Scan barcode
A review by cozycritiques
Goal Lines & First Times by Saxon James, Eden Finley
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
”And now that I’m ninety-nine percent sure it’s him, I’m going to be so fucking disappointed if it isn’t. Because Cohen? Oh, yeah, the attraction’s there.”
- Goal Lines & First Times
Tropes: Online Dating, Texting, Secret Identity, Brother’s Teammate, Sexual Awakenings
Representation: LGBTQ+ (Demi and Pan, Bisexual)
Spice Scale: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
CW: Internalized Acephobia
Oh, my heart! It should come as no surprise that I love texting in books (seeing as Queried Sick is, like, 35% texts and emails), and Goal Lines & First Times executed it perfectly. I could really feel the emotion through every message Seth and Cohen (or Richie) exchanged, and they were well-balanced with the prose throughout. Sometimes, texts and emails in books can distract from the plot, but here, they made the story.
There was more of an internal relationship conflict in this book, and I was bracing myself for the third-act breakup, but Seth and Ritchie navigated it so healthily. I have nothing against third-act breakups in principle because sometimes they just make sense, but it was refreshing to see conflict handled with open and honest communication, especially since the foundation of their early relationship was purely based on talking to each other.
I swear these books just keep getting better and better. I love when standalones in a series overlap timelines or are heavily interconnected, so I liked seeing events in book 2 through Cohen’s eyes. I felt for him so much in book 2, so I’m really glad he got clarity and his happily ever after. I was also glad to see Seth start to resolve some of the issues with his brother that were hinted at in book 1. This book also did a great job of setting up Asher and West’s books.
- Goal Lines & First Times
Tropes: Online Dating, Texting, Secret Identity, Brother’s Teammate, Sexual Awakenings
Representation: LGBTQ+ (Demi and Pan, Bisexual)
Spice Scale: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
CW: Internalized Acephobia
Oh, my heart! It should come as no surprise that I love texting in books (seeing as Queried Sick is, like, 35% texts and emails), and Goal Lines & First Times executed it perfectly. I could really feel the emotion through every message Seth and Cohen (or Richie) exchanged, and they were well-balanced with the prose throughout. Sometimes, texts and emails in books can distract from the plot, but here, they made the story.
There was more of an internal relationship conflict in this book, and I was bracing myself for the third-act breakup, but Seth and Ritchie navigated it so healthily. I have nothing against third-act breakups in principle because sometimes they just make sense, but it was refreshing to see conflict handled with open and honest communication, especially since the foundation of their early relationship was purely based on talking to each other.
I swear these books just keep getting better and better. I love when standalones in a series overlap timelines or are heavily interconnected, so I liked seeing events in book 2 through Cohen’s eyes. I felt for him so much in book 2, so I’m really glad he got clarity and his happily ever after. I was also glad to see Seth start to resolve some of the issues with his brother that were hinted at in book 1. This book also did a great job of setting up Asher and West’s books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia