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Two Left Feet
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Expected 13 Jan 26Win a free print copy of this book!
1 day and 21:12:39
20 copies available
U.S. only
A Premier League football star must defend his roster spot—and his heart—when a threateningly talented and handsome midfielder joins his team in this utterly charming debut romance, a profound love letter to the world’s most popular sport.
Oliver Harris is football royalty in London. Ordinarily the star of the Camden Roses is calm, cool, and collected, keeping his club relevant with his prowess in the midfield and his mighty left foot. But this season, the threats There’s Camden’s management to contend with—complete with a prickly new Dutch coach, eager for better results—and a midseason injury, which sidelines him when his team needs him most. When a recruit is called up to fill in, Oliver fears he’ll be replaced. If he can mentor this younger talent, then they might just have a chance at winning, together.
After a string of lackluster performances in his native Spain, Leonardo Davies-Villanueva is looking for one last shot with the club he always dreamed of, where he once played in the youth academy. Oliver immediately finds confident, eager Leo irritating. He can barely go through the motions, let alone coach him, without outright hostility. When he comes to admire Leo’s skill and warms to his humor and energy, though, he begins to see Leo as a friend—and then, to his mounting horror, as something more.
Leo craves Oliver’s attention and partnership; Oliver can’t afford to fall in love with his teammate. He’s always kept a tight lid on his sexuality in a league that’s never had a player come out. As the season heats up, a lot more than football hangs in the balance. Can Oliver—and Leo—win when it counts most?
“An exuberant heart-squeeze of a book . . . Two Left Feet is the kind of joyful, hopeful story the romance genre was made for.”—Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of What Happens in Amsterdam
Oliver Harris is football royalty in London. Ordinarily the star of the Camden Roses is calm, cool, and collected, keeping his club relevant with his prowess in the midfield and his mighty left foot. But this season, the threats There’s Camden’s management to contend with—complete with a prickly new Dutch coach, eager for better results—and a midseason injury, which sidelines him when his team needs him most. When a recruit is called up to fill in, Oliver fears he’ll be replaced. If he can mentor this younger talent, then they might just have a chance at winning, together.
After a string of lackluster performances in his native Spain, Leonardo Davies-Villanueva is looking for one last shot with the club he always dreamed of, where he once played in the youth academy. Oliver immediately finds confident, eager Leo irritating. He can barely go through the motions, let alone coach him, without outright hostility. When he comes to admire Leo’s skill and warms to his humor and energy, though, he begins to see Leo as a friend—and then, to his mounting horror, as something more.
Leo craves Oliver’s attention and partnership; Oliver can’t afford to fall in love with his teammate. He’s always kept a tight lid on his sexuality in a league that’s never had a player come out. As the season heats up, a lot more than football hangs in the balance. Can Oliver—and Leo—win when it counts most?
“An exuberant heart-squeeze of a book . . . Two Left Feet is the kind of joyful, hopeful story the romance genre was made for.”—Rachel Lynn Solomon, author of What Happens in Amsterdam
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Expected publication January 13, 2026
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June 26, 2025Two Left Feet was one of my most anticipated 2026 releases. I was so excited about this soccer romance. But I’m throwing in the towel at 43%.
I tried, really, I did. Basically, this is a fine story. I liked seeing a Dutch coach. But one thing started to irritate me, and eventually it turned into anger.
Oliver is injured but desperate to return. Leo is the new player, trying to earn a regular spot on the team. All the players have nutrition plans. But they also drink. Alcohol, I mean. They get tipsy and drunk. During the season. Not just once but several times. The injured players go to a pub during a match. And drink pints like they’re spectators. After a match, they get drunk. At Oliver’s birthday party, they drink vodka straight from the bottle.
Come on. Maybe hockey players get drunk regularly during the season, but most footballers (the soccer kind) don’t. Some European clubs even have strict rules about alcohol.
And to finish my rant (I know this is nitpicking): why call it “Eindhoven” when it’s PSV? There are two professional clubs in Eindhoven.
So, my first 2026 read could’ve been a great one. Sadly, I got too mad to finish it. If you’re interested in this book, definitely check out other reviews.
Thank you, Random House Publishing Group, for this ARC. I’m sorry that I had to DNF.
I tried, really, I did. Basically, this is a fine story. I liked seeing a Dutch coach. But one thing started to irritate me, and eventually it turned into anger.
Oliver is injured but desperate to return. Leo is the new player, trying to earn a regular spot on the team. All the players have nutrition plans. But they also drink. Alcohol, I mean. They get tipsy and drunk. During the season. Not just once but several times. The injured players go to a pub during a match. And drink pints like they’re spectators. After a match, they get drunk. At Oliver’s birthday party, they drink vodka straight from the bottle.
Come on. Maybe hockey players get drunk regularly during the season, but most footballers (the soccer kind) don’t. Some European clubs even have strict rules about alcohol.
And to finish my rant (I know this is nitpicking): why call it “Eindhoven” when it’s PSV? There are two professional clubs in Eindhoven.
So, my first 2026 read could’ve been a great one. Sadly, I got too mad to finish it. If you’re interested in this book, definitely check out other reviews.
Thank you, Random House Publishing Group, for this ARC. I’m sorry that I had to DNF.
June 19, 2025
It’s so incredibly satisfying when you have a book that you think you will love and you actually DO.
I love mm romance books, obsessed might be a more accurate word for it actually, but the point is I read a lot of them, but I never managed to find one about soccer that I actually liked( to be fair, I haven’t searched all that much, I usually stick to hockey). But a few weeks ago I was talking to a friend that loves the sport and it dawned on me that I kinda wanted a mm soccer romance, and in some witchy way booksta just sent me a post where this book, Two Left Feet, was featured. Problem is the book was going to be published only next year. Fast forward sometime and Netgalley came through so here we are.
Two Left Feet is about a soccer(or football, call it what you like) player who ends up injured and has to train his possible replacement, Leo, a player that has been playing in less important teams. I liked Oliver immediately, he is such a good character, he’s flawed but you can’t help but root for him. He’s a player that has to hide his sexuality to play the sport he loves, he lost his father when he was a kid and he’s just determined not to have a life outside of soccer until his retirement. Of course this doesn’t go to plan but I just love this type of character, that comes out of his shell bit by bit.
The beginning of their relationship is so sweet, but there was an underline of sadness that made me restless. I wanted them to have this love, they are perfect for each other, but just like Oliver kept thinking about his job I couldn't help but also think what they would have to do to keep both facets of their lives, it was a little heartbreaking. I was crying during a smut scene because I kept thinking about how their situation was impossible and it couldn't last. That's how much this book wrecked me.
It is such a tender and heartwarming book, I can’t recommend it enough.
Thank you Netgalley and Dell for the ARC!
I love mm romance books, obsessed might be a more accurate word for it actually, but the point is I read a lot of them, but I never managed to find one about soccer that I actually liked( to be fair, I haven’t searched all that much, I usually stick to hockey). But a few weeks ago I was talking to a friend that loves the sport and it dawned on me that I kinda wanted a mm soccer romance, and in some witchy way booksta just sent me a post where this book, Two Left Feet, was featured. Problem is the book was going to be published only next year. Fast forward sometime and Netgalley came through so here we are.
