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addiesbookshelf_'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“But that when it came to identity, when it came to queerness, the whole point was that there were no tryouts. If you were even thinking about it, you were already on the team.”
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for providing an advanced reader copy of this book!
Summary: Julie Parker never expected her former idol to show up in the gym of the high school basketball team that she coaches, but that’s exactly what happens one day when a new girl joins the team and her aunt/new foster parent come to pick her up. Elle Cochrane, meanwhile, never thought that he reintroduction to basketball after eight years would be assistant coaching a high school basketball team and thinking that the head coach was too cute for words. And when Julie admits to Elle that she’s never been in a relationship and just wishes that she could have some practice, it only makes sense that Elle would be the one to help her out, right?
What I liked: As always, Anita Kelly blew me away with how fun, cute, and earnest this book was. I absolutely fell in love with both Julie and Elle from the beginning, and I had such a good time watching their story unfold. In particular, I thought that Julie was the sweetest and I really identified with her journey of figuring out her identity and feeling sure of it all for a long time. I also really loved just how down bad Elle was for Julie from the beginning.
Another real highlight of this book were all of the side characters. I loved not only getting to spend more time with London, Dahlia, Ben, and Alexei from the first two books in the series, but I became instantly obsessed with Vanessa (Elle’s foster kid) and the entire basketball team. In particular, when Vanessa said that “If you and coach don’t get married by the end of the season the entire team is going to be disappointed,” I absolutely cracked up laughing.
What I didn’t like: If had to choose one thing I didn’t like about this book, it was the fact that, after they started practice dating and it became pretty clear that it *wasn’t* practice for either of them, the road to actually dating for real was really long and kind of wonky. It just left the vibes in the last portion of the book feeling a little weird. But all in all, I still really enjoyed this and highly recommend, like I always will with an Anita Kelly book!
Read this if you love:
💕 Sapphics playing sports
💕 Sapphics simping for each other
💕 Earnest love stories
💕 Sassy and on-the-nose teenagers
Genre/Type: Contemporary Romance
Format: Physical 📖
Length: 384 pages
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️
Series or standalone: Series
Tropes or themes: Fake dating/practice dating, sports romance, queer awakening (kind of)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Abandonment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
Minor: Homophobia
duckyreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Anita Kelly has a masterful way of creating complex characters and giving them a rewarding romance. How You Get The Girl is a queer workplace romance following Coach Julie Parker and her childhood idol, and ex-WNBA star, Elle Cochrane.
Anita carefully discusses depression, anxiety, being on the ace spectrum, and queerness. Although this can be read as a stand-alone, there are fun cameos from the main couples in the previous books. How You Get the Girl is a brilliant way to finish this series, and I am eagerly looking forward to everything that Anita writes.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Anita carefully discusses depression, anxiety, being on the ace spectrum, and queerness. Although this can be read as a stand-alone, there are fun cameos from the main couples in the previous books. How You Get the Girl is a brilliant way to finish this series, and I am eagerly looking forward to everything that Anita writes.
Thank you to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Addiction
Minor: Drug abuse
sambshep's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual content, Chronic illness, and Alcoholism
jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
How You Get the Girl is a heartwarming sapphic romance between a high school basketball coach and the former WNBA star that she's had a crush on for years. The slowburn romance mixed with the practice dating had me hooked. I couldn't stop reading and rooting for them to get together. I absolutely, 100% loved that they both jumped to take care of each other while they were struggling. It was such a stunningly realistic portrayal of what romance should look like.
Like everything I've read from Anita Kelly, HYGTG hit me right in the feels. Julie's struggles with her sexuality and her inexperience with romance and sex was handled so well. She's a character that feels like a warm hug. Elle's journey through the foster care system as she takes care of her niece was also handled with so much care. I teared up at so many point in this book because of how deeply I loved the characters.
I'm sad to say goodbye to the Love & Other Disasters universe, but I am also so excited to see what's next for Anita Kelly!!
