Looking to Score

#UofJ, Book 1

By: Alley Ciz

Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Maxine Mitchell, Ava Erickson

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's Summary

@UofJ411: Who's the girl? #CasanovaWatch #CasanovasMysteryGirl 

They call me Casanova. 

Football god. Ladies man. Campus celebrity. 

Guys want to be me and girls want to bed me.

Commitment? What's that? 

Then I saw her - tiny, gorgeous, and oh so...mine. 

Mason Nova is an egotistical jerk. 

Player. Persistent. Pain in the Pom-Pom. 

I don't care if he's the star of the gridiron or how tight his end is. 

I know his stats both on and off the field. My answer will always be no. 

The last thing I need in my life is another charmer who's looking to score. 

Looking to Score is book 1 in the U of J Series and is an enemies-to-lovers, new adult, college sports romance. If you like pint-sized sass queens for heroines, and too-charming-for-their-own-good playboy heroes, you'll love these two. There's banter for days...so much so that these two characters are the stars of books 1, 2, and 3. All out now.

©2020 Alley Ciz (P)2021 Alley Ciz

Loved this college sports romance!!

Oh my heartstrings, Alley Ciz! Looking to Score by Alley Ciz was just a fantastically written college sports romance! This book is the perfect start to a the #UofJ series. I instantly found myself falling and swooning over Kayla and Mason.

Jason Clarke and Maxine Mitchell narrate this audiobook, and are just Mason and Kayla perfection! Jason Clarke brings his signature growly tone to Mason's witty, a little bit cocksure, and swoon-worthy personality. Maxine Mitchell's ability showcase all of Kayla's doubts, passion, and determination is spot on. This is just the beginning of their relationship journey, and I know there are many more challenges and obstacles these two will have to overcome. In addition, Ava Erickson was the cherry on top with her performance of the @UofJ411!

If you love a HOT, hunky college football star, a sassy and free spirited cheerleader with a little bit of mystery, hilarious and supportive side characters, delicious steamy times, and a plot with total gossip girl vibes, then you will adore this book. However, this book does end on a cliffy, so I will immediately be starting book 2, Game Changer as soon I finish typing this review because I need answers!

What a story

This is the 1st time I've ever listened to one This author's Books. But it will not be my last oh my God this story really held my attention I for whatever reason I devoured this story I could not stop listening I wanted to know what was going to happen you could tell there are things that were going to happen because of the secrets that were being kept the narrators did a perfect job I don't know if that's what kept me so involved in the story or if it was just the story itself but I do know it was worth it and I am off to the next book because I got to find out what happens.

The Narration saved this book for me

3.5 stars rounding up to 4 because of the narration. I didn't love this book like I was hoping that I would.

Here are the things that I enjoyed about the book:
-The narration. Jason Clarke and Maxine Mitchell did a great job of bringing Mason and Kayla's story to life.
-I really liked Mason's character. I was worried he was just another player, and we were going to have to see him and his ways with other girls. But that wasn't the case. Once he met Kayla, there was just something pulling him to her.
-I liked that Kayla wasn't immediately smitten with Mason. Granted she had her reasons for staying away from football players, but she just didn't fall all over him. He actually had to work for her attention.

Things I didn't care for in the book:
-The use of the letters instead of a name. I think this would have been better if it was just used for her brother...calling him E instead of Eric because of his NFL fame. But for just about every single person, it became really annoying after a while.
-The constant buildup of what happened with Kayla years ago was not as exciting as I was expecting it to be. I was prepared for a leaked tape or something of that nature. But I felt the revelation was very anticlimactic.
-There wasn't much of an actual story. This book could have been way shorter without all the fluff that was added. If it wasn't for the narrators, I would probably have been really bored. But I love Jason and Maxine, so I continued on.

I am going to listen to the next 2 books because this is a trilogy with Mason and Kayla (even though it could have probably been a duet at the most). Also, I already own the audiobooks so I might as well figure out how they make it to the end.

Dangggg cliffhanger

I wasn’t sure id like this book because it was a little cheesy at first, but my goodnesssssss the chapters leading up to that damn cliffhanger really got me. Brb while I go finish the whole series real quick!

Heartbreak!!!

Loved the book, but not having a credit for the sequel, I’m hating the ending! Why ending with the unresolved breakup! *I know it’s to get readers to read the sequel*

Enjoyed my 2 Favorite Narrators Telling the Story

I really enjoyed hearing two of my favorite narrators telling this story, but the story is all about hiding who her brother is...not a very exciting topic to write a story about.

Left me confused and let down

It wasn't until after I started this book, that I realized that it was a trilogy of the same couple, not just a series of standalones, as most University series are. So not only was I disappointed by the cliffhanger that I wasn't expecting or wanting, I was bugged by other things throughout the story. For instance, this is book one of this series, but is clearly a spin-off series, and the previous characters are fairly relevant to this story. Not only do they pop up throughout (I assume, as it felt like we were supposed to know these people), but EVERYONE went by a nickname, most of which were just an initial, and it was insanely hard to keep track of all these people. And it wasn't just the people, their college was UofJ (and I'm still not sure what that J stands for, I don't think it was ever mentioned) and the teams that the cheerleaders worked for were all called by their abbreviations. It was just too much. Add in that this was basically an instalove story and the big cliffy ending is one of those plot-points that could have been avoided with a simple conversation, but I now expect it to drag into the next book (or maybe two!) when it could have easily never happened at all, this book was basically doomed for me from the beginning.

BUT, all of that being said...I feel kind of invested in these two, so if I ever find the audios at the library, or Audible Plus or something, I would probably pick them up, but it's not something I will continue if I have to pay full price for the rest of the series, I wasn't THAT into it.

Looking to score

I would have enjoyed this more if I had the backstory for Kayla. Should have previous books on Audible too

Why is it 3 books long?

The main female character has an aversion to social media but they way they go about dragging out why is irritating. The whole story could have been shortened and told in one book. The couple fall in love way too quickly after knowing each other a very short amount of time without trusting each other with important details. I found Kay, MFC, a pathetic mess who was setting a bad example for her ‘sister’ with her Jedi hide and it will go away mind set. The books are no where near the amazing writing of the Savvy/Noble duet and I can only hope when the author gets around to writing Carter/Emma or the story of whoever ends up with Tess she does the characters justice and not this really whiny diatribe about the woes of social media and the people it effects inability to handle their shit.

Lacks Mature tTinknking

Struggled to complete When in a relationship, sharing truth is always the best option. I did like the banter between the friends.

#Kaysonova

Oh, man! Cliffhanger alert! 🚨🚨🚨
I wanted to send Alley a shouty caps message for ending the story where she did. But, I had to applaud her evil genius. It was also the perfect place.

This book... I DEVOURED it.
SO GOOD.
It has everything you would expect from an Alley Ciz book - humour, steam, drama and crazy conversations. Seriously, I live for the crazy fun banter in these stories - it’s my kind of crazy. #friendshipgoals

So, so, super excited for the next book!
I NEED IT.

Jason, Maxine, and Ava absolutely NAILED the narration.