Two Left Feet is about a soccer(or football, call it what you like) player who ends up injured and has to train his possible replacement, Leo, a player that has been playing in less important teams. I liked Oliver immediately, he is such a good character, he’s flawed but you can’t help but root for him. He’s a player that has to hide his sexuality to play the sport he loves, he lost his father when he was a kid and he’s just determined not to have a life outside of soccer until his retirement. Of course this doesn’t go to plan but I just love this type of character, that comes out of his shell bit by bit.
The beginning of their relationship is so sweet, but there was an underline of sadness that made me restless. I wanted them to have this love, they are perfect for each other, but just like Oliver kept thinking about his job I couldn't help but also think what they would have to do to keep both facets of their lives, it was a little heartbreaking. I was crying during a smut scene because I kept thinking about how their situation was impossible and it couldn't last. That's how much this book wrecked me.
It is such a tender and heartwarming book, I can’t recommend it enough.
Thank you Netgalley and Dell for the ARC!
December 10, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. This was such a cute sports romance with characters that are extremely easy to love. What starts as a semi rivals to tentative friends to lovers romance was so engaging and sweet I did not want to put this down. To be fair i don’t know anything about non american football so i was definitely lost in the sports sections of this book. There was a lot of sports discussion in the book and that wasn’t necessarily something I was super interested in but I understand why it had to be there for the story to work. That being said it didn’t take away my enjoyment of the book at all. I have no idea how accurate the sports part of this book was but it definitely didn’t take away from the story being told. The characters were all so fun and this book had you rooting for everyone including the side characters. I would totally recommend this to everyone when this book comes out!! It may help the inevitable book hanger after finishing heated rivalry
November 14, 2025
forever chasing the high of everything for you by chloe liese
the world is in need of more soccer romances so when i saw this on netgalley i ran to request. oliver is kinda like the best player on his team and when he gets injured he is tasked with mentoring leo, a younger player who is joining their midfield. we love a rivals to lovers in this house so i had a lovely time with this book. both the team dynamics and the politics involved with the management were all so interesting, even if i wish we saw more of the couple. this book really felt like a fiction over romance because of how central the logistics of the sport were, or maybe just how prevalent they were in the story. it was so interesting to see oliver and leo navigate their feelings and their career goals, i love them so much and i want to see more of them succeeding !!
honestly my biggest issue with this story was the severe lack of leo. the entire book is told from oliver's perspective and while i loved him, i wanted more leo. seeing this relationship form from both sides would have been so much more satisfying, there would have been more tension and it probably would've felt more like a romance book. as it stands now, its a bit dense. i don't know if the authors british but something about the language and prose used felt so british. i am rating this four stars but i feel like it might be a 3.75 just because of how it took me a bit to get into the story and once i was in i wanted to see more of the emotional relationship between leo and oliver.
not to bring up everything for you again, but if you enjoyed that book i think you should definitely pick up this story. i know i will be thinking about leo for a long time after finishing this, i just want to know what's going on in his head. like imagine getting his perspective of connor and oliver, thinking oliver doesn't like him, being jealous.. I NEED IT.
*thank you dell and netgalley for the arc!*
the world is in need of more soccer romances so when i saw this on netgalley i ran to request. oliver is kinda like the best player on his team and when he gets injured he is tasked with mentoring leo, a younger player who is joining their midfield. we love a rivals to lovers in this house so i had a lovely time with this book. both the team dynamics and the politics involved with the management were all so interesting, even if i wish we saw more of the couple. this book really felt like a fiction over romance because of how central the logistics of the sport were, or maybe just how prevalent they were in the story. it was so interesting to see oliver and leo navigate their feelings and their career goals, i love them so much and i want to see more of them succeeding !!
honestly my biggest issue with this story was the severe lack of leo. the entire book is told from oliver's perspective and while i loved him, i wanted more leo. seeing this relationship form from both sides would have been so much more satisfying, there would have been more tension and it probably would've felt more like a romance book. as it stands now, its a bit dense. i don't know if the authors british but something about the language and prose used felt so british. i am rating this four stars but i feel like it might be a 3.75 just because of how it took me a bit to get into the story and once i was in i wanted to see more of the emotional relationship between leo and oliver.
not to bring up everything for you again, but if you enjoyed that book i think you should definitely pick up this story. i know i will be thinking about leo for a long time after finishing this, i just want to know what's going on in his head. like imagine getting his perspective of connor and oliver, thinking oliver doesn't like him, being jealous.. I NEED IT.
*thank you dell and netgalley for the arc!*
Read
December 22, 2025another swing and miss for me today 🥲 i am not a fan of oliver’s attitude nor do i currently want to stick around to find out if he removes the stick from his butt. may give this another go eventually with the audiobook
August 23, 2025
this is a story about football, which means it’s a love story (even before we get to the gay sex). Kallie Emblidge captures the grandeur of professional football, its magnificence, but also how, despite capitalism infringing on football from every direction, a club can remain the beating heart of its community. I stopped following Premier League football years ago, but reading this novel made me yearn for it again: the hopes and dreams captured in eleven men kicking a ball around; how every match could be the one where something magical happens; the unity of a team in pursuit of glory. I loved every second that we spend on the football pitch in this book, from the descriptions of the plays and strategies, to Oliver’s dreams of winning the World Cup, to the final, nail-biting penalty kick.
Oliver Harris is our protagonist, golden boy of Camden FC, homegrown in the streets of the market and the club’s academy. he thinks he knows what his life is going to look like, and he thinks his secret is going to remain kept until he retires, until he’s thrown into turmoil by the arrival of sunny, energetic Leonardo Davies-Villanueva, and suddenly all bets are off. the two circle around each other, tension building and building until finally Oliver crosses every line he’s ever drawn for himself.
the setting is realistic—the consequences of their attraction are tangibly dangerous for Leo and Oliver, particularly Oliver, who has put everything into football since he was nine years old, trying to prove to his dead father that it is worth it after all. he tells himself ‘football now and gay later’; he suffers through locker room jokes about him not being able to get any, through pitch-heckling and slur-tossing. there are no gay male footballers in the Premier League. Oliver can’t have both. until he meets Leo, and suddenly he finds something that might be worth more than football: someone else seeing all of him, knowing all of him. in other words, love. and still, it’s not without fear, and inner turmoil over what the fallout from a public admission could be. the conversation Oliver has with his manager made me cry the first time I read it, and it made me cry again now:
he, and Kallie Emblidge, remind us that the stakes are high, yet not insurmountable. that’s the beauty of fiction, reminding us that the world can be a better place if we strive for it. and if you’ve ever been a football fan, or a sports fan of any kind, you’ll know: the hope is what keeps us coming back, keeps us glued to our seats until the final whistle blows. a team who’s languishing at the middle of the table might have a brilliant few months and come back in third, that stoppage time penalty kick might just hit the back of the net—and maybe the world-famous footballer can get the boy, too.
a thousand stars, read it immediately!
