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Verdict: A short, soccer-heavy fourth instalment in which a new national team coach reshuffles everything before the 2015 World Cup — satisfying for fans who love the team politics, but the book stops before Canada, and a growing number of readers feel the series is padding its way to the tournament.
Best for: Readers deep into Girls of Summer who enjoy the inside story of making a national team.
Heat level: Low (the series keeps intimacy mostly off the page)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.6/5 — a 4.29 Goodreads average across 322 ratings, 4.03 on StoryGraph from 56 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 209 Amazon ratings)
Tropes: Established relationship, professional athletes, national team selection, long distance, coming out publicly, series instalment.
The Road to Canada is Kate Christie’s 2019 contemporary lesbian sports romance, book four of six in the Girls of Summer series. A coaching change on the US women’s national team shortly before the 2015 World Cup changes the picture for both Jamie Maxwell and Emma Blakeley.
It holds a 4.29 average across 322 Goodreads ratings, with 85% of them four or five stars, 4.03 on StoryGraph from 56 reviews, and 4.6 stars across 209 Amazon ratings.
What Is The Road to Canada About?
For Jamie, a new coach means a real shot at the World Cup roster at last. For Emma, a national team regular, the shift in priorities means that for the first time in her adult life she isn’t sure she’ll be on the field — or even on the team.
Around the selection drama, the couple keep working through distance, how open to be about their relationship, and a truth Emma still hasn’t fully told.
What Works in This Series Instalment
- The soccer: Readers call it the most soccer-heavy book yet, with interesting detail on how players make — or miss — the national team.
- The couple: Fans describe Jamie and Emma as relationship goals and like how Christie lets them stumble and grow realistically.
- The new coach: At least one reader singles out the new head coach as a highlight.
- Writing: Readers say Christie’s writing is consistently strong.
Book Synopsis
A new coach arrives weeks before the World Cup, and everything the national team took for granted is up for grabs. Jamie finally has a chance; Emma suddenly doesn’t know where she stands.
As the final roster approaches, both women have to hold their relationship together while their futures hang on one decision in Vancouver.
My Review
If you love the Girls of Summer world, this delivers more of what makes it distinctive: the politics of a national team, the anxiety of selection, and a couple whose relationship feels lived-in. It is also short, which keeps it moving.
The most repeated complaint is that the series is dragging: readers want the World Cup, and this book, despite its title, ends before it begins. Several say books three and four feel like padding that could have been one volume. The heavy soccer content will lose non-fans, and one reader cringed at dialogue that reads like an older writer imitating young people.
My honest note: Read it back to back with book five, or you may find the ending abrupt.
| Element | In The Road to Canada |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Jamie Maxwell & Emma Blakeley, US women’s national team players |
| Core tropes | Established relationship, national team selection, coming out publicly |
| Setting | The US women’s national team in the run-up to the 2015 World Cup |
| Heat level | Low |
| Length | 174 pages (Kindle listing) |
| Series | Girls of Summer #4 of 6 — ends before the World Cup |
| Content notes | Career pressure, closeting in pro sport |
How Spicy Is The Road to Canada?
Not very. Like the rest of the series, the relationship is on the page but intimacy mostly isn’t.
Readers discuss the pressure of being out versus staying closeted in professional soccer.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you’re invested in the team as much as the couple. It is on our sapphic sports romance list.
You may want to skip it if: you’re impatient to get to the tournament — read book five next.
In short: More soccer, not yet Canada.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
On Goodreads the split is 45% five stars, 40% four, 12% three, 1% two and under 1% one. On StoryGraph, 66% tagged it emotional and 66% inspiring. Readers tell of waiting for each release, timing their reading around real World Cups, and bingeing books four and five together.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The couple first. Second, national team realism. Third, the new coach. Fourth, the writing.
What readers argue about and complain about: Slow progress toward the World Cup, above everything. Second, the abrupt ending. Third, dialogue for one reader.
The comparison worth making first: Outside the Lines, the book before, which readers found similarly slow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does The Road to Canada include the 2015 World Cup?
No. Despite the title, it covers the run-up to the tournament and ends before it begins — several readers were caught out by that. The World Cup itself comes in book five, Girls of Summer.
Can I read The Road to Canada on its own?
No. Readers are clear that it is not a standalone; start with Training Ground.
How spicy is The Road to Canada?
Low. The Girls of Summer series keeps intimacy mostly off the page.
How long is The Road to Canada?
Short for the series — the Kindle listing gives 174 pages.
Is The Road to Canada on Kindle Unlimited?
Not at the time of writing — the Kindle edition was listed at $4.99. An audiobook edition is listed on Amazon; we did not find it on Libro.fm.
If You Loved The Road to Canada, Read These Next
Continue with Girls of Summer, or start the series at Training Ground. For more, browse our sapphic sports romance list or the full Book Reviews archive.
All 25 verified soccer romances, including the six-book Girls of Summer series, are in our Sapphic Soccer Romance Books guide.
The Bottom Line
The Road to Canada sets out to build the drama of World Cup selection, and the soccer detail makes it compelling for fans. What holds it back is that it still isn’t the tournament. For series readers. Check The Road to Canada on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, The Road to Canada ranks as a fair series instalment — detailed, still waiting.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ 4.29 average across 322 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ 85% of Goodreads ratings are four or five stars
- ✓ 4.03 on StoryGraph from 56 reviews
- ✓ 4.6 stars across 209 Amazon ratings
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Established couple
- ✓ Realistic growth
- ✓ Secrets linger
- ✓ Little progress
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.9/5
- ✓ Relationship goals
- ✓ New coach
- ✓ Strong teammates
- ✓ 100% loveable characters
Writing ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Soccer heavy
- ✓ Short
- ✓ Dialogue cringe for one
- ✓ Consistently good
Emotional Impact ★★★☆☆ 3.4/5
- ✓ Selection anxiety
- ✓ Tagged inspiring by 66%
- ✓ Hopeful
- ✓ Low stakes romance
Heat Level ★★☆☆☆ 2/5
- ✓ Low
- ✓ Off the page
- ✓ Series norm
- ✓ No explicit content
Ending ★★★☆☆ 3/5
- ✓ Before the World Cup
- ✓ Abrupt for some
- ✓ Series continues
- ✓ Sets up book five
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 3.3/5
- ✓ $4.99 Kindle price
- ✓ Series binge
- ✓ Audiobook on Amazon
- ✓ Not on Kindle Unlimited
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