Steeling Her: A Romance Novel

by Ashley Constantine

Heartbreak after heartbreak, Carter Steel has had enough.

Being the only daughter in a famous football family, the men who date her only want one thing out of an easy ticket to the NFL. She and her family know this, but it still doesn’t make the pain of the heartbreak any easier.

So, as a freshman in Ole Miss, she wants to avoid that pain that comes with football players.

Nick Jackson is the star quarterback of Ole Miss, and he gets and beds who he wants. Imagine the surprise of his life when instead of falling at his feet as most girls did, this slip of a girl actually rejects his advances, even going so far as to avoid him when she finds out he is a football player.

Determined to know her, Nick has to shed the playboy image he has cultivated to bring her to him.

Will Carter fall for yet another football player and have her heart broken for the nth time? Or will Nick prove to be the exception she’s been waiting all her life?

Genres: Romance, Sports Romance, College, Football, Sports, Contemporary Romance, Love

775 pages, Paperback

Published July 25, 2022

Reviews

[Bethie_books · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF FOR SURE

DNF @ 18%.

Before I made the decision to DNF the book, I skimmed through the entire story and read some parts. Yes, I even skipped to the end to see if I could endure how awful it was and if it was worth it... SPOILER, it was not!😂🙄

The monologue of the characters was terrible and cringy. The characters had no depth, it was repetitive, and WAY TOO LONG! I almost felt like none of the characters had any self respect and did not act like real people.

Also, the story just jumps right into it and assumptions are made. The first chapter we read from Carter, she literally just meets her new roommates and then they are suddenly getting ready for a party. They are instant besties who haven't had the time to get to know each other, and it wouldn't seem believable either, because Carter is the shy new girl. While getting ready, one of the roommates makes a comment that Carter should wear dresses more often and how hot she looked. Like, I'm sorry, how do you know your brand new roommate that you've known all of 3 hours doesn't like to wear dresses?!?!? There are MANY instances where that happens.

Also, the writing style is just weird. Most of the time, I have to adjust to the type of style authors write their books, but I just couldn't with this book! There is mostly telling readers things instead of showing us. There was no emotion behind the words in the books and it felt 2 dimensional.

Good luck reading this book! If you are able to stomach through it, all power to you!😬😬😬

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 12%

"All the fresh pussy in that lobby dude. I can't wait
for this party tonight."

"You know, perky ass, good tits, and hot body."

"Guys only go for the slutty girls these days".

"Maybe I can pull two girls for to the night? I've done
five before, so it's not like I can't do it."

The way in which the hero and his best friend speak about women is vile. Which he realises because he makes it VERY clear he’ll make sure all guys stay away from his sister “I want none of that crap to happen to either of my sisters”. He sees women as disposable toys for his entertainment and nothing more. Honestly, he’s one of the most unlikable heroes I’ve ever read about and I’m only at 12%. This is a romance… why am I reading explicit scenes about the hero and other women?

The heroine is giving strong pick me vibes and just like all the others, she slut shames other women. The writing style and plot seem strange at times, somehow the heroine and her new roommates magically became best friends in minutes despite the fact that she’s incredibly shy.

[Jackie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so bad. I was not expecting a Pulitzer, but I would at least expect it to be proofread. It read like a 7th grader wrote it. And yet I read all 700+ (!!) pages of it. Why do I hate myself?

If you want a guilty pleasure, pick something that’s shorter and has more sex scenes.

[Anja · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would love to give this thing negative stars. I officially apologize to all the other romance novels that I called 'horribly written'. This thing takes the cake.
The good thing about this creation is that now I deeply understand the term 'to hate read'. I hate read it all, I don't know why I kept reading this and honestly, I deserve an award for finishing it. By the time I saw the 2nd epilogue (there are three! T H R E E!) I wanted to cry that it's never gonna end - I'm in hell now, this is how hell feels like.

It's so awfully written that your middle school teacher would weep if you turned this as an assignment. There's no chapter without some abhorrent grammar. Neither the author nor the editor know the difference between 'you are' and 'your'.

I could go on and on, and on about the abomination that this thing is but I won't coz the time spent on this thing is something I'd pay good money to get back.

Do yourself a favour and skip it. For the love of all that's holy - skip it. Save yourself.