Oliver Harris is our protagonist, golden boy of Camden FC, homegrown in the streets of the market and the club’s academy. he thinks he knows what his life is going to look like, and he thinks his secret is going to remain kept until he retires, until he’s thrown into turmoil by the arrival of sunny, energetic Leonardo Davies-Villanueva, and suddenly all bets are off. the two circle around each other, tension building and building until finally Oliver crosses every line he’s ever drawn for himself.
the setting is realistic—the consequences of their attraction are tangibly dangerous for Leo and Oliver, particularly Oliver, who has put everything into football since he was nine years old, trying to prove to his dead father that it is worth it after all. he tells himself ‘football now and gay later’; he suffers through locker room jokes about him not being able to get any, through pitch-heckling and slur-tossing. there are no gay male footballers in the Premier League. Oliver can’t have both. until he meets Leo, and suddenly he finds something that might be worth more than football: someone else seeing all of him, knowing all of him. in other words, love. and still, it’s not without fear, and inner turmoil over what the fallout from a public admission could be. the conversation Oliver has with his manager made me cry the first time I read it, and it made me cry again now:
Johan would tell you that it’s not your job to fix it all, but it is your gift and your great challenge to keep hold of the spot you’ve earned, for football, for yourself, for the man you love. He would say there’s worth in any attempt to stand in truth, in righteousness. The first Catalan name registered in Barcelona in years, can you imagine? That certainly didn’t depose Franco, but no one else could have done what Cruyff did and gotten away with it. Only he had that power. No one else can do this now but the two of you. And that means something. It might mean everything.
he, and Kallie Emblidge, remind us that the stakes are high, yet not insurmountable. that’s the beauty of fiction, reminding us that the world can be a better place if we strive for it. and if you’ve ever been a football fan, or a sports fan of any kind, you’ll know: the hope is what keeps us coming back, keeps us glued to our seats until the final whistle blows. a team who’s languishing at the middle of the table might have a brilliant few months and come back in third, that stoppage time penalty kick might just hit the back of the net—and maybe the world-famous footballer can get the boy, too.
a thousand stars, read it immediately!
November 25, 2025
Oooh how I loved this. It has everything I love in a sports romance. I absolutely loved the dynamic between Ollie and Leo. They were just electric together from the start, their chemistry was palpable. This made the stakes feel high without the story becoming overly dramatic. And then there's the writing. I loooved the writing, it felt so deeply romantic. All in all, this book worked perfectly for me.
June 28, 2025
start on: 6.17.25
end on: 6.26.25
‧₊˚✧final review✧˚₊‧
‧₊˚🖇️✩₊housekeeping˚🎧⊹♡
༘₊·꒰➳ possible minor spoilers
༘₊·꒰➳ thank you to Kallie Embridge, Ballantine, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review
༘₊·꒰➳ no quotes because I have to wait until the final version is released, ill come back with a playlist too
🫧𓇼𓏲rest of review✩‧₊˚🎐
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ genre: adult mlm romance
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ what to expect + content warnings + age rating
➳ 3rd person present tense
➳ single pov
➳ lgbt rep (gay + bi)
➳ mlm
➳ sports romance (soccer football)
➳ rivals-to-lovers
➳ mentorship
➳ secret relationship/”forbidden” romance
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳★★★☆☆
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ᰔᰔ(2)/5 (spice rating)
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ❀❀❀(3)/5 (fluff rating)
「 ✦Two Left Feet✦ 」
(noun) cute, but not about barca
☁️ . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ overall thoughts
So first things first i lowk thought it was gonna be dual pov?? That’s not an issue really i was just surprised because based on the synopsis I thought it would be. ANYWAYS now that i’ve exposed the fact that I don’t really pay attention to book synopsis, lets actually talk about the book!! This was really cute, and obviously the fact that it was rivals-to-lovers grumpy x sunshine football romance (yes im from america but literally what is soccer) made it 10x better because who doesn’t love a sports romance (esp where the hottest sport is concerned).
˚˖ᡣ𐭩🌷͙֒✧˚.🎀༘⋆ writing style
I love reading books set it other countries that are written by authors from that country. Its a whole new insight into how people there actually talk and sound instead of the americanized versions. I did think this book was a little tell instead of show, but that’s okay in my opinion. I would recommend maybe going a little deeper into the characters. I also personally tend to revert any present tense to past tense subconsciously when a book is 3rd person, but that might just be a me thing because i cannot stand the flow of 3rd person present tense writing unless the narrator is like…idek how to describe it because I don’t have anything to compare it to.
♡₊˚ 🦢・₊ ♪ ✧ plot
So this was a really cute plot lowk? I liked the pacing of the matchdays and how they weren’t called chapters, I thought that was a really interesting way to do it. It seemed that all the major events were focused in on with a lack of obstruction from subplots, and even tho there was just one plotline, it felt like there was enough going on to keep my attention. It was kind of refreshing to not have a billion mini-plots all over the place, because I could just focus on the one thing and not have to remember how something else tied in to the rest of it.
✧˖*°࿐ world building
I just want to say i learned so freaking much about football and how the leagues work and how national teams work 😭 yall dont know it but i NEED this info for a certain someone hehe
˖◛⁺⑅♡main romance♡⑅⁺◛˖
Pls these two were too cute 😭 I was a little worried about the age-gap at first with how the author said leo was just coming out of the U23s, and that mixed with Oliver’s advancement in football and the grumpy x sunshine trope, it had me scared that they were about to say like 8 years which very much is against my rules since leo isn’t 25 yet. But i think its only 3-4 years. And honestly they were adorable (once they finally got together). When everything at the end happened they had me worried that by the end there wasnt gonna be an HEA but not to worry it all turned out dandy! And how well they work together on the pitch was so fun to hear about i was obsessed!
➶-͙˚ ༘✶ characters
Main Characters 「 ✦Oliver Harris✦ 」
He was interesting! His grumpiness kind of annoyed me, but it was valid because i would be grumpy too if i had to suppress my sexuality for fear of the loss of a career I’d worked so hard towards. He deserves to be happy.
༘₊·꒰➳relatability?
[■■□□□□□□□□] 20%
༘₊·꒰➳how much i liked them
8/10
Side Character「 ✦Leonardo Davies-Villanueva (Davito)✦ 」
did i spell that right? he’s so golden-retriever silly boy i love him 😭 like sir who gave you the right to be adorable? He kind of gave off overeager teenager vibes but like he was so cute and so funny and i would read a whole book just about him (kallie, please??)
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ favorites
ˋ°•*⁀➷ favorite characters
༘₊·꒰➳ leo
ˋ°•*⁀➷favorite scene
༘₊·꒰➳ omg the scene on the pitch that led us into the final spiral (WORTH IT!)
✩₊˚☾⋆⁺₊✧ final thoughts
Cute! Next time, make it about barca, and itll be 5 stars trust
⋆.ೃ࿔*: please comment or pm me if I missed anything, especially tropes!
