Emerald pitch

He’s the king of the pitch. She’s the girl who walked away before the final whistle.Jamie Harte has built his life around GAA — captain, hometown hero, the man everyone in the club counts on when the game is tight and the lights are blinding. Off the field, though, his life is a tangle of old mistakes and half-finished apologies, and there’s one name sitting at the heart of all of them: Ciara.
Ciara O’Shea swore she was done with heartbreak, done with chasing lads who loved the crowd more than they loved her. These days she pours her energy into keeping kids safe and seen, fighting for the ones who fall between the cracks of a system that’s already stretched thin. She doesn’t have time for nostalgia, never mind for the boy who once held her whole future in his calloused hands.
When a community crisis pulls them onto the same team — late-night planning meetings, fundraising chaos, stubborn county board officials and a youth squad hanging in the balance — their quiet Belfast streets start to feel very small. Old chemistry rushes back in with brutal speed: the way Jamie steadies her without thinking, the way Ciara can still read every shift in his shoulders before he takes a hit.
But second chances come with their own scorelines.
Jamie is hiding how close he is to burning out, carrying injuries and family pressure he refuses to drop. Ciara is fiercely protective of the kids who now depend on her, and she won’t let anyone, not even Jamie Harte with his crooked grin and soft hands, turn their lives upside down unless he’s all in.
As winter closes in and the club faces its biggest match yet — one that could decide the future of the pitch itself — Jamie and Ciara will have to decide what they’re really playing for. Pride, reputation, the easy out… or the terrifying risk of choosing each other again, properly, with no half-measures and no hiding.
Emerald Pitch is a heartfelt, funny, slow-burn Irish sports romance set under floodlights and fairy lights, full of found family, fierce banter, messy healing, and the kind of love that keeps showing up even when the score looks impossible. Perfect for readers who love community-driven stories, soft-but-strong heroes, and contemporary Irish romance with cinematic heart.