The Striker by Ana Huang

Intro

When the rivalry between Asher Donovan and Vincent Dubois causes them to lose their soccer championship, their coach makes them train at the royal ballet academy together with Vincent's sister Scarlett as the teacher. Asher finds the sister of his biggest enemy incredibly attractive and Scarlett swore off dating footballers, but neither of them know how to handle the mutual tension between them, and Asher is torn between his feelings for Scarlett and his feelings for his new team's perception of him.

How I came across the book

I read the twisted series and loved it, and wanted to read more of Ana Huang's books so I got this at Barnes and Noble.

Other books by the author/In the series

The other books in the Gods of the Game series are The Defender and The Keeper, which is coming out next October. Ana Huang has also published the Twisted series, the Kings of Sin series, and the If Love series.

The Good

• THE GIRL WHO ASHER SPILLED DRINKS ON AT THE PUB IS VINCENT'S SISTER WHO WILL BE TRAINING HIM

• There is tension in the car and Asher realizes he is attracted to Scarlett even though she is off limits

• Asher carried Scarlett up three flights of stairs and didn't judge her when she told him about her pain and flare ups

• Scarlett opens up to Asher and tells him about her ballet feats and he encourages her to do the ballet even though she is scared

• At the club Scarlett is flirting with Clive and Asher pulls her away and tells her not to and Scarlett asks if he is jealous and he says what if I am

• He backs her against the wall and says does this feel platonic to you and she says no it doesn't and then he kisses her

• Asher and Scarlett agree to a double date with the bet that whoever gets a second date first wins

• Asher knocks on Scarlett's door and kisses her and says he knows nothing will be the same ever again

• THEY AGREE TO BE IN A NONEXCLUSIVE EXCLUSIVE RELATIONSHIO WITHOUT LABELS AND NOT SEEING ANYONE ELSE

• When Asher tells Scarlett abt the crash she starts crying and says she can't imagine her without him

• Asher missed the Holchester match to be with scarlett in the hospital

• ASHER SAYS HE DOESNT WANT TO RUIN HIS DAYS OF SPENDING AS MANY DAYS AS POSSIBLE WITH SCARLETT BECAUSE HE LOVES HER MORE THAN ANYTHING IN THIS UNIVERSE

• VINCENT GIVES SCARLETT HIS BLESSING TO REKINDLE HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ASHER IF SHE WANTS

• SCARLETT TELLS ASHER SHE LOVES HIM

The Bad

• Asher's father is so harsh all he cares about is his son winning so he can be respected and he says he can barely show his face at the pub now because of Asher's loss

• Asher's father is scolding Asher for sleeping with Scarlett but he doesn't know the full story and he just had a heart attack he shouldn't be mad at asher already

• Ashers father thinks he is a traitor and cares more about holchester than his son's life

• Teddy was mugged after leaving a bar when celebrating that asher signed with holchester and he was stabbed six times and died

• VINCENT KNOWS ABOUT ASHER AND SCARLETT AND HE TELLS SCARLETT HE DIDNT GIVE A REASON FOR COMING BACK BECAUSE HE DIDNT WANT SCARLETT TO HAVE TIME TO MAKE UP EXCUSES

• Rafael Scarlett's ex boyfriend is subbing in the sport for hope match and he is playing against Asher and Vincent

• Scarlett talks to Rafael after the match and he says she looked good and its like the accident never happened he's so rude and he doesn't even know what she went through because he didn't stay with her in the hospital and left once she showed vulnerability that's not a real relationship

• Scarlett is in the hospital because she collapsed and someone released a video of her and asher

• Asher bets a car race against his former teammates even though Scarlett made him promise not to

• Scarlett breaks up with Asher because he broke his promise to never race again and let his emotion get the better of hin

Who else would like this

Fans of sports romances and the forced proximity tropes.

Rating

9/10 the internal conflict of Asher and Scarlett with the press was so well written. I loved the evolution of Scarlett's willingness to explore a relationship with Asher with the determination to not let her past define her. I didn't like how Asher's dad was so controlling and harsh to him and only cared about his own status rather than his son's, even when he was dying in the hospital. Vincent and Asher's rivalry and the assumption that Scarlett and Asher's relationship would only worsen the rivalry since Scarlett and Asher are siblings add higher stakes to the relationship's pressure and the question of if Asher and Scarlett's happiness will be able to thrive.