Oh How I devoured this book!! I loved it! The story starts off slow but when It heats up It heats up good🔥! Jake and Harper where amazing and I loved their banter🥰 the fact that Haprer held a grudge since high school when Jake broke her heart made the enemies to lovers trope stand out! I really enjoyed Jake's family and Mama (Jake's mum)I especially loved🫶🏻 I wish we could have seen a bit more of Harper's dad and they could have sorted some things out. But I love that Harper has Jake and his family there for her💕 I also loved Buck! I absolutely adore dogs In books and Buck Is a new one that I now love! What I will say Is we hate Scott. This Is my first book from this author but I will be reading more❤️ thank you to Bella and Netgalley for this ARC

This book was amazing from page one! The writing was super accessible and immediately pulled me in, there was no slow build, just instant immersion into a story that had me hooked. From the beginning the author had me wondering what happened between Harper and Jake in high school so i was instantly curious and liked the way in which this was revealed early but not straight away.

It delivered all my favorite romance tropes in one irresistible package: forced proximity, workplace tension, enemies to lovers, slow burn, and the ever-charming grumpy/sunshine dynamic. I especially appreciated that the romance was front and center throughout the entire story. There was no waiting around for the good stuff, it was all about the connection, the tension, and the emotional payoff. The scene at her fathers dinner was especially fun with jake showing up and harper brushing off her ex's advances and speaking her mind to her father.

That said, I did find myself wishing for a bit more detail in the early relationship-building scenes. For example, moments like their walk around the lake were mentioned but not shown, and I would’ve loved to experience those quieter, intimate beats as they got to know each other. Those glimpses could have added even more depth to their evolving bond. I know it was about moving the story along more but a few moments where they understood each other and felt validated at the start could have helped to slowly build rapport instead of the constant miscommunications and then them sort of just giving into their attraction to each other. Especially because it was something they both had good reasons not to give into. I definitely did see the moment where they talked about their loss and how she slowly learn about how genuine he is from the kids football games etc, but yeah. Overall a great book that I will definitely recommend to people. I would have read it so much faster however, I was moving apartments this week so didn't have as much time as I usually would.

Oh that was sweet!

I wasn’t too keen on the main characters at the beginning, particularly Harper’s petty grudge and vow to take Jake down over something that happened 10 years ago!

But fear not, the best thing about this book was the gradual development from both leads and their self awareness. I thought they were being overly sensitive but there was a lot of deep reflection about why they felt the way they did and it made sense.

The romance was very cute and Jake was so gentlemanly! Loved how he always used his manners despite being annoyed with Harper.

Overall, the vibes picked up after the first 25% and I really started enjoying it. There were a lot of sweet moments and Jake having his first crush at 29 warned my heart 🥹 He’s just a boy who likes a girl who is being mean to him.

Enemies to lovers ✔️
High school rivals turned adults ✔️
Journalist + football star romance ✔️

Hannah and Jake’s banter had me hooked, and their chemistry made this a swoony, fun read. If you love second chances and sports romance, add this one to your TBR!

Thank you for choosing me for the advance copy. Looking forward to reading more about the other characters in the book.

My overall impression lands it at a solid 3 star rating. The premise offers a heartfelt quest for justice that is emotionally compelling, and the setting of Oakwood Ranch provides a peaceful backdrop that contrasts well with the internal conflict driving the plot.

Positives:
The emotional arc is thoughtful and resonates, there is a genuine sincerity in the protagonist’s pursuit that draws you in, and the ranch setting gives the story a warm and comforting atmosphere. The writing style is clear and accessible, which makes the book easy to follow, and I appreciated the way themes of hope and perseverance were woven into the narrative.

Areas that could be stronger:
Some elements of the story feel a bit predictable, and certain plot points could benefit from deeper development, especially when it comes to adding more tension or surprises to keep the reader engaged. A few secondary characters remain underdeveloped, which makes it harder to connect with their journeys, and the pacing sometimes falters, slowing the momentum in key moments where the story could have used more intensity.

Overall, Score to Settle is a heartfelt and gentle read that delivers on emotion, but it does not quite reach its full potential in terms of complexity or character depth. It is a good choice for readers who enjoy wholesome, emotional stories set in a cozy environment, and who prefer a smoother and lighter narrative rather than one filled with twists and surprises.

Score to Settle was a quick, easy read with some fun banter and chemistry between Jake and Harper, but it didn't stand out as much as I hoped. The sports romance vibes were there, but the story followed a pretty familiar path and felt really similar to other books I've read recently in the genre.

Jake's and Harper's growth and progression throughout the story felt original and helped progress the storyline.

The miscommunication trope was a big part of the tension in the last 1/4 of the book, but it didn't quite have the depth it needed to keep me fully invested; it felt more surface-level and felt like teenagers fighting adults in their 20s. By the time the story reached its conclusion, things wrapped up a bit too fast, leaving the story still feeling unresolved in some ways.

That said, it was still enjoyable enough to breeze through, and if you like light, tropey sports romances without too much angst, this might hit the spot.

4 stars ⭐️ This was a great quick read! I think I would have loved this if there was slightly more maturity in both main characters but overall I still enjoyed it!

What to expect:
✨ professional football romance
✨ forced proximity
✨ enemies to lovers
❗️ miscommunication

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC. All opinions are my own 🫶🏼

This book was amazing. I loved it from start to finish. Can’t wait to buy it from a local bookstore near me

4.5 stars⭐️

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this book! I loved every page of this book and I can't wait for the next one! I need it immediately🥰 The characters had so much chemistry and were so cute together!!

