from Nikki Sloane. She executed this perfectly and I love love love it.
“We need to get you past this rivalry thing.”
This was off the charts amazing! Incredibly worth it. Thank you Nikki Sloane for slaying meee.
“Tonight, I’m just a guy, and you’re just a girl.”
I have to say Kayla and her mother got on my nerves real quick about enforcing the whole rivalry of Michigan/Ohio state schools in the family. Kayla was just too over the top and I think maybe hearing the narration of it sounded worse? Overall I did enjoy the story and most of the audiobook though. Some of the one liners were funny.
Sweet and funny and perfectly romantic
Fun sexy book.
A funny, enjoyable story.
If story’s with a sexy football player and a die hard fan on your go to stories then look no further! The Rivalry is a fantastic read about a football star from Michigan who falls for the head cheerleader from Ohio State. Perfect mix of football ,romance and smoking hot chemistry!
Nikki Sloane proves her talent again and again with her incredible writing skills. I have loved all her books so far and The Rivalry had me totally hooked!! I loved the sexy “tight end” Jay who plays college football for Michigan State. His character was perfect. He fell hard for Kayla who cheer leads for Ohio State, their arch enemy!!! I loved their bantering and how they handled falling for each other even though both their teams were enemies. Their love for one another had gradually taken over and brought them together. Loved it!! This was a great story creatively written with such panty melting scenes that I won’t soon forget. Nikki has a way of bringing her characters to life, such a great read! A definite 5 star book for me with all the right feels!!!
Short and sweet story.
Original review: https://myshelfbooks.wordpress.com/2018/05/20/the-rivalry-nikki-sloane/
According to many people over Goodreads, this book is New Adult, but after reading it, I don’t think that’s the case. At least, it’s nothing similar to other New Adult books I have read. Which it’s a good thing, because that genre hasn’t given me much joy.
This story is about Kayla, a cheerleader for the Ohio State University football team, and Jay, the star player of the Michigan team. The problem, those teams are the nemesis of each other. There is a lot of hate between them. Kayla is a fanatic supporter of her team, so falling in love with a Michigan player makes her uneasy. The story is about getting over that rivalry and just enjoy themselves as human beings. At least that is what the author tries to do.
I must admit I’m not a sports fan, so maybe I don’t understand Kayla’s behaviour defending her team. It’s not just that she thinks OSU is the greatest ever (as every fan should), she also hates with an annoying passion everything Michigan. Not only the football team. The whole Universitty, the colours, the people… It’s crazy!! And so wrong!! Her mother is even worse, though. Everytime Kayla and Jay had a fight about the rivalry, I wanted to scream (well, I screamed a lot actually): “Get over it, you idiot!!“. I couldn’t believe she was about to sacrifice something good in her life just because their football interests were unaligned. She was even incapable of answering the question: “Who do you love more? Jay or the Ohio team?“.
Along most of the book, Jay is presented as the levelheaded one. The adult that claims the rivalry is stupid and they shoud look beyond that to forge a strong relationship. I was digging that. Tall, handsome, hot, nice, funny and also smart. Almost the perfect combo!! And Kayla was about to dispose of him due to her football preferences!! Buuuut, by the end of the book Jay shows his true colours. Yes, he doesn’t care about the rivalry between the two teams. But I think the real reason behind that is that Jay believes that the Michigan team is so superior that calling Ohio a rival is crazy. When he loses his playbook, the mask is dropped. Once the Michigan team is in danger, Jay doesn’t care for anything else and becomes a pretty mean person. In just one chapter he loses a lot of points for my list of book boyfriends. You could have been great, Jay. Just shut up and be pretty the next time.
Even though the rivalry was driving me crazy, I must admit it is also the reason this book is a lot of fun. I was laughing hard very often. The banter among the may characters of the book is the best part of the story. So, thumbs up for Nikki. Writing a fun book is not an easy task!!
What I didn’t like was the ending. The rivalry was such a big issue during the whole book, that I don’t understand how it becomes forgotten smoke in the last chapter. Not only is fast and confusing, it happens during The Match. That dreadful encounter of Michigan vs Ohio… The same match that should have brought Kayla and Jay appart for a long time. At least, that would have made more sense. Instead of that, they become closer together. Kayla even cheers the last play of Jay. The one that gave the win to Michigan… Where the hell is the real Kayla?? They got their happy ending too fast if you ask me.
It’s my first Nikki Sloane’s book, but I will check more by her. I like the style of this book. A nice surprise that was very enjoyable.
Loved this book
I love the idea of having a couple who love two different teams or so I thought.
Her enthusiasm for football is endearing and hilarious. She makes a great girlfriend who wouldn’t want a girlfriend who can talk sports however Jay plays for a team she absolutely hates.
As we get further into the story her hatred for Jay team keeps her from being completely in with him keeping him at arm length. We get it you’re rival but you can still have a relationship. The rivalry was cute at first but gets old really quick.
I was wondering how this was going play out and end, because I’m sure even Jay would be getting annoyed by now with this rivalry nonsense.
This ended up annoying me the rivalry because it seems so trivial and Kayla was making it a bigger deal than necessary. It’s a stupid fucking rivalry not the end of the world.