Ready to Score: A Novel by Jodie Slaughter (Paperback) (PREORDER)

Fiction - Romance - Romantic Comedy - Multicultural & Intteracial - LGBTQ+

RELEASE DATE: 6/3/2025  (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE AND ARRIVE 1-2 DAYS AFTER THE RELEASE DATE)

Cleat Cute meets Friday Night Lights in this funny, spicy, emotional new sapphic romance from Jodie Slaughter.

Jade Dunn has spent years trying to climb her way to the top of the southern high school football food chain. Now, the only thing standing between her and that future head coach spot is years of small-town good ‘ol boy politics. When she scores an invite to a highly coveted monthly poker game perfect for networking, she jumps at the chance for a seat at the table. Only to find the one person with the ability to shake her there. An infuriatingly sexy art teacher who plays her cards like she’s gunning for Jade’s deserved spot.

Francesca Lim never thought she’d be happy in a small town, not after living and breathing hardcore Texas football her whole life. But two years ago, the promise of forever love had her leaving behind a burgeoning coaching career for a new life - only for it to burst into flames. Now, she has a chance to gain back a piece of her life she thought she’d left in Houston. The only one standing in the way? The prickly assistant coach that Francesca can’t keep her mind or hands off of.

Not wanting to risk losing out on a dream job, Jade and Francesca can’t afford to give in to the iron hot attraction that simmers beneath their biting interactions, so they try desperately to ignore it. Too bad their hearts don’t seem to be as on board with the game plan.

Jodie Slaughter’s Ready to Score shows how sometimes you have to go big or go home to get the life - and love - you deserve.

AUTHOR BIO: 

JODIE SLAUGHTER is a traditionally and indie published romance author with one major goal: to make readers completely immerse themselves in the stories she writes. Whether she's making them laugh with witty one-liners or swoon over magical first kisses, she wants her novels to be so full of passion and complexity that they're impossible to put down. When she isn't writing she can be found baking or trying to convince her loved ones to start a commune. She has been publishing since 2019.

She Reads, "Most Anticipated Romance Books of 2025"

The Nerd Daily, "Swoonworthy 2025 Romance Book Releases You Need"

Bookish, "25 Must-Read Books by Black Authors for Your 2025 TBR"

Goodreads, "Peek Ahead at 2025's Hottest New Romances"

"Ridiculously romantic and utterly sexy." - Library Journal (starred review)

"A funny, smart, sexy romance for football fans, this story had me cheering for these characters from page one. Ready to Score will leave its readers ready to fall in love." - Ashley Herring Blake, USA Today bestselling author of Iris Kelly Doesn't Date

" Ready to Score is as fun, sexy, and heartfelt as I've come to expect from Jodie Slaughter. She writes small town romance in a way that few can: cozy, but still timely and fresh. It was a pleasure returning to Greenbelt with Franny and Jade." - Rachel Runya Katz, author of Thank You For Sharing and Whenever You're Ready

"An enemies to lovers story where two strong willed women learn to love and fight for one another both on and off the field, Ready to Score is the sexy, sapphic football romance we've all been waiting for." - Lyla Lee, author of Love in Focus