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book! I love a good football romance and this was right up there with some of my favorites! The storyline of the two main characters was great and I loved the banter and vibes between them! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a cute romance book whether or not they like football. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

This is just what I needed! Fun and lighthearted with plenty of spice and actual connection between the characters!
Thanks NetGalley for letting me read /listen and review!

This is a story of a football star and a journalist. It was a fun, quick, sweet and steamy sports romance. I adored the writing style and creative format. It made the whole thing such a good read. If you love sweet and steamy sports romance with enemies to lovers trope in a small town setting definitely give this one a shot! This is the first book of Oakwood Ranch and I will definitely read the upcoming books!!

This is an ARC review. I appreciate receiving this copy from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.

How much does a person change after high school? Do they even change at all? Score to Settle follows Harper and Jake as they are forced to spend five weeks together to try and save Jake’s reputation in the NFL. Harper is the person responsible for making this happen through her in depth article about their time together. The only problem is that Harper is still harboring hate for Jake from their time together in high school and she desperately needs to keep her job.

The premise and tropes in this book drew me in to reading it. The beginning of the story was slow and I felt like I was just being told a lot of information. I almost put the book down because of this. As someone who loves football and understands the game, it felt redundant to be told the rules and what happens in a game. However, I feel this would be useful to people who love sports romances even though they don’t watch the sport being played by the character. After about a quarter way through the book, it gets a lot better in every aspect. I fell in love with the characters in a way that I did not expect. As the plot develops, it feels like you are a fly on the wall in the characters lives. There are twists I did not expect, which made me enjoy the story more.

If you enjoy sports romances, second chances, forced proximity, and enemies to lovers, you will enjoy this book!

3.5 stars. This book was very timely with current events, because it felt like the MMc was based off of Travis Kelce (am I projecting? Maybe.) just a cute book that was easy to read in one sitting

This was such a good debut! I was hooked from the minute I started reading. I loved the banter and the forced proximity between Jake and Harper. The one thing I didn't like was the way Jake spoke to Harper when he was mad, that gave me the ick lol

This was my first ever football sports romance and I enjoyed reading it over all.

Jake and Harper have great chemistry and I enjoyed both of their characters separately and together.

I will say, if you’re not a fan of the miscommunication trope, this is not the book for you, as it seems like the two MCs have some sort of miscommunication with just about every character. It obviously all works out in the end, but it was a tad frustrating.

Overall, this is a fun sports romance, and if you’re into sexy football players and sassy journalists, this should be your next read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Score to Settle by Bella North was such a fun debut—I absolutely loved it!

Jake is the grumpy, reformed-playboy football star. Harper is the journalist who once had a crush on him back in high school…and he doesn’t even realize he broke her heart.

What I loved most was how the story let us watch Jake and Harper slowly chip away at each other’s walls. Harper expected him to be the arrogant, untouchable athlete the world sees, but instead, she found someone fiercely protective of the people he loves. Jake assumed Harper would be thrilled to write about him, only to realize she was the last person impressed by his fame. Their banter was fantastic, and the yearning from Jake’s side was everything. His quiet struggle to respect Harper’s boundaries while still falling for her had me swooning. And I adored how they called each other out when it mattered.

Bella North has admitted she was inspired by the Travis Kelce/Taylor Swift romance while writing this, and you can totally see the parallels—there’s even a scene where Jake looks up at Harper from the football field that gave me total déjà vu.

That said, I did have a couple of small critiques. Harper’s “revenge” plot felt a little childish at times (you’re still mad about what a teenage boy said?), and I expected more closure with her dad’s storyline. I also thought her book project would play a bigger role in the ending than it did.

Overall, though, this was a charming, quick read that gave me butterflies and delivered on the grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers goodness. An impressive debut, and I can’t wait to see more from this series!

🌶️ Enemies to lovers
🌶️ Forced proximity
🌶️ Sports + cowboy romance
🌶️ Grumpy x sunshine
🌶️ Slow burn
🌶️ Journalist x football star
🌶️ Found family

4 ⭐️
This was a really cute sports romance. The characters were all really likable and relatable. It was easy flowing from around 50%. The first half was a bit slow for me, i struggled to get into it but when i did, i really enjoyed it!

Thank you to the publisher & Netgalley for this arc :)

This book really was so enjoyable to read ,

It's sports/cowboy romance which I absolutely love , I loved the story of Jake and Harper , it is a slow burn and I did find it hard at the start to get into however I'm so glad that I powered trough because the plot and twist were amazing it definitely kept me on my toes , it's giving the enemies to lovers vibes and I adore that,
Harper is a woman scorned and is determined for the world to see the real Jake sullivian, Jake is a NFL player and has a history with Harper ,when her boss tell hers she has to wright a article on Mr Sullivian she sees her opportunity for revenge , however Harper must have being loving all the vibes at oakwood ranch because the enemies became lovers 😂 , the chemistry between the two main characters is engulfing to say the least and does make for a really good story , I scored it 4 stars as it just was to slow for me but that is totally a personal preference,
Really good debut book from Bella North and I'm really excited to see where this series takes off to 😊

This is such a fun sports romance, it really hits the spot if you're looking for an easy read.
I loved the characters, for me they were well thought out and I love it when there's more to characters than meets the eye and they experiment personal growth during the book. The banter and humour had me hooked and their chemistry was amazing, the fact that he broke her heart in high school and she held a grudge made her grumpiness and the enemies to lovers trope very believable.
I also liked the fact it really was a sports romance and not just because they made the MMC a NFL player, there were actually sports in the book!
The beginning was a bit slow, that's the reason that I didn't give this one 5 stars, but trust me; it's worth getting through that because it pays off after the slow part.

Thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Bella North for entrusting me with an advanced copy to write an honest review about.