[Jessica Mallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ngl this one had me tearing up. Book was long but worth it, my jaw dropped when it said 5 years later lmao

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Anya · Rating 1 out of 5]

4 instances of misogyny by page 3.

goodbye.

[VoraciousReader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't believe how bad this book was. There were SO many mistakes. - wrong words, missing words, lack of punctuation, etc. eg. "it looks every better without clothes", "Maybe I can pull two girls for to the night?", "She's wearing Skyscraper heels and us clasping onto her bag", “All I see is her long wavy brown hair that flowing down her back, making me want to pull on and bend her over”, “Just try have fun Carter”.

I finished the first two chapters and I just couldn't stand it anymore; all of the mistakes were pulling me out of the story. DNF

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZING!! Chef’s Kiss 🤌🏼💋💋💋

I ❤️❤️❤️this book so much! It’s an incredible story. Full of passion, humor, happy & sad moments. You’ll fall in love with all the characters. Rooting for some and condemning others lol! They’ll be tears of joy and some for pain! But I guarantee it’ll be one of the best journey’s you’ll ever go on….so what are you waiting for? Get the book & let the adventure begin!

[NAR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this on wattpad and was a favorite. So happy for the book to be published. I've reread this many times. Nick and Carter are perfect for each other and has a great connection.

[Amanda Vann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought the book was decent enough, Definitely a slow burn if you are into that. What was most disappointing was the details. I think for how descriptive the author was and how much she set the scene throughout the book for you to picture, when she talked about ole miss and Oxford she got all of it dead wrong. The ole miss and Oxford, ms setting is what drew me in, it’s what kept me reading the book at first and then I was just reading it because I had to find out if they ended up together. The author does a horrible job describing ole miss and the campus. There’s so much that could have been mentioned to make it feel like you were there, but she didn’t do any research. And fine if you don’t want to do that or limit yourself because you didn’t actually attend ole miss and you are just making this all up, then why mention it at all. It could have been a made up school and a made up place. It just didn’t make sense to me. Seemed like the author was majorly reaching and honestly turned me off the book in general. I found my self skipping through a lot of it just to get it over with. Disappointed :(

[Mia Kempster · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. I didn’t want to stop reading actually. I know some people mentioned grammatical errors but I could look past these, it didn’t make the book unreadable for me. It was long, but I also don’t think I would take anything out.
At first I wasn’t sure about the 5 year time jump, thinking the author just couldn’t find anything to write, but actually once I read it I enjoyed it. It makes the ending feel more believable/realistic, as it wouldn’t have happened overnight I’m sure.
It would be nice to read more from this group of characters that I feel like I’ve gotten to know, the ending feels like it could set you up for a book about Carter and Nicks sons college journey, as she thinks he’ll follow in his dads footsteps.
I subtracted a star for the beginning of the book, I understand trying to portray Nick as the “bad boy” and the “player” but I did find it hypocritical that he was acting in such a way towards girls, but protective of his sister if anyone tried to get near here. I just feel that his behaviour could have been reigned back just a little bit as it was just a bit much.

[MacKenzie Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book on wattpad. When I found out it was going to be published, immediately did a reread. Yes, it is cheesy but I love that. The ending felt rushed but the author did add 3 epilogues based in the future to make up for it. I would love to read a book about danielle and chris or roger and elaine ( if the author is up for that). Definitely buying a physical copy for my bookshelf. The book itself is THICKK, but it gives the whole story from when they meet to when they originally break up and everything in between.

Spice level- 2/5, there are some spicy chapters but they dont take up the whole book. Like 5 chapters

Plot- 4/5, its cheesy and predictable but that is what makes it good in my opinion. Once Nick falls, hes not focused on anyone else besides carter.
tropes
* best friends brother
*QB and NFL coach's daughter
* she falls first, he falls harder
* he is player with the ladies, she is a virgin
*kind of a friends to lovers situation
* second chance romance

[Kristen B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I first read Steeling Her on Inkitt but it wasn't finished so when I came across it on Amazon I figured I'd give it another shot but it was almost a DNF for me. The premise of the book is great, and definitely something I go for when reading romance novels, but the execution left a lot to be desired.

