As a romance writer Kristen Callihan knows her stuff so I was confident this football-adjacent, low-angst romance would be both charming and amusing. Only on Gameday really is great fun and for the most part, has enough momentum to keep the reader entertained.

Penelope’s grandparents left her their home in the Hollywood hills, and it’s not just any home, it’s a famous landmark worth millions. Unfortunately, they didn’t leave her with the means to pay the taxes or do the necessary renovations. Pen loves the house and doesn’t want to sell it, so she’s in a bind.

Growing up in Boston, Pen was childhood friends with the neighbouring Luck family. The five gorgeous overachieving children (with ridiculous names) enfolded Penelope into their home and their world. Let’s stop here though and consider them: The sons are January, March and August – no kidding! – and the girls, May and June. While Pen gets on with them all, and is besties with the girls, it’s August she has always been drawn to. Both Pen and August feigned indifference to each other throughout their childhoods and did such a good job of it, that both are oblivious to the other’s feelings, as are the rest of their families.

Quarterback August was a ‘first pick’ out of college for an LA team in the national football draft. While he’s excited, he’s not handling it well. Self-sabotage has put him on notice with his team’s bosses and he’s feeling desperate. When Pen arrives at their home for a weekend visit, August decides to grab her attention and, on a ludicrously flimsy premise, persuades her to be his fake fiancée. It’s patently silly (at least to this reader), but Pen goes along with it because she’s always been into him – and because he’ll help her pay the taxes on her house. Once back in LA and navigating a fake relationship, August’s celebrity comes into play and the stakes get higher for both of them. With Pen’s introversion, and August’s extroverted, impulsive show-pony persona, they have a lot of ground to cover, and while they bumble around, there are family group chats, lies and more lies, new and old friends, mothers meddling, paparazzi, renovations and all the feel-good vibes from these two loveable young people who are pining for each other.

This would have been a DIK but for some pacing problems in the middle, and because the only thing keeping Pen and August apart is a lack of communication and it takes them waaaaaaaay too long to be honest with each other. Even so, Only on Gameday is a terrific read, with two nice people falling in love and becoming a team that I could believe in.