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79lulu12's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Classism, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Bullying
shawniejo's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Alcohol
cathyo_113's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25
My Rating: 4.25 โญ๏ธ | 1 ๐ถ๏ธ
Summary:
What happens when the man you idolized as a kid becomes one of the newest coaches for your team? There was a reason Salomรฉ Casillas (Sal) is passionate about soccer and everyone in her family knows itโs because of her admiration for Reiner โThe Kingโ Kulti, international Soccer Star and now Assistant Coach for the Houston Pipers - Salโs team.
Sal had long abandoned her childhood crush on Kulti until she comes face-to-face with him, spending hours everyday training and practicing near/with him. But Kulti is not quite the man she remembers fan-girling over; not to mention his grumpy demeanor manages to draw her ire on a consistent basis. Sheโs in for a long season ahead.
Tropes:
x Age Gap
x Coach/Player Forbidden Romance
x Friends to Lovers
x Grumpy Boy x Sunshine Girl
My Review:
This is the fourth book by Mariana Zapata Iโve read and one of the earlier novels in her back catalogue Iโve finished. I realize that this book is over 500 pages, and the pace is slooowwwโฆ but itโs worth it. Iโve said this in another review of one of her other books, but in my opinion her writing is purposely crafted to show how love develops between two people in a romantic relationship through smaller gestures and actions over a longer time period. In her writing, love and romance is built in the mundane, through awkward moments and tension-filled conversations/situations.
I really enjoyed Sal & Kultiโs story in this book. I think the age gap aspect is slightly less concerning given while Kulti is 13 years her senior, we meet Sal when sheโs about 27 or so. That makes this Age Gap more believable since itโs not 21/34 where those feel like very distinct and different times in someoneโs life.
As with most of Zapataโs books (or at least the other 3 others Iโve read) the MMC is Grumpy while the FMC is Sunshine. I think though, Kultiโs grumpiness in this book is less concerning than Iโve seen from the other MMCs Iโve read in her other books. Especially because Sal is quick to call Kulti on his grumpy BS and stand up for others in the process. This allows for Kulti to be seen more as grumpy than a full out AHole (like some of her other MMCs).
There is another user on good reads who has a very thorough 1 โญ๏ธ review for this book that, in great detail, points out every (valid) plot hole in the book that, for the most part, I agree with. For me, however, those things didnโt deter the overall good time/feeling I was left with after reading this book, thus my 4.25 โญ๏ธ rating. But I will provide somethings that I found an issue with.
First - as with all MZโs books, you have to really get through the first 25% before the book really picks up. This is not a fantasy, but I feel like MZ is trying to build a world for the reader where these characters exist. And yes, thats ok, but she spends an inordinate amount of time on silly things such as how Sal has to imagine her idol through an โEverybody Poopsโ lens so as to manage her fangirl emotions. Like, yes, cool. But I think she over does it, like alot.
Second, I need blinking to not be the only nonverbal form of communication that MZ provides on the page. Like, stared, smoldered, *somethingโ other than blinking or blinked. I feel this is very overused in this and some of her other books.
Third, some of the more medically accurate descriptions of body parts during the intimate scene that happens well after the 90% point of the book. Like, yes, slow burn is burninโ! But - the words used can really take you out of a story. When you get there, youโll know.
Other than this, I genuinely enjoyed this story and book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Bullying
Moderate: Medical trauma and Injury/Injury detail
kirstenpod_'s review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, and Bullying
meg_hallson's review
emotional
funny
slow-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
thereโs something about a large, scary man secretly pining that will always make me swoon
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism and Alcoholism
spellbindingtomes's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-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? Yes
5.0
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ'๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ.
โข
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต.
Reiner Kulti was Sal Casillas favorite soccer player and celebrity crush growing up and now he's her new coach. But what comes as a shock to her is that his invigorating personality that was on display throughout his career has dwindled down to be a quiet, reserved man of few words.
This was my first sports romance and my first Mariana Zapata book and it did not disappoint! The romance between Sal and Kulti was developed slowly, but perfectly.
I loved the natural progression we see. From them being strangers to coach and coachee, to acquaintances, to friends, to best friends, then to lovers. It was sloooow going but it was all worth it by the end!
