I’ll start my saying I have LOVED all of @lulumoorebooks and this was no exception.

I loved the rowing theme in this book, and the dynamic between Kate and Arthur was just what I was looking for.

The banter, the flirting, the swoon moments were perfect and there was some difficult themes tackled very well in this one, and their relationship grew through the book and I could not put it down. Lulu puts magic into her books and you can’t help fall in love and root for her characters.

I have pre-ordered the paperback which should land through my door today so I’m excited to re read at some point but I was lucky to get and e-arc of this one which I am very grateful for so thanks to the author, NetGalley and @valentine_pr_ for that in return for an honest review.

A fab romance as usual, can’t wait to read more in this series.

Who knew that rowing romance books existed? This was soooooooo good. They had such an instant connection but the second she figured out who Oz was she pushed him away so hard. Oz was never deterred though, he knew that he was going to end up with Kate. They are just perfect and are able to bring out the best in each other. It warmed my heart when she met his whole family and they just took her in as one of their own. Or when she was crying and so he drove 2 hours just to come comfort her.

I received an arc from valentine pr.

•College rowing
•Rivals to lovers
•Slow burn

Lulu’s first college romance was so enjoyable with the banter I’ve come to know and love in her stories and a sprinkle of the spice from her other books. She truly is a comfort author for me.

Kate meets Arthur (Oz) when she stumbles (literally) upon him on campus and they have an instant connection. The only thing they don’t realize is they’re on rivaling rowing teams - Cambridge vs. Oxford. A rivalry that spans decades and is taken very seriously by many. Kate, an American on scholarship at Cambridge, doesn’t want to do anything to rock the boat so she keeps Oz at arms length after finding out who he really is.

Oz is such a charming and lovable MMC. He’s sweet, caring, lovable - all things that contradicts the public’s perception of him. He was adamant on showing Kate his true colors, while Kate was adamant on keeping her distance. Oz wore her down and once they came together it was so unbelievably sweet. I found myself smiling throughout this book and when we got glimpses into their teammates who I hope will be MCs in future books I was very much intrigued!!

I really enjoyed this. It captured my attention in a way that it hasn’t been in a long time. I think maybe because it’s a sports romance, but rowing is a pretty obscure sport. Like it’s a total athletic pursuit and absolutely no joke, but it’s not one that has an opportunity to row professionally as far as I know. So rowing for Oxford and Cambridge is as elite as the sport can get outside the Olympics. I very much enjoyed the world created by the author and learning a bit more about rowing culture.

Another reason I liked this book is that it somehow made me nostalgic for my own university years. Especially Kate’s experience of moving away from home, living in a dorm, making best friends right away. Learning to be an adult while also taking on a heavy course load. Oh - and competing at the top of your sport, no pressure.

The author portrayed the university experience in a different way from most other college sports romances I’ve read - full of parties and fuckbois. This kept its focus on the sports, the academics, the rivalry - and of course the relationship between Oz and Kate. Their meet cute was the best!!! Oz seemed so down to earth, despite his aristocratic upbringing.

All told, I thought it was a charming story and romance. One of the best new adult romances I’ve read - possibly ever. Pick this one up, you will not regret it!!!!

Advanced copy was provided by NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

RATING : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SPICE: 🔥🔥

If you told me I would fall head over heels for a rowing romance, I’m not quite sure I would believe you, but here we are!

This book put a permanent smile on my face that I don’t think I wiped off the entire time I was reading it. Oz and Kate are soulmates, couples goals and athlete goals all wrapped up into one perfect package. My heart is so full with how much I loved this book!

TROPES ⬇️
🩵 Sports Romance
🩵 College Rivals
🩵 British Billionaire MMC
🩵 He Falls First
🩵 Secret Relationship
🩵 A crash course in Rowing

Despite knowing nothing about rowing before reading this book, I’m now completely obsessed with how much I learned through Kate and Oz’s journey. They are both world-class rowers for Cambridge and Oxford, and they meet when Kate literally trips over Oz during her first week on campus from America. Their connection is both instant and absolutely adorable and watching them slowly fall into each other was so damn cute.

