Tuesday, October 28 marked the highly anticipated return of Ana Huang, who published the second book in her Gods of the Game series: The Defender. Featuring themes of forbidden love, forced proximity, and the enemies-to-lovers trope, the question arose: was this book really worth the wait, or merely another story with the same plotlines and new characters?

Releasing about 3 books a year, Huang has successfully managed to publish 15 romance novels in the span of 5 years. After reading The Striker, I was on the edge of my seat awaiting the next book. However, as I finished reading this book, I realized I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped. 

Distinct from her other works, the Gods of the Game series is set in present-day London and revolves around soccer — or as the Europeans call it, football. The story follows Vincent DuBois, a star defender for the Premier League club Blackcastle, who happens to have a stalker. After receiving several unsettling notes, Vincent decides to move out of his apartment and looks for a new place to stay. When his search proves unsuccessful, he reluctantly moves in with Brooklyn Armstrong, his sister’s best friend and the daughter of his coach. 

Brooklyn, a sports nutritionist, is an expert at managing “hotshot athletes.” Yet when she finds herself sleeping in a room adjacent to her new roommate, she can’t help but let her walls down and begins to feel an unexpected attraction to the one person she had sworn to avoid.

Despite the story’s unique setting, several parts of this book feel reminiscent of Huang’s previous releases. If the stalker trope sounds familiar to you, trust me, it is not a coincidence. This theme of forced proximity due to a stalker was already present in the last book of the Twisted series, Twisted Lies. The enemies-to-lovers trope of this book can be seen in the third book of the Twisted series, Twisted Hate. The forbidden love trope is also in The Striker.  These similarities may have been deliberately understated, as Huang avoids directly referencing her previous characters, making the parallels subtler yet unmistakable. 

Another notable difference is the book’s lack of a significant plot twist or unresolved conflict. In the Twisted series, plot twists—like the betrayals in Twisted Love and Twisted Hate—were jaw-dropping and kept readers hooked. These conflicts were part of what kept me invested in the plots. Many of Huang’s books rely on the tension of breakups and reconciliations to maintain suspense. In Defender, however, the conflicts were so minimal that they were almost nonexistent. The stalker reveal, for example, had me yawning, it was very predictable especially for frequent readers. ​

That said, the book is not without merit, I simply think that this book delved into plots that we have already seen (and loved). Reusing an already loved topic can make the readers, like me, bored, and the love for it can be overpowered by deja vu. Huang’s writing remains engaging, Vincent’s affirmations to Brooklyn are heartfelt, and of course, the romance in the book is steamy. Overall I would rate this read a 6 out of 10. Readers seeking entirely new plot lines may choose to skip it without missing essential context for Huang’s standalone novels 

For readers looking to immerse themselves fully in the Huang universe, I recommend reading her books in the following order:

Twisted Series:

1. Twisted Love
2. Twisted Games
3. Twisted Hate
4. Twisted Lies

Kings of Sin Series:

1. King of Wrath
2. King of Pride
3. King of Greed
4. King of Sloth
5. King of Envy

Gods of the Game Series:

1. The Striker (written before King of Envy)
2. The Defender