ʚɞ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ with love, audrey
ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ
‧₊˚✧pre-review✧˚₊‧
cute! rtc <33
‧₊˚✧pre-read✧˚₊‧
I love getting arcs!! this ones for pride month too.
end on: 6.26.25
‧₊˚✧final review✧˚₊‧
‧₊˚🖇️✩₊housekeeping˚🎧⊹♡
༘₊·꒰➳ possible minor spoilers
༘₊·꒰➳ thank you to Kallie Embridge, Ballantine, and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review
༘₊·꒰➳ no quotes because I have to wait until the final version is released, ill come back with a playlist too
🫧𓇼𓏲rest of review✩‧₊˚🎐
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ genre: adult mlm romance
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ what to expect + content warnings + age rating
➳ 3rd person present tense
➳ single pov
➳ lgbt rep (gay + bi)
➳ mlm
➳ sports romance (
➳ rivals-to-lovers
➳ mentorship
➳ secret relationship/”forbidden” romance
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳★★★☆☆
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ᰔᰔ(2)/5 (spice rating)
༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ ❀❀❀(3)/5 (fluff rating)
「 ✦Two Left Feet✦ 」
(noun) cute, but not about barca
☁️ . . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ overall thoughts
So first things first i lowk thought it was gonna be dual pov?? That’s not an issue really i was just surprised because based on the synopsis I thought it would be. ANYWAYS now that i’ve exposed the fact that I don’t really pay attention to book synopsis, lets actually talk about the book!! This was really cute, and obviously the fact that it was rivals-to-lovers grumpy x sunshine football romance (yes im from america but literally what is soccer) made it 10x better because who doesn’t love a sports romance (esp where the hottest sport is concerned).
˚˖ᡣ𐭩🌷͙֒✧˚.🎀༘⋆ writing style
I love reading books set it other countries that are written by authors from that country. Its a whole new insight into how people there actually talk and sound instead of the americanized versions. I did think this book was a little tell instead of show, but that’s okay in my opinion. I would recommend maybe going a little deeper into the characters. I also personally tend to revert any present tense to past tense subconsciously when a book is 3rd person, but that might just be a me thing because i cannot stand the flow of 3rd person present tense writing unless the narrator is like…idek how to describe it because I don’t have anything to compare it to.
♡₊˚ 🦢・₊ ♪ ✧ plot
So this was a really cute plot lowk? I liked the pacing of the matchdays and how they weren’t called chapters, I thought that was a really interesting way to do it. It seemed that all the major events were focused in on with a lack of obstruction from subplots, and even tho there was just one plotline, it felt like there was enough going on to keep my attention. It was kind of refreshing to not have a billion mini-plots all over the place, because I could just focus on the one thing and not have to remember how something else tied in to the rest of it.
✧˖*°࿐ world building
I just want to say i learned so freaking much about football and how the leagues work and how national teams work 😭 yall dont know it but i NEED this info for a certain someone hehe
˖◛⁺⑅♡main romance♡⑅⁺◛˖
Pls these two were too cute 😭 I was a little worried about the age-gap at first with how the author said leo was just coming out of the U23s, and that mixed with Oliver’s advancement in football and the grumpy x sunshine trope, it had me scared that they were about to say like 8 years which very much is against my rules since leo isn’t 25 yet. But i think its only 3-4 years. And honestly they were adorable (once they finally got together). When everything at the end happened they had me worried that by the end there wasnt gonna be an HEA but not to worry it all turned out dandy! And how well they work together on the pitch was so fun to hear about i was obsessed!
➶-͙˚ ༘✶ characters
Main Characters 「 ✦Oliver Harris✦ 」
He was interesting! His grumpiness kind of annoyed me, but it was valid because i would be grumpy too if i had to suppress my sexuality for fear of the loss of a career I’d worked so hard towards. He deserves to be happy.
༘₊·꒰➳relatability?
[■■□□□□□□□□] 20%
༘₊·꒰➳how much i liked them
8/10
Side Character「 ✦Leonardo Davies-Villanueva (Davito)✦ 」
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ favorites
ˋ°•*⁀➷ favorite characters
༘₊·꒰➳ leo
ˋ°•*⁀➷favorite scene
༘₊·꒰➳ omg the scene on the pitch that led us into the final spiral (WORTH IT!)
✩₊˚☾⋆⁺₊✧ final thoughts
Cute! Next time, make it about barca, and itll be 5 stars trust
⋆.ೃ࿔*: please comment or pm me if I missed anything, especially tropes!
ʚɞ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ with love, audrey
ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ♡ﮩ٨ـﮩﮩ٨ـ
‧₊˚✧pre-review✧˚₊‧
cute! rtc <33
‧₊˚✧pre-read✧˚₊‧
I love getting arcs!! this ones for pride month too.
September 15, 2025
As a bisexual, former football player, I LOVEEE stories about queer football players. If nothing else but for the sole reason of being able to understand the jargon, plus knowing when the author has a surface level knowledge of the sport lol.
Two left feet was a beautiful book to read. The prose just sucks you into the world of football in the English scene and the characters were so fun too. I was particularly fond of Oliver, and not only because the entire book is in his point of view. Oliver's struggles with choosing between coming out and football, both things that make him so happy, was so palpable my chest hurt. I loved seeing him navigate his yearning for Leo and his daily life with the other important people to him like his mom and best friend. I don't have much to say about Leo because again, most of the book is from Oliver's point of view and he's so smitten with Leo that I as the reader had no choice but to love him too!
My only issue is that I wish we'd gotten more intimate moments, conversations between Oliver and Leo so that I'd be more invested in them both as characters and as a couple. There were a lot of time skips to important matches and events and it felt like their relationship development was far too much in the backseat, if that makes sense.
I devoured this in the span of 4 hours, that's how much I enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
Two left feet was a beautiful book to read. The prose just sucks you into the world of football in the English scene and the characters were so fun too. I was particularly fond of Oliver, and not only because the entire book is in his point of view. Oliver's struggles with choosing between coming out and football, both things that make him so happy, was so palpable my chest hurt. I loved seeing him navigate his yearning for Leo and his daily life with the other important people to him like his mom and best friend. I don't have much to say about Leo because again, most of the book is from Oliver's point of view and he's so smitten with Leo that I as the reader had no choice but to love him too!
My only issue is that I wish we'd gotten more intimate moments, conversations between Oliver and Leo so that I'd be more invested in them both as characters and as a couple. There were a lot of time skips to important matches and events and it felt like their relationship development was far too much in the backseat, if that makes sense.
I devoured this in the span of 4 hours, that's how much I enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
This filled the Heated Rivalry shaped hole in my chest. RTC
August 14, 2025
oliver and leo my heart is yours
i work at the publisher. all opinions are my own.
i work at the publisher. all opinions are my own.
November 22, 2025
✨✨✨✨✨
This book was so lovely to read and I really enjoyed it. Our main characters Ollie and Leo start off battling it out for midfielder on the Camden team and end up falling in love. And somehow but why are we surprised, I really loved this book. I honestly could never put this down and when I did, I wanted to pick it back up.
There were so many good quotes in this book and I can’t say it enough but I absolutely loved this book and I would love to read it again. Also did I enter a Goodreads giveaway for this book? Yes I did and I don’t regret a single thing. Have I won yet? No but it’s okay if I don’t because I literally just finished this book.
The pacing of this book was impeccable. Also this book had thirteen chapters and they were long. Usually I don’t like a book with long chapters but this book was eating and I left no crumbs. Also I really enjoyed that this timeline happened over months so our characters really got to know each other and grow closer. Also this book is based in 2017 so I’m glad that we didn’t get any 2025 current events like 67 honestly I’ve heard enough of it and I was glad that I didn’t see it on a single page.
