Synopsis
For amateur footballer Lizzie Morris, it’s the first day of her teacher training at Cranswell Primary School. Horrifyingly, she immediately comes face to face with her first love from back in her own school days. Instantly, their competitive relationship reignites and to make matters worse, the Head Teacher asks them to organise Sports Day together. Their friendly rivalry of old threatens to derail all of her plans.
Will she overcome their bickering to pass her teacher training, win the football tournament and survive this brush with her past?
My Review
Lizzie is not only an amateur footballer she is also about to start a new role as a trainee teacher at Cranswell Primary School. What Lizzie doesn’t expect on her first day is to meet the person who takes the PE lessons at the school who just so happens to be Lizzie’s ex-boyfriend Noah. Can Lizzie and Noah find common ground and is this their second chance?
As soon as I read the synopsis for this book it was a book that I added to my list because it gave me Bend It Lick Beckham vibes. This was a really easy read and was one that I looked forward to after a long day at work.
I loved the storyline. It had everything that that I wanted in a romance book because it included the enemies to lovers trope, the second chance romance trope and rivalry between the main characters. It was interesting to see how Lizzie coped with seeing Noah for the first time because it bought back memories of the reason that they broke up and the hurt that the break up caused which she had buried for many years. It was something that Lizzie never got over and resulted in her not having any long term relationships because she found it difficult to trust anyone.
As much as Lizzie wants to stay away from Noah fate had other ideas in mind because she finds herself paired with him to organise the next sports day which means spending time with him. The more time that they spend together feelings start to surface of not only love but also regret, bitterness and anger. Although both Lizzie and Noah try to act professionally and move past what happened it’s clear that they both still care and love each other and show signs of jealousy when someone else takes an interest. Lizzie has always believed that Noah cheated on her but when Lizzie confronts Noah about this it quickly transpires that there is a bigger picture that Lizzie wasn’t aware of. When all was revealed I felt quite sad for both Lizzie and Noah because there was a missed opportunity between them and one that could have changed their futures. I loved all of the scenes between Lizzie and Noah. Especially the scenes when they were organising the sports day because it showed how competitive they are and it is this competitiveness that starts to bring back their spark and bring them closed together. What I really liked about their connection is that when Luke sees that Lizzie is nervous and doubting her ability to be a teacher he encourages her which boosts her confidence.
If you’re a fan of the enemies to lovers trope and the second chance romance trope this is one to add to your list.
Author Bio
Helen is a writer, editor and English teacher. Her first attempt at novel writing was shortlisted for the Penguin Michael Joseph Christmas Love Story Competition and highly commended in last year’s I AM In Print Romance Competition. When she’s not writing, Helen can be found editing, singing and dancing with her local operatic society, or running around with her daughter and partner at their home in Oxfordshire.
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