Kulti was incredibly grumpy and Sal was so much fun. I loved that we got her thoughts throughout the book. I did have to ignore the age gap here, since I'm not a fan, but once I started picturing Kulti as Roy Kent from Ted Lasso, it got better ๐
The funny banter, their fierce competitiveness and bickering just heightened the romantic tension. I never felt their relationship was going too slow or too fast. It was impressively well done.
I would be doing this review a disservice if I don't mention Sal's dad. He was so sweet and funny. I felt for him when he initially got shot down by Kulti. But I loved Sal's loyalty, protectiveness, and adoration for her dad.
If you're looking for a slow burn sports romance with the grumpiest of grumpy MMCs, then I highly recommend reading Kulti!
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐'๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.
โข
๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ต.
Reiner Kulti was Sal Casillas favorite soccer player and celebrity crush growing up and now he's her new coach. But what comes as a shock to her is that his invigorating personality that was on display throughout his career has dwindled down to be a quiet, reserved man of few words.
This was my first sports romance and my first Mariana Zapata book and it did not disappoint! The romance between Sal and Kulti was developed slowly, but perfectly.
I loved the natural progression we see. From them being strangers to coach and coachee, to acquaintances, to friends, to best friends, then to lovers. It was sloooow going but it was all worth it by the end!
Kulti was incredibly grumpy and Sal was so much fun. I loved that we got her thoughts throughout the book. I did have to ignore the age gap here, since I'm not a fan, but once I started picturing Kulti as Roy Kent from Ted Lasso, it got better ๐
The funny banter, their fierce competitiveness and bickering just heightened the romantic tension. I never felt their relationship was going too slow or too fast. It was impressively well done.
I would be doing this review a disservice if I don't mention Sal's dad. He was so sweet and funny. I felt for him when he initially got shot down by Kulti. But I loved Sal's loyalty, protectiveness, and adoration for her dad.
If you're looking for a slow burn sports romance with the grumpiest of grumpy MMCs, then I highly recommend reading Kulti!
๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ด๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐'๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism
pookiee's review against another edition
so far itโs not bad, but from the spoilers i saw, it doesnโt seem to be going anywhere good
- a lot of repetitive descriptions
- bad grammar, awkward sentence structure
- general cringe like calling him bratwurst sauerkraut and even Gestapo bc heโs German, get it? and saying โBig Girl Socksโ 100x
- dui/dwi is no big deal
saying it was fate you later fell in love w the 7 y.o. whose letters you kept is supposed to be romantic and not creepy- many unresolved side plots, even important ones like
what really happened w him & Eric, his license, his ex-wife - poop.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Excrement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Alcoholism
jpfortmiller's review
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Alcoholism
marippe's review
3.5
Very much slow burn yes. I felt like the world building was a bit weaker in this book in comparison to other Mariana books but I still think it was enjoyable. It just didnโt really suck me in or have the burn really hurt. I liked Salโs charaterisation, I wish they focused more on her mum or just cut out the random issues she had with her. Kulti was fine i guess.
Its a cool read tho.
HOWEVER
Iโve really had enough of reading Mariana books where Iโm having a wonderful time, then the slut shaming and internalised misogyny rears its ugly head. ๐ฅฒ i.e.:
Its a cool read tho.
HOWEVER
Iโve really had enough of reading Mariana books where Iโm having a wonderful time, then the slut shaming and internalised misogyny rears its ugly head. ๐ฅฒ i.e.:
The man, who had dated supermodels, actresses and probably a whole bunch of sluts"
like ... for what?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, and Sexual content
fremzz's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
This book wasnโt perfect but it made me feel SO much idc.
Main reasons why Iโm not giving it the full 5 stars, although as I already said, the book wasnโt perfect (kind of spoilers):
- some parts felt a liiiitle sexist. Maybe Iโm exaggerating and I need a reread for sure but that was the general feel.
- do not talk about your childhood letters in a kinda sexual setting itโs really weird.
Still, I was not bored for a single second and I felt all the emotions.
Main reasons why Iโm not giving it the full 5 stars, although as I already said, the book wasnโt perfect (kind of spoilers):
- some parts felt a liiiitle sexist. Maybe Iโm exaggerating and I need a reread for sure but that was the general feel.
- do not talk about your childhood letters in a kinda sexual setting itโs really weird.
Still, I was not bored for a single second and I felt all the emotions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Content warning clarification: The love interest is heavily hinted at having suffered from alcoholism in the past. There mentions of alcohol in this book. Biggest one is in the beginning when the love interest is passed out drunk in one scene.