REVIEW: The Long Game by Elena Armas

In The Long Game by Elena Armas, Adalyn Reyes has basically lived and breathed the Miami Flames soccer team for most of her adult life, working at their offices in PR. The fact that her father owns the team and is CEO is irrelevant to her, but unfortunately not to other people. So she tries to do the best job possible, keep her emotions in check, and prove her mettle as part of the operations team. And Adalyn does it all exceedingly well. Until she loses her cool and gets into a (physical) fight with Sparkles, the team’s mascot. Once the video of said squabble goes viral, she ends up being banished to rural Green Oak, North Carolina, to manage a soccer team. A kids soccer team. And that’s only the beginning of the surprises Adalyn must face.

We were being swarmed by kids. Children. Little girls. In colorful shorts and sneakers and ponytails that pointed in all directions and a tutu, shockingly enough.
“Adalyn… It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Green Warriors.”
I blinked at the team. The kids. As they blinked at me in return.

Former L.A. Stars goalkeeper Cameron Caldani retired from the game after success in the US and at home in the UK. How he wound up in Green Oak is a long story–and one the media isn’t privy to at this point. But coaching the Green Warriors is a nice change of pace. Something Cam could get used to, along with the peace and quiet he’s enjoying at his new digs, the Lazy Elk Lodge. That all changes the day Adalyn crashes onto his property. Literally. Even worse than finding out she’ll be his neighbor while staying at Sweet Heaven Cottage (which Cam later finds out is neither sweet nor heavenly) is that Adalyn is the team’s new manager. To say they clash from day one is an understatement. But Cam has to admit that underneath the designer suits and chilly exterior, Adalyn is a smart, compassionate woman whom he could lose his heart to all too quickly.

“I don’t intend on slaying your dragons for you. Not because I don’t want to, believe me, I do. But because you would hate it, and you don’t need me to.”

A new slow burn romance by Elena Armas, The Long Game had all the fun, sexy banter and relatable characters I adore in her books, along with a group of offbeat small-town characters (people *and* animals!) who won my heart easily.

“Adalyn, love,” he whispered in my ear, his hands trailing up and down my back. “This is no longer a game… Tell me you understand.”
When I said, “I know”, I meant every word.

Content Warning: View Spoiler »Panic attacks (detailed), bullying, home invasion. « Hide Spoiler

The Long Game, Elena Armas’ newest book is a fiery enemies to lovers, forced proximity story set in a totally different world than her previous two: The Spanish Love Deception and The American Roommate Experiment. Both of which I highly recommend reading if you haven’t already done so. This time around we took a trip from Miami to rural Green Oak, North Carolina. And oh boy did the fireworks start right away between Cameron and Adalyn. Their meet cute was awkward, comical, proved that Adalyn did indeed know self-defense much to Cam’s dismay, and set the stage for how the pair would interact going forward for much of the book.

I loved how Armas gave Adalyn and Cam time to sort their heads out about each other as well as the situation they found themselves in. It wasn’t rushed. And as they learned more about Adalyn’s role managing the kids’ soccer team and Cam coaching them, there was a lot of mutual respect that built between them–in amongst all the bickering, that is. (lol) Because for as kindhearted as they both proved to be, Cam could be one grumpy Brit, and Adalyn, always striving for perfection, had a habit of shutting down her emotions. Except when it came to her handsome, bearded nemesis. Cam seemed to bring out *all the feels* in Adalyn. And exploring those emotions was what, little by little, made the walls around their hearts begin to crumble.

I have to mention how much the girls on the Green Warriors soccer team worked their way into my heart, right along with Cam’s and Adalyn’s. They were adorable, rambunctious, and just lit up the page with every scene they stole. Maria in particular, with all of the hilarious nicknames she had for Cam (Coach Kisscam is probably my favorite) and her wise-beyond-her-years advice, just tickled me to no end. But the barnyard animals from Maria’s family’s farm right along with the rest of the Green Oak townsfolk were also a wonderful addition to the quirky fun of this entertaining story.

QOTD: From a pottery class to goat yoga (on my bucket list!) to a beer & barbecue bash, Green Oak kept locals busy. Does your town/city have any fun events you’ve enjoyed?

Book Info:

Publication: Expected Publication: September 5th, 2023 | Atria Books |

A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this smalltown love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer — from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.

Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.

But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.

To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.