The Long Game
A Novel
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- 12,99 €
Publisher Description
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this small-town love story in the vein of It Happened One Summer—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.
Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.
But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.
To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An unlikely duo find love while coaching a children's soccer team in this adorable small-town romance from bestseller Armas (The American Roommate Experience). After a video of Adalyn Reyes, "the overachieving daughter" of the owner of professional soccer team the Miami Flames, in an altercation with the Flames' mascot goes viral, her father comes up with an unconventional plan to divert the bad press. He exiles Adalyn for the rest of the Flames' season, sending her to manage a struggling team in need of a boost. Adalyn doesn't know until she arrives that the North Carolina Green Warriors are a bunch of unruly nine-year-olds—nor is she expecting their coach to be former hotshot goalie Cameron "Cam" Caldani. The pair get off on the wrong foot when Adalyn nearly hits Cam with her car, an encounter that leaves Cam determined to run Adalyn out of town. But Adalyn is intent on proving herself to her father by steering the adorable but chaotic Warriors to victory. Armas's leads feel fully fleshed out, and the pacing of their transition from enemies to lovers is just right. With plenty of hilarious and swoonworthy interactions set against a quaint backdrop, this is sure to please Armas's many fans.
