Thank you to Net Galley and Avon Books UK and of course the author for the chance to read this book.

My first romance with Lacrosse as the sport. I never seen one till i seen this posted and was extremely intrigued by it. I love the trope fake dating and second chance romance.
May a big lover of lacrosse being on the field and a strong badass. Colt sure he made mistakes but you just grew to care for the character. The way they are with each other just makes you invested in this couple just to see how this slow burn romance between these 2 go on to being more. I would read again.

Really enjoyed the lacrosse backdrop - Patel normally writes novels in an F1 backdrop, so a little different. But still really good and a lot of fun. May and Colt have history, he broke her heart and returns to help with coaching May's team. They end up fake dating and whilst you know it will end up being the real deal, still thoroughly enjoyable. Thanks to Net galley for the advanced copy.

4⭐️ | 1.5🌶️

I was so lucky to get my hands on an ARC of Cross My Heart from the fabulous Esha Patel, and she’s done it again! As a die-hard fan of her F1 romances (nothing beats a high-speed love story), this was my first time reading a lacrosse romance… and while my heart still belongs to the track, this one had me flipping pages faster than a pit stop!

Lacrosse might not be my usual sport of choice, but it was such a refreshing backdrop. The way the game scenes were written had my adrenaline pumping, I genuinely felt like I was on the field with them, eyes on the goal, holding my breath to see how it would play out. I wasn’t expecting boots, barns, and that small-town charm, but it added so much heart to the story.

Now let’s talk about May Velasco. Strong, loyal, stubborn in the best way, and absolutely sunshine in cleats. Colt? Total grump with a soft, gooey center…my favorite kind. The way he’s down bad for her, how he always calls her “May Velasco” in his head like her full name is a prayer? Yeah, I melted.

Fake dating? Check. Second chance romance? Check. Grumpy x sunshine? Double check. Esha weaved my favorite tropes together with heart, heat, and a whole lot of swoon.

Cross My Heart is the kind of book that scores high on charm, feels, swoony romance and a sprinkle of cowboy magic ✨

this book was good, but nothing spectacular. I think if I understood lacrosse better I would have enjoyed this more but a lot of the terms just flew over my head. I enjoyed the fake dating, it wasn’t the most believable but it was still a good time.

Second chance romance between former best friends and throw in lacrosse! When your forever crush/best friend abandons you without so much as a word, you tend to hold a grudge. When CJ "Colt" Bradley returns home to help May Velasco's lacrosse training... she wants no part of it. She hasn't heard from him in years and he completely broke hr heart. Colt is here to make amends, he is here to get his friend back... but when they are photographed together and it encourages press for the women's lacrosse team, May and Colt agree to fake date to keep the team happy. But spending all that time together means facing what went wrong in their relationship in the first place. This book was not great, I just couldn't see the romance between these two characters and didn't feel the chemistry at all. The book felt so slow paced and I found myself constantly putting this book down to read something else and come back. I just didn't find myself rooting for these two characters to get together and I honestly didn't care by the end. Sadly this one wasn't the second chance romance for me but if you like that and want a book with a lacrosse romance in it, I would definitely say try it.

Release Date: May 22, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Avon Books UK | Avon for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I personally just didn’t vibe with it at all. The writing is very juvenile (more like high school rather than people in their early 20s). And I honestly found May just very very annoying. This whole fake relationship was SO unneeded too. And it’s SO unrealistic for the coach to even encourage a relationship between a player and someone on the staff. Beyond ridiculous. Why is everyone so mad at Colt for going away? May literally acts like her and colt were in a long term relationship and he just left when they literally were just friends who didn’t tell each other how they felt. What does she want from him? He literally had a dream and pursued it and everyone is mad at him? Okay so he didn’t contact as much as he should have (he is a guy) but what did they do to try and keep the relationship too? Absolutely nothing. Beyond infuriating. Jordan is literally the most level headed character in the book and I love her. I also kinda wish that May would stick to one name for Colt. One second she calls him Colt the next it’s CJ. Have some consistency. I just felt that May and Colt lacked any chemistry and I didn’t think they should have ended up together. Overall disappointed as I was excited to read a different type of sports romance

This was such a wonderful and enjoyable read.
If you’re into sports romance, Cross My Heart by Esha Patel is definitely one to check out.
This was a wonderfully written romance story.
I absolutely loved these characters and really enjoyed getting to know them.
A sweet, fun and engaging read!

