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Gunshots & Goalposts: The Story of Northern Irish Football
Gunshots & Goalposts: The Story of Northern Irish Football
Benjamin Roberts | 2017 | History & Politics, Sport & Leisure
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
history of Northern Ireland and their football history (0 more)
no character connection (0 more)
For the lovers of football and history - this book will be of your interest. If you happen to have any connecting with Northern Ireland as well - this book is made for you! I don’t think I fit in the description above. I love watching football - but I am not a football maniac, that knows who plays where, the club’s managers and who is on top of the Champion’s League this year. I love me some good sports matches, and I know a lot of players by name or face, but that’s about it.

Now - Gunshots & Goalposts: The Story of Northern Irish Football - the book that covers the stories of many football players in the past century in Northern Ireland.
While it covers so many stories, I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters, and I choose to blame this on the way the book was written.

Which - is not a bad thing at all. Why? Because, this book is not meant to make you fall in love with the characters. It is instead, meant to show you the real picture of their lives, the politics that were ongoing in that time, and give you a brief history lesson of what you happened to miss in high school. All related to football, of course.

For me, it was very useful to learn a bit about the politics and history. Before I started the book, I knew NOTHING about Northern Ireland’s history. I knew NOTHING about their football history. This was a great first book for me to dive into the waters of the history of Northern Ireland's football.

The author, Benjamin Roberts, has done a wonderful job in the description and research. It covers a lot of the history period from the First and Second World War, the protestants vs catholics, the unionists vs nationalists, the east vs the west.

This book reminds me a lot of a movie that has been made in the country where I was born - Macedonia. The movie was called ‘’The Third Half’’ and deals with Macedonian Football during World War II, and the deportation of Jews from Macedonia. It reminded me a bit of this, even though in this book we don’t connect with the characters, or dive into their stories too much.

This is a three-star book for me - for the sole reason that this is not a book that I would usually read, and I wouldn’t read books similar to this one either. I enjoyed it, at times, but wouldn’t re-read it. However, I would definitely recommend it to people that love both football and history. I just prefer books where I connect with the characters.
  
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ArecRain (8 KP) rated One of the Guys in Books

Jan 18, 2018  
OO
One of the Guys
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I didn’t realize I had read Shiloh Walker before until I realized her name sounded familiar and did some research. Awhile back I read her story The Missing which is the first in her FBI Psychics series. I don’t remember much of that story and I didn’t write a review for it back then. I must have liked it though, since I rated it 4 stars.

It seems to be a theme since I enjoyed this story as well. I am also partial to friend-to-lovers stories. And boy are they steamy lovers. I have read multiple reviews that accuse of Walker of writing the same sex scenes over and over and that her writing lacks variety. I have only read one other of her novels and that was a while ago, so I can’t agree nor can I have the same complaint.

While I can say that nothing erotic shocks me, certain things just aren’t my tastes, i.e. anal play/sex, especially when the guy is an inconsiderate jerk about it. As someone who has a very considerate lover, but has been sexually abused before, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. I almost couldn’t finish the book. If you can get past that though, then this would be good read for you.
  
Smitty's Sheriff (Hope #3)
Smitty's Sheriff (Hope #3)
Cardeno C | 2017 | Romance
6
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Smitty's Sheriff (Hope #3) by Cardeno C.
Smitty's Sheriff is the third book in the Hope series, and this series is one where I never know what I'm going to get. McFarland's Farm was a 4-star, Jesse's Diner was a 5. Each story is completely individual, and that is always a good thing.

Now, first off, I need to say that this story is of the same high quality as all of Cardeno C.'s work. The pace is smooth, the characters believable, and certain scenes are steamy enough for anyone.

The reason for my 3-stars is that whilst I enjoyed their story, I couldn't actually get with the relationship between the main two characters. I found myself getting quite annoyed whenever Rich spoke to Todd like he was a child. I know there is an age difference between them, but to me, their relationship was more father/son with sexy bits, rather than boyfriends/lovers/whatever you want to call them.

NOW, that is just my opinion, and I know that some readers will devour this story and love every word. I'm just sorry that I'm not one of them, although I did enjoy it. As it is Cardeno C.'s work, I have no hesitation in recommending this book, even if I didn't like it 100%.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
  
No Easy Catch (Cleat Chasers, #4)
No Easy Catch (Cleat Chasers, #4)
Jaqueline Snowe | 2020 | Contemporary, Romance, Sport & Leisure, Young Adult (YA)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
No Easy Catch is the fourth book in the Cleat Chasers series, and the second one in the series I have read. You don't need to have read any of the others to get into this story.

This is an enemy to lovers story, set in the world of college with a whole host of dodgy dealings going on. To begin with, Jeff doesn't trust Ambar at all, even thinking she has been involved with it all. He soon learns she is innocent of all charges apart from being related to one of the men involved. This was a lovely tale, with a slow-build romance threaded through the mystery. As the reader, I got to see Jeff's first moments of realisation that Ambar was more than he had previously thought.

Although this is classed as a sports romance and Jeff plays baseball, it didn't take over the story, and there wasn't much there where he was actually on the field. The world is well established, with individual characters adding highlights to the story, or moving forward where necessary. The pacing was smooth and punchy when needed. I did find some words or phrases were used slightly repetitively but that's probably just me.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book and have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone who enjoys a coming-of-age romance with sport elements.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!