About the Book
-
Author:
- Racquel Marie
- Genres:
- Contemporary
- Girl-Girl Romance
Cover Story: Technicolor Sherbet
BFF Charm: Eventually
Talky Talk: Banterific
Bonus Factors: Sapphic Bend It Like Beckham, LGBTQ+ Rep
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Relationship Status: Take Me Out On the Town
Cover Story: Technicolor Sherbet
Bold, thick strokes draw out two girls with their foreheads pressed against each other — are they friends or foe? In the background is a sunset silhouetting a soccer goal and a bright green field. The tone is playful and feisty. I like it.
The Deal:
Valentina “Vale” Castillo-Green is captain of her high school soccer team. When she fouls another player — Leticia Ortiz, her nemesis since the age of eight — during the last game of the season, her coach threatens to take her captainship away. Desperate for a way to redeem herself, Vale goes to soccer camp over the summer — and finds out that college scouts are watching those games, too. What she wasn’t counting on: Leticia being her co-captain of a humble group of girls who need a LOT of help to win. Can Vale train this ragtag group to glory? And will she lose her heart in the process to her old nemesis Leticia?
BFF Charm: Eventually
Vale is a perfectionist, and when she is assigned a group of misfits to captain at the soccer camp, she is horrified. She can only focus on the bad, but her co-captain, Leticia, reminds her to look for the strengths of the players and train them to be better. Vale is hard to love at first, because she’s SO overbearing and negative. But by the end, I was invested in her growth as a person.
Swoonworthy Scale: 7
Brushing hands, light gazes, and fantastic banter make for a swoony romance. There are plenty of moments that made my heart patter, like when they get forced into a shack during a rainstorm during one of their training runs, or when Vale gets murderous when Leticia gets injured during a game. It’s very hot.
Talky Talk: Banterific
Leticia is a worthy adversary-turned-lover for Vale, and it makes sense why they get together: they’re both headstrong captains who are kind of idiots when it comes to each other. They are snarling, spitting enemies at the beginning and then they grow softer as they grudgingly respect the other’s way of captaining. Racquel Marie does a beautiful job with both girls’ growth.
Bonus Factor: Sapphic Bend It Like Beckham
If you, like me, watched Bend It Like Beckham and wondered why Jules and Jesminder never made out, this is the book for you.
Bonus Factor: LGBTQ+ Rep
Leticia is a lesbian with two moms! Vale is an ace bisexual. Marley, a player on their team, is a trans girl. All three, including the cis hetero characters, are well-rounded and fleshed out.
Anti-Bonus Factor: Dan Scott Award for Awful Parenting
Vale’s mother died when she was thirteen, so it’s been her and her brothers and her dad for a while. Her dad is more of a coach than a paternal figure; he bonds with Vale by dissecting her soccer plays and being stingy with compliments. Vale is kind of closed off because of that, and it affects her relationships with her players.
Relationship Status: Take Me Out On the Town
I loved Racquel Marie’s debut, Ophelia After All, and she has outdone herself with You Don’t Have a Shot. I was sold from the first sentence. Book, you have earned a permanent place on my shelf.
Literary Matchmaking
Siobhan Vivian’s We Are the Wildcats is another women-in-sports book with a captain protagonist.
Need more cute romance? The Heartbreak Bakery follows two non-binary lovers trying to save a bakery.
They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody is a bisexual enemies-to-lovers romance with a side helping of a terrible parent.
FTC Full Disclosure: I bought this book with my own money. I received neither compensation nor kittens in exchange for this review. You Don’t Have a Shot is available now.
