The Long Game
Atria, 2023
Agent: Jessica Watterson
A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this smalltown love story in the vein of Ted Lasso and It Happened One Summer —from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.
Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.
But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.
To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.
Accolades:
A New York Times Bestseller
A USA Today Bestseller
An Amazon Best Romance of September
A Kobo Best Book of the Month
Reviews:
“A charming, steamy new rom-com for fans of Ted Lasso.” —BookBub
“Elena Armas never misses. Armas has given us an entire cast of funny, exciting characters wrapped in the most perfect small town, slow burn bow. The Long Game has everything you could ever want in a rom-com, including goats.” —Hannah Grace, New York Times bestselling author of Icebreaker
"The Long Game is pure fun with chemistry so palpable it will set your pages on fire while melting your heart. It’s honestly what sports romance dreams are made of!" —Sarah Adams, New York Times bestselling author of Practice Makes Perfect
“The Long Game is utterly charming and gloriously sexy—I couldn’t put it down! Elena Armas write slow burn like a finely tuned symphony, and I wanted nothing more than to be Cameron’s darling by the end.” —Lana Ferguson, author of The Nanny
“Elena Armas is the queen of steamy, vulnerable, addicting romance. A slow-burn that had me sinking into each page, The Long Game is a love letter to becoming the best version of yourself. I couldn’t get enough of Cameron and Adalyn and the way they made each other shine brighter. And the chemistry? Smoking hot.” —B.K. Borison, author of Lovelight Farms
“Armas is an expert on what makes a romance reader's heart race.” —Tessa Bailey, #1 New York Times bestselling author