This was a sweet story about an undercover prince falling for a college football (soccer) star. I thought Tore was sweet and I liked the clear voices that each character’s POVs were written with.

Farron has had a difficult life, scraping together every penny he can to help support his siblings and mother. He’s disillusioned with rich people - his wealthy grandparents having cut off the family when his father died. So when rich Norwegian pretty boy Tore joins the team, he takes an immediate dislike to him and is determined to give the player the cold shoulder… especially as he is an amazing talent and Farron feels threatened. But Tore is sunshine personified and Farron eventually feels his hatred giving way to something else entirely…

I have to say, I’m not sure I entirely bought the romance between these two. It seemed to switch from hatred (which seemed kind of unfair on Farron’s part) to lust and eventually morphed into love… but I just don’t know if I got the switch, it seemed to come out of nowhere honestly. I just think Farron’s unnecessary hatred of Tore put me off; I couldn’t see why Tore gave him so many chances!

This was definitely an enjoyable read but not overly memorable; it’s touted as being for fans of RWRB which I think is always so risky as that book is absolutely the peak of excellence in the genre… This was sweet and an easy read but the characters certainly weren’t on par with Alex and Henry!

So overall a fun, sweet read with a satisfying HEA, but probably not one of my faves in the genre.

Also, one thing that bothered me - Tore is blonde and Farron is brunette… meaning the characters on the cover are the wrong way around 🙈

Read The Prince and The Player for:
✨ Undercover Prince x Soccer Captain
✨ Double bi awakening
✨ Class difference
✨ Grumpy x Sunshine
✨ Cultural differences
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Enemies(sort of) to lovers

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book! It’s out on 25th March 2025 💕

I adore Nora Phoenix. I have read every single one of her mm romance novels, but with this one, she really upped her game.

This one is for all of us in a Red, white and royal blue funk. This book is to put it simple: perfection. I love the chemistry and the build up between the two main characters, and just how different and very similar they both are. Nora writes her characters with a lot of respect, and lets the boys not fall straight into lust, but slowly go from sort of enemies to reluctant friends. That is not easy. I devoured this novel, even if I tried to read it slowly to enjoy every single chapter.

I have to say that the spicy scenes was some of the hottest and most memorable words I have read. I needed to take a break because of the the pure realness. Bravo!

One thing though: I myself am a born and bred Norwegian with a lot of knowledge about the real Norwegian royal family. Tores full and last name is the one thing that made me squirm. The only part that’s Norwegian here, is his first name: Tore. The rest sounds like he is from the Netherlands or Switzerland. I really think Tores last name should be a lot shorter and changed. It’s not Norwegian at all.

I cannot wait to listen to the audiobook as well. This book needs a big audience.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc! I want more!

OMG! I loved it. So sweet. So fun.

I love Nora Phoenix, and this book did not disappoint. Farron and Tore were adorable. Their personal discovery stories were heartfelt. I hope this is the start of a fun series with Tore’s royal friends.

If you liked Red, White, and Royal Blue, you will love this book.

If you’re a fan of Casey McQuiston and the movie The Prince and I, The Prince and the Player by Nora Phoenix is something I guarantee you’ll have a blast reading.

It was very much The Prince and I meets She’s The Man, with some other twists mixed in. I really enjoyed that the two main characters found out their sexuality’s together and were able to support each other through that through the book. I also really enjoyed that the fact that they became ‘enemies with benefits’, not for the steamy scenes but because I’m a sucker for enemies to friends to lovers tropes. I’m also a huge Nora Phoenix fan so maybe that helped.

Honestly it was a really cute rom-com. The characters were adorable, and I really enjoyed the friendships the characters made along the way.

Nora Phoenix Does it Again!

⭐️4/5 stars ⭐️

I have been a longtime fan of Nora Phoenix, and as soon as she announced The Prince and the Player, I had to get in on it! And boy, she did NOT disappoint.

One of the things that stood out to me the most about this story is Tore and Farron’s relationship. As soon as they meet, it's instant hate, which is definitely one of my favorite tropes. But the progression of their relationship is not at all what I expected and was so much better than I thought I wanted! Without giving spoilers, I love that hot and heavy spice did not define them and their feelings. Beautifully done!

Another outstanding point of this story was the fact that I didn’t feel like I needed a ton of knowledge about soccer. Admittedly, all I know about soccer comes from Ted Lasso, and despite the fact that the majority of the plot revolves around the game, that was enough! It was also just enough to keep the plot interesting and entertaining.

I’m looking forward to seeing more stories about the rest of the “royal gang”! Please? Please please please?

Overall, I can’t wait for this story to be published so it can go on my trophy shelf :)

I devoured this book.

Enemies to lovers, tension AND THE CHEMISTRY.

Such a cute cosy read with my favourite tropes.

