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Verdict: A steamy, diverse sapphic sports romance with real football knowledge behind it, held back by a heroine many readers found cruel rather than competitive — the rivalry is lopsided, the middle drags, and the sex scenes crowd out the romance for a good share of readers.
Best for: Readers who want high heat, a Friday-night-football backdrop and two women of colour in the lead, and who can live with a prickly heroine.
Heat level: Explicit (StoryGraph content warnings list graphic sexual content; no romance.io steam rating yet)
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.1/5 — a 3.25 Goodreads average across 977 ratings, 3.36 on StoryGraph from 531 reviews, and only 37% of Goodreads ratings at four or five stars)
Tropes: Workplace rivals to lovers, sports romance (high school football), competing for the same job, dual POV, bisexual lead.
Ready to Score is Jodie Slaughter’s 2025 contemporary lesbian romance from St. Martin’s Griffin. Jade Dunn, a math teacher and assistant football coach, has her eye on the head coach job. Then Francesca “Franny” Lim, the new art teacher and a former coach, turns out to want it too.
It holds a 3.25 average across 977 Goodreads ratings, 3.36 on StoryGraph from 531 reviews, and 3.8 stars across 49 Amazon ratings. Book Riot picked it as a June 2025 new release.
What Is Ready to Score About?
Jade has worked her way up a high school football program and believes the head coach job should be hers. Franny left a coaching career in Houston behind for love, took an art teacher post, and wants back into the game. When both go after the same job, the rivalry spills into staff meetings, a poker game Jade uses for networking, and eventually the bedroom.
The publisher pitches it as Cleat Cute meets Friday Night Lights. It is told from both women’s points of view.
What Works in This Sports Romance
- The football: Readers credit Slaughter with real knowledge of the game and the politics of a coaching staff.
- Representation: A Black bisexual lead and an Asian lesbian lead; 99% of StoryGraph readers who answered called the cast diverse.
- Heat: Fans of steamy romance get what they came for.
- Growth: Some readers enjoyed watching Jade soften and grow over the book.
Book Synopsis
Jade Dunn has spent years proving herself as an assistant coach, and the head coach vacancy is her shot. Franny Lim once coached too, until she followed love away from Houston and ended up teaching art. Now she wants a way back onto the field, and the job Jade has been waiting for is the obvious one.
As the two compete for the position, the tension between them becomes harder to keep professional — and both have to decide what they want more.
My Review
The premise is excellent and the setting is lived in: this is a book that knows what a Friday night in a football town feels like, and it puts two women of colour at the centre of a world that rarely makes room for them. Where it stumbles is Jade. The single most repeated criticism in the reviews is that she is not a rival so much as a bully — readers point to a bingo incident and a dismissive comment about sparkling juice — and that Franny is left absorbing it. A rivals romance needs both women swinging; here, many readers felt only one was.
The other complaints are about proportion. Several readers found it long and slow in the middle, some felt the sex scenes overpowered the relationship, and miscommunication does a share of the late plotting. One reader found a fade-to-black landing at an odd moment given how explicit the rest is. The ending is happy and readers call it cute, but at least one felt the final arc was more about the job than the couple.
My honest note: If you loved the premise of Cleat Cute but wanted it hotter and messier, try it. If a mean heroine will ruin a book for you, skip it.
| Element | In Ready to Score |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Jade Dunn (math teacher, assistant coach) & Francesca “Franny” Lim (art teacher, former coach) |
| Core tropes | Workplace rivals, competing for a job, sports romance |
| Setting | A small-town high school football program (Greenbelt, South Carolina, per a reader) |
| Heat level | Explicit — graphic sexual content per StoryGraph warnings |
| Length | 320 pages; 10 h 17 min audiobook |
| Series | Standalone — happy ending |
| Content notes | Graphic sex, sexism and misogyny, racism, lesbophobia, sexual harassment, injury, alcohol |
How Spicy Is Ready to Score?
Very. Readers call it steamy again and again, and some felt the sex scenes outweighed the romance. Romance.io had only nine ratings and no steam level at the time of writing, so the best evidence is the reader reviews and the StoryGraph warning for graphic sexual content.