I ended up skimming a lot of it because the characters repeat themselves constantly through inner monologues, it's a lot of "tell don't show" with how they're feeling. I also didn't buy in to the chemistry between the two main characters either. Considering the first half of the story takes place over a period of a few months we really don't see a lot of interaction or dialogue between the two main characters.

Another issue with this book is the fact that it was clearly not proofread before being published. There are spelling errors, homonym errors, punctuation errors, etc. This takes away from the actual reading.

[RoyalPlaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average Read

Trope: sports romance (college and NFL)

Slow burn level: 50%

Hero is a star football player at college. He is a player off the field as well. He is also the brother of heroine's roommate

Heroine is the daughter to a well known NFL coach and her brothers are NFL players. She tries to keep out of that limelight since people have used her for her family's fame before.

The first third to half of the book was a 5 to me. Had an interesting storyline. Some jealousy, likeable side characters. Down to earth heroine. But it started getting repetitive. No you are special, no you are special. There is then a 5 year time gap and I felt everything moved too slowly. Hero would have the same conversation with 3 side characters and it got a bit boring.

HEA

Trigger Warnings: none

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carter is tired of having friends that only want to get to know her because of who her brothers are, so when she makes new friends at college, she doesn’t make it known straight away what her last name is. Boys are only interested in her to get to her family to further their career, just for once she wants someone that puts her first, she thought she’d found that with Nick, but was wrong.
Nick uses his fame to sleep with women until he sees Carter and knows there’s something special about her. Nick makes a wrong decision which ends what they had together, they meet each other again in five years but can they get past what happened to them.
I loved the story but with it being in both povs there was a lot of repetition, the story was drawn out way too much at 50% I thought the story was finished, but it was drawn out even more.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ I am willing to ignore my cons to this book because I really did love reading Carter and Nick’s story. It is a long one, but it is full of young love, growth, hardships, family turmoil, and breakups/makeups, with just a little bit of mild spice. The first half has some slow burn and mild spice to it and the second half is pretty much all plot. I actually enjoyed the second half better.

Some cons- Firstly, this is soo long. Like 700+ pages? And it probably could be two separate books with a past/young book then a present/older book because the first half and the second half are five years apart in the timeline. The length is honestly attributed to so much repetitive and redundant writing. It could definitely be more concise at certain points. Second con for me is the fact that this book really needs some serious editing because there are so many grammar errors.

Spice level: 🌶️

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved this book, the highs and lows of the story really pulled at the heart strings and made me love the story so much more. This was a longer story that easily could have been broken down into multiple books, and I think that was why I was a little disappointed in the ending. It felt a little abrupt, I would have loved to get a little more of the second chance romance that we get hints of in the epilogues but overall a great story. There was grammatical errors throughout the book that threw me off a little but it is just minor, I think I noticed because there was just a lot of little errors. I loved the book and the message behind it, probably because it is SO relatable to a situation I’m currently in… now I have super high expectations, jk! Loved it and would highly recommend!

[Tani Sobalvarro-Vidaud · Rating 2 out of 5]

College romance
Second chance romance
Nick & Carter

All in all, this book left much to be desired for me.
Soooo many cliches in this book. I was originally going to rate with 1 star but the “5 years later” got me. I was so over the stereotype for athletes and as terrible as it was, I wanted to know more about the journey.

The typos and the grammatical errors made it difficult to understand and it felt like a teenager wrote this book with all the repetition of how someone was feeling etc. it’s ok to be descriptive, but there could be improvement on that and decrease the repetition of it.

The character e development was kinda nice. I also wish there would’ve been a more definite timeframe of when different parts of the story took place. You’re left to assume it’s been years or months or weeks.

[jamielouisereads · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I read this when it was a Wattpad story and when I saw it while looking for a new read I thought it would of been edited before publishing. I was wrong. This has potential to be amazing, but it really really needs to go through editing and possibly be split into a duet.

Also it’s soooooo male gaze it’s annoying, everything Nick loves about Carter is how innocent and pure and shy and sweet she is, and all other girls are slutty and easy etc eurgh, and I’m sorry but there’s no way he’s hit on by 274929 women every time he steps out the house, come on it’s too much. Yeah getting checked out, but forcefully flirted with by every woman he comes across, just no. Also carters character has no growth at all.

