I have read Anita Kelly’s first book Love & Other Disasters when it was first published in 2022. It was one of my Book of the Month choices that I really loved! I don’t remember much about the story anymore, but I remember really enjoying Kelly’s writing style.

I initially planned to have this review posted on the day the book was released, but I ended up sick in bed with the flu for over a week 😅

Before I begin, I would like to give a huge thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

How You Get the Girl is available for purchase today!!

Genre: Romance, LGBT, Contemporary

Pages: 384

Spicy rating: 🌶🌶🌶

Amazon | Goodreads

SYNOPSIS (FROM GOODREADS)

When smart-mouthed Vanessa Lerner joins the high school basketball team Julie Parker coaches, Julie’s ready for the challenge. What she’s not ready for is Vanessa’s new foster parent, Elle Cochrane—former University of Tennessee basketball star. While star-struck at first, soon Julie persuades Elle to step into the unfilled position of assistant coach for the year.

Even though Elle has stayed out of the basketball world since an injury ended her short-lived WNBA career, the gig might be a way to become closer to Vanessa—and to spend more time with Julie, who makes Elle laugh. As the coaches grow closer, Elle has a hard time understanding how Julie is single. When Julie reveals her lifelong insecurity about dating and how she wishes it was more like sports—being able to practice first—it sparks an intriguing idea. While Elle still doubts her abilities as a basketball coach, helping Julie figure out dating is definitely something she can do. But as the basketball season progresses, and lines grow increasingly blurred, Julie and Elle must decide to join the game—or retreat to the sidelines.

The Characters

One of the strengths I remember from reading Anita Kelly’s previous works was developing her characters. Both Julie and Elle felt like real people with very real thoughts and fears.

Julie is struggling with giving herself a label. Throughout the book, she is frustrated with being unable to claim an identity for herself. She says many times how it makes her feel like she’s behind everyone else in life, especially in the romance department. I love how Anita Kelly tackled this topic, and I think it will be a scenario that many people on the LGBTQ+ spectrum can relate to!

In short: she was hotter than she had ever been. The words tumbled out of Julie’s mouth. “You’re Elle fucking Cochrane.”

Elle, on the other hand, struggles with mental health. After quitting basketball years ago, she has struggled to make peace with moving on. I thought the mental health representation was strong, and it was portrayed realistically.

My favorite plot line in the entire book, however, was Elle taking care of her first-cousin’s daughter, Vanessa. The struggles and challenges were all very real, and I felt that Elle did a great job adapting to a parental role. Vanessa was also a great addition to the cast, and I think the book would have not felt as strong if she wasn’t an active role in the story.

The Romance

I think Julie and Elle work well as a couple, especially because they are able to understand each other’s issues right away. I always love a good texting relationship (mostly because I think it is one of the most accurate representations of modern dating), and I thought the banter between the two characters built up their chemistry.

“‘You are very Kissable, Julie Parker,” she murmured.

While there were times I felt we could’ve gotten to the end result a little differently (for example, Julie texts Elle out of nowhere about her cat being sick even though they knew each other for a small amount of time. It didn’t seem like something a person would actually do, especially when that person’s family and best friend live in the same city), I still really enjoyed Julie and Elle.

I think the strongest aspect of their relationship was the fact that Julie easily stepped into the role of helping Elle take care of Vanessa. She never tries to overstep and become another mother figure, but she is always there for both Elle and Vanessa. It made their relationship so much stronger by the end.

The writing

Anita Kelly is a strong writer; there’s no doubt about it. However, my biggest issue with this story was the overload of characters. At first, I enjoyed seeing the characters from the first book in the series (and it completely made sense), but there were so many times where I felt it was taking away from Julie and Elle’s story. Also, because of the similarity in so many names, I often got confused about what characters were being discussed.

My second issue was with the pacing, especially when following Julie’s point of view. There were a lot of times when the story and the character’s thoughts began to feel too repetitive, and it really slowed down the story for me.

Besides those issues, I thought Anita Kelly did a wonderful job at developing not only a love story, but a story about family, friendships, and identity. It was a book that was jam-packed with a lot of emotions, but Kelly navigated it in a way that made the work stronger because of it. Oh, and the spicy scenes were also very well-written!

Overall Thoughts

While I did have some issues with the writing, How to Get the Girl still ended up being a solid read. I have heard a lot of great things about the second book in the series, Something Wild & Wonderful, so I might just have to jump back and give it a go!

Final Rating: 3/5 stars

Those are all of my thoughts on How to Get the Girl!

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