Like everything I've read from Anita Kelly, HYGTG hit me right in the feels. Julie's struggles with her sexuality and her inexperience with romance and sex was handled so well. She's a character that feels like a warm hug. Elle's journey through the foster care system as she takes care of her niece was also handled with so much care. I teared up at so many point in this book because of how deeply I loved the characters.
I'm sad to say goodbye to the Love & Other Disasters universe, but I am also so excited to see what's next for Anita Kelly!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Addiction
jukietoss's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved this! I love a sports romance, and basketball is my #1, and this did not disappoint! The characters and their relationships were all lovable. Everyone was kind to each other. Even the third act "breakup" was handled with tenderness, and it didn't feel forced or contrived. There's sensitive mental health/depression representation as well as self-discovery around sexuality. There was a foster-care/addiction plotline that threaded the needle well. All in all, a delightful read! I'm going to have to go back now and read all of the other books in this series (this was my first!).
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
I adored Julie and Elle’s sports romance with a bit of workplace romance (since they end up coaching together!) & “it’s-just-for-practice” — suuuuure Jan! 😊
It’s been eight years since Elle’s infamous departure from the WNBA, after being the shining star of UT (University of Tennessee), and she is now the foster parent of her niece Vanessa, while her cousin Karly takes care of a few things. Elle enrolls Vanessa into Julie’s East Nashville High Bobcats basketball program so she had an extra curricular activity to participate in after school, since Elle’s work in medical billing at Vanderbilt University kept her from picking Vanessa up at 3pm. The CPS employee advised Elle to keep a close eye on Vanessa, as she is deemed a flight risk during the beginning of this foster period. Elle has also been navigating migraines, and unfortunately, her meetcute with Julie ends with one🥺
I really appreciated the nuance with which Elle’s experience of being a foster parent is highlighted; Elle clearly rooted for Karly, yet still held space for grief when reckoning with the fact that Vanessa, a kid she deeply loves and cares for, will not always be living with her or under her care. The foster care system has a lot of work to do, but I felt that AK handled this topic in the book with much grace, care, and the nuance it deserves.
On the other hand, Julie has been grappling with her own purpose in life; she adores coaching this high school basketball team, but her day job of alumni relations at Vanderbilt seems to only suck joy and energy out of her. Julie has also watched her loved ones accomplish such exciting things, like London going on a food competition tv show & meeting Dahlia, or Ben hiking the Pacific Crest Trail & meeting Alexei, his long distance boyfriend. Julie is happy for them, but can’t help but notice she is no longer the first one either of them come to for any big news anymore.
Julie is wrestling with her own sexuality and feelings of incompetency and shame around her lack of experience with romance and sex. She desperately wants to *know* herself, but labels don’t fit quite right. I thought this journey of exploration was illustrated so lovingly and realistically! Goofy side note: when Julie describes only ever being attracted to Elle Cochrane and Manny Jacinto from The Good Place, I nearly lost it with delight and giddiness. That’s a perfectly valid sexuality babe! I GET IT 🤤
I find the plotline of “I’ll help you practice being romantic or sexual” to be absolutely hilarious! I eat it up every time because I am sitting here like giggling and kicking my feet into the air calling them “silly goofy babies” hahaha. You two have sizzling hot chemistry, are clearly deeply invested in the other’s welfare, and have so much fun together; but sure, it’s just to help and to practice 🫡 This was written perfectly and I loved these two stumbling their way towards the inevitable epiphanies that this was indeed not just practice, and instead, was the real spankin’ deal!