This book was rivals-to-friends-to-lovers. And a lot of people know that I love a good friends to lovers. There was also a slow-burn which I heavily appreciated because I was 40% of the way through this book and Ollie one of our love interests was finally admitting to himself that he had a crush on Leo. Also the nickname for Leo. They were so cute. But I also enjoyed the aspect of Leo and Ollie actually caring about each other. Like whenever something went wrong Leo was concerned that it wasn’t going to work out but thankfully it did in all the right ways. I also loved that Ollie took his time and didn’t rush into a relationship with Leo. And there was communication. I love when people actually multiple conversations to figure out situations. Overall I love love love this book and I definitely recommend. But I do want to say thank you to the author, Kallie Emblidge for having the inspiration to write this book and to NetGalley for the ebook arc copy of Two Left Feet, and to the publisher Ballentine for having me approved to read this book.
This book was so lovely to read and I really enjoyed it. Our main characters Ollie and Leo start off battling it out for midfielder on the Camden team and end up falling in love. And somehow but why are we surprised, I really loved this book. I honestly could never put this down and when I did, I wanted to pick it back up.
There were so many good quotes in this book and I can’t say it enough but I absolutely loved this book and I would love to read it again. Also did I enter a Goodreads giveaway for this book? Yes I did and I don’t regret a single thing. Have I won yet? No but it’s okay if I don’t because I literally just finished this book.
The pacing of this book was impeccable. Also this book had thirteen chapters and they were long. Usually I don’t like a book with long chapters but this book was eating and I left no crumbs. Also I really enjoyed that this timeline happened over months so our characters really got to know each other and grow closer. Also this book is based in 2017 so I’m glad that we didn’t get any 2025 current events like 67 honestly I’ve heard enough of it and I was glad that I didn’t see it on a single page.
This book was rivals-to-friends-to-lovers. And a lot of people know that I love a good friends to lovers. There was also a slow-burn which I heavily appreciated because I was 40% of the way through this book and Ollie one of our love interests was finally admitting to himself that he had a crush on Leo. Also the nickname for Leo. They were so cute. But I also enjoyed the aspect of Leo and Ollie actually caring about each other. Like whenever something went wrong Leo was concerned that it wasn’t going to work out but thankfully it did in all the right ways. I also loved that Ollie took his time and didn’t rush into a relationship with Leo. And there was communication. I love when people actually multiple conversations to figure out situations. Overall I love love love this book and I definitely recommend. But I do want to say thank you to the author, Kallie Emblidge for having the inspiration to write this book and to NetGalley for the ebook arc copy of Two Left Feet, and to the publisher Ballentine for having me approved to read this book.
July 21, 2025
[3.5⭐️] [ARC]
Thank you NetGalley & the publishers for providing this E-Arc in exchange for a honest review!
“Two left feet” By Kallie Emblidge is a Soccer/Football romance based in London. Oliver, A Premier League football star has to defend his spot when an amazingly talented midfielder joins his team, Camden Roses.
When a recruit is called up to fill in, Oliver is afraid he'll be replaced. If he can mentor this younger talent, then they might just have a chance at winning, together.
Leonardo Davis-Villanueva is finally living his dream of joining the Camden Roses. Oliver finds confident, eager Leo irritating. And have a bit of an Enemies to Lovers Trope.
Overtime he comes to admire Leo's skill and Talent.
As they hang out more and more Oliver starts to feel feelings he’s never felt before. Oliver cannot fall in love with his teammate. He's always his sexuality private. Being gay could ruin his career if it gets out. But feeling grow stronger and stronger. Can Oliver have both Leo and Football? At the end what truly has Oliver’s heart?
It took me a LONGGGGGGG time to get into this book, maybe it’s the lack of knowledge in the soccer world but I was confused a lot. But to keep the positive mood I really enjoyed the characters, the romance really drove the story for me. Anytime I got confused I knew if I stuck it out for a few more pages I would be rewarded. The back and forth of “we can’t do this” *they do it anyway* repeat was getting a big old by the 3rd time. There was also a scene I remember where an argument was resolved so quickly, and not in the communication way but in “let’s change the subject” way. Sadly this story was pretty forgettable for me, all I remember is liking the banter aspects of the relationship. It’s also very clearly an American Author trying to write a book based in London, there were so many times I had to sit and think “so British people really say that?” I know these are a lot of negatives but I promise I did truly enjoy the story. I was back and forth between DNFing because I was getting so confused and couldn’t connect with the writing at first, I would get lost and have to reread many paragraphs to end up not understanding it and just moving on. But I’m so glad I kept going because this was a cute, quick summer read. All in all I think this is a great Debut Novel and hope to see more!
Thank you NetGalley & the publishers for providing this E-Arc in exchange for a honest review!
“Two left feet” By Kallie Emblidge is a Soccer/Football romance based in London. Oliver, A Premier League football star has to defend his spot when an amazingly talented midfielder joins his team, Camden Roses.
When a recruit is called up to fill in, Oliver is afraid he'll be replaced. If he can mentor this younger talent, then they might just have a chance at winning, together.
Leonardo Davis-Villanueva is finally living his dream of joining the Camden Roses. Oliver finds confident, eager Leo irritating. And have a bit of an Enemies to Lovers Trope.
Overtime he comes to admire Leo's skill and Talent.
As they hang out more and more Oliver starts to feel feelings he’s never felt before. Oliver cannot fall in love with his teammate. He's always his sexuality private. Being gay could ruin his career if it gets out. But feeling grow stronger and stronger. Can Oliver have both Leo and Football? At the end what truly has Oliver’s heart?
It took me a LONGGGGGGG time to get into this book, maybe it’s the lack of knowledge in the soccer world but I was confused a lot. But to keep the positive mood I really enjoyed the characters, the romance really drove the story for me. Anytime I got confused I knew if I stuck it out for a few more pages I would be rewarded. The back and forth of “we can’t do this” *they do it anyway* repeat was getting a big old by the 3rd time. There was also a scene I remember where an argument was resolved so quickly, and not in the communication way but in “let’s change the subject” way. Sadly this story was pretty forgettable for me, all I remember is liking the banter aspects of the relationship. It’s also very clearly an American Author trying to write a book based in London, there were so many times I had to sit and think “so British people really say that?” I know these are a lot of negatives but I promise I did truly enjoy the story. I was back and forth between DNFing because I was getting so confused and couldn’t connect with the writing at first, I would get lost and have to reread many paragraphs to end up not understanding it and just moving on. But I’m so glad I kept going because this was a cute, quick summer read. All in all I think this is a great Debut Novel and hope to see more!
July 6, 2025
Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for the arc!
I really enjoyed this! Full rtc
I really enjoyed this! Full rtc
October 19, 2025
i got an arc from netgalley 🫶
i actually liked this book a lot !! i don’t have a lot of knowledge regarding soccer except for when my country is playing haha but i found it interesting !!! i did wish we could have more couple moments since i wanted to see them together a lot more, that’s why i gave it 4 stars otherwise it was great !!!! as a latino i always love to see my people in books haha 🫶🫶🫶
i actually liked this book a lot !! i don’t have a lot of knowledge regarding soccer except for when my country is playing haha but i found it interesting !!! i did wish we could have more couple moments since i wanted to see them together a lot more, that’s why i gave it 4 stars otherwise it was great !!!! as a latino i always love to see my people in books haha 🫶🫶🫶
Read
December 27, 2025***DNF
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
I unfortunately was not able to get through this one- Oliver was honestly not a very likable character.
The tone of the book is also not very engaging. The chapters are also very long which doesn’t help.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!
I unfortunately was not able to get through this one- Oliver was honestly not a very likable character.