Content notes submitted on StoryGraph also include sexism, misogyny, racism, sexual harassment, lesbophobia, injury and alcohol, with sexual assault listed as a minor warning.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want a steamy sapphic sports romance with football at its heart and leads of colour. It is on our sapphic sports romance list.
You may want to skip it if: you need the rivalry to feel even, you dislike a heroine who is unkind for much of the book, or you want low angst and low heat.
In short: A strong premise and real heat, undercut by an uneven rivalry.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
On Goodreads the split is 8% five stars, 29% four, 45% three, 14% two and 3% one — a book most readers finished and felt lukewarm about. On StoryGraph, 78% tag it lighthearted and 47% funny, and 54% found the characters loveable, a low figure for the genre. The Dreamscape audiobook is narrated by Esme Ramos.
Prefer audio? Listen to Ready to Score on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The heat first. Second, the diverse leads. Third, the football detail.
What readers argue about and complain about: Jade’s cruelty, above everything. Second, a one-sided rivalry. Third, length and pacing. Fourth, smut outweighing romance.
The comparison worth making first: It is pitched at Cleat Cute readers — see our books like Cleat Cute list for alternatives. For a sports romance with warmer leads, try Hotshot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ready to Score enemies to lovers?
It is sold as rivals to lovers: two teachers competing for the same head coach job. Several readers felt the rivalry was one-sided, with Jade doing most of the antagonising.
How spicy is Ready to Score?
Spicy. Readers repeatedly call it steamy, and StoryGraph content warnings list graphic sexual content. Romance.io had no steam rating for it at the time of writing.
Does Ready to Score have a happy ending?
Yes, readers describe a happy, cute ending — though at least one felt the final arc was more about the job than the relationship.
Is Ready to Score on Kindle Unlimited?
Not at the time of writing — the St. Martin’s Griffin Kindle edition was listed at $11.99. The audiobook, narrated by Esme Ramos, runs 10 hours 17 minutes.
Is Ready to Score like Cleat Cute?
That is the pitch — the publisher bills it as Cleat Cute meets Friday Night Lights. It is steamier and more combative than Cleat Cute, and readers rate it lower.
If You Liked Ready to Score, Read These Next
Try Hotshot for a sporty rom-com, Overtime for a hockey coaching romance, or our books like Cleat Cute list. For more, browse our sapphic sports romance list, our feel-good lesbian romance list, or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Ready to Score sets out to be a steamy coaching-rivals romance, and it delivers the steam and the football. What it does not deliver, for many readers, is a rivalry between equals or a heroine they could root for. Worth it for heat-seekers; a pass for anyone else. Check Ready to Score on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Ready to Score ranks as a middling sports romance — promising premise, divisive execution.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★☆☆ 3.1/5
- ✓ 3.25 average across 977 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ Only 37% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 3.36 on StoryGraph from 531 reviews
- ✓ 3.8 stars across 49 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★☆☆ 2.9/5
- ✓ Rivalry felt one-sided
- ✓ Miscommunication late
- ✓ Smut outweighs romance for some
- ✓ Cute ending
Characters ★★★☆☆ 2.9/5
- ✓ Jade read as cruel
- ✓ Diverse leads
- ✓ 54% found them loveable
- ✓ Growth noted by some
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.1/5
- ✓ Strong football detail
- ✓ Long and dragging
- ✓ Odd fade to black
- ✓ Dual POV
Emotional Impact ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ Tagged lighthearted by 78%
- ✓ Some character growth
- ✓ Frustration with Jade
- ✓ Low investment for many
Heat Level ★★★★★ 4.5/5
- ✓ Repeatedly called steamy
- ✓ Graphic sex per StoryGraph
- ✓ No romance.io steam rating
- ✓ Too much for some
Ending ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Happy ending
- ✓ Called cute
- ✓ Job arc over couple for one
- ✓ Standalone
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 2.8/5
- ✓ 45% three-star ratings
- ✓ Not on Kindle Unlimited
- ✓ $11.99 Kindle price
- ✓ Audiobook available
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