Yessss! Just yes! This book was just..everything.

Big thank you to the Avon Books UK and the author for the ARC via NetGalley!

Second Chance romance, fake dating AND It’s a sports romance, oh man YES I loved every second! I especially loved that it was a different sport than the usual romance’s we get, I LOVED hearing about all things lacrosse.

May is full of anger and sadness over the heartache she endured over a guy she once loved. She’s a big lover of lacrosse and it shows, she’s an absolute powerhouse on the field and a badass babe! She’s strong, loyal and feisty especially when it comes to a certain someone.

Colt, oh he melted my heart. He’s made mistakes and he owns up to them. He’s a true golden retriever hero. He’s kind, he’s caring but he doesn’t know how to handle some of the bigger feelings but when he does…gah swoony!

Watching these two grow and develop throughout the book has been one of my favourite things, to see them go from the sadness they both felt to the happiness they both deserve, I’m in awe. It was worth all the heart ache that some parts brought.

This author brought us two fantastic characters with a bunch of wonderful side characters who I would LOVE to get to know more about in the future. I had fun exploring the world of lacrosse, reading about the Holi celebrations and everything in between.

Cross my Heart is a second chance sports romance. It’s a book filled with fun and a touch of heart ache. It’s cute, it’s addictive and it’s one you’ll definitely want to read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Such an amazingly cute small town second chance romance with rivalry tension and an adorable MMC 🥹

🥍 Fake dating
🩷 Childhood Friends
🥍 Sports romance
🩷 Women in sport
🥍 Hate to Love
🩷 Small Town
🥍 One bed
🩷 Second Chance
🥍 Interracial Romance
🩷 Slow Burn

MayColt forever 🩷

Colt is such a damn cutie. He gives off major golden retriever energy and you cannot help but love him even through his faults!

May’s sass had me laughing so much. She is soo damn stubborn and loves so deeply that you cannot help but love her. She is strong and determined and through all the setbacks she does not falter. She is selfless and determined to path the way for the women in sport! We all need a May in our lives!🥹

Esha’s writing is so much fun to read. She expresses so much through the characters adding real struggles on both sides in a lighthearted and genuine way. The writing style makes it so easy to say one more chapter at 1am making it addictive and have you smiling so wildly at the characters and their interactions.

I will forever have so much love for Esha. She is an amazing person to get to know both through her writing and through our conversations. I really hope one of these days we get to meet 🩷

Thank you so so much to Esha and Avon for the ARC and a finished copy of this book. I am forever grateful 🩷

🩷 I’m going to need 5 working days to recover from the Acknowledgments 😭

Thank you so much to Esha Patel, Netgalley and Avon Books for sending me a digital arc of this book.

I got arcs of Esha's other two books, formula 1 romances, and absolutely fell in love with her as an author and as a person. To say I was excited to get an arc of her newest book is an understatement.
｡

I was a bit skeptical going into this one because, lacrosse? Really? It seemed like such a random sport to pick. But I trust her and was obviously going to read anything she came out with.
And I was pleasantly surprised.

I really loved our main characters May and Colt, seeing their relationship go from childhood friends to sort of rivals to fake dating and exploring their feelings throughout the whole process. There's a lot of miscommunication but I didn't mind it as the support these two had for eachother was so good.
Also, strong independent women chasing their dreams? Yes please!!
｡

I have to admit that I liked her formula 1 romances more but I think that's just because I've recently become a fan of the sport.

So if you're a sport romance lover I'd highly recommend you give this author a go.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the advance copy of this book to review. This was a quick read and I really enjoyed how it brought light upon the sport of lacrosse. I found Colt moved very quickly and his feelings seemed unbelievable at times. It wasn’t a slow burn like most relationships in books, especially when one of them made a mistake. Instead, he jumped right in and was honest with his feelings and I personally would have liked a little more time to learn more about both characters before jumping in. Overall, the book was very predictable without many surprises. I found the writing didn’t hook me or paint a picture like other books. The book itself was a good one time read if you wanted a different type of sports romance books, instead of the traditional hockey or football.