The lil epilogue was a beautiful way to tie things up for our three favorite couples and their happily for nows🥹 I really would love to see this group of characters featured on a sitcom! They’re so precious, relatable, and goofy. I love them your honor!
steam rating: 3/5
I adored Julie and Elle’s sports romance with a bit of workplace romance (since they end up coaching together!) & “it’s-just-for-practice” — suuuuure Jan! 😊
It’s been eight years since Elle’s infamous departure from the WNBA, after being the shining star of UT (University of Tennessee), and she is now the foster parent of her niece Vanessa, while her cousin Karly takes care of a few things. Elle enrolls Vanessa into Julie’s East Nashville High Bobcats basketball program so she had an extra curricular activity to participate in after school, since Elle’s work in medical billing at Vanderbilt University kept her from picking Vanessa up at 3pm. The CPS employee advised Elle to keep a close eye on Vanessa, as she is deemed a flight risk during the beginning of this foster period. Elle has also been navigating migraines, and unfortunately, her meetcute with Julie ends with one🥺
I really appreciated the nuance with which Elle’s experience of being a foster parent is highlighted; Elle clearly rooted for Karly, yet still held space for grief when reckoning with the fact that Vanessa, a kid she deeply loves and cares for, will not always be living with her or under her care. The foster care system has a lot of work to do, but I felt that AK handled this topic in the book with much grace, care, and the nuance it deserves.
On the other hand, Julie has been grappling with her own purpose in life; she adores coaching this high school basketball team, but her day job of alumni relations at Vanderbilt seems to only suck joy and energy out of her. Julie has also watched her loved ones accomplish such exciting things, like London going on a food competition tv show & meeting Dahlia, or Ben hiking the Pacific Crest Trail & meeting Alexei, his long distance boyfriend. Julie is happy for them, but can’t help but notice she is no longer the first one either of them come to for any big news anymore.
Julie is wrestling with her own sexuality and feelings of incompetency and shame around her lack of experience with romance and sex. She desperately wants to *know* herself, but labels don’t fit quite right. I thought this journey of exploration was illustrated so lovingly and realistically! Goofy side note: when Julie describes only ever being attracted to Elle Cochrane and Manny Jacinto from The Good Place, I nearly lost it with delight and giddiness. That’s a perfectly valid sexuality babe! I GET IT 🤤
I find the plotline of “I’ll help you practice being romantic or sexual” to be absolutely hilarious! I eat it up every time because I am sitting here like giggling and kicking my feet into the air calling them “silly goofy babies” hahaha. You two have sizzling hot chemistry, are clearly deeply invested in the other’s welfare, and have so much fun together; but sure, it’s just to help and to practice 🫡 This was written perfectly and I loved these two stumbling their way towards the inevitable epiphanies that this was indeed not just practice, and instead, was the real spankin’ deal!
The lil epilogue was a beautiful way to tie things up for our three favorite couples and their happily for nows🥹 I really would love to see this group of characters featured on a sitcom! They’re so precious, relatable, and goofy. I love them your honor!
steam rating: 3/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Mental illness, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Addiction
womanwill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow is this a perfect romance? Seriously Anita Kelly knocks it out of the park a third time in this series, and it may be my favorite?!
This slow burn sapphic workplace romance has all the tension and yearning and even a dash of fake dating. Julie Parker feels like she's just spinning her wheels in life as everyone around her falls in love and she still lacks experience as an almost 30 year old. That is, until Julie's childhood crush, and college basketball star Elle Cochrane shows up at one of the girls' basketball practices she is coaching. Soon Elle is both assistant coach and practice dating Julie...but is it really practice?
Read if you're looking for
- "be gay, do sports" vibes
- slow burn
- "practice" dating
- 90s women's basketball vibes 😍
- label exploration
- ace, sapphic & lesbian rep
- depression rep & discussion of mental illness
- trans/nonbinary sibling side characters
- glimpses of Dahlia & London & Ben & Alexei from previous books
- spice
I adored both Julie and Elle as individuals and their chemistry was off the charts as a couple. Seriously the one-on-one game...IYKYK. I loved the inclusion of difficult family dynamics and Elle being a foster parent to Vanessa. I loved the presence of sassy teasing teens to keep their coaches in check. I loved that Elle and Julie are both tall. I loved seeing London and Dahlia get married and Ben move to Portland to be with Alexei. I loved that Julie explored her sexual orientation labels and being on the ace spectrum. I love that a romance author finally admitted that people on antidepressants have a hard time getting off (we have needed that rep for so long).
