Book Review: Relationship Goals by Brittany Kelley

Official Synopsis: An infamously grumpy star soccer player is forced to fake date a Hollywood starlet, only to develop real feelings for her—just as she learns he was pretending and vows to get even.

Abigail Hunt’s Hollywood dreams could best be described as slow burn…but she’s about to graduate from TV sidekick to dramatic actor. When the esteemed director of what she’s hoping will be her breakout role suggests she do a deep-dive for her part by shadowing the director of a struggling pro soccer team, she jumps at the chance to prove she’s ready.

She wasn’t expecting notorious grump and gorgeous star player Luke Wolfe to ask her out though, and suddenly her research is getting a lot more…hands-on. Their relationship quickly sets social media on fire, and Luke seems determined to prove he’s more than his villainous reputation. But just when Abby is happier than ever—her name in the spotlight and heart in good hands—the other cleat drops: Luke

was coerced into faking their relationship.

Furious, Abby refuses to give him the satisfaction of dumping him—she decides to get even. It’s only a matter of time until she pushes the right buttons.

She just didn’t expect him to keep putting up with it—or to say I love you.

Not going to lie, I really like Abagail and Luke from the beginning of the story. Luke gave off some pretty intense 'Roy Kent' vibes and that's just the type of grumpy character I like. Luke has a lot going on, and when the owners of the team decide to blackmail him into getting into a relationship with Abagail, hoping to sell more tickets, they promise they'll release him from his no-trade so he can hopefully get on a team closer to his mother. The problem I have with the fake dating in this book is that Abagail didn't know, which didn't feel fair to her. Abagail spends a lot of time worrying about if other's are going to use her because of her fame, especially after she had a falling out with the press after her character was killed off in the TV show that propelled her into fame.

Abagail knows the role she is studying for can change her career, and she is excited to be able to shadow a women working in major league soccer, and also to gain a friend from it. Abagail and Luke seem to hit it off immediately, not just because he is trying to make the owners of the team happy. Their chemistry quickly grows and their time together goes hard and fast. They seemingly fall into an 'insta-love' situation, which multiple times I had to check to see how long it had been since they had even met. As they grow closer, that's when the risk of Luke telling the truth seems to start looming over him.

When Abagail finally does learn about the deal, it is not from Luke but from a drunk teammate. Instead of deciding to talk with Luke about it, she decides to instead try to get him to break up with her but doing some ridiculous things. Though I'm always for a slightly silly revenge plot, this whole time in the story was something I think could have been talked about quickly. Luke and Abagail don't end up talking about it until it feels like its too late to fix either of the things they have done to each other. There was a lot about her feeling bad, as she should, and him struggling with telling her the truth that made the middle to near-end of the book a bit ridiculous. Though I know the conversation would be difficult, I imagine it would be better than having Abagail do silly things to turn him off from her.

When it came to romance this book got to it pretty quick, with probably a 3 on the romance/spicy scene chart. The two characters find comfort in each other pretty quick. and share intimate moments with the first few chapters.

Overall, there were a few nitpicky things I didn't enjoy about the story, but it wasn't all bad. I enjoyed the characters and some of the subplots, especially with Michelle and Gold. I found the book a quick/easy read, definitely a good one for getting back into reading after a slump.

I rated this book 3 out of 5 stars, it's definitely a middle ground book for me.

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