A review by swoonandslaybookreads
The Wrong Game by Kandi Steiner

4.25

This was my first book by Kandi Steiner and I’m only sad with how long it’s taken for me to read something of hers! I loved this book and thought it was such a fun concept while still working through vulnerabilities of both main characters. And as a football fan myself (even though we don’t agree on teams), I loved seeing a female main character that actually loves sports and not just the social aspect.

The book follows Gemma, a widow with complicated feelings towards her late husband, as she’s working through her grief. Having bought season tickets for her late husband’s birthday, she now finds herself needing to figure out who she’ll be taking as her plus one for the season. Unable to commit, her and her best friend come up with a plan - take a new guy to each home game without any commitments or strings attached. Only it’s been a while since Gemma has dated and she’s nervous. Luckily, the cocky and attractive bartender listening in on the new plan offers himself up for a practice run. Except Zach knows from that first interaction, that first date, that he doesn’t want that game to be his only one with Gemma - and he’s going to do everything he can to make sure it’s not his last.

I truly loved this book. I thought Steiner did a great job of showing the slow progression of opening up to someone new and how it isn’t always a natural progression. There were hiccups and struggles and both Zach and Gemma took a while to break down their walls. I also appreciated how neither of them pushed the other to open up before they were ready. They respected each other when they said they weren’t able to talk about their past and supported each other through it. And while I hated seeing Gemma struggle through her feelings and grief, and wish she was able to separate her feeling about her late husband from Zach, I absolutely loved the resolution. I can’t wait to read Belle’s book next and will definitely be reading more from Kandi in the future.