Honestly there was nothing I didn't love. I am forever an Anita Kelly stan. They consistently write emotionally vulnerable and complex queer romances with heat and the absolute most heart. It's an auto buy for me, and everyone should preorder this book. Out 2/13/24!
Thanks to Forever Pub for the ARC.
This slow burn sapphic workplace romance has all the tension and yearning and even a dash of fake dating. Julie Parker feels like she's just spinning her wheels in life as everyone around her falls in love and she still lacks experience as an almost 30 year old. That is, until Julie's childhood crush, and college basketball star Elle Cochrane shows up at one of the girls' basketball practices she is coaching. Soon Elle is both assistant coach and practice dating Julie...but is it really practice?
Read if you're looking for
- "be gay, do sports" vibes
- slow burn
- "practice" dating
- 90s women's basketball vibes 😍
- label exploration
- ace, sapphic & lesbian rep
- depression rep & discussion of mental illness
- trans/nonbinary sibling side characters
- glimpses of Dahlia & London & Ben & Alexei from previous books
- spice
I adored both Julie and Elle as individuals and their chemistry was off the charts as a couple. Seriously the one-on-one game...IYKYK. I loved the inclusion of difficult family dynamics and Elle being a foster parent to Vanessa. I loved the presence of sassy teasing teens to keep their coaches in check. I loved that Elle and Julie are both tall. I loved seeing London and Dahlia get married and Ben move to Portland to be with Alexei. I loved that Julie explored her sexual orientation labels and being on the ace spectrum. I love that a romance author finally admitted that people on antidepressants have a hard time getting off (we have needed that rep for so long).
Honestly there was nothing I didn't love. I am forever an Anita Kelly stan. They consistently write emotionally vulnerable and complex queer romances with heat and the absolute most heart. It's an auto buy for me, and everyone should preorder this book. Out 2/13/24!
Thanks to Forever Pub for the ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Mental illness
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug abuse and Addiction
caseythereader's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Thanks to Forever Publishing for the free copy of this book.
- Anita Kelly continues to be the best with HOW YOU GET THE GIRL. Kelly brings their signature wit and heart to this sapphic sports romance. I swooned, I cried, I cheered.
- Where this book punched me in the heart, though, is Julie’s character. Julie is me and I am Julie. I think I’m ace, but maybe not, because this person has knocked me off my feet? Am I pathetic for being “behind” everyone in terms of experience? Do I need a label? What if I never sort it out? NO, YOU’RE CRYING! (this is me saying thank you for bringing this character into existence, truly.)
- Characters from Kelly’s previous two books feature pretty heavily in this one (I squealed every time), so I would recommend reading those first to get the full background and experience. And you should read them anyway because they’re great!
- Anita Kelly continues to be the best with HOW YOU GET THE GIRL. Kelly brings their signature wit and heart to this sapphic sports romance. I swooned, I cried, I cheered.
- Where this book punched me in the heart, though, is Julie’s character. Julie is me and I am Julie. I think I’m ace, but maybe not, because this person has knocked me off my feet? Am I pathetic for being “behind” everyone in terms of experience? Do I need a label? What if I never sort it out? NO, YOU’RE CRYING! (this is me saying thank you for bringing this character into existence, truly.)
- Characters from Kelly’s previous two books feature pretty heavily in this one (I squealed every time), so I would recommend reading those first to get the full background and experience. And you should read them anyway because they’re great!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Chronic illness, Sexual content, and Cursing
Moderate: Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Addiction, and Drug abuse
annamariem_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Anita Kelly is my favorite romance author and heck, they are probably my favorite author... ever. How You Get the Girl is full of such raw vulnerability and some truly laugh out loud moments. Elle and Julie feel tangible. I wish I could wrap them both up in one big group hug.