The tone of the book is also not very engaging. The chapters are also very long which doesn’t help.
August 21, 2025
I don’t know anything about soccer - sorry, football!!! - but I DO know romance and oh my god is TWO LEFT FEET a stunner. A gorgeously written, delicious slow burn that burrows itself inside your heart.
June 25, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this novel. All my thoughts and opinions are my own.
Real rating: 4.25
What a phenomenal debut! And I don’t say that lightly. After the first chapter, I genuinely had to look up the author to confirm it was, indeed, their first published work. I’m astounded at how refined it is for just the first go.
The pacing of the novel is excellent. The characters, even the side and more background ones, all have distinct personalities that make them feel like real people and not just inserts. There’s maybe around 15 or so repeating characters in this novel, and even with a gap apart mentioning certain people, I never needed a refresher on who was who. The way they all talk and interact with one another is all different and unique.
Oliver is incredibly relatable at each stage of his recovery and subsequent (initially reluctant) friendship-turned relationship with Leo. There’s not a point where his actions don’t make sense. Even when he’s hot and cold, you can always understand why, like a glaring neon sign. Even sympathize or empathize with him, too.
Leo is an absolute ball of sunshine who refuses to take any shit from Oliver, either. He calls Oliver out on his bs and doesn’t back down. But in the same breath, he doesn’t have it in him to hold a grudge. When he’s sad, I’m sad. When Leo’s happy, I’d be hard-pressed to try and keep a grin off my face.
Oliver and Leo’s relationship builds organically. In the beginning, it’s (understandably) a push-and-pull, slowly laying the groundwork for a tentative friendship, to something more.
Overall, this was a remarkable and wonderful debut.
Kallie Emblidge, whatever you write next - I’ll be first in line.
Real rating: 4.25
What a phenomenal debut! And I don’t say that lightly. After the first chapter, I genuinely had to look up the author to confirm it was, indeed, their first published work. I’m astounded at how refined it is for just the first go.
The pacing of the novel is excellent. The characters, even the side and more background ones, all have distinct personalities that make them feel like real people and not just inserts. There’s maybe around 15 or so repeating characters in this novel, and even with a gap apart mentioning certain people, I never needed a refresher on who was who. The way they all talk and interact with one another is all different and unique.
Oliver is incredibly relatable at each stage of his recovery and subsequent (initially reluctant) friendship-turned relationship with Leo. There’s not a point where his actions don’t make sense. Even when he’s hot and cold, you can always understand why, like a glaring neon sign. Even sympathize or empathize with him, too.
Leo is an absolute ball of sunshine who refuses to take any shit from Oliver, either. He calls Oliver out on his bs and doesn’t back down. But in the same breath, he doesn’t have it in him to hold a grudge. When he’s sad, I’m sad. When Leo’s happy, I’d be hard-pressed to try and keep a grin off my face.
Oliver and Leo’s relationship builds organically. In the beginning, it’s (understandably) a push-and-pull, slowly laying the groundwork for a tentative friendship, to something more.
Overall, this was a remarkable and wonderful debut.
Kallie Emblidge, whatever you write next - I’ll be first in line.
Read
June 28, 2025"This is all Oliver’s got, for the next seven minutes, for the rest of forever, this is what he has to offer: his left foot and his heart."
Oliver is one of the prominent player in football and he got injured and assigned to train the newbie to the team, Leonardo. However, they cannot stop their attraction to one another and much are at stakes.
The transition between scenes was a bit confusing for me because we are here in this location then the next thing, we are in a different one. There's also a lot of in-between scenes so that held me back because I need to get a sense of where we are before fully delving into the story.
The story was sweet, wholesome and realistic especially in terms of coming out to people and even more so if you are in a position where the public have an opinions on you.
Oliver's a complex and layered character and since we are following him, I admire him in knowing his priorities and how he handled things. The relationship between him and Leo was very complicated with a lot of hot-and-cold moments, push-and-pull and the will-they-won't-they dynamic but I love that the story was resolve in its momentum.
I love getting views of the whole football aspect through this story too.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!
Oliver is one of the prominent player in football and he got injured and assigned to train the newbie to the team, Leonardo. However, they cannot stop their attraction to one another and much are at stakes.
The transition between scenes was a bit confusing for me because we are here in this location then the next thing, we are in a different one. There's also a lot of in-between scenes so that held me back because I need to get a sense of where we are before fully delving into the story.
The story was sweet, wholesome and realistic especially in terms of coming out to people and even more so if you are in a position where the public have an opinions on you.
Oliver's a complex and layered character and since we are following him, I admire him in knowing his priorities and how he handled things. The relationship between him and Leo was very complicated with a lot of hot-and-cold moments, push-and-pull and the will-they-won't-they dynamic but I love that the story was resolve in its momentum.
I love getting views of the whole football aspect through this story too.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC!
August 17, 2025
Thank you Dell for the advance copy to review!
I had a good time reading this one. Set against a football season in England, Ollie is tasked with mentoring a player who he feels is his replacement, Leo. He’s not happy about - but he’s also attracted to the man. Sparks definitely fly between these two and before you know it, they are fighting their feelings.
Full disclosure, I took a month break from this one because it was a little slower paced than I typically like for my romance books. This was more about teamwork and figuring out your life than romance, but I liked it all the same.
The romance between Leo and Ollie definitely built up over time, and I felt like it took forever for them to kiss! It was a little hem and haw for a bit.
I thought the ending was really lovely, but them not really realizing every one saw Ollie kiss Leo on TV was kind of funny to me. Lol. The team having their backs was really fantastic and once again I really wish pro sports were more accepting of queer people in general. I really genuinely believe we’ll get there someday, but I wish it was now.
Overall, I’d recommend it. It was a genuinely sweet book with a truly lovely ending.
I had a good time reading this one. Set against a football season in England, Ollie is tasked with mentoring a player who he feels is his replacement, Leo. He’s not happy about - but he’s also attracted to the man. Sparks definitely fly between these two and before you know it, they are fighting their feelings.
Full disclosure, I took a month break from this one because it was a little slower paced than I typically like for my romance books. This was more about teamwork and figuring out your life than romance, but I liked it all the same.
The romance between Leo and Ollie definitely built up over time, and I felt like it took forever for them to kiss! It was a little hem and haw for a bit.
I thought the ending was really lovely, but them not really realizing every one saw Ollie kiss Leo on TV was kind of funny to me. Lol. The team having their backs was really fantastic and once again I really wish pro sports were more accepting of queer people in general. I really genuinely believe we’ll get there someday, but I wish it was now.
Overall, I’d recommend it. It was a genuinely sweet book with a truly lovely ending.
August 24, 2025
This book is an absolutely delightful breath of fresh air. I finished it while standing in a packed Green Line train (Boston public transit), stuck behind a disabled train and late to my afternoon plans, and I am barely bothered by it, still grinning like a Cheshire cat and filled with joy five minutes later.
The only thing I know about football (soccer) is that you can’t touch the ball with your hands unless you’re the goalie (I still do not know if Camden is a real team), but this book was still right up my alley in how well it captures sports team spirit and dynamics. The writing is excellent; easy to read, lightly humorous, and not a single word wasted. The characters are well built and dynamic, and Oliver and Leo’s relationship feels so real.
Overall, highly recommend!