This was my first lacrosse romance, and it was very enjoyable. I would give it 3.5 stars, but Goodreads doesn't allow half stars. Colt and May's slow burn romance surprised me but also made sense in the context of the story. I did end the book wanting more of them, but I also appreciated the journey those characters took to get there. I do wish we got more scenes of them from the past because at times I didn't fully understand the hostility in the present. I was intrigued by their past and just wanted a touch more. May was such a great character, and I liked seeing her hold her own in every aspect of her life. Colt really was a golden retriever, and I liked how much he supported May, but I wish we got a little more of his story and dealing with rehabbing the injury. His mental block regarding lacrosse and how that affects his coaching ability was interesting, but I wish we got a little deeper into it. This book really felt like Mays, which I didn't mind, but in terms of the development for both parties I felt Colt's was lacking. I would recommend this book, especially to those who want a low-spice, slow burn romance, and I want to check out Esha Patel's other books.

4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Let's start by saying that I enjoyed this book and got an ARC from the author, so I want to thank her for that. It did take a little bit to get into with school and finals happening, but 4.5 is a solid rating from me.
First, I love the representation of women's sports taking off and getting the recognition they deserve. It has become a trend, especially with Caitlin Clark and all her success at the University of Iowa, and now with the Indiana Fever. So reading about that was very fun to see. We've both seen its effect on little girls and people getting women's sports.
Second, the romance was gorgeous and very realistic in my opinion. Colt is so down bad for May, it's not even funny, and sometimes May did get on my nerves for not seeing what was right in front of her. It is a slow burn, so just be aware of that, but I liked the storyline's fake dating aspect. I will say that May and Colt were "bad" at the "fake" part of their dating to get this sport well-known within the sports world. At one point, I was about to steal Colt for myself; he is such a golden retriever, it's not even funny. Put me in, Coach, May, if you won't take me, I will!!!
I'd recommend it to anyone who loves fake dating and slow-burning romance. Overall, great book.

I have this book a 2.5 ⭐️

The story fell really flat, I usually really enjoy sports romance but this one just wasn't for me!

I really enjoyed it in some parts but disliked it in others.

Thank you for sending me the arc

DNF’d @45%

The writing was boring and the dialogue felt drier than sand.

The story had potential but I just couldn’t bring myself to be interested.

I liked the fmc more than the mmc. The guy had no unique quality about him that stood out to me.

Overall, this book was a miss for me unfortunately.

ೃ⁀➷ Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC! ♥︎

This is my first lacrosse romance book. I really enjoyed reading a new sport romance. I like the premise of this book. Second chance romance is one of my favorite books. I understand this is a YA book but I felt like the thing that tore them apart to be a little juvenile. I understand that they’re young so it’s hard to have a dramatic reason for a second chance. Colt not saying bye to May and that’s what drove a wedge between seemed unreasonable. But again, I get they were younger.

The perfect warm and fuzzy book I needed over the weekend.. Its one of my first lacrosse Romance that I am enjoying and to have my name again in the acknowledgements is such a good feeling. I enjoyed this book.

Sports romance, friends to lovers, second chance romance, fake dating tropes. A nice sweet read. I got the ARC from Avon Books UK | Avon via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are mine

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book just fell a little flat for me - I didn’t engage well with the characters and wasn’t really sold or rooting for their romance! May and Colt are childhood “somethings” who both play Lacrosse and end up having a “Second Chance Romance” topped up with some fake dating on the lead up to a big championship. I enjoyed the sports element and some of the side characters but a lot just felt lacking.

I’ve read hockey and football and soccer and rugby, but I haven’t read lacrosse! And boy am I glad I added that to my “read” pile.

THOUGHTS 💭
🥍 This was a really good sports romance read with teammates and line dancing and second chances and friendship.
🥍 There are complex feelings of duty to one’s family and multi-generational livelihood, dreams that feel unattainable, and a grudge that our FMC holds against our MMC (who seemingly “easily” left our FMC and his family behind).
🥍 I simply adore a fake dating trope. It’s always SO good and then when real feeling develop (or rekindle)? Perfection.
🥍 I loved that a quinceañera and a Holi celebration were woven into this story! Having a half Mexican / half South Asian FMC enriched the story.
🥍 There’s this push and pull between May and Colt; the book features a slow burn that was frustrating, but exceedingly satisfying once they decided to be together “for real.”
🥍 This book was a bit slower than some of the others I’ve read by this author, but I still really enjoyed it!

Thanks so much to Esha Patel and Avon Books UK for the ARC of this book!