He calls her Yankie Doodle and she calls him Ozzy, and if you tell me soulmates don’t exist, I will make you read this book because these two prove that they do.

Oz may be the swooniest and sweetest MMC I’ve read in a while because from the second he meets Kate, he is done. She is it for him and he will accept no other outcome. He may have been raised a billionaire but this man is a tender marshmellow and I love him.

I just can’t stop raving about how much I loved this! It was low angst, tooth rotting sweetness and I never wanted it to end!

Read this book now if you need an immediate boost in serotonin because there is no way you won’t have heart flutters the entire way through.

Lulu is such a fantastic writer. I enjoy everything she writes and was incredibly excited to see her go trad published. This book was incredibly cute and something I’m so excited to see out on shelves everywhere.

I fell in love with both Kate and Oz as a couple instantly. There was such playful banter and flirting throughout the whole story but yet it also was so deep and a tale about grief and trauma too. Kate has moved from the states to Cambridge to study medicine on a scholarship and hopes to also make their women’s rowing team. Her reasons for being there are heartbreaking, and Lulu handles this really sensitively. Oz also has lot to sort out in his own life too as the story progresses. I’m excited for book 2- there’s a little sneak peak at the end of Oar than Friends and I can’t wait to read more about Violet.

Wow, one of my top reads of this year so far! I loved the plot and the main characters, as well as the forbidden love trope and Oxford College scene. It's my first from the author and I plan on reading more of her books! Arthur ( Oz ) and Kate are so good together, and I loved how both had to overcome many obstacles in their lives to find happiness. Its fun, a bit sexy, and a page turner.
Full review on my Instagram.
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for this arc.

Thank you Valentine PR and Lulu Moore for the ARC! 💕

This was such a fun read! I've never read anything by Lulu and I loved entering the rowing scene with this book! I definitely have to go back and read the rest of her books! Oz is another book boyfriend I've added to my list. He's so caring, wonderful, and always made sure Kate was loved and cared for. It was really interesting to hear all about rowing and it's definitely peaked my interested.

About: Kate randomly stumbles on someone (literally) and he listens about her worries being so far away from home. She's on a rowing scholarship studying medicine at Cambridge University so it definitely can be overwhelming. Arthur Osborne-Cloud (swoon), or Oz as others call him is the President of the Oxford University Boat Club studying the classics. Will their school's rivalry take over their feelings for each other?

Recommend if you enjoy:
-sports romance
-rivals to lovers
-he falls first
-secret relationship

Rating: 4/5 ⭐️
Spice: 2/5 🌶️

Oar Than Friends by Lulu Moore is the first novel in the Oxbridge series, and it is adorable! I absolutely love the group of friends on both sides. The world that Lulu Moore has created for this series is so fun. The banter is never ending.

Kate is new in England and at Cambridge University. She is planning to study medicine and row on the university's team. She is getting acclimated to a new country and making new friends, then she meets a super cute guy in a hilarious way.

Oz is dealing with a lot. His family life is a bit of a mess, and he's trying to decide what to do with his future. He wants to do something completely different than his father wants and expects. He is visiting his friend Olly one night, when he gets his precious goods stepped on by the most beautiful girl.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Oz and Kate! I loved the banter and that they each had their own personal struggles to find their way to each other. I cannot wait for the next novel in this series!

Oar Than Friends by Lulu Moore, is the first book in the Oxbridge Series, here we will meet Kate Astley, this beautiful girl, hard-working and dedicated, travels from the United States to the University of Cambridge in England to study medicine after having received a scholarship, and one of her goals is to become part of the legendary rowing team, is ther that she meets a boy who she can't help but feel attracted to, but what Kate doesn't know is that this boy is the President of the Oxford Rowing team. Arthur Osbourne-Cloud “Oz” has always had his future planned, after graduating from Oxford he must follow in his father's footsteps in politics, which Oz is not enthusiastic about, that is not his dream, he just wants to have a good time and continue winning championships and medals with his rowing team, but suddenly he meets this beautiful american and the attraction is immediate, but what he does not know is that she is part of the Cambridge rowing team, the rival University that they will face in The Boat Race. Although they should stay apart and be rivals, Oz is completely enchanted by Kate, she is nothing like what he is used to and for Kate, although at first she tries to fight the attraction, she will end up getting carried away by it, which It leads them to find in each other what they didn't know they needed.
I loved this story! Since I started reading it I couldn't put it down, the wonderful characters, the jokes will have you laughing out loud, but you will also have moments where you will shed a few tears (Kate's story and her guilt tore my heart), all while you fall in love together with the characters and you find yourself in the middle of a competition, I knew very little about this sport and it was super exciting, especially the final. It's definitely a story you must read and I will be waiting patiently for the next stories of this wonderful group of characters. Highly recommended!