The only thing I know about football (soccer) is that you can’t touch the ball with your hands unless you’re the goalie (I still do not know if Camden is a real team), but this book was still right up my alley in how well it captures sports team spirit and dynamics. The writing is excellent; easy to read, lightly humorous, and not a single word wasted. The characters are well built and dynamic, and Oliver and Leo’s relationship feels so real.
Overall, highly recommend!
November 15, 2025
thank you netgalley and dell for this arc!
i loved this! i’m no expert on football ⚽️, in fact i never watch it lol, but i feel like this represented the sport well and had a good balance of the sport aspect and the romance. the tension before they got together was done very well and it tugged on the heartstrings a bit to experience them trying to hide it for the sake of their careers. the meaning behind the title, two left feet, was precious and i loved the line where the meaning clicked. very glad i was able to read this debut novel and learn a bit more about a sport i don’t know.
i loved this! i’m no expert on football ⚽️, in fact i never watch it lol, but i feel like this represented the sport well and had a good balance of the sport aspect and the romance. the tension before they got together was done very well and it tugged on the heartstrings a bit to experience them trying to hide it for the sake of their careers. the meaning behind the title, two left feet, was precious and i loved the line where the meaning clicked. very glad i was able to read this debut novel and learn a bit more about a sport i don’t know.
October 26, 2025
Thank you to Ballantine books and Random House for this eARC! While this is a sport I probably know the least about, that did not take away from my enjoyment of this story. A veteran hero and the rookie coming up underneath him....and on top of him and every which way round is always a good story! The yearning was very intense and the use of the season of sport to highlight the tension was very well structured. Happy to have branched out into football in my sports reading journey!
December 1, 2025
Thank you to Ballantine, Dell, and NetGalley for the ARC. This was ultimately a sweet, queer, sports romance. There was nothing bad about this book, but I didn’t find myself especially drawn to the characters. I found Oliver a bit stand-offish, though he did grow on me as the story went on. I thought Leo was lovely, but I think I just wanted more yearning from these two. I sadly didn’t feel it as much as I would like, but this was still a cute read 3⭐️
dnf
November 1, 2025Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.
DNF @25%
I love a good sports romance but this one was just not hitting for me. I'm a bit bored and am not really liking Oliver as a character.
DNF @25%
I love a good sports romance but this one was just not hitting for me. I'm a bit bored and am not really liking Oliver as a character.
June 26, 2025
I haven’t given very many 5* ratings in the last year, but this was really good. A little angst, but not so much that you’re almost miserable for the majority of the book, just waiting for the HEA. Also no third act breakup.
I always love a good sports romance and I love that this one gave us a great balance of romance/relationship building and the sport itself. So many just kind of reference the sport in the background, but the romance is 99% of the focus. This one is a true SPORT romance.
The relationship was beautiful and I love the support their team showed them at the end.
Other than wanting the spice to be spicier, because I’m a monster like that, 10/10 no notes.
“Tomorrow he’ll put everything back on the line and tonight he wants to be home with Leo, make him dinner and suck him off like a gentleman”
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️Random notes from my read: CAN BE CONSIDERED SPOILERY⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
* I’m not really sure why Leo is upset, but he’s going to need to get over it to make this duo work on the field
* Here we gooooo
* Wait, we don’t get to see the press conference? Booooo hiisssss
* Nicola is so lovely
* GET EM JOE
Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC and allowing me to provide my honest review
I always love a good sports romance and I love that this one gave us a great balance of romance/relationship building and the sport itself. So many just kind of reference the sport in the background, but the romance is 99% of the focus. This one is a true SPORT romance.
The relationship was beautiful and I love the support their team showed them at the end.
Other than wanting the spice to be spicier, because I’m a monster like that, 10/10 no notes.
“Tomorrow he’ll put everything back on the line and tonight he wants to be home with Leo, make him dinner and suck him off like a gentleman”
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️Random notes from my read: CAN BE CONSIDERED SPOILERY⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
* I’m not really sure why Leo is upset, but he’s going to need to get over it to make this duo work on the field
* Here we gooooo
* Wait, we don’t get to see the press conference? Booooo hiisssss
* Nicola is so lovely
* GET EM JOE
Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an ARC and allowing me to provide my honest review
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2025
A delight from start to finish. Ollie's inner turmoil comes out perfectly on the page, and watching him work it out -- as well as his feelings for Leo -- was so sweet and satisfying to see. Soccer fans don’t want to miss Kallie’s stunning new debut!
July 31, 2025
Honestly this breaks my heart to do this. But I had to DNF at around 70%… it’s not that it wasn’t written well, because it was. The story just wasn’t for me, it wasn’t really a romance it was more a book about soccer. And the relationships in a soccer team and a man who is so closeted he is lost. The back and forth between the two men had me dying and I just couldn’t continue. I’m so sorry to even write the review😭
September 1, 2025
A roughly redacted review, because we're not supposed to quote, but:
I'm going to start by saying: I love a sports romance, and I'm British.
There are a few problems with this book, the biggest is that it fails at being a romance because it's so caught up in the football -- only to show a marked lack of knowledge about football, especially British football history.
There was a gay football player. His name was Justin Fashanu. The media ate him alive and nothing ended well for him. There's a reason so many sports have out athletes and top flight men's football in the UK is so far behind. They've seen what can happen and it's not pretty. So for a book to have a blurb that says this, "He’s always kept a tight lid on his sexuality in a league that’s never had a player come out." is really disingenuous. You can argue the premier league didn't exist until 1992, and he came out in 1990, but then to call on semantics like that is a bit gross. There are a few other mentions but I can't quote, but they're also wrong.
Now, Justin Fashanu came out in an exclusive with The Sun, one of the newspapers here, and they didn't really help anything. It was just all kinds of, well... here's a quote from the gay times in 1991 about the sun article: "The Sun dragged out the tale with titillating stories of sexual encounters with unnamed MPs, football players and pop stars, which, he claims, were largely untrue."
So, given that context imagine my surprise to see a quote about giving a tell-all interview to the Sun.
I've seen other football books handle this much better. Much better. I think the publishers really need to take a look about how they handle this and perhaps have some edits.
I believe the author is American and it really shows. I happened to grow up in the area this is set in, and if someone asks where I'm from outside of London I'll say London, within London I'll say Camden, and within Camden I'll say Gospel Oak. People from outside of London seem to forget how dense it is, an how much people are from *their* area, especially if they've grown up there. So the fact a kid from Chalk Farm keeps telling people he's from Camden when he's standing in Camden is infuriating. But actually, none of this is my gripe. This is a minor niggle that I've fallen down.
There are other pieces, like one player telling another they're only 2km away or so from each other. We use miles. In London I'd argue minutes makes more sense, because of transport routes and density. The slang just is never quite right, some terms are out dated, and some aren't used correctly.
And now the other piece that makes me think the author hasn't done their research properly. There was a massive scandal where the England football manager, glenn hoddle, was fired for comments he made about people being disabled because of things they'd done in past lives. There's a lot of back and forth about if it was misconstrued, etc, but the basis is: he was fired. Guess what is a throwaway quote in the book? Yeah, something about being punished for something a person did in a past life.
Yeah. Christ on a bike.
I really think this book needs to be proofed by someone with extensive experience of London, and also solid knowledge of English football.
