How You Get The Girl

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

coach julie parker has a crush on elle cochrane, well she had since forever and had followed her career for years

but the shock she had when at her basketball practise and elle was there was enough to shock julie into coming out with all sorts of revelations that when julie thought about it later embarrassed her so much she didnt know how to make it right

it also didnt help that elle niece had joined the basketball team and this would throw elle and julie together more

an enjoyable read that covers a multitude of issues from the sporting world to fostering

How You Get The Girl is a F/F romance following Julie and Elle.

Julie Parker is the head coach of the East Nashville High girls’ basketball team and she is trying to get the Bobcats to district playoffs this year. Elle has taken in her niece Vanessa temporarily and Vanessa joins the Bobcats. Elle herself used to be a famous basketball player and hasn’t played for many years. She was Julie’s idol growing up so she is stunned when Elle walks into the gym!

They are a little awkward around eachother at first as they like each other but they get to know each other slowly and begin to open up. Julie asks Elle to be the assistant coach of the team and whilst she initially declines because of her busy life she changes her mind and accepts, getting to spend more time with her niece.
Whilst Elle is confident in her sexuality, Julie is not completely sure of her label (and as Elle explains, she doesn’t NEED one) and has never been in a relationship so Elle suggests they go on a fake date so Julie can practice being in a relationship. Elle was very conscious of Julie and her feelings ensuring that she felt ok and safe as they progressed. The two are cutely awkward around each other and I enjoyed watching their characters develop throughout the book.
Elle has a history of mental health struggles. The talks around mental health felt well handed as someone who suffers myself. Overall, I enjoyed this book and felt invested in the characters and cheering them on as I read!

I absolutely loved the first two books in this series and when I saw the covers for this I knew I had to read it too.I mean sports romance? Come on, it was screaming my name!
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Who said you’ve got everything figured out and life is over when you get 30?
Maybe it’s just the start, maybe you don’t know everything about yourself and just maybe you’re allowed to discover new things and fall in love for the first time.
Julie is coaching a highschool basketball team next to her boring desk job, when one day her teenage athlete crush is standing on her court.
Elle, disappearing from her WNBA career out of nowhere years ago, even more suddenly became the foster parent for her teenage niece and now needs to juggle her own life and Vanessa’s life.
Both woman’s lives get flipped upside down in that moment and I loved reading about their personal crisis so much! 😂
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Anita Kelly really is royalty in making me feel all the feels, turning me into a blob of mush, grinning like an idiot.
This book was the absolute softest thing ever, there was so much caring and patience, so many cute moments.
While Elle is trying to figure out how to take care of a moody teenager, facing her basketball trauma, trying to not completely lose her fixed routines, Julie is confronted with finding a label for herself and having many firsts.
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I love how Anita Kelly writes about adult people trying to figure stuff out about themselves, when everyone thinks you already know everything when you’re older. You don’t! There’s always stuff to learn, ways to grow and there is no set timeline for it, even if society often makes you feel there is.
Books with adult aspec MCs always make me so happy too and reading about Elle being the most caring and patient person ever with Julie made me shed tears of joy.
Also migraine rep in media??? And accurate one at that? I rarely see it and loves it!!! It was (sadly) so relatable.
Their characters are always so fleshed out, you feel like you know them and they could be your next door neighbours. They feel real!
I loved the cameos, the wholesomeness of it all and cannot wait to read their next book!!!

(Goodreads review): ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review. This is the first book by Anita Kelly I have read, and I doubt it will be my last. the characters established in previous books were easy to get attached to and love just as much as Julie and Elle were. I ADORED the romance in this book, with their communication, understanding and patience with each other. a charming and easy read that makes you feel all fuzzy inside.

Obviously being the Taylor Swift fan that I am, the second I saw this book was called ‘How You Get the Girl’ I obviously added it to my tbr.

Firstly, I can’t believe I didn’t realise sooner that this book linked to ‘Love and Other Disasters’ but alas, I got there in the end.

The true stand out moments in this book come from Julie and her POV. Her journey through her asexuality and identity felt so real, raw, and heartfelt. It truly added so much to this book and was just spectacular to see how Julie grew and developed.

I think that potentially the ‘dating’ arrangement could have been brought in sooner but then at the same time I think it worked well where it was; but there’s potential there.