[Raven P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to pressure myself into finishing this book.
At the halfway point I wanted to call it a DNF, but I had already invested so much time that I couldn’t do it. It could have been much much shorter, so many unnecessary inner monologues with both Carter and Nick. I was so thrilled I made it to the end but I couldn’t even force myself to read the epilogue because I literally did not care what happened at that point. It’s just the same exact thing over and over and over. I liked it but I also seriously hated it.


PS! As a Harry Potter fan carter referring to her vagina as the chamber of secret made me wanna puke and gave me second hand embarrassment.

[Alba Varela · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was tough! I really wanted a college sport romance so I chose to read this one. I was probably 15% in when I just couldn’t stand it.
The MMC and his teammates are vile!!! If the FMC was at the party and almost got taken advantage of by a teammate why wouldn’t they actually do something about it?
Also, creepy dude asking her out was just weird while the MMC and his bff are close by! And her going along with it like if he didn’t try to take advantage of her?!? I get that she said no but I would have been blowing my rape whistle if he ever got close to me lol
Over all the idea is good but so poorly executed that I couldn’t even get through the other 85%
It’s a no for me dawg!

[Jennifer Labrador · Rating 3 out of 5]

the editing……


I really loved The Perfect Spiral and I was really excited for this story as well. The storyline was interesting, albeit a little long winded at parts. It’s something I would go back to in the future……….However, the editing of this book is so atrocious, it is actually very distracting. I should be a couple hundred pages in after a few hours of reading, but no, just page 63 because I have to reread certain dialogues to keep up with who is talking. Lord have mercy on all those misplaced commas, apostrophes, misspellings, misplaced words, wrong words altogether. I’m honestly shocked Amazon would support a book in this state!

5 stars for the story.
1 star for the editing.

[Abby Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost loves this book… almost

Really liked the story. It was a little too long in my opinion. I got the feeling the author didn’t know how to finish the book because the ending seemed to lack the same level of detail that was provided throughout previous chapters. There were also some grammatical errors that an editor should have caught. And I am assuming the author isn’t American since they used terms that aren’t typically used by Americans, but the story is based in America. I still liked the story, but not well enough to read the book twice.

[Rob Eberhardt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very long

This book needs an editor. There was a lot of description in this book that could of been cut out to make this a lot better read and a lot of errors. If you could cut this down 400 pages it could end up being a great read. Also SPOILER ...... the H and h sleep with other people and its very described. They weren't together at the time but I'm not a fan of reading the main characters having sex with with others. That's my own opinion.

[Sid's Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting all that from this book but it kind of blew me away. First off it was looooong which I appreciated. But, I felt like this would have been a really good duet if you cut it in half between the gap. I just want to say the sibling bonds in the book were just so sweet between Carter, Austin and Chris and between Haley and Nick. The hospital part made me swoon. My main problem was how Maya stuck around in this story for so long.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm currently reading it and I don't think I'll DNF, but I'm also just skimming through a lot of the book to get the jist of what is happening. I don't like the writing style. Sometimes the obvious is stated and there are just too many unrealistic moments. Like I have never seen a group of girls start pulling their shirts down in a library because a hot guy walked in. The story line seems choppy and I find the FMC is inconsistent in how she behaves.

[Hannah May · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this book on booktok which is not a shock at this point because I swear all my book recs are coming from booktok. Why I did enjoy this book I did think that there was things that were skipped over, that should’ve had more focus. even though it was over 700 pages, Some areas felt rushed. But other than that, I did enjoy Nick and Carter story those times where the characters did annoy me a little bit but they had a lot of growth. I do wish the epilogues were longer.

[Mandy Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lllllooooovvvvveeeee This Book!

I’ve read this book 3 times and I can visualize this book as if it was in real life. Granted, I’ve found some grammatical errors in a few areas 1) as if was a repeat of a different paragraph and worded differently one right after another and the just some simples things but other than that, I love this and her book The Perfect Spiral and I’ve read that one 3 times as well.

[Cassie Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would’ve been a 5 ⭐️ but the end was so rushed but so slow, I just wanted more of the after nick and cater got together like one minute they had just gotten back together and next they were married and had two kids, I would’ve loved to read more of the in between.

I cried my heart out when carter and nick broke up! I hated that nicks dad made him choose, they truly loved each other so much.

I just knew that Chris and Danielle would end up together!

3.75⭐️