Thank you for the arc, I couldn’t put it down!

I'm a sucker for these kinds of books. Hate at first site. Turns to admiration. Becomes sexual attraction. Permanent lovers. It's always like that right? When you hate someone, you do everything in your power to find silly situations to still be around each other. Well, no, not really, but then again... the line between hate and love is very blurry. Intense emotions come tumbling int your life and mind, and some of us hate what we really want to be or have, right? Enough about my personal idiosyncrasies (tho if you're ready this, you probably feel the same way)... onto the book thoughts!

Both main characters have charm, and a few not-so-wonderful qualities, but they have hearts of gold. There are lovely romantic scenes and relationship (friendship, teammates, et al) levels to analyze and achieve. Happy Endings. Good but not overly explicit sexual scenes. All the right ingredients, plus one is a prince, so it adds that extra layer. Made for a great afternoon of reading. That said, and I say this about many LGBTQ books... there are so few that seem based in any sense of reality where readers could say, hey... this could happen to me. Makes me question, are books written to provide fantasy even if they're not in the fantasy genre, or should some have merit in what could happen. Would those even be interesting?

I always come back to this kind, tho, so it must mean I like the fantasy myself, eh? Thanks for a fun trip, Nora Phoenix.

Thanks to Nora, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an electronic copy of her book, The Prince & The Player.

4/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️

Read this story if you like:
🖤 rivals/enemies to lovers
🖤 sports (soccer) romances
🖤 gay/bi-awakening 🏳️‍🌈
🖤 open door spicy spice 🌶️
🖤 one is a secret royal
🖤 … the Midwest? (Ohio) 🙂
🖤 Red, White, & Royal Blue vibes

Prince Tore wants to go somewhere where he can be himself without the royal title. He had a chance to be a big soccer star in Europe, but had to give it up for royal obligations. He convinces his family to let him attend college in America (at a fake university in Ohio). He joins to soccer team and immediately the team captain, Farron, hates him. He’s everything Farron hates - a privileged rich kid.

Eventually the hate comes to a head when they are forced to room together during an away game. Farron kisses him! They both thought of themselves as straight at this point, so they were both confused. They can’t stop fighting and finding themselves all over each other. Eventually they decide that they are just doing it for sex and to ‘explore.’

Their relationship changes as Farron takes Tore home for Thanksgiving. However, they still keep it a secret from everyone. Also Tore has still not told anyone that he is a prince. Their team goes to the championship and they win (YAY!). Unfortunately Tore’s uncle passes shortly after (he was the King) and he must head home, but doesn’t tell Farron why.

Farron does eventually find out who Tore is, while scrolling his phone. He decides not to reply to any of his texts. When Tore comes back to school after Christmas, Farron tells him he knows who he REALLY is and doesn’t want to hear any excuses. Time passes and they do not make up. Spring Break comes and Tore decides to leave school for good, without telling Farron.

This is the kick in the ass that Farron needed to realize he was in love with Tore. He flies around the world to apologize and tell him he loves him. And of course it’s a HAPPILY EVER AFTER 💕

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

I love me an mm romance, so I popped in an immediate request for The Prince and the Player by Nora Phoenix. Enemies to lovers? Yes please. Grumpy/Sunshine double bi-awakening? Sign me up! What could go wrong? Turns out, quite a lot.

Tore, a Prince of Norway, wants to spend a year in America 'undercover' as a normal student playing on the soccer team. He wants to experience life as a student, a break away from the strict, constricted life of obligations he must lead. But why does handsome team captain Farron take such an immediate dislike like to Tore, and what happens when the tension takes a sexual turn?

First of all, there's something you need to know about British people, we're a contradiction. Is it okay if we mock the Royal Family? Of course it is, they belong to us and our history. Are we going to get offended when Americans do it? Abso-blooming-lutely. Throwing this in early doors in a novel is not starting off on an even keel Nora Phoenix, because it means I'm already irritated with you.

Then we get onto Tore, who is kind and sweet, and very endearing. However, you write him heavily influenced by the British language. 99% of the novel is him speaking English, even to his parents. You make a massive deal of him forgetting that Americans call Football 'Soccer.' I freely admit, I don't know much about Norwegian culture, so don't know translations, however, the novel read as if Tore was heavily English based. So then, why is he using Americanisms such as "cleats", "sweater", "gas on the fire", "shin guards", "ass"? It was inconsistent to the character as sticking with the novel set up, it should be "studs", "jumper", "petrol", "shin pads" and "arse". If you're telling me he sounds like an "English Prince", make sure you do your research and make him use the correct vocabulary. There's no way he'd say "knackered" in one breath but "proper thrashing" in another.