I love sports romances and this new world in rowing was very interesting and so new to me, I Loved it. But most of all, I loved the love story between Kate and Arthur. They were so cute. Arthur is so swooning, I can tell, this man falls first and hard, he's so smitten.

I enjoyed their first meeting and the way they exchange all along the book. Kate's friends are fantastic, as are Arthur's. It's impossible not to love them all. It makes me want to read the next book as soon as possible, cause I know I'll love it ♥.

This was a sweet, cute and beautiful story. I bet you'll fall for Oz (Arthur), he's the sweetest.

I loved this story! Lulu Moore is a favorite author of mine and Our Than Friends doesn’t disappoint. Oz and Kate’s story is cute- I love that he was so persistent. He definitely deserved the chance to have Kate get to know him without all the rumors her teammates told her about him. I also learned so much about rowing in this story!

Thank you for the ARC for my honest review

This book was beyond good, I literally loved every page of it. It made me feel every single emotion possible, I had a great time with it and I loved how their story was written. It was realistic; it wasn’t too cheesy, too sad or too long. It was perfect. The ending left me emotional and wishing it was longer, just so I could obsess over Oz and Katey even more.

The new-found friendships and the relationships with their respective families were also very wholesome to read. I could go on and on about what I loved about it. Now looking forward and so incredibly excited for the next book in the series. 🫶 After reading the first chapter of it, I already know it’s going to be amazing!

Of all the different types of Sports Romance out there never would I have thought I’d be so invested in one about rowing. And yet, here I am. Though I shouldn’t have been too surprised since Oar Than Friends was written by Lulu Moore, who books I just adore. Plus she’s no stranger to Sports Romance, having both a hockey romance series, The New York Players, and a baseball romance series, The New York Lions.

Kate Astley is an American that comes to The University of Cambridge due to scholarships in both medical studies and rowing. Arthur Osbourne-Cloud, Oz, attends Oxford University, who’s often in the spotlight for both his talents in rowing as well as his family dramas thanks to his political father. While attending rival universities, Kate and Oz have a lovely meet-cute that left me giddy. Whenever they were together, I couldn’t help but root for them. If you’re a fan of rowing or know nothing about it, Oar Than Friends, is a charming read. And the fact that Oz is a well educated, handsome, British athlete definitely makes it easy to fall in love with him. Lulu definitely knows how to write your next book boyfriend.

Thank you Lulu and Valentine PR for sending me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoyed this book so much. I've read plenty of stories taking place at either Oxford or Cambridge over the years (mostly mysteries); it was especially fun to read a story that featured both competition and camaraderie between the two schools. And eventually romance, of course. And I'm sure I've never read a sports romance centered around rowing - so creative and interesting!

Those are just the wonderful broad brush strokes of this novel. Kate and Oz are so much fun! Their meet-cute is hilarious, and their trials and tribulations make for great reading. I can imagine meeting them and their circle of friends and having great times. Ms. Moore does a wonderful job making the reader feel like the most careful observer, seeing all the action and following characters' thought processes. I think I even felt tired just reading about all their workouts!

I am definitely looking forward to reading further installments in this series.

3.5 stars

Oar than Friends is the first book in the Oxbridge series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Kate & Oz went to rival colleges. Oz had a bad reputation, which Kate believed. But he was determined to prove what people thought of him was wrong, and get Kate to see the real him.

