I was very excited to receive an ARC of this book from the author. I haven’t seen any sapphic romance books before with a plot like this one revolving around poker rivals, so I was interested to find out more.

Enemies-to-lovers is not the easiest trope to write. Sometimes the rivalry or animosity make it hard to feel the connection between the characters. But L.M. Bennett wrote this rivals-to-lovers story beautifully. I could feel the sexual tension building between the two characters as the story progressed. And even though they technically never stopped being rivals (because you know…poker tournament), the dynamics of their rivalry begins to shift little by little and we get to see them go from a place of hatred and distrust to respect, admiration, and maybe even love. If they both play their cards right, both women could end up winning, regardless of who takes that 2 million dollar prize.

I don’t know much about poker and so there were a few things I didn’t quite understand the meaning of, but L.M. told the story in a way that even if you don’t have a thorough knowledge of poker you can understand what’s happening and enjoy it.

It took a little bit to get into the story but once I got a little ways in the action really picked up and kept me turning pages. It was confusing at times because the story alternates between Jax’s and Miri’s perspectives, but it doesn’t tell you whose POV at the start of the chapter. So when I put it down and picked it back up the next day, it would take me a minute to figure out whose POV I was reading. The only other minor issue I had is that there were some repeated phrases at times, and it was giving me this deja vu feeling.

All in all I enjoyed this book. It was a quick, fun, and spicy novella and I look forward to the next book in the series!

I received an ARC from the author and this is my honest and voluntary review.