Let me just start off by saying this: Julie Parker. Forking! SHORTS! JULIE. PARKER. I truly love this character so, so, SO much. Julie represents the queer person who doesn't feel like they're "queer enough" because they have little to no experience with dating, romance, or sex. Julie and I would become fast friends because I, too, understand how it is to feel like you are "behind" when it comes to romantic relationships and dating.
Let me just start off by saying this: Julie Parker. Forking! SHORTS! JULIE. PARKER. I truly love this character so, so, SO much. Julie represents the queer person who doesn't feel like they're "queer enough" because they have little to no experience with dating, romance, or sex. Julie and I would become fast friends because I, too, understand how it is to feel like you are "behind" when it comes to romantic relationships and dating.
"Her lack of experience always made her feel like a bit of a freak—an imposter for even wanting to claim a particular queer label in the first place—as she faded into the background each time a discussion veered into friends’ sexual and romantic trials and tribulations. Julie loved giving advice, listening, ever the Supportive Friend. But she always wondered if everyone else thought it was weird. That she was never an actual player in the conversation."
Another quality that I love about Julie is that she has such a big heart for the people she loves and cares about. Her need to reach out to others and make sure they feel welcome and safe with her is so beautiful. Her relationship with the entire Bobcats basketball team and with Vanessa had me grinning from ear to ear.
"How's Vanessa doing?"
"Okay. I mean, she's sad." Julie made herself stop moving, planting her feet by the island opposite Elle. "We played Super Mario Brothers and she talked about her feelings."
Elle slumped onto a stool, blinking. "Huh. Do you think that would work for me, if I learned how to play Super Mario Brothers?"
Then there's Elle. Oh, Elle. Elle fucking Cochrane. I relate to her character as much a Julie's, maybe even a bit more. The way Anita Kelly describes the highs and lows of Elle's depression really is such a feat. It is honestly an incredible thing to read about. Elle thinks that it's easier to push people away then let someone know you are struggling and boy do I get that. I wish I didn't understand how that feels on such a visceral level, but I do. God, do I fucking get it.
"In these rare moments when the chemicals and synapses in Elle's brain fired like they were supposed to, everything always felt right. Even the mistakes, the hard things and the heartaches, felt easier to handle. Everything was brighter, crisper, like Elle spent the rest of her days living in fuzzy darkness, and suddenly blinked and was able to see how colorful everything was, how reassuring, that the world existed. That Elle was able to survive within it."
Once again, Anita Kelly knows how to write a damn good romance story. This book has it all: fake dating, practice kissing, mutual pining, "does she like me? hah! no, that's ridiculous!", and a happily ever after. I won't give too much away about Elle and Julie's romance, but just know that it will leave you feeling giddy and breathless.
"They had been standing a mere inch apart, but Elle leaned in now, pressing her thighs to Julie's, torso to torso. Ran one hand down Julie's shoulder, the fuzzy material of her sweater tickling Elle's palm, while reaching the other into Julie's scalp, underneath her ponytail.
"I like to start slow," Elle said, voice soft. "Part your lips for me, Coach Parker."'
I loved witnessing the friendships between Julie and all the important people in her life. To see her interacting with London, Dahlia, Ben, and Alexei was such a treat and also a perfect way to include Kelly's characters from the previous two books. London and Julie have such a special sibling relationship that I cried more than once while reading their interactions.
"Julie: seriously though, I don’t think I can treat her like a normal parent. I tried and I failed
Julie: what do I do??
London: find a tree
London: sit in it
London: I believe the next part is k-i-s-s-i-n-g
Julie: London I swear to god"
How does one move on from a book that represents so much of who you are? If someone has the answer, please tell me, because I don't know what to do with myself now that I've read my most anticipated book of 2024.
How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly hits shelves 2.13.24! Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing) and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Chronic illness
Minor: Addiction