Oh, and having a character say "As us brits say, keep calm and carry on." Hate to break it to you, but we don't. It's something that is printed on cheap merchandise and sold at inflated prices in London gift shops.

So yes, that didn't exactly help the situation, but I "stayed calm and carried on" reading. However, I just got more annoyed and I'll tell you why.

The character of Farron is obnoxious and immediately unlikable. The chip on his shoulder, and the fact that he dislikes someone immediately because they come from money, is immature and not believable for someone of college age. Later we get a reason for this, but it's a, too late, and b, still not strong enough a reason for his pretty shitty behaviour.

When it comes to their relationship, I wish I could give more positives, but honestly, it comes from nowhere. I think there's definite sexual attraction and lust, but Tore talks about falling for Farron and he doesn't know a thing about him, only that he's been awful and dismissive of him since they met. Doesn't sound romantic to me. I wanted to see how their relationship evolved, but we weren't given it.

The story is so underdeveloped, as we learn nothing about either character coming to terms with their bi-awakening. Huge life-altering decisions are made instantly. An epiphany happens from nowhere, and the character is completely fine with it, even though soccer is supposed to mean everything to him. I just can't understand why an editor hasn't helped out by pointing these things out.

Then we have a teammate outing them and that being an acceptable thing to do? Absolutely not. Can't say no enough.

Phoenix clearly was heavily influenced by Red, White and Royal Blue, but fails hard to capture the magic and beautiful development of Henry and Alex's relationship. Incredibly disappointing I'm afraid.

Cute front cover though.

Don't expect it to be like Red, White and Royal Blue just because it has a prince in. That novel is clever, witty, and contains some sharp social commentary; this one prioritises sex over substance. It's erotica, not a rom-com. It's fine if you like that kind of thing. There's some interesting character development at the start around issues of class and privilege, but after that it's all bog-standard predictable 'I hate him, oh we had sex, now I love him.'

It's readable, but interchangeable with 100 similar books.

This was a cute story. I loved Tore's character but ran into a bit of a problem with Farron. He was emotionally stunted, and I understood the reason's why. However, his personality did a complete 180 at the end of the book and some of his actions were completely out of character. Were those actions part of fun plot points? Yes. Did it take me out of the story because it seemed untrue to Farron's character? Also, yes.
Aside from that, I did enjoy the story and their relationship. I thought they were adorable and I enjoyed the fact that their bi-sexuality didn't create a ton of angst in the book. It was refreshing that it was just accepted.

i received an arc on netgalley, consider me disclaimed!
3.5, rounded up because i think this book deserves a higher goodreads rating.

all in all, predictable, occasionally clunky, but really quite sweet and well-written. i enjoyed myself! i think farron needs to get over himself, but then again i never grew up poor, so i can't say how that would affect how i see the world.
there was more soccer, and less college content than i was expecting. i have no idea what farron or tore studied, other than farron was taking at least on psychology class and tore went on to go to diplomacy grad school.
also, i did absolutely appreciate the blatant sequel bait, and i probably will pick up future books in this series!
all in all, an easy read that didn't hit me too hard but sometimes that's what you need. thanks!

The Prince and The Player had all the makings of a fun, swoony romance—an undercover prince, a grumpy soccer captain, and a delicious enemies to lovers, bi awakening storyline. As a fan of Red, White & Royal Blue, I was excited for a similar blend of royalty, romance, and playful tension. While the book delivered on the cuteness and was an easy, enjoyable read, I couldn’t help but feel like it was missing something.

The chemistry between the prince and Farron had potential, but the story felt a bit flat at times. The tension and emotional depth weren’t as developed as I wanted, and there were moments that felt repetitive rather than building momentum. I kept waiting for deeper character growth or more complexity in their relationship, but it never fully landed for me.

That said, it’s still a fun and lighthearted read. The premise is charming, and if you’re looking for a low angst, feel good romance with an opposites attract dynamic, this one delivers. It just didn’t quite reach the same emotional heights as some of the greats in the genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Nora Phoenix, and Boldwood Books for the eARC of this book.

Nora Phoenix's The Prince and the Player is a captivating and heartwarming romance that expertly weaves together slow-burning tension with sizzling chemistry. The story centers on Prince Tore, who, disguised as a student at a college in Ohio, embarks on an undercover mission. However, things take an unexpected turn when he finds himself drawn to the one person who seems to despise him the most - Farron, the brooding soccer team captain.

In the beginning, the pacing feels deliberately slow, as the author takes time to lay the groundwork for Tore's complex journey and his evolving relationship with Farron. This slow buildup may challenge some readers’ patience at first, but once the dynamic between the two protagonists begins to evolve, the story picks up pace, and the tension becomes undeniable.

