Just Another Football Romance

by Emily Wohlfrom-Knox

"Anyway I wanted to tell you that you’re doing a great job..."
"We were friends, well I considered us friends."

Elle Taylor, former collegiate athlete and current kindergarten teacher, takes a leap and drunkenly DM's a famous football star. Before he made it to the pros, Elle remembers the nerdy "man giant" from their freshman year at state school together. Memories of projects and parties are fresh in her mind, but she doesn't expect him to remember her, let alone, reach back out to her.

"I remember you... my number hasn't changed."
"We were friends, sorry if I ever made you think otherwise."

Archer Bell, quarterback and Super Bowl hopeful, has a hard time believing Elle's message to meet up just to talk is authentic. He's been grumpy, distracted, and off his game ever since the scandal. His coach and publicist might be against what he does next, but at least he waited until the following day.

Just Another Football Romance is a spicy sports romance that is book one in a series of romances that feature other leading ladies and their athletic love interests. If you're worried about the spice, EWK has marked the chapters you can skip to continue with the story, spice free.

330 pages, Paperback

Published January 26, 2026

About the author

Emily was born in Ohio, USA. She is a native of Cincinnati, OH. She comes from a blended family and enjoys spending time with her parents and siblings.

Emily grew up playing many sports and eventually ran competitively in college. During her collegiate cross country career she met her husband. Emily and her husband adopted cats, Buck and Luna, and a dog, Moose before welcoming their son, Baby J into the world.

Emily is an avid reader. She enjoys romance and fantasy stories and is a sucker for a happily ever after. While diving into a good book, she decided to write her own stories.

Emily is a self-taught author. With her debut novel, "Just Another Football Romance" she wanted to be hands on and learn about the editing and publishing process.

Reviews

[lauren ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, spicy football romance between two people who were friends in college before he transferred and made it to the NFL as a quarterback. Elle drunkenly dms him after a bad football game, which allows them to reconnect and develop into something more! The female friendship in this book is so good and makes you think of your irl version of Sadie! As a self published debut novel, this was pretty good!

*The spicy chapters are labeled, so it gives you the option to skip those if you like!*

[Kelly Stoffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The characters

So quickly you fall in love with these characters and feel like you’re apart of the group. I hope there are more in this series, I would love spin offs!

[cmill · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 STARS (ARC)

Thanks to Emily for allowing me to read an early copy of her debut novel, “Just Another Football Romance”

I’m really impressed that Emily, and likely other self-published authors, do so much research about writing, editing, and formatting to get their books out to the public. I’m sure readers will find some mistakes in there, but the story is solid!

What I loved about the story-

1. The friendships felt very genuine. Having a group of adult friends that have common interests and love each other like family is so very heartwarming.

2. Elle and Archer had great communication throughout the book. When given the opportunity to be honest with each other they took it.

3. No third act break up!

4. For friends and not friends of spicy scenes in books. I enjoyed that the author allows the reader to control the spice by marking chapters that could be read or skipped depending on if they wanted to read it or not. The option to read the book as open or closed door is given to the reader.

If you’re looking for a perfectly, imperfect, self-published book from a small town author chasing their dreams, I highly recommend supporting Emily! Looking forward to more romances written in the future! I’ll be watching closely how this author grows as a writer.

[Tammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great, relaxed romantic read. These are two people who knew each other in college and seemed to be somewhat casual friends. Archer decides to switch colleges as he wants to play in the NFL and needs more play time. They fall out of touch and years pass. Archer falls in love and his fiancée cheats on him and he is devastated. Elle sees him on TV while watching a game and reaches out. They reconnect and their romance unfolds. It is a slow burn and was really refreshing. A lot of sports stories lately have been coach's daughter or someone who works for the team so somehow forbidden. They do keep their relationship quite because Elle is a teacher and honestly, Archer does not want to expose her to unnecessary publicity which makes a lot of sense.

Definitely recommend this slow-burn romance. Can't wait to read another book by this author.

[Katie F · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one had me in a chokehold — I couldn’t put it down. The character development was so good that I felt like I actually knew them.

There was also this nostalgic feel woven throughout the story that made it even more special. It gave that throwback, heart-tugging vibe that reminds you why you fell in love with romance novels in the first place.

[Emily Grizzell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cutesy Sports Romance!

The thing that got me about this book was the dynamics between the characters. Their banter, chemistry, and comedic timing was on point. Definitely a cute, fluffy, and moderately spicy read!

[Jessica Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a genuine feel good read (though won’t lie, did cry a couple times). I smiled most of the time while reading. I love a couple that can actually communicate with each other! I’m looking forward to the hockey companion!

[Meggan Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

so dang cute.

I’m a sucker for a football romance. When someone I knew wrote it, I had to read it! Emily, you did a great job! I LOVE the characters. Elle and Archer are freakin amazing & the story line is everything. Thank you for writing this cute romance 🥰

[Kelsey Upton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect blend of football, spice, and fun references! The characters are super likable: Archer gave me Joe Burrow with a mix of Travis Kelce vibes and Elle was so sweet! Tyson and Sadie were great side characters as well! I loved that the drama was minimal and the characters had the right amount of side quests in between the football scenes. Overall, a fun, light-hearted read. I can’t wait for the sequel!