The bits above would have been enough to knock it down to a 3*, however... the romance is lacking. There are walls and walls of text, there's no focus on the relationship it's all on the football and... please see above for why that doesn't work. Side characters aren't real, they're just flat props of people.
Honestly, as this book is now I just can't recommend it.
I'm going to start by saying: I love a sports romance, and I'm British.
There are a few problems with this book, the biggest is that it fails at being a romance because it's so caught up in the football -- only to show a marked lack of knowledge about football, especially British football history.
There was a gay football player. His name was Justin Fashanu. The media ate him alive and nothing ended well for him. There's a reason so many sports have out athletes and top flight men's football in the UK is so far behind. They've seen what can happen and it's not pretty. So for a book to have a blurb that says this, "He’s always kept a tight lid on his sexuality in a league that’s never had a player come out." is really disingenuous. You can argue the premier league didn't exist until 1992, and he came out in 1990, but then to call on semantics like that is a bit gross. There are a few other mentions but I can't quote, but they're also wrong.
Now, Justin Fashanu came out in an exclusive with The Sun, one of the newspapers here, and they didn't really help anything. It was just all kinds of, well... here's a quote from the gay times in 1991 about the sun article: "The Sun dragged out the tale with titillating stories of sexual encounters with unnamed MPs, football players and pop stars, which, he claims, were largely untrue."
So, given that context imagine my surprise to see a quote about giving a tell-all interview to the Sun.
I've seen other football books handle this much better. Much better. I think the publishers really need to take a look about how they handle this and perhaps have some edits.
I believe the author is American and it really shows. I happened to grow up in the area this is set in, and if someone asks where I'm from outside of London I'll say London, within London I'll say Camden, and within Camden I'll say Gospel Oak. People from outside of London seem to forget how dense it is, an how much people are from *their* area, especially if they've grown up there. So the fact a kid from Chalk Farm keeps telling people he's from Camden when he's standing in Camden is infuriating. But actually, none of this is my gripe. This is a minor niggle that I've fallen down.
There are other pieces, like one player telling another they're only 2km away or so from each other. We use miles. In London I'd argue minutes makes more sense, because of transport routes and density. The slang just is never quite right, some terms are out dated, and some aren't used correctly.
And now the other piece that makes me think the author hasn't done their research properly. There was a massive scandal where the England football manager, glenn hoddle, was fired for comments he made about people being disabled because of things they'd done in past lives. There's a lot of back and forth about if it was misconstrued, etc, but the basis is: he was fired. Guess what is a throwaway quote in the book? Yeah, something about being punished for something a person did in a past life.
Yeah. Christ on a bike.
I really think this book needs to be proofed by someone with extensive experience of London, and also solid knowledge of English football.
The bits above would have been enough to knock it down to a 3*, however... the romance is lacking. There are walls and walls of text, there's no focus on the relationship it's all on the football and... please see above for why that doesn't work. Side characters aren't real, they're just flat props of people.
Honestly, as this book is now I just can't recommend it.
June 25, 2025
🌈⚽️ MM soccer romance perfection ⚽️🌈
You ever pick up a book thinking “oh this is so gonna be my thing,” and then it actually is your thing in every single way? That was Two Left Feet for me. I requested it on NetGalley as soon as it popped up because it combines several of my favorite things: MM romance, sports, soccer, and love.
As someone who is mildly (read: wildly) obsessed with MM romance, I’ve read a ton, especially in the hockey world, because that seems to be the favorite among MM sports romance authors. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across a soccer romance that not only delivered but scored big. And during Pride Month? The timing couldn’t have been better.
Two Left Feet is the story of Oliver, the face of Camden Roses and soccer royalty in London. He’s cool, composed, deeply closeted, and suddenly... injured. Enter Leo, his possible replacement and an old youth academy talent with charm, skill, and the kind of personality that gets under Oliver’s skin in the best way. What starts with a lot of eye rolling and passive aggressive coaching slowly turns into friendship, and then into something deeper, messier, and far more beautiful than either of them expected.
I adored Oliver, particularly his internal struggles, his devotion to the sport, and his slow unraveling in the presence of Leo. And Leo? He was so charismatic and patient. Their dynamic gave me Everything for You by Chloe Liese vibes (another AMAZING MM soccer romance), but with its own unique spark. It’s tender and romantic and quietly devastating at times. (Yes, I cried during a smut scene. Don’t judge me. It was emotional, okay?)
Also, I usually struggle with third person POV, but it was so well done here. It added layers to both characters and made the story richer and more immersive. The writing is smooth, heartfelt, and witty in just the right spots.
This book made me ache in the best way because it’s not just about love, it’s about identity, fear, ambition, and learning to let people in. I wanted to wrap both Oliver and Leo in a hug and tell them everything would be okay. And isn’t that the magic of a great romance?
Whether you’re a soccer fan or not, whether you usually gravitate to MM sports romance or you're new to it, Two Left Feet is an amazing book. It’s sweet, emotional, full of tension (both sexy and plot wise), and totally satisfying. I can’t recommend it enough.
⚽️🌈 5/5 stars. For the boys. For the love. For the feels. 🌈⚽️
Thank you to NetGalley, Kallie Emblidge, and Ballantine/Dell for the eARC of this book.
You ever pick up a book thinking “oh this is so gonna be my thing,” and then it actually is your thing in every single way? That was Two Left Feet for me. I requested it on NetGalley as soon as it popped up because it combines several of my favorite things: MM romance, sports, soccer, and love.
As someone who is mildly (read: wildly) obsessed with MM romance, I’ve read a ton, especially in the hockey world, because that seems to be the favorite among MM sports romance authors. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across a soccer romance that not only delivered but scored big. And during Pride Month? The timing couldn’t have been better.
Two Left Feet is the story of Oliver, the face of Camden Roses and soccer royalty in London. He’s cool, composed, deeply closeted, and suddenly... injured. Enter Leo, his possible replacement and an old youth academy talent with charm, skill, and the kind of personality that gets under Oliver’s skin in the best way. What starts with a lot of eye rolling and passive aggressive coaching slowly turns into friendship, and then into something deeper, messier, and far more beautiful than either of them expected.
I adored Oliver, particularly his internal struggles, his devotion to the sport, and his slow unraveling in the presence of Leo. And Leo? He was so charismatic and patient. Their dynamic gave me Everything for You by Chloe Liese vibes (another AMAZING MM soccer romance), but with its own unique spark. It’s tender and romantic and quietly devastating at times. (Yes, I cried during a smut scene. Don’t judge me. It was emotional, okay?)
Also, I usually struggle with third person POV, but it was so well done here. It added layers to both characters and made the story richer and more immersive. The writing is smooth, heartfelt, and witty in just the right spots.
This book made me ache in the best way because it’s not just about love, it’s about identity, fear, ambition, and learning to let people in. I wanted to wrap both Oliver and Leo in a hug and tell them everything would be okay. And isn’t that the magic of a great romance?
Whether you’re a soccer fan or not, whether you usually gravitate to MM sports romance or you're new to it, Two Left Feet is an amazing book. It’s sweet, emotional, full of tension (both sexy and plot wise), and totally satisfying. I can’t recommend it enough.
⚽️🌈 5/5 stars. For the boys. For the love. For the feels. 🌈⚽️
Thank you to NetGalley, Kallie Emblidge, and Ballantine/Dell for the eARC of this book.
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