What truly makes The Prince and the Player shine is the sizzling, slow-burn romance that develops between Tore and Farron. Farron’s initial disdain for the prince sets the stage for a delicious push-pull tension, making their "hate-to-love" journey both believable and irresistible. The emotional stakes escalate dramatically as their animosity transforms into something much deeper, culminating in a passionate, explosive kiss that reveals the depth of their mutual attraction.

The book also stands out for its handling of the characters’ personal growth, particularly through the lens of a "double bi-awakening." This added layer of complexity enriches the narrative, making it more than just a romance; it becomes a powerful story of self-discovery. Tore, who initially set out to win over a grumpy soccer player, ends up confronting his own fears and emotions. Likewise, Farron must come to terms with his unexpected feelings, which adds further depth to his character and their relationship.

The chemistry between Tore and Farron is electric, and their gradual realization of their feelings for each other feels authentic and genuine. Though their journey is fraught with obstacles—especially due to the secrecy surrounding Tore’s true identity—their evolving relationship makes for a rewarding and satisfying love story.

Overall, The Prince and the Player is a witty, charming, and heartfelt romance. While the opening may feel a bit slow, the eventual payoff is more than worth it, as the story blossoms into an engaging tale of self-discovery, passion, and the beauty of unexpected love. This book is perfect for fans of opposites-attract romances with a touch of royalty and plenty of heat!

ARC REVIEW:

3.5⭐️2🌶️
Thank you Nora Phenoix, and Netgallery for reaching out with this ARC read. This was my first MM romance ever and I very much enjoyed it. The two MMC leads were great, Farron being the grumpy, broody athlete and Tore the pretty boy, well mannered and dressed royal who just wanted to be normal and not have the royal spotlight.

Tore leaves Norway in hopes to go undercover as a normal man in college and play on the soccer team. He doesn’t want people to know his royal status, he just wants to be like everyone else. Then he meets the broody Farron, who hates him, or so he thinks?

It a cute coming out story from both leads, and it’s written in a respectable, well mannered way. It was a beautiful love story and I very much enjoyed the read.

Nice, fun and easy read!

I really loved Tore and his genuine kindness and he was definitely a sunshine character and I really loved the introduction to his friends and the hint that there could be a chance to see there stories.

I had more complex feelings around Farron as I could understand his issues surrounding wealth and how Tore was a visualisation of that but it fell a little flat for me. I also hated how he kept bailing after intimate moments and being forgiven and wish that the hurt that caused was explored more fully. I did love the realisation of his feelings and his effort after that tho.

It was a quick read to get through and I enjoyed the writing.



Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read The Player and the Prince early.

Two and a half stars.

This is clearly part of a series where young royalty go undercover for a year to 'find themselves'.

Prince Tore is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne, he had a chance of playing professional football (soccer) for the Dutch team Ajax but his father forbade him, saying his duty was to the throne and country. However, (don't ask, plot hole) he has now persuaded his father to allow him to attend college in the USA at Hawsley College for one year - a college which happens to have a pretty good soccer team.

Farron is the soccer captain and a year above Tore. His father was from a wealthy family which disowned him for marrying Farron's mother. Then when his father died they washed their hands of Farron, his mother, and his siblings. Life has been tough, Farron has had to work to support his family, and act as a father figure to his siblings. You could say he has a chip on his shoulder about rich people.

When Tore joins the soccer team Farron is beyond annoyed that this rich kid just waltzes in and snags a spot. Even worse, Tore plays European football where he can rove the field looking for opportunities whereas the Hawsley team play strict positions, leading him into clashes with Farron.

Soon, inevitably, the smouldering looks of hatred turn to lust and after a particularly heated argument they kiss, despite both of them believing up until that point that they were heterosexuals. Yeah, not so keen on the 'gay for you' vibe.

Anyway, they try to get it out of their systems but are just falling for each other for real. But no-one knows Tore's true identity and that secret is going to bite him in the posterior.

So this gave me The Prince and Me vibes (loved the film), but a bit too much. The soccer descriptions seemed okay but frankly there wasn't much more than Tore running, passing and scoring. I'm not sure we know more than two other players on the team (and them only because they share a room with either Farron or Tore). Also the writing felt stilted, I get that Tore speaks 'posh' with an English accent but Farron also had the same tone of voice.

As a devotee of all things Alexis Hall, I would say this is not in the least bit comparable, the characters had no depth. Am okay read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book was a cute story but overall felt a bit rushed to me. Some of the smaller details (not that they mattered in the big picture) didn’t add up like the timeline & ages of his dads death. I also felt their romance was enemies one day to relationship the next and the length of time or the building of the relationship wasn’t there for me.

Overall it was a cute read, the spicy scenes were good but wish it had more depth.

This book was such a cute read!
It gave me big the prince and me vibes with a little rwrb

The characters were likeable and the banter between them was awesome

Highly recommended this book for any MM romance fans