The Long Game

 Good writing. Insufferable characters.
 
The Long Game by Elena Armas is a romance following Adalyn, a woman who knows what she wants and sticks to her routines, and Cameron, a former soccer goalie who weirdly attracts animals. They have to work together on a children's soccer league, where their feelings for one another begin to grow.
 
The premise being a sports romance is something I typically enjoy reading, but I had quite a few issues with the characters of the book. This story was 95% her falling over and him catching her. It was ridiculous. This is supposed to be a strong-willed woman that's a hard worker with a serious personality, yet she couldn't stand upright for longer than two seconds.
 
Now Cameron is even worse. He does the bare minimum and is praised for it. She constantly asks him not to call her pet names, yet he ignores her. It's infuriating seeing these actions getting romanticized. If I took a shot every time he called her “darling” I would have died by the 50% mark. Also, everything they do is sexual. I don't mind spice in my books, but these scenes were just plain awkward.
 
The only redeeming characters were the kids. They were hilarious, witty, and a breath of fresh air after constantly reading about the main characters weird romance.
 
Despite everything, the writing was good. Elena Armas is a best-selling author for a reason. Even though her characters don't do it for me, I have to acknowledge she is a decent writer.
 
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book to be your first introduction to Armas' books. If you've read her others, maybe give this one a shot. However, if you plan to start with this one, don't.