Book: Only on Gameday by Kristen Callihan
Reviewed by Maggie Hayes
Rating: 4/5
ARC REVIEW
Only on Gameday by @kristen_callihan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4/5)
August Luck, an NFL quarterback, needs a wife. Or at least a fiancée. After landing in the news for all the wrong reasons, he decides a fake engagement is the fastest way to clean up his image and signal that he’s taking life seriously.
Penelope, a longtime friend of the Luck family, has inherited a stunning property from her grandparents. Unfortunately, it’s so fancy she can’t afford the property taxes and is on the brink of having to sell.
Despite spending most of their childhoods avoiding each other, August makes Penny a deal: pretend to be his girl, and he’ll help her keep her house. As they spend more time together, it becomes clear they may have never disliked each other at all… they just never gave it a chance.
Fake dating/engagement is one of my favorite tropes of all time, so I was immediately invested.
Penny is such a standout character. She’s shy, yes—but also a leather-jacket-wearing, motorcycle-riding badass who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself, whether it’s a professor or her delightfully kooky roommate. She can make pasta from scratch. She is wife material.
And August? The whole package. Strong family relationships, dedicated to his career, and just the right amount of jealous/possessive. Add in the hot athlete's body and the fact that he can cook, and I was sold.
What really worked for me is how well Penny and August balance each other. He draws out her playful side, while she brings out the softness he hides under all that charm. I loved that they’re largely unproblematic and genuinely feel built to last.
Thank you to @netgalley for providing an ARC!
For fans of: 🏈 Football romance | 🎭 Fake engagement | 🚫 Disapproval to lovers | 🔥 Slow burn | 🔁 Second chance | 👨👩👧 Fun family dynamics
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