*SPOILERS MENTIONED AHEAD! 

5⭐️/ 4🌶️ 

Well, well, well, what do we have here? Another sports romance? Yes, but also with Kandi Steiner’s amazing writing and wonderful characters, yea again! This was among my highly anticipated reads for 2023, and I could wait any longer to jump into Leo and Mary’s story. With Mary having to live with Leo since her place was unlivable, she found her with a roommate none other than Leo Hernandez. Leo Hernandez was all charm, sex appeal, and BDE! Mary and Leo actually shared a past from many years ago, but unfortunately it ended with Mary getting her heart broken, and to make matters worse, it seemed that Leo had no recollection of it! With previous characters I know and love such as, Clay, Giana, Riley, Zeke, Julep, and Holden, I was excited, but more so to see what would happen with Mary and Leo being put into forced proximity! 

Compared to the previous books, I had just assumed that Leo was a mix of a jokester, fun loving playboy with no worries, but this book opened my eyes to the true version of Leo behind closed doors. With a little bit of the backstory behind how Mary and Leo met when they were teens to them being roommates, I got a better understanding of why Leo acted a certain way, especially when in front of his team, his post games interviews, etc. Leo was still a funny, charming guy, but often times when he was backed into a corner or a sometimes tense position, he would often revert to joking as a defense mechanism. Leo felt the need to portray himself a certain way in order to get peoples attention on and off the field in hopes that later on when drafting season came, his name would already be widely known among the general managers, but… not all publicity was good. Leo had always been one of the guys on the team that when he appeared, I enjoyed his cheerful and flirty demeanor, so now with his own story I was very much intrigued to dig deep into who Leo was at his core, and discover his fears/ vulnerabilities. 

Mary was the tough, chill, strong woman that I finally got to see more of! Woo! With her artistic flair in creating drawings for her tattoos, being independent, sassy, and sharp, Mary was the kind of woman you both admired and wanted to befriend. Getting to read about what Mary went through as a teen, specifically with Leo was interesting, but also a bit sad in that it left her heartbroken, and it was the time in her life where she fully committed to the belief that Leo would regret the day he broke her hurt. With the new living situation, Mary obviously found herself in close proximity to Leo at all times, but also got to see the glimpses of the boy she use to know. While Mary was determined to not fall for Leo’s flirtatious behavior or his acts of kindness such as, cooking for her, buying her favorite candles, and more, Mary couldn’t help but feel a little less hateful towards Leo. Mary was a strong character, but even the strongest people also deal with feeling vulnerable too. As the story progressed, I liked seeing the way that Mary slowly started to open up, and fully allow herself to be honest with Leo like she once had when they were teenagers. Plus I also liked how Mary was artistic, loved to play video games, loved makeup, and didn’t conform to societal expectations of what a woman should look like or should pursue in life in order to be “successful” by traditional standards. 

This book had a variety of different tropes that I was super excited to dive into. The story definitely had enemies to lovers, but more so in that Mary saw Leo as an enemy, whereas Leo wanted to befriend Mary and hopefully lead to more… romantic purposes. In addition, with the enemies to lovers trope, there was of course… SLOW BURN ROMANCE! Having those two tropes combined together really solidified the tension that brewed between Leo and Mary over the course of the story. From the subtle glances, stolen moments of kindness to being incapable of stopping to think about one another, Mary and Leo’s chemistry overall was amazing and the build up was chef’s kiss. 

By the halfway point of the story, things really started to ramp up between Leo and Mary. Once Mary told Leo that she was the girl he use to play online with, a.k.a. The girl that had remained so permanently in his mind and heart, Leo was shocked by the revelation, but also everything was finally out in the open between them. Due to some misunderstanding from the past, Leo and Mary viewed what happened between them as teens very differently. On the bright side, that point in the story changed the direction in Leo and Mary’s relationship, and it was emotional for Mary and Leo realizing that they found their way back to each other, especially for Leo. I genuinely liked seeing the enemies to lovers slowly fade away to Mary and Leo just simply being in each other’s presence, and seeing a softer, more vulnerable side to Mary as well as Leo. On Leo’s part, he came to the absolute conclusion that he was fully addicted to Mary and with finding out she had always been Octostigma was the cherry on top for Leo reuniting with the woman of his dreams. 

Just when I thought the slow burn was going to keep going, BOOM! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! Mary and Leo FINALLY GAVE INTO ALL THOSE MONTHS OF TENSION AND GAVE IT THEIR ALL! OMG! The spice was delicious of course, and fair warning… Leo was packing and literally the embodiment of BDE! The absolute filth from Leo’s dirty talk was chef’s kiss and me internally screaming with excitement! Also the fact that Leo was speaking in Spanish to Mary by calling her sweet, loving nicknames in Spanish in the midst of all their sexy time! I just about combusted while simultaneously swooning! (Sigh) Leo, call me cariño, and I’m all yours! Plus reading from Leo’s perspective and how his… specific anatomy was and how not many women were able to… handle him had me with my jaw dropped and shook! I mean, look at how Mary reacted at seeing Leo in all his naked glory and that reaction was priceless and spot on! The way Mary had such a hold on Leo completely was empowering and hot! That being said, Kandi delivered again on the amazing spice that had me re-reading the papers to savor all the spicy smut and all the passion emanating from Mary and Leo’s chemistry. 

If there’s one thing I also loved in this book, was the close friendship between all the women! Whoop whoop go girl gang! Over the course of the books, each leading women had their own unique personalities as well as storylines. The thing I genuinely loved seeing in this book specifically was not only seeing my favorites from the previous books, but seeing how close and supportive each of the women were with one another. The moment when Mary sent out an S.O.S. text in the group chat, right away Julep, Riley, and Giana came to Mary’s rescue to help her out and listen because that’s what besties are for, always there to have your back. Seeing the close bonds Mary and the women had together was heartwarming and I just loved seeing all those strong women come together for one another. Also, I absolutely loved Julep’s idea for her bachelorette night of all the women doing pole! I seriously would love to the pole, it looks like fun, but also immensely empowering! I just loved seeing all the girls get together and take their minds off the stress that they were dealing with, especially with Mary getting a moment to herself to air out her fears, but also spend time with her best friends. Dang I would have absolutely loved to hang out with all those characters, they’d be so much fun, and equally supportive. 

I CANNOT CONTAIN THE ABSOLUTE JOY AND LOVE I HAVE AFTER READING THIS BOOK! Mary and Leo were spectacular together! The slow burn romance and tension built up to an incredible pace that led up to the juiciest and most thrilling moments shared between Mary and Leo! The roommate/ forced proximity was a lovely touch as well! I also throughly loved how close how everyone was with each other. The friendships that were formed over the course of each couple’s books has been heartwarming and so loving! From the friendships that Mary formed with the guys while living with them to Giana, Riley, and Julep being Mary’s support system was fantastic! Mary and Leo’s story was so loving and to watch them reach their happy ending together was gratifying and so sweet beyond my expectations. As if the ending wasn’t enough, the epilogue was a true reward, and I couldn’t stop smiling the biggest smiles! I’m really happy for the way everyone’s stories ended, and I could just feel the sense of love and friendship that all the characters had with one another. The epilogue solidified my love for these characters but also with Julep and Holden’s wedding, to the lovely surprise sprinkled in, it was more happiness and excitement to end this amazing story. While it was bittersweet finishing this book, I loved every second of Leo and Mary’s book, and if I ever miss them or the other characters I can always jump back into this world and read it again.