The relationship in this book follows a fantastic journey of growth, re-discovering yourself, and self-love and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and I look forward to seeing where the author goes next!

Today, I’m so excited to share my review for How You Get The Girl by Anita Kelly 💖 Thank you so much NetGalley & Headline Eternal for my E-ARC!

This was so CUTE! I absolutely loved Love & Other Disasters (and Something Wild & Wonderful has been recently added to my tbr!) so I knew that I was going to love this!

I loved our main characters! Julie gave me such Ted Lasso vibes, she is such a wholesome character and you can really see how she cares for her players and how invested she is in the game. She had such great chemistry with Elle and I really loved the friendship that blossomed between these two as well as the relationship that followed! I know nothing about basketball but this story and these characters made me want to start watching it! 😂

I really love how Anita Kelly has a gentle, warm approach to heavy topics. They write with such care and love and it really shows through the pages! I loved how they wrote about Julie’s struggles with labels and trying to figure out their identity, it was so relatable to me and I could really see myself in her!

How You Get The Girl is a sweet and relatable read that I really enjoyed!

This is my first read from Anita Kelly and it did not disappoint. I am disappointed that it has taken me so long to read one of Anita’s books and that I started with the final book of this series, I definitely need to go back and read the other two.

Julie, a high school basketball coach, is astonished when her ideal and favourite basketball player (Elle Cochrane) turns up to one of her practices. With a vacant spot on the coaching team, Elle seems like the perfect candidate to fill the spot. Yet, Elle’s mission is to forget the sport she once loved and focus on looking after Vanessa the teenage who has been placed in her care.

I adored the plot, but the characters were definitely my favourite part. They were so honest, relatable and wonderfully queer. I adored reading and experiencing such diverse characters with so many representations. I particular enjoyed Julie discovering who she is and her struggling with defining herself with a label. Julie and Elle were so wholesome and I adored how they wholly supported one another.

𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆. 𝑨 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌. 𝑳𝒖𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

🏀 Fake Dating
🏀 Dual POV
🏀 Mental Health Rep
🏀 Chronic Pain Rep

Thank you NetGalley, Headline and Anita Kelly for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this was such an incredible novel! I fell in love with its characters and their story within just a couple of chapters. With their excellent writing, Anita Kelly managed to capture the whirlwind of feelings of an unexpected developing relationship, fuzzy and more difficult ones! I laughed and teared up and then laughed some more!

Julie is a high school basketball coach and Elle is an ex basketball star. Incidentally, also Julie's childhood hero (only 4 years of age difference, though). So it is not surprising that their unexpected first meeting at one of Julie's training sessions is quite eventful! As the foster parent as one of Julie's new players (Vanessa), Elle finds herself in the training hall quite frequently... at first for Vanessa, but also more and more to spend time with Julie. That is, until she is convinced to become Julie's assistant coach and they start getting closer to each other.

This book felt so real and relatable at so many points and kept me glued to the pages, wanting to know every new development of Julie and Elle's relationship with each other, as well as with the other important people in their lives. Through their own experiences and that of people near them, the novel explored themes of figuring out one's identity (or not quite definitely, and being eventually okay with it 🙌) and career paths, as well as mental health. All written so beautifully, with feelings and thoughts coming across so raw and strong. Honestly - just... wow!

What will you find in How You Get the Girl?
• Queer romances (multiple!)
• Sport(-adjacent) and workplace romance
• Exploring own identities
• Sweet and healthy communication
• Fake/practice dating
• Close family & found-family
• Foster parenting
• Some 🌶

I totally recommend this and can't wait to buy a physical copy to add to my shelves. Now I need to get hold of Anita Kelly's previous books!

Thank you NetGalley and Headline for giving me the chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a spectacular book from the offset, had me hooked from the very first chapter I love love love this book so much. Amazing amazing job from ther 🩷🩷

I picked this book up because I really like Anita Kelly's writing style. I find her books very easy to read and enjoyable at the same time. This book was no exception.

We have a story full.og diverse and interesting characters. We also have imdught into living with chronic migraine which I found both insightful and informative, and mental health issues were also touched upon with empathy and much though.

A queer romcom with hidden depths

A solid 4 star read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.