It took me a while to get into this, but once I did, I enjoyed it. And, ooh, this was so cute! I know nothing about rowing, but it was great that there was a lot of detailed information about it — so, it wasn’t just mentioned that they’re both in that sport.

There’s just something about the rivalry and having to sneak around to be together. But more than that, these two were able to open up to each other in ways they couldn’t with other people. And I loved that they both encouraged each other to follow their real dreams.

ARC Review

Oar than friends by Lulu Moore

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️.5/5

✨ I might not have won the Boat Race, but I’d definitely come away with the biggest prover. Her. ✨

Tropes:
🚣‍♀️ Rivals to Lovers
🚣‍♀️ British MMC/American FMC
🚣‍♀️ Oxbridge setting
🚣‍♀️ Sports Romance

I loved this book so so much! Everyone should go read this book right now! I laughed, I swooned, I cried. This book is everything. This is my favourite read this year and if I could give this 6 stars I would.

Kate and Arthur are perfect. Their banter, their sweet moments, even their sad moments. They made me fall in love with them, break my heart and mend it again.

I loved Oz so so much. He fell fast and so hard. He was just so swoon worthy. Hot, flirty and the kindest MMC ever!!

I’m so excited to watch the Boat race this year due to this book, I definitely will read another Rowing romance. I can’t wait for the next book.

Thank you Lulu for send me an ARC. It was an absolute pleasure!

#bookreview #lulumoore #lulumoorebooks #lulumooreauthor #oarthanfriends #romancebooks #romancereader

This book was utterly charming and just made my heart happy. It was such a comfort read that hit all the marks for a romantic comedy!

Kate was all excited to start her adventure at Cambridge, making the rowing team and studying medicine. The last thing Kate needed was to fall for the charming Oz, who just happens to be the President of the Oxford rowing team, Cambridges biggest rival! There is something about Oz she just can't resist, but secret relationships, team rivalry, finding your place and family dramas, makes for some challenging obstacles for them to overcome.

The premise of this book was so fun, rowing is such a classic British sport and the rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge is legendary! Oz was just so freaking charming, he just oozed charisma. He was such a fun character and had me swooning from page one. I loved how determined he was to have Kate see a different side to him. His relationship with his teammates was so fun and I can't wait to see where the rest of the series goes. Kate did frustrate me, but in the best way! She was stubborn but loyal, and watching her slowly give in to Oz just made me happy. I honestly couldn't stop smiling as I read this one. The chemistry between them was phenomenal and I just thoroughly enjoyed reading their story.

I am such of fan of Lulus writing, she has such a great sense of humour that clearly comes across in the characters, the spice was spicy and it was just an heart-warming, swoony romance that I highly recommend!

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞:
🩵 rowing
🩵 college
🩵 rivals to lovers
🩵 secret relationship
🩵 slow burn

I am on a sports romance kick and I really enjoyed reading about a different sport and reading a sports romance set in the UK. Also, Kate and Ozzy are the cutest and will totally steal your heart!

I saw a lot of people talking about how much they learned about rowing from this story. I definitely learned stuff about rowing but I personally learned the most about grading and medical training at Oxford. It's probably just the part of my brain that's always a professor but I needed to know why an undergrad was in a medical program and what a first meant! I also thought the college rivalry was a fun twist and I could totally see people taking it as seriously as it was portrayed in the book.

I loved Ozzy and Kate's connection. They really brought out the best in each other and I liked that they understood each other so well. I also liked that they had a shared interest in rowing and an understanding of family pressure but other big differences. Their story is super romantic and swoony and I think any romance reader will love it.

This was my first Lulu Moore book but it won't be my last! I am already so invested in these characters. I need book two now! I really liked that this was a college romance that was sold as adult romance but not super spicy. While I enjoy spicy books I feel like a lot of books in the new adult space are either sold and YA when they shouldn't be or are super spicy. I enjoy the super spicy ones as much as the next reader but I think the variety is a great thing!

🌶️🌶️ - This book has a couple open door scenes but the detail is pretty limited. There is yearning and some sexual tension but it's by no means the focus of the story.